The Huffington Post reported that Christian groups in Syria are rather fearful about the rebels overthrowing President Bashar al-Assad.­

Why? According to the article rebel groups have made threats against Christians in Syria.

On Thursday, Sept. 5th the UK Telegraph reported that al-Qaida rebels in Syria stormed a Christian village of Maaloula. The village is home to a convent that was hit by two artillery shells. The village is also on a “tentative” list of UNESCO world heritage sights.

According to the article, Catholic and Orthodox Christians of the village have for centuries lived in peace with Sunni Muslims.

A resident of Maaloula said that the owner of a brick factory was kidnapped, a car bomb was detonated at the entrance of the village and one Christian man Yousef Haddad, was taken captive and the rebels tried to make him denounce his faith and adhere to Islam.

The article also states that Christian farmers cannot access their land without the supervision of a Muslim peer.

Want to step outside the religious sphere?

On Thursday, the New York Times reported that Syrian rebels unabashedly executed seven unarmed opposition soldiers and did so without trial or any other form of diplomatic maneuvering.

Granted, this is a war and execution happens. However, in the U.S. such procedures are highly frowned upon (see, Abu-Ghraib prison torture).

Does the U.S. really want to affiliate itself with an organization that makes such aggressions decisions?

The actions of the Syrian rebel factions demonstrate something the Barak Obama’s administration and intervention supporters fail to understand.

It shows that this fight is one we only understand on the surface.­ It’s a war between two organizations that are beholden to mores and ethics different from each other and our own.

Spare me the multiculturalism, and realize that supporting any organization beholden to ethics different from our own is a disaster waiting to happen.

Today Reuters reported that U.S. and European intelligence information is at odds with Secretary of State John Kerry’s assertions that the Syrian rebels are not influenced by Islamic extremist groups.

According to these intelligence reports, the al-Qaida affiliated Al-Nusra Front may not be the largest faction of rebels, but it is better armed, better trained and better organized.

In this same Reuters article, top Middle East U.S. intelligence analyst Paul Pillar is credited with these wise words:

“In a hard-fought civil war, especially one without a single well-organized opposition movement, success goes to the most ruthless and dedicated elements, which also tend to be the most extreme in their views. We are seeing such a process in Syria today,”

If Pillar’s assessment is correct (which is likely as it’s historically proven) it means the al-Qaida-backed arm of the Syrian rebels would likely become the successors to national power.

That means the typical al-Qaida persecution rains down upon all the people not adhering to the extremist brand of Islam.

Targets of this future persecution would not only be Christians and Jews, but Muslims not agreeing with al-Qaida’s interpretation of the Koran.

Let’s not forget that al-Qaida backed governments violently persecute openly gay and lesbian people, as well as feminists and atheists.

Even if we don’t put “boots on the ground,” should the United States intervene in Syria, we could be held responsible for bringing another dictatorial regime into power. Only this time it would be a conservative theocracy.