"First America, now Istanbul, next week Hamburg, then Sydney, so many appointments, you know?"

"...That small scene from the fringes of the conference serves to illustrate just how far removed the SNC is from the people it claims to represent: the rebels in Syria, who have been demonstrating against the dictatorship, at first peacefully but now increasingly with weapons. As the rebellion has developed within Syria, the Syrian opposition abroad has failed to establish unified representation or agree on mutual demands, splitting instead into further divisions.......
The various factions eye one another jealously, and complain about the Muslim Brotherhood's influence and the lack of transparency within the SNC. Burhan Ghalioun, chair of the SNC and a sociology professor at Sorbonne University in Paris, has announced that the future will see a "democratic Syria" -- yet he doesn't seem inclined to embrace democracy yet when it comes to his own position. Appointed for three months in October 2011, Ghalioun is now declining to step down, despite growing criticism......
...The backbone of the rebellion is the "local coordination committees," of which over 300 have sprung up over the course of the last year in nearly all of Syria's cities....
"The National Council legitimizes the killing when it acts as our mouthpiece, but doesn't take action," he says quietly. In his village, he adds, people are furious with the SNC. "But what can we do?" he asks. "What do we have left but hope?"