He’s just figuring this out now?

Via AFP:

Rebel fighters have expressed disdain for US President Barack Obama after he backed away from striking over alleged chemical weapons attacks, saying the world does not care about Syria.

Leaders of two rebel brigades in the northern city of Aleppo, speaking to AFP after agreeing to join forces, also accused Russiaand the regime of Bashar al-Assad of conspiring to buy time for the Syrian president to press his campaign against those seeking to overthrow him.

They were speaking as the United States and Russia hammered out a deal, based on proposals by Moscow, to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons by mid-2014 and leaving the door open to sanctions if Damascus fails to comply.

“America told the world it would bomb Syria and then, when the time came, it got scared,” said Abdelqaderi Asasheh, operations chief of the Liwa al-Tawhid brigade in Aleppo.

The battalion’s commander, Abdulaziz Salameh, was even more scathing about the United States.

While accusing Russia and Syria of “devising a perfect plan to put a stop to an attack by the West,” he said “Obama has shown himself not to be a man of honour, without anything to say.”

He added with bravado that “we don’t need the attack. We don’t need anyone. We count on the help of God, and he will guide us to final victory.”

However, he said that while “we can’t expect anything from the United States, but if they finally decide to attack we will take advantage of the situation and launch an offensive against the regime’s military bases and against the airport in order to take control of Aleppo.”

Abu Tawfiqa, a commander of the Liwa al-Fatah brigade, said “we don’t want an attack, but if it happens the United States will find a very powerful ally on the ground.”

The two brigades held a ceremony on Friday at a former military academy north of Aleppo to mark the agreement to unite their forces, which they claim number 13,000 across the country.