As an example of the rebels' lack of coordination, Mohamed recounted the story of an initially successful assault three days ago on three government checkpoints.
In meetings it was often said, 'For Rwanda to be strong, Congo must be weak, and the Congolese must be divided.'" In 2012, the anonymous group of UN experts found evidence that the M23 rebels benefited from coordination with and support from the Rwandan military.
Inside Syria, cooperation between rebels and civilian coordination committees known as Tansiqiyat is sketchy.
Coordination with rebel fighters was initially poor, leading to friendly fire disasters.
The decision was made in part to try to gain control of a chaotic situation in which Arab countries were funneling arms into Syria for various rebel groups with little coordination.
Saudi Arabia's newly crowned King Salman had agreed to send gamechanging weaponry, including anti-tank misiles, to northern Syria in return for guarantees of discipline and coordination between rebel groups.
Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said earlier this week that the Pentagon wanted to expand the number of those elite commandos from about two dozen to as many as 100, but had been slowed by sandstorms, ground fire from Taliban troops and poor coordination with rebel commanders.
For example, through the military's new Cyber Command, we could create a digital "safe haven," akin to physical safe havens for refugees, by deploying long-distance Wi-Fi technologies along Syria's borders and in rebel-held areas in coordination with vetted opposition groups.
AHMAD MAJIDYAR Senior Research Associate American Enterprise Institute Washington, Aug. 23, 2011 To the Editor: Re "Sharper Surveillance and NATO Coordination Aided Rebel Advance"(news article, Aug. 22): Your report about Libya that "American aerial surveillance in and around the capital city" was "a major factor" is correct but overlooks a broader message.
And rebel fighters are now equipped with high-frequency radios that allow better coordination in the field, the rebels say.
