Arms Shipments to Syrian Rebels Begin in Earnest

[Kondor3]

Syria 'friends' agree urgent support for rebels

BBC News - 22 June 2013 Last updated at 11:42 ET

John Kerry: "Syrian people should determine the future of their country"

Foreign ministers of the Friends of Syria group, who are meeting in Qatar, have agreed to provide urgent support to rebels who are fighting President Bashar al-Assad.

Qatar's PM Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani said "providing arms may be the only means of achieving peace".

The group also condemned the Syrian government for its use of Iranian and Hezbollah fighters.

More than 90,000 people have died in more than two years of conflict.

The Syrian government says it is fighting foreign-backed "terrorists".

'Balance on the ground'

The Friends of Syria group includes the US, Britain, France and Germany as well as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan.

Its joint statement said the members had agreed to "provide urgently all necessary materiel and equipment to the opposition on the ground, each country in its own way in order to enable them to counter brutal attacks by the regime and its allies".

Support would be channelled through the Western-backed rebel military command.

The group also called on the immediate withdrawal of Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian fighters from Syria.

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BBC News - Syria 'friends' agree urgent support for rebels

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Well, that's an interesting balance... four (4) Christian countries, four (4) Muslim ones.

Add to that, the Libyan revolutionary folk beginning to ship old Moammar Qadafi arms (originally made in Russia) to the Rebels as well.

Looks like much of the rest of the world is preparing to tell Vladimir Putin to stuff it; given Russia's existing arms shipments and support for Assad.

Is this the real deal... are C5-A Galaxy -class military airlift planes warming-up on our runways, with bellies full of goodies for the Rebels, or is this smoke-and-mirrors in the lead-up to the next Security Council proceedings on the matter?

 

[Surfer]

This will not end well.

 

[007]

The muslim in the white house just gotta arm his muslim buddies.

 

[tjvh]

It won't be long until some of these weapons find their way to Afghanistan, and are used against our own troops. This entire idea of arming these people is completely beyond stupid.

 

[Katzndogz]

It's more than beyond stupid. It is an invitation for Russia to send even more advanced weaponry to Assad forces.

 

[R.C. Christian]

The tyrant in chief should be tried for treason before his reckless foreign policy leads us into WWIII.

 

[waltky]

Obama sittin' on his hands while Assad turns the tables on rebels...

U.S. has yet to deliver arms to Syria rebels
August 17, 2013, The Obama administration remains conflicted about sending weapons that could fall into the wrong hands, as is evident by the slow pace of delivering on its promise of military aid.

WASHINGTON — More than two months after they were promised, U.S. weapons and ammunition have not reached America's allies among the Syrian rebels, and their delivery date remains unclear, according to the Syrian opposition and Middle Eastern diplomats. Khalid Saleh, an official of the Syrian Opposition Coalition, said in a telephone interview from Turkey that, while U.S. officials continue to promise arms, "nothing has come through yet, and we haven't been given a specific date when we'll see them." The rebels, who have been pressing for months for anti-tank and antiaircraft weapons, have still not been told what kind of military aid they will receive, he said.

The White House announced June 13 that, in light of its conclusion that the Syrian government had used lethal chemical weapons in the 2-year-old civil war, the administration would provide "military assistance" to the rebels. The deliveries, which White House officials promised in "weeks, not months," were seen as a step toward greater U.S. military involvement. U.S. agencies have so far provided only nonlethal equipment, such as mobile radios, and $1 billion in humanitarian aid. But, as the slow pace of the arms deliveries underscores, the administration remains conflicted about the move. Fearing that the arms could fall into the hands of Islamist militants who make up a growing part of the rebel forces, officials have been moving carefully to vet potential recipients of the arms.

The weapons are expected to be small arms and not the more powerful anti-tank and antiaircraft missiles rebels want. Saleh said coalition officials, who are in daily contact with U.S. officials, "have made our needs well known." The rebels are already receiving arms from Persian Gulf countries, and U.S. shipments are not expected to shift the balance in the war. But the move was intended to strengthen Washington's ties to the rebels and send a message to the Syrian government, as well as its Iranian and Russian allies, that the United States could increase its involvement. Though the White House announced in May that it would begin military assistance, it has not acknowledged publicly that it will send arms. But lawmakers have spoken publicly about the plans, and administration officials have also confirmed them. Spokesmen for the CIA and White House declined to comment.

A diplomat from a Middle Eastern country, who declined to be identified because of the sensitivity of the issue, also confirmed that the deliveries have not begun. Andrew Tabler, a veteran Syria analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said he reads the slow pace of deliveries as a sign of "Obama's reticence to get involved." Even when the arms deliveries do begin, "I think what we see will be extremely incremental," said Tabler, who advocates a more active U.S. role. "I don't think we can anticipate any massive later shift in U.S. policy, and so I think the opposition will remain dissatisfied." Tabler noted that Sunday is the two-year anniversary of Obama's declaration that Syrian President Bashar Assad should step down and Tuesday is the one-year anniversary of Obama's warning to Damascus that the use of chemical weapons was a "red line" for the U.S. Both were indications of the administration's desire to limit its involvement, he said.

MORE

 

[Katzndogz]

Russia should come here and put a boot up obama's ass until he stops his crap.

 

[R.C. Christian]

I'd settle for Putin vs. Obama 1 on 1. Mano y Mano.

 

[Osomir]

It's pretty fun to watch you guys wine and cry no matter what Obama does.

 

[georgephillip]

Syria 'friends' agree urgent support for rebels

BBC News - 22 June 2013 Last updated at 11:42 ET

John Kerry: "Syrian people should determine the future of their country"

Foreign ministers of the Friends of Syria group, who are meeting in Qatar, have agreed to provide urgent support to rebels who are fighting President Bashar al-Assad.

Qatar's PM Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani said "providing arms may be the only means of achieving peace".

The group also condemned the Syrian government for its use of Iranian and Hezbollah fighters.

More than 90,000 people have died in more than two years of conflict.

The Syrian government says it is fighting foreign-backed "terrorists".

'Balance on the ground'

The Friends of Syria group includes the US, Britain, France and Germany as well as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and Jordan.

Its joint statement said the members had agreed to "provide urgently all necessary materiel and equipment to the opposition on the ground, each country in its own way in order to enable them to counter brutal attacks by the regime and its allies".

Support would be channelled through the Western-backed rebel military command.

The group also called on the immediate withdrawal of Lebanese Hezbollah and Iranian fighters from Syria.

...

Post has been moderated. Please do not post entire articles.

BBC News - Syria 'friends' agree urgent support for rebels

==============================

Well, that's an interesting balance... four (4) Christian countries, four (4) Muslim ones.

Add to that, the Libyan revolutionary folk beginning to ship old Moammar Qadafi arms (originally made in Russia) to the Rebels as well.

Looks like much of the rest of the world is preparing to tell Vladimir Putin to stuff it; given Russia's existing arms shipments and support for Assad.

Is this the real deal... are C5-A Galaxy -class military airlift planes warming-up on our runways, with bellies full of goodies for the Rebels, or is this smoke-and-mirrors in the lead-up to the next Security Council proceedings on the matter?

Are you forgetting one of Syria's old friends?

How Israel is Fueling the Syrian Fire » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

"Now, (2/6/13) Israel has stepped in the conflict, publicly for the first time, to try its hands to enforce a “buffer zone” of its own in an attempt to succeed where all the “Friends of Syria” have failed.

"On February 3, British 'The Sunday Times' reported that Israel is considering creating a buffer zone reaching up to ten miles inside Syria, modelled on a similar zone it created in southern Lebanon in 1985 from which it was forced to withdraw unconditionally by the Hezbullah – led and Syrian and Iranian – supported Lebanese resistance in 2000.

"Israeli mainstream daily Maariv ('evening' in Hebrew) the next day confirmed the Times report, adding the zone would be created in cooperation with local Arab villages on the Syrian side of the UN-monitored buffer zone, which was created on both sides of the armistice line after the 1973 Israeli – Syrian war."

Won't you be happy when Killer Jews are dancing home from Damascus to the same tune they left behind in Beirut?

FLUSH!

 

[R.C. Christian]

It's pretty fun to watch you guys wine and cry no matter what Obama does.

You won't be laughing if a nuclear weapon explodes over your city.

 

[georgephillip]

From Debkafile Wednesday, 21 August 2013:

"Syrian opposition activists report between 200 and 650 dead and hundreds more wounded in a poison gas strike by Bashar Assad’s forces on rebel-held areas of eastern Damascus. They claim nerve gas canisters were dropped by Syrian Air Force fighter planes which were seen flying over the area after the attack, the most extensive reported till now. Their claim has not been verified. The regime denied the accusation, saying there was “no truth whatsoever” in reports that chemical gas was used near Damascus, and maintaining over state television that the Syrian army was conducting a conventional attack on rebel positions south and east of Damascus.

"DEBKAfile reports exclusively that Assad is acting to counter the first organized incursion of US-trained Syrian rebels from Jordan into southern Syria. The first group of 250 rebels, trained in special operations tactics by US and Jordanian instructors, entered Syria Saturday, Aug. 17, armed with weapons of Russian provenance supplied by the US and Saudi Arabia.

"They are fighting under US and Jordanian commanders based in the Hashemite Kingdom."

Reported Syrian gas attack killing hundreds after first US-trained rebel incursion from Jordan

Does anyone else wonder how much of this killing would be happening if the richest 1% of Syrians, Saudis, Jordanians, Russians, and most of all AMERICANS were the only parents watching their children being maimed, murdered, and displaced for Wall $treet profti$?

 

[Katzndogz]

I'd settle for Putin vs. Obama 1 on 1. Mano y Mano.

I would love to see that. Obama would be Putin's Swiffer!

 

[dilloduck]

Why don't doesn't everyone just go ahead and walk right into this trap ? How many times do we have to play this one out before we figure it out ?

 

[georgephillip]

Why don't doesn't everyone just go ahead and walk right into this trap ? How many times do we have to play this one out before we figure it out ?

Some of us had it figured out two months after "Everything Changed"

"As I went back through the Pentagon in November 2001, one of the senior military staff officers had time for a chat. Yes, we were still on track for going against Iraq, he said. But there was more. This was being discussed as part of a five-year campaign plan, he said, and there were a total of seven countries, beginning with Iraq, then Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Iran, Somalia and Sudan."

Wesley Clark - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia