US Considers Directly Arming Syrian Rebels

by Jason Ditz
Global Research
November 29, 2012

Antiwar.com 28 November 2012

In July, Syrian rebel lobbyists reported that the Obama Administration had told them they would not be able to intervene in a serious way until after the November election. The vote’s over and now the meddling can begin in earnest.

That’s the message from US officials tonight, who say the president is now considering several options for deeper intervention into the ever worsening civil war, including the possibility of directly arming certain rebel factions.

Up until now the US has just been playing the role of facilitator, with the CIA smuggling other nations’ arms into Syria for them throughvarious intermediaries. Officials say no decision has been made yet on whether or not to move directly into arms supplying.

If the decision is made, it will make the question of which factions to arm all the more difficult, as the US at present maintains at least a level of deniability in its current smuggling. With various groups vying to be the Western-friendly “umbrella,” and myriad secular and Islamist factions on the ground, it will be an uphill battle for the US to convince the world it isn’t arming terrorists.

1. 

   NY Times Scrubs Mention Of CIA Arming Syrian Rebels

   In an article about France urging Syrian rebels to form a provisional government, the New York Times scrubbed a passage which revealed that the CIA was helping funnel arms to rebel groups that have aligned themselves with Al-Qaeda terrorists.

   Version three of the story, posted at 19:45:05 UTC yesterday and entitled France Says It Would Recognize Provisional Syrian Government, included the line, ” American intelligence agents have helped funnel arms to rebel groups.”
   However, fifteen minutes later the revelation that the CIA was arming the rebels was removed and replaced with the words, “American intelligence agents have helped to identify the rebel groups that receive arms.”
   Copies of the two different versions of the article can be viewed here.…

2. Sudan: Israel arming Darfur rebels

   Israel has supplied a rebel group involved in the Darfur conflict in Sudan with a considerable amount of weaponry, a new report says.
   The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) has received considerably heavy military logistical support from Israel, Sudan’s state media reported on Sunday.…

3. CIA Arming Syrian Insurgents

   On June 21, The New York Times headlined “CIA Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition,” saying:

   Operating covertly from southern Turkey, CIA operatives are “decid(ing) which Syrian opposition fighters across the border will receive arms to fight the Syrian government, according to American officials and Arab intelligence officers.”

   Weapons supplied include “automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition, (and) antitank weapons….”

   They’re smuggled across Turkey’s border through “a shadowy network of intermediaries….”

   They’re also entering through Lebanon.…

4. France arming Libyan rebels in violation of UN resolution

   France has become the first country openly to admit it has supplied the Libyan rebels with weapons – a measure banned by the UN Security Council. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has labeled the move as a major violation of the UN resolution.…

5. British Special Forces Training Syrian Rebels

   Several articles in the British media confirm that British Special Forces are training Syrian rebels.
   The underlying pattern is similar to that of Libya where British SAS were on the ground prior to the launching of NATO’s military intervention.
   These reports confirm unequivocally foreign interference in the affairs of a sovereign state.…