Training Syrian Rebels to Conquer Golan Heights and Shoot Down Israeli Aircraft

[Wehrwolfen]

By Shoshana Bryen
March 13, 2013

No, they don't say it quite like that. But after years of hypocrisy, the Obama administration has admitted that while it declined to arm Syrian rebels directly for fear that weapons would end up in the hands of al-Qaeda forces, it has been quietly vetting and training anti-Assad forces while others provided weapons all around. Now the training is out in the open, and Secretary of State Kerry has pledged $60 million in "non-lethal aid" to the rebels. (Plus $250 million to Egypt, while Israel may take a hit of $150 million from sequestration -- makes you wonder.)

American assistance is supposed to go only to "moderate" rebels, but arms have been flowing freely, paid for by American "allies" Qatar and Saudi Arabia and moving through Turkey. Recently, a source with ties to Israeli intelligence claimed that a supply line has been running from Bosnian extremist groups, outside the control, influence, or even vision of the U.S. and its allies. Libya and al-Qaeda in Iraq have also been conduits for weapons to rebel militias, and last week, 48 Syrian government soldiers and officials were killed in Anbar Province, an al-Qaeda stronghold.

Israel expects to see any and all weapons, including some of the estimated 15,000 surface-to-air missiles the U.S. admits "disappeared" from Libya, aimed in its direction.

More than a year ago, Maj. Gen. Avi Kochavi, chief of IDF Intelligence, warned that al-Qaeda had moved into the buffer zone that separates Israel and Syria, which had been at least nominally in the hands of U.N. peacekeepers since 1974. Last week, Syrian rebel groups captured 21 Filipino peacekeepers from their Golan Heights enclave and caused others to flee into Israel. Croatia announced that it is removing its 100 soldiers, and Israel fears that others may follow. Kochavi said that should Assad fall, the rebels would aim straight at Israel; Syrian rebel groups agree.


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Articles: Training Syrian Rebels to Conquer Golan Heights and Shoot Down Israeli Aircraft

 

[waltky]

Granny says al-Qaida gonna come in an' pick up the pieces...

Syrian opposition plunges into disarray
Mar 24,`13 -- Syria's opposition plunged into disarray Sunday as its president quit and its military chief refused to recognize the newly elected prime minister of an interim government for rebel-held areas.

The moves reflected deep splits in the body the U.S. and its allies hope will emerge as the united face of the opposition and advance the fight to topple President Bashar Assad's regime. The missteps of the opposition's mostly exile political leadership drew little notice inside Syria, where rebel fighters dismissed it as ineffective and pushed ahead with their offensive to gain ground near the country's southern border with Jordan. Nearby, the Israeli military in the Golan Heights responded to fire by shooting back at targets inside Syria.

The first blow to the opposition Syrian National Coalition was the surprise resignation of its president, who said he was quitting in frustration over what he called lack of international support and constraints imposed by the body itself. Mouaz al-Khatib, who rose to prominence as a preacher in Damascus' most famous mosque, said in a statement posted on his Facebook page that he was making good on an earlier vow to quit if undefined "red lines" were crossed. "I am keeping my promise today and announcing my resignation from the National Coalition so that I can work with freedom that is not available inside the official institutions," he said.

He also blamed world powers for not offering Syria's rebels the support they demand and complained that "international and regional parties" tried to push the Coalition toward negotiations with the Assad regime - something most members refuse. "All that has happened to the Syrian people - from destruction of infrastructure, to the arrest of tens of thousands, to the displacement of hundreds of thousands, to other tragedies - is not enough for an international decision to allow the Syrian people to defend themselves," the statement said. Despite electing a new, U.S.-educated prime minister last week to head a planned interim government, the Coalition has failed to make much of a mark inside Syria, where hundreds of independent rebel brigades are fighting a civil war against Assad's forces.

Reflecting the growing dissension over that move, the head of the Coalition's military branch, Gen. Salim Idris, said his group refused to recognize the new prime minister, a little-known IT professional from Texas, because he lacked broad support among the opposition. "For the purpose of giving power to a prime minister to unite the revolutionary forces and lead the Syrian revolution toward certain victory, we unequivocally declare that the Free Syrian Army ... conditions its support and cooperation on the achievement of a political agreement on the name of a prime minister," Idris said in an online video.

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Israel worried Syrian rebels might use American weapons against them...

Israel wary about possibility of U.S. arming Syrian rebels
May 1st, 2013 - Israel is asking the Obama administration not to arm Syrian rebels unless it can carefully screen them to ensure no weapons would fall into the hands of terrorists groups, the Israeli ambassador to the United States tells CNN.

"If it were decided to provide lethal assistance, we ask those groups be carefully vetted," Ambassador Michael Oren said Wednesday. He declined to offer specifics but broadly indicated the matter has come up in recent weeks - in the general time frame of visits to Israel by President Barack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. Neighboring Jordan and Turkey have expressed similar concerns. U.S. officials believe that a number of militant groups - including the al-Nusra Front, an al Qaeda-linked group - as well as Iranian-backed militias and Hezbollah units are operating in Syria and have even infiltrated the opposition.

The Israelis are particularly concerned that al-Nusra now controls territory near the Israeli border, where it would pose a threat if it gained control of rockets and mortars that might be initially supplied to the opposition. In making its case to the White House, Israel has also pointed out that after thousands of Libyan weapons went uncontrolled as that regime fell, many turned up in the Sinai and Gaza regions within days, posing a threat to Israel.

U.S. officials have maintained that all options for Syria are on the table but have privately indicated arming the rebels is not something likely to be decided upon soon, in part because of the opposition from neighboring countries. A senior U.S. official tells CNN that U.S. intelligence personnel have been conducting some "vetting" of opposition forces in Jordan and Turkey, but that mainly is being to facilitate the receipt of non-lethal aid and to conduct some limited training.

Israel wary about possibility of U.S. arming Syrian rebels ? CNN Security Clearance - CNN.com Blogs

 

[waltky]

Granny says dem terrorists might get a-hold of dem weapons an' invade Israel...

Analyst: Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria now best-equipped of the group
June 17th, 2013 > Al Qaeda's affiliate inside Syria is now the best-equipped arm of the terror group in existence today, according to informal assessments by U.S. and Middle East intelligence agencies, a private sector analyst directly familiar with the information told CNN.

Concern about the Syrian al Qaeda-affiliated group Jabhat al-Nusra, also known as the al-Nusra Front, is at an all-time high, according to the analyst, with as many as 10,000 fighters and supporters inside Syria. The United States has designated al-Nusra Front as a terrorist group with links to al Qaeda in Iraq. That assessment is shared by some Middle Eastern intelligence agencies that have long believed the United States is underestimating the Sunni-backed al Qaeda movement in the country, according to a Middle East source. It is also believed that Iran is running training camps inside Syria for Hezbollah and that other Iranian militia fighters are coming into the country to fight for the regime.

The analyst has been part of recent discussions with the U.S. intelligence community, which is urgently working to understand what is going on inside the war-ravaged country and is consulting outside experts. The analyst, who declined to be named because of the sensitive nature of the information, stressed that all assessments about Syria are approximate at best because of the lack of U.S. personnel on the ground.

With the growing strength and support for al-Nusra, U.S. concerns are growing about its influence to further destabilize Syria and potentially pose a greater regional threat, administration officials have told CNN. "They are making desperate attempts to get chemical weapons," the analyst told CNN, noting that in the past few weeks, security services in Iraq and Turkey arrested operatives who were "trying to get their hands on sarin."

A senior U.S. intelligence official told CNN recently that gathering intelligence on Syria, including its potential future use of chemical weapons, is now one of the top priorities of the U.S. intelligence community. The Obama administration announced last week that it will start arming rebels because Syria crossed a "red line" by using chemical weapons - including sarin gas - against the opposition.

Analyst: Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria now best-equipped of the group ? CNN Security Clearance - CNN.com Blogs

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Arming Syrian rebels not popular, polls say
June 17th, 2013 > Even as President Barack Obama seeks to rally support for his plan to further assist Syrian rebels at this week's Group of Eight conference in Northern Ireland, polls show Americans back home casting a wary eye on providing arms to opposition forces in the conflict-torn nation.

In a Gallup survey conducted over the weekend, 54% of adults said they disapproved of the Obama administration's decision to provide military aid to rebel fighters in Syria, compared to 37% who said they approved of the move. The announcement of the new lethal aid to Syria came on Thursday, when the White House said it had confirmed that chemical weapons were used by President Bashar al-Assad against rebels and his own people, and thereby crossed a "red line." While the Obama administration did not specify what type of military support it would provide, sources have told CNN that small arms and ammunition are part of the package.

Republicans were more likely in Gallup's poll to disapprove of arming Syrian rebels – 63% said they disagreed with the new U.S. stance. Among Democrats, 42% disapproved of the change in policy. Even before Thursday's announcement, a majority of Americans stood opposed to ramping up lethal support to rebels in Syria. A Pew Research Center poll conducted partly before the news showed 70% opposed to sending arms to Syrian rebels. Twenty percent said they favored the move. That poll reflected a drop in support since March, when 29% of Americans surveyed said they supported sending arms to Syrian opposition forces.

In this week's Pew poll, 68% said the U.S. military was already overcommitted, and thus unable to intervene effectively in Syria. Sixty percent suggested the opposition forces receiving American arms may not be any better than the Assad regime. The Gallup survey was conducted by telephone from June 15-16 from 1,015 adults, and the sampling error was plus or minus 4 percentage points. In Pew's survey, 1,512 adults were surveyed by telephone between June 12-16. The sampling error was plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

Arming Syrian rebels not popular, polls say ? CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs