Posted By Josh Rogin
Tuesday, March 6, 2012 - 11:43 AM
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The Obama administration is moving to provide direct assistance to the internal opposition in Syria for the first time, marking a shift in U.S. policy toward a more aggressive plan to help oust President Bashar al-Assad.
Last week, a group of senior Obama administration officials met to finalize a package of options for aiding both the internal and external Syrian opposition, to include providing direct humanitarian and communications assistance to the Syrian opposition, two administration officials confirmed to The Cable. This meeting of what's known as the Deputies Committee of the National Security Council set forth a new and assertive strategy for expanding U.S. engagement with Syrian activists and providing them with the means to organize themselves, but stops short of providing any direct military assistance to the armed opposition.
For now, riskier options, such as creating a no-fly zone in Syria, using U.S. military force there, or engaging directly with the Free Syrian Army, are all still off the table. But the administration has decided not to oppose, either in public or in private, the arming of the rebels by other countries, the officials said.
"These moves are going to invest the U.S. in a much deeper sense with the opposition," one administration official said. "U.S. policy is now aligned with enabling the opposition to overthrow the Assad regime. This codifies a significant change in our Syria policy."
The package of options will be debated by cabinet-level officials at what's known as a Principals Committee meeting as early as this afternoon, the two officials said. The principals could endorse the entire package or make some changes, the officials said, although the package does have the consensus of the interagency coming out of last week's Deputies Committee meeting.
The administration is planning to greatly expand its interactions with the external Syrian opposition, led by the Syrian National Council, as well as with internal opposition bodies to include Syrian NGOs, the Local Coordinating Councils, and the Revolutionary Councils that are increasingly becoming the de facto representation of the Syrian opposition. The Free Syrian Army works with these councils, but the administration is not ready to engage the armed rebels directly out of concern that they are still somewhat unaccountable and may have contacts with extremist elements.
As part of the new outreach, the State Department and USAID have been tasked with devising a plan to speed humanitarian and communications assistance to the internal Syrian civilian opposition, working through State's Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) office. There is no concrete plan yet as to how to get the goods into Syria if the Assad regime doesn't grant access to affected areas.
"We're leaving State and USAID to work that out. That's the million-dollar question. We're working on that now," the official explained.
Meanwhile, the administration wants to bolster the new defense committee established by the SNC last week, hoping to solidify that body's prominence as the contact point for coordinating military and technical assistance to the rebels, if a decision is taken later to move in that direction. The FSA has rejected the SNC's defense committee as being part of its chain of command, but for now the Obama administration sees the SNC as a more credible organization with which to explore options to potentially provide military aid.
"The prevailing narrative is enabling the transition while keeping options open for reaching out to the armed opposition," the administration official said. "There is recognition that lethal assistance to the opposition may be necessary, but not at this time."
At last month's initial Friends of Syria meeting in Tunis, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said that arming the Syrian rebels was "an excellent idea," though there are conflicting reports as to whether and to what extent Saudi weapons and cash were already flowing into the country.
In preparation for the next Friends of Syria meeting in Turkey later this month, the Obama administration has decided not to openly oppose direct military assistance to the rebels as long as it comes from another country, not the United States, one of the administration officials said.
"The decision has been made at the next Friends of Syria meeting to not oppose any proposals to arm the FSA and we're not going to publicly or privately message on that," the official said. "We're not going to publicly or privately tell the Friends of Syria not to do this."
Inside the administration, there is still a consensus that U.S. military intervention in Syria is not wise at this time and there are still voices expressing hope that political transition could take place in Syria without all out civil war.
"It's more about what could be accomplished by intervening. So many questions haven't been answered," another administration official said, expressing the widespread internal uneasiness about involving the U.S. military in yet another war in the Middle East. "There's a chance we could get embroiled in a conflict. What does that do to our preparedness for other contingencies?"
Some in the administration still hold out hope that the Russians can be persuaded to play a more helpful role in Syria. But two officials confirmed that Russian arms deliveries to Syria are ongoing and one administration official said that the latest shipment included large amounts of advanced anti-aircraft missile systems, which are meant to help Syria repel any attempt to establish a no-fly zone.
"What that says is that the Russians are doubling down on Assad. They're preparing for the next step, which is the internationalization of the conflict," one administration official said.
For the critics of Obama's Syria policy, these moves represent a step in the right direction but still fall short of what is needed for the United States to halt the violence.
"I am encouraged the Obama administration is exploring steps to provide direct assistance to Syrians inside their country, but the incremental measures reportedly under consideration still do not come to grips with the fundamental reality in Syria, which is that Bashar al-Assad, equipped and resupplied by Iran and Russia, is now waging an outright war against the Syrian people, who are outmatched, outgunned, and urgently in need of decisive international intervention," Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) told The Cable today.
Lieberman, along with Sens. John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) came out Monday in favor of a U.S.-led intervention in Syria to begin immediately.
"To me this should begin with medical and military assistance for the opposition, including tactical intelligence and weapons, and ultimately should include targeted airstrikes against Assad's bases and forces," Lieberman said. "The United States should help organize such support for the Syrian opposition, but it should be international and include our concerned allies in the Arab League, the GCC, NATO, and the EU."
Lieberman, McCain, and Graham will all have a chance to question the administration on these new moves Wednesday when the Senate Armed Services Committee holds a hearing with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Joints Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey.
NSC spokesman Tommy Vietor declined to comment on the administration's internal deliberations.
JASON REED/AFP/Getty Images
EXPLORE:ARAB WORLD, MIDDLE EAST, DEMOCRACY, DEVELOPMENT, DIPLOMACY, FREEDOM, HUMAN RIGHTS, MILITARY, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION, STATE DEPARTMENT, SYRIA, U.S. CONGRESS, U.S. FOREIGN POLICY 
History repeats itself. Anyone remembers the Afghan Mujahedins? The disaster that was Afghanistan? Iraq? Libya?
Unelected officials took over Washington and the media following the coup and cover up. Most of the national news is orchestrated by Psyops for domestic spying. They also don't want the truth leaking out because they think we can't handle it. Fact of the matter is we have no democracy, president, and freedom of press is an illusion.
Our next election is shaping up to be as big of a sham as the last. Do you know why Sarah Palin's bus tour was really canceled? Do you know why she stayed 30 miles away from the second debate and chose the death of Steve Jobs to announce that she's not running? Know what leaked out? Sarah Palin and Cain aren't in the race for the same reason, the truth leaked out. Search PalinsDirtyLittleSecret for the biggest cover up in history
One can only reason with reasonable people. Unfortunately some people arn't very bright. I only know of four stages of concilliation. 1. ask somone to stop, 2. tell someone to stop, 3. compel someone to stop, 4. one of you must die. A bright person will negotiate at step 1. I think the score is 7500 to 1 it's a shame 2oz of lead behind the left ear would save so much suffering.
Nato-powered Central-Bankster Cartel
Couldn't agree more DEMOCRACYISOVER. POTUS is always the same agenda, just a different mask. After Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan went under the New World Order umbrella, there were less than a half-dozen Nation States without a central bank controlled by the Zionist cartel. And, it won't be long before it's just Cuba and Panama find their seat under the umbrella, unless of course, the are already so corrupted as to be insignificant in the banksters scheme of things. Darn shame the US pays about 3/4 of the costs in blood and treasure for this UN/NATO ponzi rip.
"Syria Danny" footage shows staged nature - violence
Search on the terms
"Syria Danny", "Paul Joseph Watson"
to find the Infowars.com article that includes amazing video with audio showing how Syria Danny and camera man get ready and stage a mainstream TV news story about the violence in Syria. The whole thing is staged, pure theater!
NATO-Powered Central Bankster Cartel
Forgot to mention that Syria and Iran are not Nations with central banks under Zionist control. Therein lies the rub.
Russia.
They will complain if we do anything but they will do nothing. Maybe they will veto something in the UN, but that's about it. They've become a petro-state with a foreign policy addiction.
Syria will be a proxy war with Iran. China and Russia will be miffed but they won't do anything.
This will be very easy. Obama has almost all of the MidEast on his side; Assad has Iran. Sort of. Obama will look good going into the Fall. McCain gave him Republican cover. This is looking more like Clinton's handling of the Balkans.
Neocons will have to bank on an Israeli airstrike to muddy things up. At this point, an Israeli airstrike is practically a Chekov's Gun. Israel can't threaten to do this stupid thing and then not do it; they'd look stupid.
Still, they'd vastly prefer if we did this stupid thing. Then they'd look smart. Of course, a conflict with Iran would stand to make Russia a lot of money.
While Washington is constantly insists that "all plans on the table", alluding to the possibility of military action, Mr. Putin proposes easing of sanctions or even their abolition. We are talking about sanctions, Russia. If Russia remove its sanctions, it will be or not to lift the sanctions of the West will not matter. This is Putin's proposal implicitly suggests that none of the UN Security Council resolution on Iran is now possible in principle. Russia's position is actually forcing the West to enter into a new phase of negotiations with Iran. Saugus, a completely unexpected move audacious and disarming. This is a great master stroke of political confrontation. Putin did not wait for favors from the West, and almost forces us to make these graces and forces to take into account Russia's position.
All sanctions against Iran should be abolished
There is absolutely no justification for ANY of the sanctions on Iran. It is all based on lies and pure speculation. There is ZERO evidence that Iran is building nukes. Two NIEs said so and Panetta, Clapper and Barak have also confirmed it. No IAEA report also has presented any concrete evidence. The rest of the garbage put out by Amano at IAEA is complete nonsense. It is all based on documents that are known to be forgeries. Amano is just a stooge of the US and has no credibility.
Don't you feel good to know that Hillary and Barack are in charge? FAIL
Better than George and Dick
There is not a dimes worth of difference between the two administrations. They are all puppets for the military industrial complex.
There is no US interest worth spending one penny in Syria. the opposition will be like Egypt and Tunisia. Islamic. Let them kill each other off as long as possible.
So far Egypt has been relatively possible to work with and Tunisia is nowhere near a problem for the U.S. Also you apparently missed what a basic search on the internet would have told you, which is that Syria is a strong nation in the Middle East, an exporter of oil and one of the few strong allies Iran has.
Syrian rebels include crazy Chechens and Al Qaeda
The Syrian opposition does not consist of peaceful demonstrators. Saudi Arabia is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to overthrow Assad. Almost as many security forces have been killed as rebels. Arming these crazy groups is extremely dangerous. The result will be a massacre in Syria. Instead, the US should work with Russia to try bring a peaceful solution to this conflict.
Obama could sell snow to an eskimo
man can he spin....incredible.
will he deal with iran? 100% no.
he will go to these "new" negotiations with iran, claim parchin was opened and then say the dossier is closed.
what a putz.
Lenin: "A lie told often enough becomes the truth".
So, what does Iran have to do to satisfy you? Do you want to inspect every bedroom in Iran? You people are just impossible. Don't you understand that all this ballyhoo has nothing to do with Iran's nuclear program? The main goal is to preserve the hegemony of the US and Israel in the Middle East. The non-existent Iranian nukes are just an excuse.
Central bankster cartel hegemony
It's not the Citizens of the US that want this march to hegemon - we really have no choice in being the beatcop for the World Order.Hey, they got a monopoly on our money Mar. 9, 1932 - it was only a matter of time befor the tyrants had the absolute monopoly.
If there is a Muslim massacre, fine. We should not care. We will end up fighting them in the end.
Obama's Foreign Policy is supporting the Muslim Brotherhood establishing a Caliphate.
So now we will have to be in Syria forever
to prevent Al Qaida taking advantage of the vacuum we will create; M.I.C. scams don't stop.
If you haven't already invested in companies that produce drones or build crappy, unnecessary buildings abroad you are a chump.
At almost any moment in the Middle East and elsewhere, Arab children are being indoctrinated in their schools and religious academies in the principles of radical Islamic fundamentalism (Sharia) requiring the hatred of Jews, Westerners, and all non-Muslims.
Any fool who believes that acts of kindness, mercy or compassion will actually change the collective psyche of Islamic fundamentalist behavior had better understand the magnitude of unquenchable bigotry and hatred they're dealing with.
You are just looking for an excuse
Sure, next you will tell us that the Hamas Charter calls for the destruction of Israel. In fact, the Hamas Charter is nothing of significance. Hamas does not use it as its guideline. It was written by some cleric years ago. However, Hamas will not change it for tactical grounds until Israel comes to its senses. Read up the Wikipedia entry on the subject.
The media is only giving one side of this conflict. The militants are well-armed and have reportedly killed hundreds of police officers and army members. They were part of mobs of tens of thousands who started this by rioting and throwing rocks and firebombs at the police. This is Libya all over again, and if we interfere (to the tune of billions of dollars, with nothing to gain strategically...) we'll just be replacing a repressive regime with dozens or hundreds of armed gangs of radical Muslims. Not exactly a big step towards democracy.
You raise a good point. But the world can't just allow Assad to continue to murder his own people at will. Something needs to be done to stop the bloodshed and this must include Assad being removed from power and hopefully brought to justice. Ruthless dictators around the world need to learn that if they do the crime they will eventually have to face the music. I admit that there is no magic solution. However, if the Assad administration is removed, there might be some way to install an interim government made up of handpicked moderates and then work towards peaceful democratic elections in a few years.
When the Jews return to Zion / And a comet rips the sky / And the Holy Roman Empire rises, / Then You and I must die. / From the eternal sea he rises, / Creating armies on either shore, / Turning man against his brother / 'Til man exists no more.
Judging by the comments I think we can assume that the Syrian government has followed the example of China.
but wait! Syria and Iran allies...
what happened to Iran as the BIG evil poised to wipe Israel off the map never mind the collateral damage to millions of Palestinians, Jordanians, Lebanese, Druze, Egyptians, Saudis and Syrians and anyone else unlucky enough to be down wind for a year.
Iran is keeping the Assad regime in power.
How is taking out the Assad regime not a legitimate bank shot at Iran?
Too many posting here are blinded by blind ideology and hate of President Obama and our Secretary of State.
Their issue of course is his alarming record of foreign policy SUCCESS!
Can't wait for President Obama's second term.
You shouldn't be writing comments here
If you still believe think of "Iran as the BIG evil poised to wipe Israel off the map," you are too ignorant to be writing comments here. You still don't know that it was all based on a mis-translation of a single sentence about seven years ago? How long are you going to drag on this myth? In contrast, the lunatics in Israel threaten Iran with nuclear annihilation every day of the week with, "All options are on the table." You still don't know what the word "All" means?
illogical & confused brush up on your reading for comprehension
before replying read the comments in sequence in which they were posted it will afford you an appreciation of irony and sarcasm—but then again probably not.
knee jerk screamers seldom have appreciation for anything as nuanced as irony or sarcasm.
the same inane commentators dissing the Obama administration for lifting a finger to take out Assad were 48 hours earlier decrying him for not acting immediately to turn loose the B2s on Iran.
of course your foaming at the mouth has little to do with the issue of Assad, Iran or Israel and is just another version of hating all things President Obama—particularly when he is right.
OK, I missed your rhetorical question and responded too quickly. However, you still seem to have misconceptions about Syria and Obama. Iran is helping Assad, but it is not the one keeping him in power. In contrast, the Western powers, the Saudis, Jordanians and others are sending Chechens and other crazy fighters to create havoc in Syria. You seem to be taking the party line on this subject. The Western media do not present a true picture of what is going on in Syria.
Obama did manage to cool things down a little this week and he is better than Romney or Santorum, but he is actually worse than Bush in his dealings with Iran. He has been more belligerent and disingenuous. There is absolutely no justification for any of these stupid sanctions when his own people say Iran is not building nukes.
there is no success, only drones. That is NOT a foreign policy
midde east on fire...
russia reset button is a joke..
russia helping syria
china helping syria and iran
pakistan US relations in freefall
poland and czechs hate obama
israel doesnt trust him
saudi's dont trust him either
iran is going nuclear and obama only wants his re-election
multilateralism is failing...libya was ok, but leading from behind is NOW killing syrians DAILY!
SO ....What's so good about his foreign policy?
OK, let's attack Russia, Syria and Iran
So, what is your solution? You want to attack every country on earth? Obama is just stupid enough to have singled out Iran and Syria. Now, that still doesn't satisfy you?
regarding advanced anti-air missiles
In my opinion, if we were to try and establish a no-fly zone, and Assad used Russian anti-air missiles to shoot down our planes, then the Gloves would come off. We would absolutely hammer that regime into the dust. I doubt many Assad supporters would survive. Let alone Assad himself. They would be unwise to harm a single hair on a single American servicemans head. The Russians would be forced to back off as well. It's all bluster. Establish the No FLy Zone. no one will mess with us; if they do, we will annihilate them. Think about the last time a state messed with our conventional forces in an expeditionary war...it never works out well for them. Our military is designed to obliterate conventional opponents in a VERY short span of time. Assad would be quite wise to step down now, before this goes bad for him. But, to be honest, I kinda want to see him get nailed.
Mr. Warmonger: Assad is not using planes
Talk about nonsensical arguments. You win the prize. Syria is not using planes to fight the crazy rebels who are funded by Saudi Arabia. So, what is the point of a no-fly zone, genius?
Think about the last time a state messed with our conventional forces??? We have been in Iraq and Afghanistan for years and we have accomplished nothing. Viet Nam?? WTF, we cant even burn a few Korans without getting caught. I wouldnt be as confident as you are Hurricanewar. I wish your scenario would play out as you described, but I doubt if it will. Keep thinking though.
Obama just loves war, he drags our country into every war there is. Of course there may be a reason for that... almost all of casualties are white. Even though half the military is black. By keeping the military occupied overseas they can not protect the countries borders. Obama gets millions of illegal immigrants invading the country. Lots of illegal immigrants to vote for him and lots of dead white soldiers who would vote against him.
is the name of your comment.
I agree that Obama is a warmonger. But, there the rest of your comments are pure garbage.
According to a Wikileaks source(bhalla@stratford.com), the US along with the usual suspects , has been actively aiding the insurgency since December with military logistics and supervision on the ground. Witness the capture yesterday of 13 French Intelligence officers in Homs and Debka cited UK and Qatari military officers on the ground.
Why Syria - besides the obvious
Talk radicals, talk banksters, talk world hegemon, but isn't there a pipeline waiting to go through to the med (for Israel/Zion)- maybe a narcotic pipeline as well as Afghan'n is the world's largest producer of opium and hash?
According to a Wikileaks source(bhalla@stratford.com), the US along with the usual suspects , has been actively aiding the insurgency since December with military logistics and supervision on the ground. Witness the capture yesterday of 13 French Intelligence officers in Homs and Debka cited UK and Qatari military officers on the ground.
In your address bar, type in CNN and Syrian Danny. See how many sites come up, and read what's there.
Obama okays bunker busters and refueling tankers to israel. seems like a war is a brewin....time to cut iran down to size! hope we dont have to pull out the jerichos and dolphin launches...but, we will do what we need to. Its about time the MIDDE EAST has a giant fistfight....this time, israel's gloves are coming off and it wont fight with one hand tied behind its back. iran, hamas and hezbollah are about to be taught a very painful lesson.
http://www.debka.com/article/21799/
Illegal, immoral, unconstitutional
This is sick.
Our government already owes more than the GDP of the entire world. Now we're going to spend billions more arming more Al Qaeda terrorists, more Muslim Brotherhood terrorists and who-the-heck-knows what other terrorists over there.
Like Tunisia, Libya, Yemen and Egypt, the result will be the end of a bad regime and the beginning of a worse regime.
Americans should not tolerate this. The Constitution of the United States of America does not have any provision for foreign interventions outside of a Declaration of War.
Stop wasting our money. People in America are starving, unemployed and living on the streets. Rather than helping America, Obama's going to borrow and print more money to buy weapons to arm our enemies. Our enemies will take over Syria and then send those weapons to kill our sons and daughters in Afghanistan, Somalia, Congo and other places around the world where our troops are illegally deployed.
Shame on the US if you let Obama, John Freakin' McCain, Hillary and the rest of the evil globalists plunder us and our paychecks even more.
P.S. Who will liberate the USA from the Obama regime?
P.S. Who will liberate the USA from the Obama regime?
John Hudson reports on national security and foreign policy from the Pentagon to Foggy Bottom, the White House to Embassy Row, for The Cable.
May/June 2013
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