US sending arms to Syrian Rebels

[Skippy00004]

Welp....

http://rt.com/news/us-claims-assad-chemical-weapons-671/

American officials say they have confirmed that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against the insurgency seeking to remove it, asserting that the move crosses a "red line." The US is now on the record as considering military support.

An internal memorandum circulating within the Obama administration has assessed that chemical weapons, most likely the nerve gas sarin, were used multiple times in battle against the Syrian rebels.

The ?intelligence community assesses that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year,? according to that memo, as cited by The New York Times.

President Obama has authorized to release of at least some US arms for Syria?s rebels as part of new military and political aid measures, according to a source who spoke with Reuters.

White House officials speculated over evidence that nerve gas had been used as of April, but that evidence is now being called ?definitive? ? with Congressional sources describing the conclusion as crossing the ?red line? for US military intervention or backing as previously defined by the president.

"The president has made a decision about providing more support to the opposition, that will involve providing direct support to the (Supreme Military Council), that includes military support," Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters on a conference call on Thursday.

"This is going to be different in both scope and scale in terms of what we are providing to the SMC than what we have provided before," he adds.

    Originally conceived as a pesticide, sarin was used by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's regime to gas thousands of Kurds in the northern town of Halabja in 1988.

    Sarin can be inhaled or absorbed through skin, and it kills by crippling the nervous system and paralyzing muscles around the lungs.

    In addition to airborne release, the gas can also be used to contaminate food or water supplies. As a gas, it can linger in an area for up to six hours.

    Sarin inhalation can cause death within a few minutes in high doses, and permanent harm includes damage to the lungs, eyes and central nervous system.


According to officials who spoke with the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, the US military is currently considering a proposal for arming factions of the Syrian insurgency ? as well as establishing a limited no-fly zone over the country to be enforced from nearby Jordanian territory.

That no-fly zone could stretch for up to 25 miles into Syrian territory, and would be set up in a bid to train and equip rebel forces and protect refugees, officials said.

A no-fly zone would not require the destruction of Syrian antiaircraft batteries, according to the accounts cited in American media. The White House could alternatively authorize the arming and training of the Syrian opposition in Jordan without a no-fly zone.

Congress was being notified of the conclusions over chemical weapons use in the country on Thursday in classified documents. Findings were corroborated by evidence sent to the US by France, which along with the UK claimed that Assad?s forces had used chemical weapons.

"There is a growing body persuasive evidence showing that the regime used - and continues to use - chemical weapons, including sarin," a spokesman for Britain's Foreign Office said Thursday.

"The room for doubt continues to diminish. Assad must grant the UN investigation unrestricted access to investigate on the ground in Syria and establish the full facts," he added.

In a conference call to reporters on Thursday, the White House said that the intelligence community estimates that as many as 150 people, or about 0.16 per cent (0.0016) of the 93,000 reported deaths in the Syrian conflict, could have been a result of chemical weapons used by pro-Assad forces.

The White House said during the same call that the US ?will make decisions on our own timeline" regarding the next steps on Syria. President Obama will consult with G8 partners, including Russia, about Syria next week. 

Republican senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham called on the US to provide "lethal assistance, especially ammunition & heavy weapons" to Syria?s rebels on Thursday.

?The President must rally an international coalition to take military actions to degrade Assad?s ability to use airpower and ballistic missiles and to move and resupply his forces around the battlefield by air,? said a joint statement by the pair.

As a UN probe was underway into allegations of chemical weapons use in May, lead investigator Carla Del Ponte said the findings showed that rebels were behind at least one chemical weapons attack. "This was used on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities," Del Ponte told Swiss TV.

[JohnyMac]

Unfortunately for Barry, these scandals are such a nuisance as they may take away from directing "my" troops to Syria - In order to help the Muslim Brotherhood.

Do you want our troops to be sent overseas for yet another deployment? Or do you want our national debt to be increase by yet another trillion dollars?

Please...Tell me where my opinion is wrong?   

[Skippy00004]

Just to clarify JM, you'd rather us send arms to Syria vs yet another foreign occupation.  Am I correct?

[sledge]

Taken from http://www.debka.com/article/23045/Obama-rules-out-intervention-to-thwart-Syria-Hizballah%E2%80%99s-decisive-Aleppo-victory

The eagerly-awaited White House statement on the decision reached in President Barack Obama?s special consultation on Syria with his national security aides was seen by DEBKAfile?s Washington sources as his final rejection of all the proposals for intervention put before him.

Spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Thursday, June 13: "The president and every member of his national security team are greatly concerned by the terrible situation? and the worsening situation in Syria. As terrible as the situation is in Syria, he has to make decisions when it comes to policy toward Syria that are in the best interests of the United States.?

What Carney conveyed on behalf of the president was that while stopping the battle for Aleppo was crucially important in terms of the Syrian war, intervention was not in the interests of the United States.

[JohnyMac]

Skippy, I do not trust the current government - Democrat or Republican when it comes to Syria. I do not want our troops or U.S. initiated/financed arms going to Syria.

 

[Skippy00004]

Skippy, I do not trust the current government - Democrat or Republican when it comes to Syria. I do not want our troops or U.S. initiated/financed arms going to Syria.

As the young folks say, "word" .

[EJR914]

Of course they are, that's what our ambassador to Libya was doing, before he got killed.  The CIA does this all the time.

[JohnyMac]

Whether you are for small arms being given to the rebels in Syria or opposed to the give away, we should all be asking our Representatives:

> "Who are we giving the weapons to?"
> "What assurances can you give your constituents that Al qaeda, Hezbollah or the Muslim Brotherhood
     will not end up with the arms give away?"

[EJR914]

I think we're giving large and small arms to AQ and their affiliates to be honest. 

We can expect to see them in Iraq and the Stan to kill our troops.  It won't take long for them to get there. 

As soon as they don't need them in Syria, they will go elsewhere.  We're incredibly stupid when it comes to this.

We train and arm the likes of Bin Laden, then they turn on us and kill Americans in the homeland and abroad.  I'm still thinking Bin Laden was a former CIA operative at this point.  We just retired him when we killed him.  He must have ticked off the agency.

[Ghost]

Isn't it bizarre how we send weapons to a group of people, who just happen to be EXACTLY the same as a group of people in another country, that we're trying to kill?

[Alex1992]

So it begins 

[crudos]

Container ship carrying weapons for Syrian rebels splits in half/sinks

Hmmmm..... 

http://www.vesselfinder.com/news/1223-UPDATE-MOL-Comfort-Sank

[Skippy00004]

Container ship carrying weapons for Syrian rebels splits in half/sinks

Hmmmm..... 

http://www.vesselfinder.com/news/1223-UPDATE-MOL-Comfort-Sank

The next world war will not be televised...

[JohnyMac]

WOW! Do I need to put my Tin Foiled hat on this one?