More U.S. Help for Syrian Rebels Would Hinge on Pledges

[alp227]

Source: NYT

President Obama has agreed to additional nonlethal aid for Syria’s rebels, according to a senior administration official, but the United State also plans to push their political leaders to be inclusive, to protect minorities and to abide by the rule of law.

Secretary of State John Kerry planned to meet with opposition leaders in Istanbul on Saturday, as well as with foreign ministers from nations that are supporting them, to discuss both what the United States plans to do to help the rebels and what it expects from them.

“It’s not a quid pro quo, but we want the opposition to do more,” said a senior official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the administration’s strategy. “Secretary Kerry will be discussing what steps we want them to take.”

The meeting in Turkey of the so-called Friends of Syria group is taking place against a backdrop of worsening violence in the two-year-old civil war, dire new worries about how to care for millions of displaced Syrians, and further signs of Islamist radicalization in the insurgency as well as intransigence by President Bashar al-Assad. The special Syria envoy of the Arab League and United Nations, Lakhdar Brahimi, told the Security Council on Friday that “the situation is extremely bad” and that he thinks daily about resigning.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/20/world/middleeast/more-american-aid-to-syrian-rebels-with-conditions.html?pagewanted=all

[octothorpe]

2. After watching videos of both sides talking and taking part in various actions...

I'm convinced we shouldn't be helping either side.

[L0oniX]

6. +1 ...stay the hell out of it. There is no good side to this.

[Bosonic]

3. US officials: More nonlethal aid to Syrian rebels

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the U.S. prepares to provide far more nonlethal aid to opposition forces in Syria, the regime of President Bashar Assad faces a new threat from European nations that could determine whether a stronger international intervention might be attempted.

The European Union arms embargo may be allowed to expire at the end of May or modified to only block weapons that are headed to Assad's government. Either course could be only steps away from supplying the rebels with arms.

Assad's reaction to the increase in pressure would be tested and might lead to stronger international action in the effort to persuade him to step down.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected on Saturday to announce plans to give opposition forces up to $130 million in defensive military supplies — possibly including body armor, armored vehicles, night vision goggles and advanced communications equipment. U.S. officials said exactly what is given, and how much it will cost, will be determined at a meeting Saturday of the Syrian opposition leadership and their main international allies that Kerry will attend in Istanbul, Turkey.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/us-officials-more-nonlethal-aid-syrian-rebels

[pampango]

4. Somebody tell Kerry the Israelis agree with the Syrian king and disagree Kerry on this.

Netanyahu to urge Britain to 'carefully vet’ Syria rebels’ intentions before supplying them with arms

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to ask British Prime Minister David Cameron during their meeting Wednesday in London to be extremely cautious about arming the Syrian rebels, a senior Israeli official has said.

Netanyahu will tell Cameron that because there are known to be global jihad elements among the rebels, it is very important to carefully vet a rebel group’s intentions before supplying it with weapons.

A senior Israeli official said Jerusalem does not categorically object to Western nations arming the Syrian rebels, given that states such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar are already arming extremist Islamic rebel groups in Syria. But, he said, Israel fears that Western military aid will be dispatched overly hastily, before the exact identity of the recipients is clarified.

The rebels claim that without these weapons they will have difficulty defeating the armed forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Israel fears, however, that should the weapons supplied to the rebels by the EU fall into the hands of rebel groups identified with Al-Qaida, they may later be used against Israel Defense Forces troops on the Golan Heights or against Israeli aircraft.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-to-urge-britain-to-carefully-vet-syria-rebels-intentions-before-supplying-them-with-arms.premium-1.515844

Israel may be more comfortable with the 'devil they know' than with the 'devil they don't know'. Israel fears that weapons supplied to the opposition will fall into the hands of al-Queda groups. Israel seems to have little fear that Assad's tanks and planes will be used against it. They never have been and, at least for now, those tanks and planes have other targets.

[David__77]

5. Kerry should listen to Israeli opinion.

Israeli security is definitely at stake here. Israel may not wish to be encircled by havens of terrorism, and has a vested interest in politically supporting (albeit quietly) the forces of secularism.