Obama Moving Toward Sending Lethal Arms To Syrian Rebels, Officials Say
Source: Washington Post
By Karen DeYoung, Updated: Tuesday, April 30, 4:47 PM
President Obama is preparing to send lethal weaponry to the Syrian opposition and has taken steps to assert more aggressive U.S. leadership among allies and partners seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, according to senior administration officials.
The officials emphasized that supplying arms is one of several options under consideration and that political negotiation remains the preferred option. To that end, the administration has launched an effort to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin that the probable use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government — and the more direct outside intervention that could provoke — should lead him to reconsider his support of Assad.
But Obama, who spoke by telephone with Putin on Monday and is sending Secretary of State John F. Kerry to Moscow in the coming days, is likely to make a final decision on the supply of arms to the opposition within weeks, before a scheduled meeting with Putin in June, officials said.
--CLIP
But the senior official, one of several who discussed internal administration deliberations on the condition of anonymity, said Obama has “not closed the door to other military actions,” in response to calls from the opposition and some members of Congress for protection against Syrian ballistic missiles and airstrikes.
Read more: Link to sourhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-preparing-to-send-lethal-arms-to-syrian-opposition-officials-say/2013/04/30/3084d0d4-b1a6-11e2-bbf2-a6f9e9d79e19_story_1.htmlce
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Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)Lovely. Just what America needs.
BTW, how are we gonna pay for these weapons that are gonna be shipped to Syria? Any kind of "intervention" will require money. Well, Social SEcurity and Medicare are on the chopping block.
Grandma can eat cat food while we get bogged down in another foreign misadventure with no clearly defined objective.
Yay!
Alamuti Lotus
(3,093 posts)I read this piece just seconds after another article illustrating how much hesitation and prudence they're approaching the idea with. Some poor souls are still confused as to which mask is real.
Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)I guess our fearless leaders will never learn.
still_one
(92,061 posts)Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)MrSlayer
(22,143 posts)Technically you're right though. Just hitting you with the gloves won't kill you, a fist inside it may.
bahrbearian
(13,466 posts)still_one
(92,061 posts)cvoogt
(949 posts)People kill people. (sarcasm!).
leveymg
(36,418 posts)If the neocons and the Saudis move us into the middle of another war, America is never going to recover. So much for institutional reconstruction and recovery of hope.
NoMoreWarNow
(1,259 posts)Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)John2
(2,730 posts)to the people who advise him and reacting to the pressures of a warmongering Congress that got this country into Iraq. Many of those people are still in power. Sit in the seat of a General. Ask yourself this question, who is winning the War if more lethal measures are needed? If the side making claims they are winning, then why would they need more lethal weapons?
The opposition forces are not unified. Then ask yourself the question, who do they intend to give these more lethal weapons to? What kind of weapons are they? You are the General. If the Assad Government was on their last legs, then why do you need more lethal weapons? You also have fighting among the opposition, so they don't trust each other. Why don't the U.S. tell the American public the names of these groups they intend to support? Who represent the free Syrian Army and how many are there really? I think this information would be very helpful to the American Public. Why trust the Politicians.
One thing that this will do, is the other side would begin to use more lethal weapons in their arsenals. They will get more lethal weapons from their suppliers. The result is an escalation and not a quicker solution of the conflict. It will also result in more deaths and atrocities by both sides. Obama believes in his advisors and he seems to want to please the neocons in this country, with a perception that he is a tough guy. I don't think his Middle East Policy is smart at all. He needs some Liberals in his cabinet. I saw a problem when John McCain, Graham and Ayotte was advertising for John Kerry. Every action he has shown appears to be pro War.
The final question would be what are they trying to achieve in the Middle East with Syria? If Assad disappeared today, the fighting and blood shed would not stop. Is that really the U.S. goal to stop the fighting? Is your goal to put weapons in the hands of another strongman so he can oppress the opposition? You will still have Hezbullah,Hamas,Iran and Islamist extremists in the area. They will still be there because those people live there and they do have families also. Whatever they are trying to do is idiotic period! And if you put ground troops in there, all you will do is move them from Afghanistan to Syria. Another hell hole where they will be targets and don't know who is whom. That will be ashame too.
Sand Wind
(1,573 posts)Kerry was particularly outspoken during closed-door sessions with opposition and international leaders and demanded a more cooperative and integrated effort on all sides,?according to participants. That message was amplified by Obama, who met last week with Qatari Emir Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and Jordan’s King Abdullah II. In mid-May, he will host Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Washington.
WP
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)MrSlayer
(22,143 posts)Every move we've made in that region has been wrong. Getting involved in Syria will be no different.
It's stupid and none of our business. Let them kill each other, none of them are our friends.
