21st Century Wire says…
Reports have come out over the weekend that Saudi Arabia is discussing plans to back the Syrian National Coalition. It appears that Saudi intelligence will take the lead on getting arms to Syrian opposition terror groups.
Ahmad Jarba, newly elected President and public face of the Syrian National Coalition had this to say in an interview with Reuters:
“We are working on getting advanced and medium-range weapons to the Free Syrian army and the liberated areas.” then Jarba added:
I will not rest until I procure the advanced weapons needed to hit back at Assad and his allies.”
Will Congressional delays of arms be upended by back door deals with the Syrian National Coalition? It seems that the U.S. government is passing the baton to Saudi Arabia, having them continue the proxy war against the Syrian government on behalf of EU-US interests.
Congress delaying U.S. aid to Syrian rebels
By Mark Hosenball and Phil Stewart
Reuters
Congressional committees are holding up a plan to send U.S. weapons to rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad because of fears that such deliveries will not be decisive and the arms might end up in the hands of Islamist militants, five U.S. national security sources said.
Both the Senate and House of Representatives intelligence committees have expressed reservations behind closed doors at the effort by President Barack Obama’s administration to support the insurgents by sending them military hardware.
None of the military aid that the United States announced weeks ago has arrived in Syria, according to an official from an Arab country and Syrian opposition sources.
Democrats and Republicans on the committees worry that weapons could reach factions like the Nusra Front, which is one of the most effective rebel groups but has also been labeled by the United States as a front for al Qaeda in Iraq.
Committee members also want to hear more about the administration’s overall Syria policy, and about how it believes its arms plan will affect the situation on the ground, where Assad’s forces have made recent gains.
