who will control the syrian rebel's guns?

[xchrom]

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2013/06/syria-who-will-control-the-rebels-guns.html



The Syrian opposition—in all its varied forms—has long asked that Barack Obama contribute more to its fight against President Bashar al-Assad than reprimands and non-lethal aid. (That category has included ready-to-eat meals of Western but not Syrian favorites like tortellini with cream sauce.) The rebels got some of what they wanted Thursday, when the White House let it be known that it is now considering sending them small arms. The change in policy was prompted by intelligence reports claiming that Assad had used small quantities of sarin gas on several occasions, killing between a hundred and a hundred and fifty people, and occurred on the same day that the United Nations announced that at least ninety-three thousand people have died in the war. The former, though, were the decisive hundred.

But what will American guns mean on the ground? What kinds of weapons will the United States provide, how many, and to whom?

Rebel commanders I’ve talked to inside Syria over the past two years say they can always use more Kalashnikovs and other light weapons. What they really want, though, are anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft systems, the kinds of sophisticated armaments that the West worries might end up in the hands of Islamic extremists, either inside Syria or elsewhere.

But guns serve two purposes: they function not only as weapons against the enemy but also as a potential means of helping rebels the United States favors enforce command and control within their ranks. The rebels, so far, have been unable to form a chain of command that is respected on the ground, has real authority, and can enforce direction. The United States will likely seek to funnel supplies to so-called moderate rebels under General Salim Idris, the head of the Free Syrian Army’s military command, to make him a more attractive alternative to more extreme elements. This will be very difficult, for a number of reasons.

[Laelth]

1. Very informative. k&r for exposure. n/t

-Laelth