McCain: Obama to Send New Arms to Syrian Rebels

[dkf]

McCain: Obama to Send New Arms to Syrian Rebels
by Josh Rogin, Eli LakeSep 2, 2013 10:03 pm EDT
That’s what John McCain says the president promised to do if it means getting support for an attack on Syria. Josh Rogin and Eli Lake report on Obama's quickening war campaign.

In a private meeting at the White House on Monday with Senator John McCain, President Obama said he plans to give Syrian rebels more advanced weapons, according to McCain. If this happens, it would mark an expansion of Obama’s latest Syria strategy of possibly mounting a military response to Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons.

McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham met with Obama to discuss the plan, which as currently outlined by the White House involves a limited mission to punish the Syrian regime’s use chemical weapons, as the Syrian president did most recently on Aug. 21, and deter future assaults. Administration officials have made clear that “regime change” is not an objective of the mission. But Obama’s new arming strategy would certainly help the rebels, whose goal is removal of the Assad regime. The White House didn’t respond to requests for comment on Monday.

“He said that he was willing to upgrade the capabilities of the Free Syrian Army,” McCain said in an interview with The Daily Beast, referring to the largest of the rebel groups. “This was a shift in the president’s thought and actions from before.”

McCain and Graham have said they want to know the president’s broader strategy for the Syrian conflict before voting on the war authorization.

Obama didn’t say which weapons he would give the rebels, but McCain said the FSA needs anti-armor and anti-aircraft weapons to shift the momentum on the ground to their side. He said if the administration gives him enough specifics about the new arms pledges, he’ll vote to authorize military action.

“For the first time, we have an outline of action that could lead to the removal of Bashar al Assad,” McCain said. “I’m certainly willing to join in that effort but I need to know a lot of the details.”

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/09/02/obama-to-arm-syrian-rebels.html

Anyone feel comfortable giving Al Qaeda anti aircraft weapons? Anyone? Anyone?

[MannyGoldstein]

1. But it's not about regime change, thank goodness! Nt

[dflprincess]

2. What could possibly go wrong?

How many times do dumb moves like this have to bite us in the Sss before we learn?

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Of course, they are our new found friends and pals

Nope, nothing whatsoever could ever go wrong with this, since they are our new best friends forever.

Is my cynicism showing?

[dionysus]

6. we don't care whether it is or not... self important hackery doesn't help....

[DevonRex]

8. Nadine hasn't the foggiest notion what the FSA is, nor what the

actual rebel group that IS Al Qaeda's name is, and that they are two very separate groups that do NOT work together. The FSA even rejected cooperation with Muslim Brotherhood.

This is another RW meme spread by Rand Paul. He does word it carefully when he says it. Then the idiots interpret it as as the FSA is Al Qaeda.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. BiPartisan Hawks.

[fujiyama]

5. I didn't vote for Obama to enact McCain's neocon agenda

I hope The President shows more sense, but I am fearing he is falling for their bullshit.

[DevonRex]

7. Are you intentionally deceiving other people or are you ignorant? FSA is NOT AQ.

The al-Nusra Front ( Jabhat al-Nusra) is Al Qaeda. It has been designated by everyone as a terrorist group. It is the most deadly of the rebel groups because of the tactics it uses. But it only claims to have 5,000 people.

The Free Syria Army is composed of 100,000 defectors from the state Syrian Army. It is a well-run organization. They do not want to live under a religious state, just like they don't want to live under Assad. They also rejected the Muslim Brotherhood. Some are

The foreign fighters in FSA include Turks and Kurds, Jordanians and Kuwaitis. And 600 from the NLA (National Liberation Front) from Libya. Some from Algiers and Tunisia. But as mercenaries, they also have Croatians, Serbs, citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and former KLA (former Kosovo Liberation Army) members.

[NightWatcher]

10. Did Obama have to agree to a bigger war to get McSame on his side?

We were just going to strike for two or three days, now I hear we are going to go after Assad's ability to launch chemical weapons as well as support one faction of rebels over the other factions of rebels. Did he have to promise them a bigger war to get them on board?

That's just sick.

[FarCenter]

11. We'll only find out later all the stuff Obama traded to the Republicans for support on Syria.

This is politics. The inducements would not necessarily be limited to defense. Could be on all sorts of domestic programs too.