U.S. to weigh arming Syrian rebels, official says

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. to weigh arming Syrian rebels, official says

By Arshad Mohammed and Matt Spetalnick
WASHINGTON | Mon Jun 10, 2013 11:04am EDT

(Reuters) - The United States could make a decision as early as this week on whether to arm Syrian rebels, U.S. officials said on Monday, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry put off a Middle East trip to attend meetings on the subject.

However, the U.S. government has debated for months whether to provide weaponry to the rebels in their civil war against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces and has so far decided against.

One U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity stressed that while a decision on whether to start arming the rebels is possible as soon as this week, deliberations on the issue could easily take longer.

Kerry put off a planned trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories to attend the White House meetings, an Obama administration source said.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/10/us-usa-syria-idUSBRE9590HY20130610

[clarice]

1. Uh, yes, a GREAT plan. Like giving kids beer and the keys to the corvette. nt

[DetlefK]

2. In other news (here on DU), Al-Qaeda in Syria executes 15 year-old

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014505000


This is exactly the situation that was avoided in Libya: If Gaddafi's army had crushed the rebels in Benghazi, the would have fractured, gone undercover and radicalized. The West stopped Gaddafi's offensive with bombings and a more or less regular warfare began.

The conflict in Syria was left to simmer.
The West hoped, the rebels would win and all this unpleasantness would just go away.
Russia hoped, their ally Assad would win and all this unpleasantness would just go away.
And now it's to late for a clean cut. Syria is in a downward-spiral nobody can stop.

[rbixby]

3. I think this is definitely a case of 'stay out of this'

Neither side is the 'good' guy. At the end of the day, at least Assad was the devil you know, all these various rebel groups...who knows about them?