By AFP
| COLLEVILLE-SUR-MER, FRANCE, Friday, 6 June 2014.- President Barack Obama's top foreign policy advisor Susan Rice on
Friday said Washington was providing "lethal and non-lethal" support to
select members of the Syrian opposition, offering more detail than usual
on U.S. assistance.
Top Obama administration officials typically decline to say exactly what equipment, arms or ammunition the United States is providing to moderate Syrian opposition forces.
But President Barack Obama said in a major foreign policy speech last week that the United States would "ramp up" support for rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad.
National Security Advisor Susan Rice said in an interview with CNN while she was traveling with Obama to D-Day 70th anniversary celebrations in Normandy that she was heartbroken about the carnage in Syria's civil war.
"That's why the United States has ramped up its support for the moderate vetted opposition, providing lethal and non-lethal support where we can to support both the civilian opposition and the military opposition."
- Officials normally publicly refuse to comment on exactly what they are doing to train opposition groups.
- National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden declined to say whether Rice was announcing a new US policy by apparently being more open on US assistance.
"We're not in a position to detail all of our assistance, but as we've made clear, we provide both military and non-military assistance to the opposition," Hayden said.
Signs of a deepening commitment to Syrian rebels come three weeks after Obama met the head of the opposition National Coalition, Ahmad Jarba in Washington last month.
Officially, US support for rebel fighters in Syria has been limited to non-lethal aid amounting to $287 million, though the CIA reportedly participates in a secret program to train moderate rebels in Jordan.
Opposition leaders are particularly dismayed that the United States has balked at providing anti-aircraft missiles to rebels, fearing they could fall into the wrong hands.
The Wall Street Journal has reported that Obama is ready to sign off on training missions for selected rebel groups, to counter the rising power of Al-Qaeda-linked extremists.
Last Update: Friday, 6 June 2014 KSA 20:28 - GMT 17:28
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Related:
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S. Nasrallah: Any Political Solution in Syria Must Be Attained with Pr. Assad...
ReplyDeleteHezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah stressed that the presidential elections in Syria announced the failure of the international war against it and that any political solution must be attained with President Bashar Assad.
Sayyed Nasrallah, who was speaking during the memorial service of the head of Islamic Association for Education and Teaching, Sheikh Mostafa Qassir, emphasized that the Syrian government withstood in face of the Western pressures and insisted on carrying out the presidential elections.
"The Syrians challenged the American and the Western pressures through their historical turnout," Sayyed Nasrallah added, "Instead of exerting these pressures which aimed at confiscating the Syrians' will, the US and the West must have allowed the Syrian expatriates to vote at the Syrian embassies in the their countries."
"In some countries, takfiri fatwas were issued to prevent the Syrian from participating in the elections."
The farce was that head of the opposing Syrian coalition insolently threatened the Syrians of detonating car bombs during the elections, yet they rejected his warnings and participated heavily in the vote.
Regarding the Syrian vote in Lebanon, Sayyed Nasrallah said that the turnout surprised March 8 team as it surprised March 14 team, adding that accusing Hezbollah of obliging the Syrians to vote or of driving its members to vote is not based on any piece of evidence........http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=155175&cid=23&fromval=1
6/6/14