U.S. Wary on Arming Syria Opposition
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
U.S. President Barack Obama's administration said Tuesday it did not favor arming Syria's opposition but did not rule out the idea completely amid deadly clashes with Bashar al-Assad's regime.
Senator John McCain, a senior Republican and Obama's rival in the last presidential election in 2008, made a new call Monday on a visit to the region for Syria's rebels to be given weapons to "defend themselves."
"From our perspective, we don't believe that it makes sense to contribute now to the further militarization of Syria," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.
"What we don't want to see is the spiral of violence increase. That said, if we can't get Assad to yield to the pressure that we are all bringing to bear, we may have to consider additional measures," she said.
"We have not taken anything off the table," she said.
More than 6,000 people have died in the Syrian regime's 11-month crackdown on dissent, activists say. Russia and China have vetoed two proposed U.N. Security Council resolutions that would have put pressure on Assad.
21 February 2012, 23:03
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I am guessing that this more should correctly be written arming Syrian Opposition overtly versus covertly as they are doing now.
22 February 2012, 05:49
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Ah ok, so the terrorists right now are getting their weapons from thin air, right?
22 February 2012, 08:26
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Let us remember that the US was actually behind the first armed coup in Syria in 1949 and that democracy in Syria was never on the US agenda. What the US wants is the departure of Assad as he's become politicaly expired and does not belong to the 21st century; however, the US does want to preserve the armed forces and a significant portion of the regime to ensure stability i.e the status quo for israel in the golan heights. This is the real reason behind all this western hesitation to intervene: israel's interest. Assad knows that full well and is using it to gain more time. Time is not at all on the regime's side and it is definitely weaker than it was 11 months ago. The Syrian people have turned the political table upside down and the west is readjusting to preserve interests with the least amount of losses. I think that Intervention will sooner or later happen to ensure a favorable outcome.
22 February 2012, 09:51
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This is a very simple analysis. The situation is much more complicated than that, this is why they are hesitant. I am just concerned about Lebanon, how it is going to emerge from all these problems around it.
