Report: Obama OKs support for Syrian rebels

[ProSense]

Report: Obama OKs support for Syrian rebels

By David Jackson

President Obama approved an additional $12 million in humanitarian assistance to Syria today, amid reports that he has also authorized covert aide to rebels who are seeking to topple the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

In announcing the new aid, White House spokesman Jay Carney said: "The quickest way to end the bloodshed and suffering of the Syrian people is for Bashar al-Assad to recognize that the Syrian people will not allow him to continue in power, and to step aside to enable a peaceful political transition to a government that is responsive to the aspirations of the Syrian people."

Meanwhile, White House officials have refused to comment on reports that Obama has also signed an order authorizing U.S. support for rebels in their battle against Assad's government.

Details of the order signed earlier this year are unclear, writes Mark Hosenball of Reuters, but the finding "broadly permits the CIA and other U.S. agencies to provide support that could help the rebels oust Assad."

- more -

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2012/08/reports-obama-oks-support-for-syrian-rebels/1

Makes you wonder why an action involving the CIA and intelligence support from earlier this year is suddenly in the news? Why is it timed with the humanitarian aid? The RW-neocons are calling it a national security leak: http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/312985/another-leak-reveals-obamas-inaction-syria-elliott-abrams

Is Mitt in trouble?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

1. Will he hire Ollie North to run the operation?

[ProSense]

2. Are you implying that the President is doing something illegal? n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

5. I don't know about the "legality" but I do know how our interference in civil wars have worked out.

Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Congo, Nicaragua, Chile, Honduras, El Salvador, Iran, Greece, Angola, Mozambique, and countless others we've "helped".

[ProSense]

16. And

Libya and Egypt.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

18. Exactly. And, Iraq and Afghanistan.

All, of course, justified to "protect our vital national interests" from whatever bogeyman "threatens" them.

[ProSense]

22. Wait

"Exactly. And, Iraq and Afghanistan."

...there was no civil war or uprising in Iraq when Bush invaded, and Obama ended the war.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

23. You're right. The civil war in Iraq started after we "helped" them.

And, we still have troops...er.."advisers" in Iraq and a whole lot of "helpers" in Afghanistan.

[leveymg]

3. You know, it's going to come out that casualties went up after Obama signed off on this, don't you?

The US has also violated the UN weapons embargo, at least by complicity with KSA, GCC and others whose actions we have been coordinating and facilitating in this covert intervention.

Is the Obama Administration prepared to answer charges of complicity in war crimes committed by the FSA and other forces receiving our help? We need to be asking this question before we get even more deeply into this religious war and sectarian slaughterhouse.

[ProSense]

4. Actually,

"You know, it's going to come out that casualties went up after Obama signed off on this, don't you?"

...from the Reuters report:

But U.S. and European officials have said that there have been noticeable improvements in the coherence and effectiveness of Syrian rebel groups in the past few weeks. That represents a significant change in assessments of the rebels by Western officials, who previously characterized Assad's opponents as a disorganized, almost chaotic, rabble.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/02/us-usa-syria-obama-order-idUSBRE8701OK20120802

[Comrade Grumpy]

6. Yeah,their CIA trainers have been busy.

[leveymg]

7. That just means Sunni militia now kill more Shi'ia and gov't soldiers, and vis-a-versa, in Syria

That just seems to add to the body-count on both sides, that will continue to rise, along with the attendant massacres and ethnic cleansing of the affected civilian populations. We are now part of those war crimes. How is Obama going to respond to that?

[ProSense]

9. So

That just means that they are now killing more Shi'ia and gov't soldiers, and vis-a-versa, in Syria

That just seems to add to the body-count on both sides, that will continue to rise, along with the attendant massacres and ethnic cleansing of the affected civilian populations. We are now part of those war crimes. How is Obama going to respond to that?

...you were OK when the slaughter was one-sided?

Intelligence doesn't kill, it's a strategic aid.

[leveymg]

12. Never okay with any of the slaughter. More opposed as it's getting worse with US intervention

Intelligence, logistics, communications, propaganda are all part of aggressive war, genocide, and ethnic cleansing. You need to read some of the case law from international human rights tribunals, e.g., Serbia and Rwanda, and you wouldn't make such ignorant claims.

[ProSense]

15. Well,

"Never okay with any of the slaughter. More opposed as it's getting worse with US intervention"

...they could be asked to stop fighting, and no doubt diplomacy is underway, but the reality is they are fighting.

Intelligence, logistics, communications, propaganda are all part of aggressive war, genocide, and ethnic cleansing. You need to read some of the case law from international human rights tribunals, e.g., Serbia and Rwanda, and you wouldn't make ignorant claims.

Well, migthy condescending coming from someone spinning a non-existing situation.

In fact, I do recall the hands-off approach to Rwanda, that led to Clinton being called a "war criminal."

[woo me with science]

8. Nobel Peace Prize - what a fucking joke.

The PNAC and Blood for Profit....a bipartisan business.

[ProSense]

10. Broken record? n/t

[AtomicKitten]

17. He won the Nobel for his work on securing loose nukes.

But you knew that already, didn't you?

It just doesn't fit your 'they're exactly the same' narrative.

[Tarheel_Dem]

30. For someone who wants to be "wooed by science", your predictable talking points betray you.

Thorbjørn Jagland: Chairman, Norwegian Nobel Committee
Former Norwegian Labor Party prime minister and Secretary General of the Council of Europe

"Jagland said "We have not given the prize for what may happen in the future. We are awarding Obama for what he has done in the past year."

There's that talking point out the window. As has been stated above, this award was for his work in the area of "nuclear proliferation". Sorry.

[woo me with science]

31. ROFL!

So I can win one year and bomb for the rest of my life!

Nice to know!

[Tarheel_Dem]

32. Pretty much, but the thesis for your worn out talking point re: "Nobel Peace Prize" is.....

shot all to hell.

[killbotfactory]

11. One problem is that this conflict is empowering Sunni terrorist groups

Both in Syria and Iraq. The longer this conflict goes on, the more influential these groups will become if the rebels are successful. It would make sense for western governments to try and hasten Assad's exit now that it seems inevitable, sooner or later.

[leveymg]

13. recced for visibility. Please see comments in thread.

[SIIHPAPP87]

14. We shouldn't be supporting either side..

We shouldn't be supporting either side in Syria. No humanitarian assistance or military aid to the rebels. Both sides are pure evil and their end game leads to the same agenda.

On one side you have a government slaughtering it's people. On the other you have a rebellion force (Free Syrian Army) acting like savages with ties to Al Qaeda.

Here we go supporting the takeover of yet another country by the Muslim Brotherhood.

[ProSense]

19. "Here we go supporting the takeover of yet another country by the Muslim Brotherhood. "

Bachmann?

[Lucy Goosey]

20. ...my thoughts exactly.

[SIIHPAPP87]

21. Bachmann?

The truth hurts sometimes. The old saying goes like "Sleeping with the enemy"

If you look around there is undeniable evidence that the FSA is committing just as heinous if not worse war crimes than Assad.

[ProSense]

24. Yeah,

"The truth hurts sometimes."

...Bachmann believes the shit she says too.


"If you look around there is undeniable evidence that the FSA is committing just as heinous if not worse war crimes then Assad. "

"Then Assad"?

[SIIHPAPP87]

25. Long morning at the office..

[HiPointDem]

26. omg. you're spinning obama's covert aid to syria on romney?

[ProSense]

27. "omg." What?

Let me apologize: I'm sorry your perception that Romney might be implicated here has caused you great concern.

[HiPointDem]

28. the all-powerful romney!! our president is powerless against his might!!

[ProSense]

29. "the all-powerful romney!! "

Exciting!