Local Editor 16-07-2013 | 10:44 The New York Times US daily reported Tuesday that "a month ago Obama administration officials promised to deliver arms and ammunition to the Syrian rebels in the hope of reversing the tide of a war that had turned against the armed groups."  But interviews with American, Western and Middle Eastern officials show that the administration's plans are far more limited than it has indicated in public and private.In fact, the officials said, the administration's plans to use the CIA to covertly train and arm the rebels could take months to have any impact on the battlefield. Many officials believe the assistance is unlikely to bolster the armed groups enough to push President Bashar al-Assad of Syria to the negotiating table. "The plans call for the CIA to supply only small arms, and to only a limited segment of the opposition - the actual numbers are unclear," the daily mentioned, and noted that "much of the training, which is to take place over months in Jordan and Turkey, has not yet started, partly because of Congressional objections." Many in the administration say they are still seeking to satisfy themselves that they have taken all precautions possible to prevent weapons from falling into the hands of extremists in Syria. To them, the plan carries echoes of previous American efforts to arm rebels in Angola, Nicaragua and elsewhere, many of which backfired. There is also fear at the White House that Obama will be dragged into another war in the Middle East. "In my meetings with American policy makers I often detect a conversation between ghosts," said Michael Oren, the "Israeli" ambassador in Washington, speaking of the debate. "The ghosts of Afghanistan and Iraq are vying with the ghosts of Rwanda and Kosovo." "One of the biggest impediments has been the cohesion and the organization of the opposition relative to the Assad forces," Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island, a senior Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said in an interview. For example, the group that officials in Washington have designated to be recipients of American arms, the so-called Free Syrian Army, is actually an umbrella organization composed of hundreds of different battalions in Syria. Many of those battalions are not under the direct command of Gen. Salim Idris, the commander the administration has identified as its chief interlocutor with the opposition. Some of the battalions receive General Idris's orders only after they gradually trickle down through a byzantine command structure. The armed groups are dispersed throughout the country. It remains unclear when the CIA.-supplied small arms will arrive in Syria. American officials say that the assistance to be coordinated by the C.I.A. includes small arms, including AK-47 rifles, antitank weapons and ammunition. For now, American officials have ruled out supplying antiaircraft weapons to the rebels for fear they might get into the hands of terrorists who could use them to shoot down commercial aircraft. But the senior Arab official said that despite the Americans' concerns, Arab allies would eventually work out a plan to deliver antiaircraft weapons to the rebels. The official cautioned that it would take time, perhaps as long as six months, before any influx of American arms might translate into battlefield success for the rebels. Source: NYT, Edited by website team |
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NYT: No Quick Impact to Arming Rebels, Ghosts of Iraq, Afghanistan Chase Obama in Syria
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