U.S. Preparing To Send Weapons To Syrian Rebels

Obama Moving Toward Sending Lethal Arms To Syrian Rebels, Officials Say -- Washington Post

President Obama is preparing to send lethal weaponry to the Syrian opposition and has taken steps to assert more aggressive U.S. leadership among allies and partners seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, according to senior administration officials.

The officials emphasized that supplying arms is one of several options under consideration and that political negotiation remains the preferred option. To that end, the administration has launched an effort to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin that the probable use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government — and the more direct outside intervention that could provoke — should lead him to reconsider his support of Assad.

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Update: Report: Obama Close to Sending Arms to Syria -- Military.com

My Comment: Another war to get involved in. And as so typical of today's Washington .... no debate, no discussion, no public involvement.

President Obama Comments On Syria

Obama: Need All Facts on Syria Chemical Weapons -- Voice of America

U.S. President Barack Obama says he needs more facts on chemical weapons use in Syria before ordering any American response.

Speaking to reporters at the White House Tuesday, Obama said the United States has evidence that chemical weapons were used inside Syria, but does not know who used them or how they were used. He said until that "chain of custody" is established, the U.S. would not rush to judgment.

Last week, the White House told lawmakers it believes "with varying degrees of confidence" that the government of President Bashar al-Assad has used a small quantity of sarin gas, a chemical weapon, in Syria’s civil war.

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More News On President Obama's Comments On Syria

Obama signals won't rush to act against Syria over chemical arms -- Reuters
Obama Declines to Outline Plan for Syria in White House Press Conference -- US News and World Report
Obama cautions against rush to action in Syria -- NBC
Obama cautious but hints at eventual action on Syria -- AFP
Obama: U.S. must be certain before intervening in Syria -- CTV/AP
Obama Says U.S. Needs Hard Evidence on Syria Chemical Arms Use -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Obama: US unsure who used chemical weapons in Syria -- YNet News
Obama claims the US is 'deeply engaged' in Syria but he 'isn't sure who used the chemical weapons' -- Daily Mail
Obama says he's rethinking 'range of options' against Syria -- FOX News
Obama: There is 'some evidence' Syria's Assad used chemical weapons -- NBC
Obama says there is evidence of chemical weapon use in Syria -- RT

President Obama Wants More Evidence Of Chemical Weapons Use In Syria

Obama Wants ‘Strong Evidence’ Of Chemical Weapons Use In Syria Before Taking Next Step -- Washington Post

President Obama is seeking time before deciding whether Syria’s probable use of chemical weapons will force the United States off the sidelines of a two-year conflict that he has never seen as a central national security threat.

“What we have right now is an intelligence assessment,” Obama said Friday, in his first comments on Syria since the White House acknowledged Thursday that Syria’s government probably used chemical agents “on a small scale.” But he stressed that it is too soon to say whether the “red line” of chemical weapons use was crossed.

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My Comment: President Obama is right to request more evidence and proof on chemical weapon use in Syria. If you are going to commit U.S. intelligence and military resources to a conflict such as Syria's .... you better be damn sure that you are doing it for the right reasons and with the right intelligence information.

Update #1: Obama Not Rushing to Act on Signs Syria Used Chemical Arms -- New York Times

Update #2: U.S. intelligence does have a history where their intelligence assessments were wrong. Here is that list.

Update #3: There is some truth to this story .... Obama Unveils New ‘Red Line’ for Syria’s Chemical Weapons.

Is The U.S. Fearful Of A Rebel Victory In Syria?

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington, D.C., April 17, 2013. DOD photo by U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Aaron Hostutler

U.S. Fears Syria Rebel Victory, for Now -- Adam Entous and Julian E. Barnes, Wall Street Journal

Administration Belief That Islamists Would Prevail Has Driven Efforts to Boost Moderate Fighters

WASHINGTON—Senior Obama administration officials have caught some lawmakers and allies by surprise in recent weeks with an amended approach to Syria: They don't want an outright rebel military victory right now because they believe, in the words of one senior official, that the "good guys" may not come out on top.

Administration officials fear that with Islamists tied to al Qaeda increasingly dominating the opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad , too swift a rebel victory would undercut hopes for finding a diplomatic solution, according to current and former officials. It would also shatter national institutions along with what remains of civil order, these people say, increasing the danger that Syrian chemical weapons will be used or transferred to terrorists.

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My Comment: I am shaking my head .... it appears that the White House is confident that they will be able to micromanage the Syrian civil war. More to the point .... when the U.S. Defense Secretary makes statements like this .... that is when you know that the U.S. really has no strategy or plan on what to do with Syria .... all that they now have are their own hopes.

But .... U.S. Secretary of Defense Hagel is probably right about this point .... Pentagon chief warns that war in Syria could be ‘lengthy and uncertain’.

Update: More evidence that there is no leadership from the White House on Syria .... Top Obama Officials Differ on Syrian Rebels in Testimony to Congress.

Is The U.S. Planning To Intervene In Syria?

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Robert F. Hale, the Defense Department's comptroller, testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington, D.C., April 17, 2013. DOD photo by U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Aaron Hostutler

U.S. Takes Step Toward Possible Military Intervention In Syria -- L.A. Times

The Pentagon is sending about 200 troops to Jordan to help deliver aid to refugees and to plan for possible military action, including a rapid buildup of forces.

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is sending about 200 troops to Jordan, the vanguard of a potential U.S. military force of 20,000 or more that could be deployed if the Obama administration decides to intervene in Syria to secure chemical weapons arsenals or to prevent the 2-year-old civil war from spilling into neighboring nations.

Troops from the 1st Armored Division will establish a small headquarters near Jordan's border with Syria to help deliver humanitarian supplies for a growing flood of refugees and to plan for possible military operations, including a rapid buildup of American forces if the White House decides intervention is necessary, senior U.S. officials said.

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My Comment: I do not see a U.S. military intervention happening in Syria. The logistics, manpower, resources .... the U.S. does not have the political or public will to assemble such a force and to use it by intervening into Syria. The only way that the situation may change is if extremists take over Syria .... and start to not only deploy WMDs .... but to use them. In such a crisis anything is possible .... and this is what these 200 U.S. military planners will be primarily doing. Laying the groundwork in case the worst case scenario becomes reality.

Will President Obama Reverse His Position On Supplying Weapons To Syria's Rebels

Obama Could Revisit Arming Syria Rebels As Assad Holds Firm -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — When President Obama rebuffed four of his top national security officials who wanted to arm the rebels in Syria last fall, he put an end to a months of debate over how aggressively Washington should respond to the strife there that has now left nearly 70,000 dead.

But the decision also left the White House with no clear strategy to resolve a crisis that has bedeviled it since a popular uprising erupted against President Bashar al-Assad almost two years ago. Despite an American program of nonlethal assistance to the opponents of the Syrian government and $365 million in humanitarian aid, Mr. Obama appears to be running out of ways to speed Mr. Assad’s exit.

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Update #1: Obama said open to U-turn on arming rebels -- UPI
Update #2: Obama to change course on Syria? -- WND

My Comment: I have seen zero signs from the White House that they may change their position on this issue .... and it is a viewpoint that is also now shared by most (if not all) of Syria's rebels.

It Is Now Too Late For The U.S. To Play A Role In Syria

The remarks by U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday offer one of the first insights into what his administration considers conditions under which it would be forced to intervene militarily in the Syrian conflict. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Is The U.S. Ready To Fight Syrian Rebels? -- Michael Rubin, Commentary

There’s an unfortunate tendency among foreign policy decision makers in Washington to believe that all options remain on the table indefinitely. Hence, President Obama may believe that the same debates and policy options that occurred two years ago, at the start of the Syrian uprising, still exist today.

The fact of the matter, be it in Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, or anywhere else is that realistic policy options and opportunities to achieve the most favorable outcome for the United States diminish over time. Two years ago, it made sense to support the Syrian opposition. President Bashar al-Assad, far from being the Western-educated reformer in which the Clinton administration and State Department officials placed so much hope, was a brute who supported Hezbollah, transformed Syria into an underground railroad for Al Qaeda terrorists infiltrating Iraq, and sought to build a covert nuclear program.

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My Comment: With almost 10,000 killed in just the past few weeks alone, and a civil war that is now raging in almost every part of the country .... no one is going to listen to what the U.S. may propose and/or recommend to end the conflict in Syria. In short .... if there ever was a place where the U.S. now has zero influence .... it is in Syria today. And while many (like Sen. McCain) may wish that this was not the case .... it is clear from my perspective that the White House never had an interest to intervene in the Syrian conflict .... and made a conscious decision (that is probably supported by most Americans) to not get involved in another Middle East war.

But while there are always consequences when one intervenes in another country .... there are also consequences when one does not. In the case of Syria it appears that the U.S. policy of not getting involved will probably result in a country that will be dominated and ruled by radical jihadists .... and what they may spawn I can only imagine.

Will The U.S. Eventually Get “Sucked Into” Syria’s Civil War?

U.S. Army Sgt. Maj. Reginald Maxwell escorts U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter to a troop event near Amman, Jordan, Feb. 5, 2013. Maxwell is assigned to U.S. Army Central Command. DOD photo by Glenn Fawcet

The U.S. Will Eventually Get “Sucked Into” Syria’s Civil War, The State Department’s Former Lead Diplomat On Syria Predicted Friday. -- Washington Times

“The United States will not have the luxury of standing aloof from what is happening in Syria under any circumstances,” Frederic Hof, who left the Obama administration in September, said at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. “One way or the other, the United States is going to be sucked into this.”

The nearly 23-month-old uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has threatened to engulf Syria’s neighbors. Last week, Israel conducted an airstrike on a military target inside Syria that drew an angry response from the Assad regime and its regional ally, Iran.

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My Comment: I disagree .... the U.S. does not have the resources and personnel necessary in the region to get involved on a significant level in Syria's civil war. But if the U.S. does get involved in Syria's civil war, it will be done quickly and will be because of something drastic and very bloody happening .... my guess is the indiscriminate use of WMDs.

President Obama's New National Security Team Will Probably Not Reconsider Arming Syria's Rebels

Obama Unlikely To Reconsider Arming Syrian Rebels Despite Views Of Security Staff -- Washington Post

President Obama is unlikely to shift his stance against the expansion of a U.S. role in Syria’s civil war, despite a death toll topping 60,000 and acknowledgment that key members of his national security staff favored a plan first proposed in June to arm the Syrian rebels.

U.S. officials said that the issue was shelved in October after an extended “red team” analysis by the CIA concluded that the limited-range weaponry the administration was comfortable providing would not have “tipped the scales” for the opposition.

Syrian opposition forces already had sufficient quantities of light weaponry from other outside sources and raids of government depots, the analysis determined. The question of providing shoulder-launched missiles to shoot down government aircraft, officials said, was never considered.

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My Comment: Secretary of State Kerry has pretty well confirmed that he is not in favor of Secretary Clinton's support for arming the rebels. If John Hagel is confirmed, I will be expecting the same advice from him.

Is Syria President Obama's Big Security Failure?

Syria, Not Benghazi, Is Obama's Big Security Failure -- Marc Champion, Bloomberg

So now we know. Under questioning from the Senate's uber-hawk, Arizona Senator John McCain on Feb. 7, U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta testified that last year he and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Martin Dempsey advised President Barack Obama to arm and train those rebels in Syria that the U.S. wants to see in charge once the current regime is toppled. Obama overruled them.

President Obama's Secretary of State and Central Intelligence Agency chief gave him the same advice -- and for the same reasons that Bloomberg View has been supporting this kind of highly targeted U.S. involvement. Obama ignored Hillary Clinton and David Petraeus, too.

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My Comment: Bottom line .... President Obama does not want to get involved in Syria's civil war .... and neither does the American public. That is why I take remarks like this one with a grain of salt.

Pentagon Backed A CIA Plan To Arm Syria's Rebels

SENATE HEARING

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testify on the Defense Department’s response to the attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington, D.C., Feb. 7, 2013. Testimony included the findings of the department's internal review following the attack. DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley

Military Chief Says Pentagon Backed Arming Syrian Rebels -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — General Martin E. Dempsey, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Thursday that the Pentagon supported a plan to arm Syrian rebels that was developed last year by David H. Petraeus, the C.I.A. director at the time, and backed by Hillary Rodham Clinton, who was then serving as Secretary of State.

Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, General Dempsey was asked by Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, if he had supported the recommendation that weapons be provided to the Syrian resistance.

“We did,” General Dempsey said,

“You did support that?” Senator McCain asked again.

“We did,” General Dempsey repeated.

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More News On The Pentagon Supporting A CIA Plan To Arm Syria's Rebels

Pentagon wanted to arm the Syrian opposition -- The Cable/Foreign Policy
Panetta backs Syria rebels arms plan -- BBC
Panetta: DOD backed arming Syrian opposition groups -- Washington Post/AP
Top U.S. Officer Says He Backed Arming Some Syria Rebels -- Wall Street Journal
Panetta Exposes Rift With Obama Over Arming Syrian Rebels -- Bloomberg Businessweek

My Comment: Since the plan to arm the rebels came from the CIA, I would have to assume that the CIA was in favor of such a plan. So .... both the Pentagon and the CIA wanted to arm the rebels .... but President Obama said no. I would love to know his reasons why?

Vice President Biden Comments On The Syrian Civil War

Sheikh Moaz Alkhatib, president of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces and US vice-president Joe Biden (R) meet for bilateral talks during the 49th Conference on Security Policy in Munich. Photograph: Reuters.

Biden Says ‘Assad Is A Tyrant And Must Go’, Calls On Russia For Cooperation -- Al Arabiya

U.S Vice President Joe Biden held talks with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, at the Munich Security Conference Saturday, amid strong disagreement between Moscow and Washington about ways to end the 22-month Syria conflict.

In Biden’s meeting with Lavrov, he called on Washington and Moscow to put aside "serious differences" and stressed the need for US-Russian cooperation, including over Syria, the White House said.

Earlier in Munich the U.S. vice president insisted Assad was a "tyrant" and must go.

Biden also met Khatib and Brahimi in Munich on Saturday.

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Update: Biden Says Syria’s Assad ‘Hellbent’ on Power, Must Go -- Bloomberg Businessweek

My Comment: Vice President Biden states that the U.S. is supplying the Syrian opposition with major funding to overthrown Assad. I disagree .... supplying non-lethal items like blankets, tents, and food is not going to drive Assad from power.

President Obama's Voices His Doubts On What To Do About Syria

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, January 24, 2013. REUTERS/Larry Downing

Obama Says Struggling Over Whether To Intervene In Syria -- Reuters

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama said he has been wrestling with the question whether a U.S. military intervention in Syria's 22-month-old civil war would help resolve the bloody conflict or make things worse.

In a pair of interviews, Obama responded to critics who say the United States has not been involved enough in Syria, where thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced according to U.N. officials. Transcripts of both interviews were released on Sunday.

The United States has called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, and has recognized an opposition coalition - but has stopped short of authorizing U.S. arming of rebels to overthrow Assad.

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More News On President Obama's Dilemma On What To Do About Syria

Obama explains hesitancy in Syria -- CNN
Obama wrestles with US role in Syria conflict -- AFP
National Security Brief: Obama Explains His Thinking On Syria -- Think Progress
Obama Expresses Uncertainty on Syria Intervention. But Here’s What the USA Can Do. -- Mark Leon Goldberg, UN Dispatch
Obama says aware of limitations for military intervention in Syria -- Press TV (Iran)
President Obama and Secretary Clinton on Syria: U.S. Needs to Be Careful -- ABC News
Obama’s stance and Syria -- Hazem Saghieh, Al Arabiya News
Obama: To Intervene in Syria or Not? -- Arutz Sheva

My Comment: The New Republic interview with President Obama is here .... the question on Syria is the last one.

Update: Two must read commentaries on President Obama's 'dilemma' over Syria:

1) Should Obama Have Intervened in Syria? Or would U.S. military involvement merely have made a disaster worse? -- Marc Lynch, Foreign Policy
2) Obama's revealed foreign policy preferences -- Daniel W. Drezner, Foreign Policy

U.S. Recognizes Main Syrian Opposition Group

U.S. Will Grant Recognition to Syrian Rebels, Obama Says -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — President Obama said Tuesday that the United States would formally recognize a coalition of Syrian opposition groups as that country’s legitimate representative, in an attempt to intensify the pressure on President Bashar al-Assad to give up his nearly two-year bloody struggle to stay in power.

Mr. Obama’s announcement, in an interview with Barbara Walters of ABC News on the eve of a meeting in Morocco of the Syrian opposition leaders and their supporters, was widely expected.

But it marks a new phase of American engagement in a bitter conflict that has claimed at least 40,000 lives, threatened to destabilize the broader Middle East and defied all outside attempts to end it. The United States had for much of the civil war largely sat on the sidelines, only recently moving more energetically as it appeared the opposition fighters were beginning to gain momentum — and radical Islamists were playing a growing role.

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More News On U.S. Recognition Of Syria's Main Opposition Groups As That Country’s Legitimate Representative

US recognises Syria opposition coalition says Obama -- BBC
Obama recognizes Syrian opposition coalition -- CNN
US to formally recognise Syrian opposition -- The Guardian
U.S. Formally Recognizes Syria's Main Rebel Group -- Wall Street Journal
Obama administration formally recognizes Syrian opposition group -- Washington Post
US recognizes opposition as representative of Syria -- Jerusalem Post/Reuters
Obama: US Now Recognizes New Syrian Opposition Coalition -- Voice of America
While U.S. Recognizes Syrian Opposition, It Designates One Anti-Assad Group as ‘Terrorist’ -- Time
What will recognizing the opposition accomplish? -- Jill Dougherty, CNN

U.S. Considering Deeper Involvement In The Syrian Civil War

U.S. Weighs Bolder Effort To Intervene In Syria’s Conflict -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, hoping that the conflict in Syria has reached a turning point, is considering deeper intervention to help push President Bashar al-Assad from power, according to government officials involved in the discussions.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration, hoping that the conflict in Syria has reached a turning point, is considering deeper intervention to help push President Bashar al-Assad from power, according to government officials involved in the discussions.

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More News On The U.S. Considering Greater Involvement In The Syrian Civil War

Obama's Syria Plan Just Got a Little Less Mysterious -- The Atlantic
AP sources: US preparing to upgrade recognition of Syria’s opposition, offer greater support -- Washington Post/AP
Ambassador to Syria Leaves Door Open to Arming Opposition -- Time
US Rethinks Role in Syria -- Newser
National Security Brief: White House Considering Deeper Involvement In Syria -- Think Progress

My Comment: Republican and Democrat senators are unifying around the idea that the U.S. should get more directly involved. What's my opinion .... stay away from Middle East conflicts.

Why Syria's Rebels Are Rooting For A Romney Presidential Win

Syrian Rebels Root For Romney In Hopes Of US Military Intervention -- Christian Science Monitor

Desperate for foreign intervention, some rebels say they hope the party that brought on the Iraq war might also bring America to Syria.

Seldom do you find Arabs anywhere in the Middle East who have warm feelings about America’s most recent war with Iraq, especially in Syria where many people were actively involved in supporting the Iraqi insurgency.

Yet as Syria’s upheaval nears the two-year mark, many of those who are increasingly desperate for a foreign intervention to end the conflict now reference Iraq as a seemingly positive example of why America might decide to help. With an eye on the US elections, they say they hope the party that brought them the Iraq war might also bring America to Syria.

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My Comment: Talk about ironies .... many Syrian Sunnis supported the insurgency in Iraq .... and now they want the West to intervene in their conflict. I know that Romney has promised to arm the rebels, I can only hope that if he does win the Presidency, his support is not a blank check.

U.S. Likely To Become Entangled In Syria’s War Regardless Of Who Wins On Tuesday

US Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney (l.) speaks as President Barack Obama listens during the final US presidential debate in Boca Raton, Florida October 22. Rick Wilking/Reuters

No Matter Who Wins Tuesday’s Election, U.S. Likely To Become Entangled In Syria’s War -- McClatchy News

WASHINGTON — Despite Americans’ exhaustion with 11 years of foreign conflict, the victor in Tuesday’s presidential race may find it all but impossible to keep the United States from becoming more deeply entangled in the unfolding calamity of Syria’s sectarian civil war.

Pressure for Washington to play a greater role comes from a variety of factors: soaring casualty tolls, hundreds of thousands of refugees flooding into neighboring countries, wholesale destruction of Syria’s infrastructure, the growing presence of al Qaida-linked fighters, fears that violence will spill over into adjacent nations, and the danger that the Assad regime will collapse, leaving Syria’s chemical weapons open to theft.

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My Comment: We are already involved in Syria's civil war .... the question that will be answered after Tuesday's election is on how deep of an involvement are we going to be in. Under an Obama administration it will probably be more of the same, using our allies as 'front men' to assist the rebels, and supplying only the bare essentials. A Romney administration will be more active .... probably arming the rebels directly with heavy weapons and providing more support on the diplomatic level. Either way .... Syria's civil war is going to get worse .... and we are going to be on the sidelines hoping that it does not spill into other countries.

U.S. Intelligence Predicted The Syrian Civil War 4 Years Ago

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (Reuters)

The General's Gambit -- Michael R. Gordon and Wesley S. Morgan, Foreign Policy

Petraeus tried to warn Assad about the foreign fighters in Iraq. Now they're coming for him.

On Jan. 8, 2008, Gen. David Petraeus's face was beamed onto a screen in the White House for a videoconference with President George W. Bush. The Iraq surge was beginning to wind down, and the general had an unusual proposal for the commander in chief.

"I've received three messages from Bashar al-Assad via Iraqi ministers stating that he'd like to meet," Petraeus told the president, according to a classified script for the presentation. "Stan McChrystal and I still want to go to Damascus to talk AQI only with Bashar al-Assad and solicit his help in stemming the flow of foreign fighters and taking on known AQ personalities who work in Syria."

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My Comment: Even if Petraeus was able to make this trip to Syria in 2008, I doubt that he would have been able to convince Assad on how dangerous it was for him and the stability of his government if he continued to support Al Qaeda and other Sunni extremist groups. Dictators tend to believe they are immune to danger and to any possibility of blow-back because of their actions, a mindset that Bashar al-Assad has clearly demonstrated in the past year.

Senior Democratic Foreign Policy Figures Are Criticizing U.S. Inaction In Syria

Democratic Foreign Policy Figures Press For Intervention In Syria -- L.A. Times

Former Defense Secretary William Perry and former Obama administration officials Ann-Marie Slaughter and Dennis Ross add to pressure on the White House from regional allies and Republican rivals.

WASHINGTON — President Obama's vow to limit U.S. involvement in the Syrian civil war is being criticized from a usually sympathetic quarter: the Democratic foreign policy establishment.

Senior Democratic foreign policy figures, along with diplomats who have worked for Democratic administrations, are saying the administration needs to do more to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe and preserve U.S. influence in a key Mideast state.

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My Comment: This is a surprise. But as the violence in Syria continues to esvcalate, America's allies in the region (Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, etc.) are going to be putting pressure on the White House to do something, and what better way than through those who represent the Democrat establishment.

White House Authorizes Covert US Support For Syrian Rebels

President Obama. Photo: PETE SOUZA

Exclusive: Obama Authorizes Secret U.S. Support For Syrian Rebels -- Reuters

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing U.S. support for rebels seeking to depose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government, U.S. sources familiar with the matter said.

Obama's order, approved earlier this year and known as an intelligence "finding," broadly permits the CIA and other U.S. agencies to provide support that could help the rebels oust Assad.

This and other developments signal a shift toward growing, albeit still circumscribed, support for Assad's armed opponents - a shift that intensified following last month's failure of the U.N. Security Council to agree on tougher sanctions against the Damascus government.

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Update #1: Obama authorizes secret US support for Syrian rebels -- NBC
Update #2: Obama authorizes covert US support for Syrian rebels – reports -- RT

My Comment: This changes the dynamics on the ground in Syria appreciably.