Panetta: DOD backed arming Syrian opposition

February 7, 2013 @ 12:39 pm


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WASHINGTON (AP) - Top Pentagon leaders said for the first time Thursday that the Defense Department backed the idea of providing arms to opposition groups in Syria.

Until Thursday, the Pentagon had only said publicly that U.S. policy is to give only humanitarian assistance to rebels battling President Bashar Assad's regime. Providing arms has been the subject of ongoing internal administration debate.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said President Barack Obama made the final decision against arming the rebels.

"Obviously there were a number of factors that were involved here that ultimately led to the president's decision to make it nonlethal," Panetta said. "I supported his decision in the end."

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also acknowledged the Pentagon endorsement of the idea, telling Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., "We did."

McCain, in a statement released later, said it was unfortunate that their advice was not heeded by the president.

"The crisis in Syria represents a graphic failure of American leadership," McCain said. "I urge the president to heed the advice of his former and current national security leaders and immediately take the necessary steps, along with our friends and allies, that could hasten the end of the conflict in Syria."

At the State Department, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland declined to discuss internal policy decisions.

But, in the past administration officials have made it clear there have been differing views on suggestions that the U.S. provide arms to the rebels.

"Arms are not a strategy; arms are a tactic," the U.S. ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford told a conference in Washington late last year. "A military solution is not the best way for Syria. Efforts to win this by conquering one side or the other will simply prolong the violence and actually aggravate an already terrible humanitarian situation. Syria needs a political situation."

The administration has expressed concern about the difficulty of determining which opposition groups are tied to al-Qaida-insurgents who might get U.S.-supplied arms. But some have urged the U.S. to supply weapons to opposition groups in order to hasten Assad's departure and prevent rebels from taking weapons from terror-linked groups.

After 22 months and more than 60,000 dead, Syria's crisis appears to have reached a stalemate, with neither side making significant battlefield gains likely to bring about a military victory any time soon.

The U.S. government has provided about $210 million in humanitarian assistance to Syrians in the country as well as refugees, including food, medical aid, blankets and winter supplies.

___

Associated Press writer Sagar Meghani contributed to this report.


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (7)


  • Add A Comment

  • C"mon Man wrote...
    Again
    May 31, 2012 7:48 pm
    Who is funding Syrian forces? Try Russia,Iran and Saudi Arabian petro dollars, that's right, everytime you fill up the BMW,Volvo or Lexus, you have sent American Petro dollars overseas to fund this debacle,known as the "Spring"
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    Syria vs Turkey. Israel vs Iran...
    October 6, 2012 12:41 pm
    just a matter of time before the entire Middle East explodes. Can you say WWIII? Good job, Barry....
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Saltchucker wrote...
    Ottoman's VS Persians?
    October 6, 2012 4:31 pm
    Same fight, different century. Probably rather amazing these countries stayed as stable as they have. Then again we and our allies could have drawn up better borders after we broke up the Ottoman Empire post WWI.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ron prevost wrote...
    Europe was redrawn for self determination - except, except, except....
    October 7, 2012 8:43 am
    In the Near East, there was no pretense of self determination. ... AND the Armenian Republic was allowed to be retaken by their killers - the Turks.

    Syria (and Iran under the Ayatolahs) is an evil presence. But don't be so quick to make the Turks 'good guys'.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • longwayhome wrote...
    Good job Barry?
    October 6, 2012 7:42 pm
    Let me think, who was President when we went looking for W.M.D? Went to Afghanistan? If memory serves me right it was a republican and his buddy who was his V.P. also his brain. Don't go blaming the middle east conflicts on Obama. He inherited a huge mess from YOUR party. Let's not do it again, please?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    I know..it's STILL Bush's fault.
    October 7, 2012 9:16 am
    You are pathetic.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Forrest wrote...
    Might as well start WWIII
    October 6, 2012 8:19 pm
    The evangelicals think Jesus is coming and the Muslims want to kill everybody. Hopefully all religious people will perish and only common sense secular people will be left.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }