Saudi Arabia plans to fund Syria rebel army
Source: Guardian
Saudi officials are preparing to pay the salaries of the Free Syria Army as a means of encouraging mass defections from the military and increasing pressure on the Assad regime, the Guardian has learned.
The move, which has been discussed between Riyadh and senior officials in the US and Arab world, is believed to be gaining momentum as a recent flush of weapons sent to rebel forces by Saudi Arabia and Qatar starts to make an impact on battlefields in Syria.
Officials in the Saudi capital embraced the idea when it was put to them by Arab officials in May, according to sources in three Arab states, around the same time that weapons started to flow across the southern Turkish border into the hands of Free Syria Army leaders.
Turkey has also allowed the establishment of a command centre in Istanbul which is co-ordinating supply lines in consultation with FSA leaders inside Syria. The centre is believed to be staffed by up to 22 people, most of them Syrian nationals.
Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jun/22/saudi-arabia-syria-rebel-army
hrmjustin
(71,265 posts)tabatha
(18,795 posts)Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)...and who knows what else.
Alamuti Lotus
(3,093 posts)harun
(11,348 posts)Just say'n.
may3rd
(593 posts)The "US" iskeeping the covert lid on things as usual.
leveymg
(36,418 posts)worse.
tabatha
(18,795 posts)They said they were going to do this some months ago, and the rebels complained that they never saw a dime.
Maybe just talking about it would get the defections to happen.
I do not think a free Syria wants Saudi Arabia anywhere near them after Assad is gone.
After all they are both authoritarian states.
leveymg
(36,418 posts)That is the imperative of the emerging Wahhabi jihad and caliphate in the region. They view it as a duty and an opportunity, just as the stripping off of the Muslim republics from the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia presented opportunities.
This is an extension of two decades of expanding religious wars waged by al-Qaeda and other Saudi-backed militias.
Whether or not most Syrians welcome them, they're back.
MADem
(135,425 posts)riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)C.I.A. Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition
Source: New York Times
WASHINGTON A small number of C.I.A. officers are operating secretly in southern Turkey, helping allies decide which Syrian opposition fighters across the border will receive arms to fight the Syrian government, according to American officials and Arab intelligence officers.
The weapons, including automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition and some antitank weapons, are being funneled mostly across the Turkish border by way of a shadowy network of intermediaries including Syrias Muslim Brotherhood and paid for by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the officials said.
The C.I.A. officers have been in southern Turkey for several weeks, in part to help keep weapons out of the hands of fighters allied with Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups, one senior American official said. The Obama administration has said it is not providing arms to the rebels, but it has also acknowledged that Syrias neighbors would do so.
The clandestine intelligence-gathering effort is the most detailed known instance of the limited American support for the military campaign against the Syrian government. It is also part of Washingtons attempt to increase the pressure on President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, who has recently escalated his governments deadly crackdown on civilians and the militias battling his rule. With Russia blocking more aggressive steps against the Assad government, the United States and its allies have instead turned to diplomacy and aiding allied efforts to arm the rebels to force Mr. Assad from power.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/world/middleeast/cia-said-to-aid-in-steering-arms-to-syrian-rebels.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20120621
MADem
(135,425 posts)From your cite: The Obama administration has said it is not providing arms to the rebels, but it has also acknowledged that Syrias neighbors would do so.
I think Assad needs to go. Now. I shake my head every time I see what that asshole has done to Syria. His father was a pussycat by comparison...and everyone had such high hopes for Bashar the basher--such a BAS-tard!
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)This isn't an Arab Spring dictator revolution. Its a Sunni/Shia civil war, its a low grade tribal conflict that's erupted into the big leagues, its Russia's only base in the ME and cold war remnants (hideously enough), its Israel and its hunger to take on Iran (which it believes may be possible through the machinations in Syria) etc. etc. There are so many players in this, its impossible to say with certainty which particular issue is predominant anymore imho. There's a reason DE Lawrence wanted Damascus as the capital of a Pan Arab league... it really is a pivotal intersection of religious, cultural and tribal affairs.
Assad being assassinated or otherwise forcibly removed will move the region into full blown genocidal warfare. I know its terrible there right now but if Assad goes, what's happening now will look like a tempest in a teapot. Iran has already said that if Assad is removed, they will go after Israel.
As for the arms, yeah well, we provide the arms to the Saudis who give them to the Syrian opposition. I guess it looks as though we aren't providing them directly but nobody's really fooled.
leveymg
(36,418 posts)without the protection of the Syrian Army controlled by the Ba'ath Party, or leadership that is strongly Shi'ia in character.
They know it, and as a massively outnumbered minority regime surrounded by Sunnis and the Turks, they will fight to the death to preserve that part of the status quo. The Alawite really have no other choice.
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)still do support Assad...
.... (waiting for the inevitable rush of posters objecting to THAT statement in 3...2...1...)
MADem
(135,425 posts)Even though his daddy tried to give the Alawi a sunni patina, to make it seem like they were in with the rest of the group.
Iran says a lot of shit, but they often don't follow through. In fact, they damn near never do. The last time they really did what they said they were going to do, they went to war with Iraq and fought a war of stalemate for frigging ever. I don't know how easy it will be for them to get involved. They talk a good fight but they've got money problems and the picture on the ground in Syria is not clear.
Shias are a clear minority in Syria even though they reproduce prodigiously. If an opposition leader with a good idea or ten is clearly identified, and the rebels rally round him (because it will not be a her), you never know. Other regional actors--and us--may have already picked out a likely candidate....
Who follows Assad will make a difference. But someone needs to follow him. He's just an asshole.
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)with limited vision, a small dick, and a cast-iron grip on the country's riches.
So depressing.
may3rd
(593 posts)They have been greasing the wheels for some time since the fall of Ghaddafy is looks . They plan on keeping a stable Egyptian neighbor also
by any means necessary .
MADem
(135,425 posts)They make a ton of money off the oil, but the Hajj pulls in a nice bit of scratch, as well--and that's less beholden to market forces.
may3rd
(593 posts)If anyone cares to connect the dots after the "barbarians have breached the gates" of Damascus ,
it will be the house of Saud royals have reimbursed Turkey for;
making the world safe for islamockcracy
.... while they distract the population with current events to get their house in order
to firm up the succession of who is who that wields power in the magic kingdom of humpty dumpty.
"The king is dead,
long live the king "
harmonicon
(12,008 posts)I can't think of anything funded by or carried out by Saudis in the last 11 years that hasn't been completely excellent.
ozone_man
(4,825 posts)El Salvador, Nicaragua, wherever "democracy" wants to be, ... rinse and repeat.
MADem
(135,425 posts)minority elite. Many of them have seen family members tortured and murdered.
There's more to this than "bogus" assertions and outside actors. I won't deny that outsiders are stirring the pot, but al-Assad has been a brute and a thug for far too long, now. He makes his old man look like a veritable statesman by comparison.
may3rd
(593 posts)His brother was groomed for the job but "situations happen" where the family business pulled him back in
Tom Ripley
(4,945 posts)ronwelldobbs
(28 posts)nanabugg
(2,198 posts)supported by al-quaeda. We just don't learn. Iraq, Libya, now Syria.... The PNAC wet dream.