Saudis Step Up Help for Rebels in Syria With Croatian Arms
Source: New York Times
Saudi Arabia has financed a large purchase of infantry weapons from Croatia and quietly funneled them to antigovernment fighters in Syria in a drive to break the bloody stalemate that has allowed President Bashar al-Assad to cling to power, according to American and Western officials familiar with the purchases.
The weapons began reaching rebels in December via shipments shuttled through Jordan, officials said, and have been a factor in the rebels small tactical gains this winter against the army and militias loyal to Mr. Assad.
The arms transfers appeared to signal a shift among several governments to a more activist approach to assisting Syrias armed opposition, in part as an effort to counter shipments of weapons from Iran to Mr. Assads forces. The weapons distribution has been principally to armed groups viewed as nationalist and secular, and appears to have been intended to bypass the jihadist groups whose roles in the war have alarmed Western and regional powers.
For months regional and Western capitals have held back on arming the rebels, in part out of fear that the weapons would fall into the hands of terrorists. But officials said the decision to send in more weapons is aimed at another fear in the West about the role of jihadist groups in the opposition. Such groups have been seen as better equipped than many nationalist fighters and potentially more influential.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/26/world/middleeast/in-shift-saudis-are-said-to-arm-rebels-in-syria.html
Arctic Dave
(13,812 posts)This is obamas way of saying we are not arming the fundamentalist and AQ.
Proxy wars are always fun.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)Just like Iran is doing. Looking the other way isn't always a bad option--IF we're not somehow involved with this on some level.
Arctic Dave
(13,812 posts)Yeah, we're involved.
Funny how we get bent out of shape over Assad but we turn a blind eye to what the shitbag Saudis do.
If ever three was a country in need of a nuclear enema, it is SA.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)Arctic Dave
(13,812 posts)fuck AQ and the fundamentalist shitbags they represent.
rdharma
(6,057 posts)Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)Iran and Hezbollah stepping up for Assad. This is going to be one long-term bloody mess, and who knows where it ends?
pampango
(24,692 posts)imagine that some of them won't end up in the hand of terrorists.
And with Russia and Iran continuing to supply Assad and Hezbollah offering fighters, Assad looks strong into the future. Indeed, who knows where it ends or who 'wins'. We do know who loses and that is the vast majority of Syrians that just want to live a normal life.