There is something perverse and a little bit circular about the administration argument that we can’t help the Syrian opposition until they get better organized. As this National Journal article notes, Hillary Clinton last week told a House committee the opposition in Libya “had a face, both the people who were doing the outreach diplomatically and the fighters. We could actually meet with them. We could eyeball them. We could ask them tough questions. Here, you know, when [Ayman al-] Zawahiri of al-Qaida comes out and supports the Syrian opposition, you’ve got to ask yourself: ‘If we arm, who are we arming?”
The problem is that the Syrian opposition is not likely to get better organized until the U.S. and other outside powers make a decision to help them. In fact by deciding to provide money, arms, and other aid we could support the more moderate and responsible elements of the opposition while sidelining the extremists. No doubt we should be careful about where we distribute arms, but handing out small arms does not pose much of a strategic threat to Israel or other American allies even if they fall into the wrong hands. No one is suggesting giving Stingers to the Free Syrian Army.
In addition to supporting responsible rebels, we should also be acting to grow the ranks of the moderate opposition by using all of the influence at our disposal to convince government, military and business leaders in Syria to defect. Instead, we are standing on the sidelines complaining about the deficiencies of the opposition even as Bashar al-Assad and his gang are slaughtering civilians in the street.
Al Qaeda wants everyone to help the Syrian Opposition, Muslim Brotherhood also wants everyone to help Syrian Opposition – Obama WANTS to help Syrian Opposition, and now GOP is jumping on the bandwagon, knowing it will leave the Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaeda in control of Syria. n nI'm not going to miss the GOP at all since they are melding into the DIM party with Muslim terrorists.
Rose, why do you conflate helping the Opposition with helping the MB and Al Qaeda? It is very true that the MB is present and active in the Opposition ranks, but the journalists who have been inside Syria and reported on the so-called Free Syrian Army (or Militia) noted that Islamists in the locations they visited were not numerous nor prominent. So it is at least *possible* that military aid could be directed, as Max writes, to non-Islamist militias. In effect, the U.S. could play a significant role in bolstering the strength of anti-Islamist forces in Syria with an eye to the post-Assad government. n nNow, if your comment is that the Obama Administration is either incapable of or unwilling to distinguish between Islamists and anti-Islamist forces, then I would agree completely with you and the GOP and conservatives in general should make it extremely clear that any aid provided must not go to Islamist groups. The House, in particular, can attach specific limits on any such aid. Hopefully the CIA is not so totally bereft of human intelligence that we cannot figure out who the Islamists are in Syria. Maybe that is too much to hope for.