...and who knows what else.

Just say'n.

The "US" iskeeping the covert lid on things as usual.

worse.

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.

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.

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 Syria’s 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 Syria’s 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 Washington’s attempt to increase the pressure on President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, who has recently escalated his government’s 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

From your cite: The Obama administration has said it is not providing arms to the rebels, but it has also acknowledged that Syria’s 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!

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.

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.

still do support Assad...





.... (waiting for the inevitable rush of posters objecting to THAT statement in 3...2...1...)

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.

with limited vision, a small dick, and a cast-iron grip on the country's riches.

So depressing.

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 .

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.

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 "

I can't think of anything funded by or carried out by Saudis in the last 11 years that hasn't been completely excellent.

El Salvador, Nicaragua, wherever "democracy" wants to be, ... rinse and repeat.

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.

His brother was groomed for the job but "situations happen" where the family business pulled him back in

supported by al-quaeda. We just don't learn. Iraq, Libya, now Syria.... The PNAC wet dream.