"Master plan" underway to help Syria rebels take Damascus with U.S.-approved airlifts of heavy weapo

[Paul E Ester]

Mideast powers opposed to President Bashar Assad have dramatically stepped up weapons supplies to Syrian rebels in coordination with the U.S. in preparation for a push on the capital of Damascus, officials and Western military experts said Wednesday.

A carefully prepared covert operation is arming rebels, involving Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar, with the United States and other Western governments consulting, and all parties hold veto power over where the shipments are directed, according to a senior Arab official whose government is participating. His account was corroborated by a diplomat and two military experts.

Saudi Arabia and other regional powers have been arming Syria's rebels for months, but the scale and coordination with the West -- and the suggestion by the AP's sources that the effort is linked to a plan for the rebels to try and seize Damascus -- represents a potentially significant escalation in the civil war.

The Arab official said the number of arms airlifts has doubled in the past four weeks. He did not provide exact figures on the flights or the size of the cargo. Jordan opened up as a new route for the weapons late last year, amid U.S. worries that arms from Turkey were going to Islamic militants, all four told The Associated Press in separate interviews. Jordan denies helping funnel weapons to the rebels.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57576722/ap-master-plan-underway-to-help-syria-rebels-take-damascus-with-u.s.-approved-airlifts-of-heavy-weapons/

[Purveyor]

1. And we haven't a fucking clue who will 'rule' Syria should Assad fall. Oafs. eom

[atreides1]

2. Sure we do.

We know that it won't be the people who back democracy!

[bhikkhu]

9. Nevertheless, the longer the civil wars goes on, the worse the outcome

The sooner its over the more likely that the Syrians themselves will be able to restabilize the country.

Its not like every country has to be "friendly", and the war is still worth ending even if we don't get to dictate things afterwards.

[idwiyo]

3. K&R

[TwilightGardener]

4. This is us trying to exert some control over the situation while still

maintaining that we are not involved in military intervention. I don't know why we're persisting with this--guess Obama feels like he has to see it through for some reason? Keep Assad pressured to either step down or negotiate?

[bluedigger]

5. The Assad regime seems desperate to influence public opinion in the US.

They've got CBS with them, at least. Propaganda piece.

[Comrade Grumpy]

6. Propaganda? Which parts are not true?

[bluedigger]

7. Besides the absence of evidence, you mean?

"In spite of the U.S. coordination and even approval of shipments alleged by the AP's sources, there is little clear evidence from the front lines that all the new, powerful weapons are going to groups which have been carefully vetted by the U.S."

And what does this even mean? " The U.S. involvement in the arms channels opened up by its regional allies is aimed at ensuring the weapons are not going to militants."



I also find it interesting that nobody in the Syrian government went on record about any of it. The whole piece stinks of half truths and attempts to garner sympathy for the Assad regime.

[Paul E Ester]

8. See for yourself

[Paul E Ester]

10. Saudi heavy weapons supply to Syrian rebels breaks up Arab summit in uproar

Syrian rebels fighting for control of the Syria’s biggest town, Aleppo, have obtained their first heavy weapons – 220-mm MLRS rocket launchers – through a large-scale supply operation run by Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan, according to DEBKAfile’s exclusive intelligence sources.

His agents scoured the Balkans nations of Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo and for large wads of cash snapped up Russian-made MLRS (Smerch) and Hurricane 9K57 launchers capable of firing scores of 220-mm rockets to a distance of 70 kilometers.

The Saudis hope to expedite the rebel capture of the big Syrian Nairab air base attached to Aleppo’s international air port. The Saudi prince has personally taken the Nairab battle under his wing, convinced that it is the key to the conquest of Aleppo, once Syria's national commercial and population center, after more than a year’s impasse in the battle for its control.

The fall of this air base would also substantially reduce the big Iranian and Russian airlifts to Assad’s army.

Russia brings down its cargo planes loaded with weapons and replacement parts for the Syrian army at Nairab after the air facilities around Damascus were targeted by rebel fire. Moscow has since warned the rebels that if they attack incoming or outgoing Russian planes at Nairab, Russian special forces will come in to wipe out their strength around the base and take over its protection themselves.

http://www.debka.com/article/22857/

Bandar Bush himself is running the show.