a rebel group already, and I'm guessing Kerry thought everyone knew that already.
They are now supporting and working with the Syrian National Coalition as of March of this year. After they sent in their investigators in 2011 to monitor Assad's actions against the Arab Spring protestors, they decided to suspend him, allegedly for genocide. Their efforts to get him to stop failed.
The Arab League includes 22 nations reaching from the west coast of Africa, across all of the northern coast, Saudi Arabia and other nations. The ties that bind them are shared language, culture and economic, as well as the increase of women and children's rights. They have been in existance for over half a century.
The League suspended Quadaffi in 2011 for his treatment of his Arab Spring protestors and later gave Libya's seat to the interim government. Which is why there was not an outcry over the ouster of Quadaffi, in thei Arab world, he had been deemed a rogue for the slaughter of his people. So when the USA and other forces went after them, it was just matter of course for them. AFAIK, they did not send troops or supply air cover, they are not capable of it.
And it's likely the Arab world won't be upset now if Assad is forced out. We don't hear much about them despite their trade agreements with Britain and other western nations since they are focused solely on Arab concerns. But they exist and want Assad gone. as do Turkey and Jordan.
Only Turkey has ties to NATO, which was the first group they requested help but this is still not an Article 5 violation by their standards. Putin says that if he sees good, hard scientific evidence on the latest round of chemical weaponry, he will agree to a UN motion.
Russia, the USA and the 189 countries Alan notes, agreed as member states to not only get rid of their WMD, which include biological, chemical, radiological and nuclear weapons but to prevent their being made or used anywhere.
These are all matters of international agreements, of which Americans are largely unaware until something like this gets our attention.
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