Pentagon Prepares to Overtly Arm Syrian Rebels

All options are always and still are on the table to get Bashar al Assad out at all cost. The apparent frustration of the United States in exploring all options are evident in its continued, consistent and constant policies in raising one dust or another each time Assad seems to be knocking it off. Around April, John Kerry categorically stated that Assad has no place in the future of Syria.

When defending the aborted US strike on Syria during the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, he mulled the same note that President Obama has said and stood on his words that Assad must go. The United States has been training the rebels covertly since 2012 in Turkey but it looks more like they are no match for Assad's military.

The US has also explored the sarin gas option since April, all moving towards stalemate and maybe an incoherent end with Russia's stance. Now Pentagon is about to do what it knows how to do best in situations like this; arm the rebels directly under the guise and cloth of 'moderates'. Does it mean radicals and terrorists like Al Nusra have been armed before and are losing; hence new ones must be joined in the nomenclature of being 'moderates'?

RT reports that Pentagon has put together a plan to equip and train “moderate” Syrian rebel forces, marking the first instance of the American military having direct contact with the opposition. Information regarding the new plan was relayed by two Obama administration officials to CNN. The idea has allegedly been under consideration since the first evidence of a massive chemical weapons attack outside of Damascus on August 21 emerged, which the US maintains was carried out by Assad’s government.

Though the two officials did not cite many specifics on the proposal, the effort would involve training which would take place in a country near Syria. However, weapons would not be directly supplied as the Pentagon has no authority to do so.

"We have any number of options under development that could expand our support to the moderate opposition, but no decision has been taken at this point," Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey told reporters on Wednesday in response to questions on the proposal. The Pentagon’s plan would involve US troops training selected rebels on the use of small arms, along with command and control and other military tactics.

No matter how diplomatic Washington tries to package and cook its intervention, it is seemingly glaring to most objective observers that the benefits and utmost advantages would serve the radicals in the Syrian war. The oppositions are disjointed, disoriented, disorganized and disunited. All attempts to bring them together by Washington, the house of Saud in Makkah, Turkey, some selected EU countries, Qatar among others have always ended in a more disconnected mission.