Posted on 09/05/2013 6:40:44 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
House Homeland Security Committee chairman Mike McCaul was "stunned" by Kerry's assertion. The briefings members of Congress had been getting stated that the number was closer to 50% - and that may be lowballing it too.
Reuters calls Mr. Kerry out for his lie:
Secretary of State John Kerry's public assertions that moderate Syrian opposition groups are growing in influence appear to be at odds with estimates by U.S. and European intelligence sources and nongovernmental experts, who say Islamic extremists remain by far the fiercest and best-organized rebel elements.
At congressional hearings this week, while making the case for President Barack Obama's plan for limited military action in Syria, Kerry asserted that the armed opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "has increasingly become more defined by its moderation, more defined by the breadth of its membership, and more defined by its adherence to some, you know, democratic process and to an all-inclusive, minority-protecting constitution.
"And the opposition is getting stronger by the day," Kerry told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday.
U.S. and allied intelligence sources and private experts on the Syrian conflict suggest that assessment is optimistic.
While the radical Islamists among the rebels may not be numerically superior to more moderate fighters, they say, Islamist groups like the al Qaeda-aligned Nusra Front are better organized, armed and trained.
Kerry's remarks represented a change in tone by the Obama administration, which for more than two years has been wary of sending U.S. arms to the rebels, citing fears they could fall into radical Islamists' hands.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
This is like saying 25% of our military are communists. Is that a good thing that it’s below 50%, 40% what is Kerry talking about?
HAHAHA!
And less than 1/4 of the guys fighting for the confederacy were slave owners.
Actually, I did notice it when I saw footage of the hearings.
Whenever I see him or 0 on tv, I change the channel. Can’t stand to see them or listen to either of them. Even Putin knows they lie. And one liar can spot another one in a second. Kerry’s looking pretty sickly, I’ll say that for sure.
Secretary of State John Kerry’s public assertions that moderate Syrian opposition groups are growing in influence appear to be at odds with estimates by U.S. and European intelligence sources and nongovernmental experts, who say Islamic extremists remain by far the fiercest and best-organized rebel elements. …
U.S. and allied intelligence sources and private experts on the Syrian conflict suggest that assessment is optimistic.
While the radical Islamists among the rebels may not be numerically superior to more moderate fighters, they say, Islamist groups like the al Qaeda-aligned Nusra Front are better organized, armed and trained.
Kerry insists that FSA’s General Salim Idriss has control, and the opposition is even holding elections for its leaders:
Kerry replied: “I just don’t agree that a majority are al Qaeda and the bad guys. That’s not true. There are about 70,000 to 100,000 oppositionists … Maybe 15 percent to 25 percent might be in one group or another who are what we would deem to be bad guys.
“There is a real moderate opposition that exists. General Idriss is running the military arm of that,” Kerry continued, referring to General Salim Idriss, head of the rebel Free Syrian Army. Increasingly, he said, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are funneling assistance through Idriss.
According to Foreign Policy, though — hardly a conservative mouthpiece on foreign affairs — Idriss’ grasp on the opposition is crumbling, and may have been ephemeral all along. Instead, his commanders have suddenly developed a taste for working with the elements that Kerry insists are too small to matter:
As the United States moves closer to taking military action against the Syrian government, the leadership of the mainstream armed opposition force has chosen a curious time to appear to be on the verge of unraveling. Known generically as the Free Syrian Army (FSA), this assortment of mostly secular defecting Sunni Arab officers and mostly Islamist volunteers has attempted several reorganizations. The most recent of these is now seriously threatened by a resignation threat from senior commanders. …
On August 22, four of the five front commanders threatened to resign from the SMC, promising to break “red lines” and work “with all forces fighting in Syria,” a clear reference to the war’s growing Salafist-Jihadist contingent. The statement was read by Colonel Fatih Hasun, who is the commander of the SMC’s Homs Front and the deputy chief-of-staff, that is to say, Idriss’s deputy and the most senior officer inside the country. Hasun added that rebels would no longer respect demands by outside powers that they not attempt to take over government-controlled chemical weapons sites. In addition to demanding action in response to the government’s use of chemical weapons in Damascus, Hasun also demanded better weapons and said they were tiring of the “false promises of those who call themselves Friends of Syria.”
While the resignation seemed tentative, Hasun was less equivocal about the other red line — the opposition’s Salafist-Jihadist groups, Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) — both of which the United States has designated as terrorist entities linked to al Qaeda. Directly behind Hasun on the wall was an Islamic flag, with a pre-Assad Syria FSA flag draped to the side, a nod perhaps to the Salafists. Sitting to his right was a bearded cleric in Salafist garb. He directly stated, “we call upon all” FSA units to work with all others fighting the regime. Adding insult to injury, on August 25 Muhammad Tabnaja, field commander in Latakia for the Ahfad al-Faruq Brigade in Latakia, resigned citing the lack of support from the SMC.
If Idriss is in control and opposed to the radical Islamist elements, he would have acted forcefully to put down this rebellion within the rebellion. In the event, though, Idriss apparently couldn’t do anything:
Most telling is what happened when the SMC’s decision removing Akaydi was announced. Akaydi ignored it, then after brigade-level commanders within the AMC rejected the decision, he did an interview in which he mocked the SMC as made up of people “who are into travel and hotels and have no connection to what is happening on the ground.” He did clear Idriss of involvement, however, and Idriss promptly apologized to Akaydi and then traveled to Aleppo to meet with him and praise him. …
Idriss responded to Hasun’s threatened resignation by saying he “rejected” it, as if he had the power to do so.
Is the White House following the intelligence of its own agencies and that of its allies? Is it even following the public events that demonstrate the lack of effectiveness in the FSA and the rise of al-Qaeda-affiliated leadership in the Syrian rebellion? Or are they just so concerned about preventing Barack Obama’s humiliation that they don’t care?
Liberals are insecure people by nature. Facial work appears to be par the course for limo lefties.
Is Jean Fraude Kerry thinking about another try at the presidency in 2016?
What did this mastermind do go over there and count them? Only the Demonkrats can act this way. Pieces of crap that never stood up for anything when not in power and now they want to be the hawks.
.. The Russian president ridiculed the Obama administration’s claim that Syrian rebels are not dominated by al Qaeda-linked terrorists.“They lie beautifully,of course,” Putin said in a wide-ranging interview just before he and Obama meet face to face at the G-20 summit.
He called Secretary of State John Kerry’s testimony about the rebels before a Senate committee on Tuesday “unpleasant and surprising for me.”
“We proceed from the assumption that they are decent people,” Putin said. “But he is lying and knows he is lying. It’s sad.”
Hey, John...
Only 25% of that Dom Perignon Rose 2002 that you’re sipping is made up of fecal matter.
Drink up!
Kerry is an idiot.
Everyone in a decision making position is a jihadist. Almost everyone else is too.
That doesn’t mean the remaining 75% are displaced Vermonters yearning for town hall meetings and Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream.
If we try to support the non-jihadists, we will own them, and they’ll eventually end-up like our allies in S. Vietnam, Cambodia, and Afghanistan. (The only reason I exclude our Iraqi allies from this fate is that they can survive on their oil.)
Kll them all, let Allsh do the math
It's not just you, they're even talking about it at the DUmp.
Strictly from an appearance standpoint, the old Kerry was a little goofy looking, but except for his brief experiment with orangeness, not objectionable at all.
The "new" Kerry looks bizarre, as if every photograph of him was Photoshopped to give him some sort of macho manly look.
The MB proved in Egypt that a small minority of them can move in and assume control once they get a foot in the door. Once Assad is gone, they’ll start killing anyone that stands in their way, and Obama know it.
USAF is in the way.
I don’t trust a single word that Kerry says.
I don’t think he knows the difference between ketchup & mustard.
Where are Larry Moe and Curly Joe when we need them?
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