Obama administration opens door to aid for Syrian rebels

Associated Press ^ | February 21, 2012 | unattributed

[Hunton Peck]

The Obama administration opened the door slightly Tuesday to international military assistance for Syria's rebels, with officials saying new tactics may have to be explored if President Bashar Assad continues to defy pressure to halt a brutal crackdown on dissenters.

In coordinated messages, the White House and State Department said they still hope for a political solution. But faced with the daily onslaught by the Assad regime against Syrian civilians, officials dropped the administration's previous strident opposition to arming anti-regime forces. It remained unclear, though, what, if any, role the U.S. might play in providing such aid.

"We don't want to take actions that would contribute to the further militarization of Syria because that could take the country down a dangerous path," White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters. "But we don't rule out additional measures if the international community should wait too long and not take the kind of action that needs to be taken."

The administration has previously said flatly that more weapons are not the answer to the Syrian situation. There had been no mention of "additional measures."

At the State Department, spokeswoman Victoria Nuland used nearly identical language to describe the administration's evolving position.

"From our perspective, we don't believe that it makes sense to contribute now to the further militarization of Syria," she told reporters. "What we don't want to see is the spiral of violence increase. That said, if we can't get Assad to yield to the pressure that we are all bringing to bear, we may have to consider additional measures."

Neither Carney nor Nuland would elaborate on what "additional measures" might be taken but there have been growing calls, including from some in Congress, for the international community to arm the rebels. Most suggestions to that effect have...

[darkwing104]

Helping the Muslim Brotherhood usurp another country...

[LucianOfSamasota]

Count on Obama to aid anyone hostile to America.

[ColdOne]

With Russia and China on Assad’s side does he really think he can win this one? Take out Assad?

[Pollster1]

Why would we try to replace a pro-terrorist, anti-American thug with a bunch of pro-terrorist anti-American thugs who are even more violent and anti-West? We don’t have a national interest in the events in Syria, since neither side is remotely friendly to us. Let’s stay out and keep our $1.5T deficit from going even higher for nothing.

[Blogatron]

Now that they’ve started massacring christian, they’re Caesar Obamus’ kind of people. Let the money flow.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Hunton Peck.

...saying new tactics may have to be explored if President Bashar Assad continues to defy pressure to halt a brutal crackdown...

"He kept us out of war." [sic] The first anniversary of Assad's brutal crackdown is imminent.

[Venturer]

Somebody please tell me the difference between Assad killing the dissenters, and letting the dissenters win and then they get to kill Assad’s loyalists and every Christian in the neighborhood.