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On July 23 as a result of prolonged and heated debates in the both houses of the Congress, both the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence have given the CIA carte blanche to supply the Syrian rebels groups with weapons. As a matter of fact, the decision to supply the Syrian opposition was announced by the White House in the middle of the last month, but at the time a number of key members of the Republican and Democratic parties have questioned such a possibility.
At the same time, the Obama administration wasn’t prepared to turn back on its idea, and as it was confided to the members of the press by the confidential sources in Washington, the discussions of this matter between the two brunches of the Government were carried on during closed meetings and private phone conversations for almost a month. And finally with a number of adjustments introduced to the initial plan, the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has finally signed the document’s draft.
Among the numerous setbacks that were standing in the way of this plan was the fact that the budget has already been planned and there was little to be done in terms of allocation. But according to the statement of Mike Rogers, the head of House of Representatives’ Intelligence Committee, the “heated discussion” resulted in finding a way out. Now it’s the CIA who’s in charge of arming rebels.
The Republicans and the Democrats that form the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence have repeatedly expressed their concerns over the possibility that the weapons supplied can end up in the wrong hands, most notably in the hands of Islamic militants that wage across the whole Middle East. Moreover with each passing day more voices in Washington express their justified concerns over the opposition’s inability to tip the scales in its favor. In this regard the White House stated that military assistance will only be provided to a limited number of trusted opposition groups. The difficult situation that the Syrian rebels have found themselves in recently occurred due to a number of victories the regular troops recently scored in their fights with the Islamic militants
The chairman of the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence said to the members of the press that even though his committee approved the new plan, that its members were not particularly happy about this fact. The members still do doubt that Obama’s plan has any chance of success. “The Committee does have very strong concerns about the strength of the administration’s plans in Syria and its chances for success . But after a long discussion the panel have reached a consensus” Another committee member Adam Schiff, the Democrat that opposed the idea of arming the Syrian rebels said: “In my view, the modest chance for success of these plans does not warrant the risk of becoming entangled in yet another civil war”
Another committee, the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence pass its judgment over this plan in July. The plan was approved on the condition that the senators will get full access to all the corresponding secret information. The supply schedule still remains unclear, but accrodning to the information we’ve got, plan we will be executed preety swiftly.
John Kerry The US Secretary of State along with his followers has done his best in persuading the two houses of Congress. As for the President Obama, he didn’t want the United States to be deeply engaged in the Syrian conflict, so he opposed this idea for a long time until the moment the United States claimed that the Assad’s regime used unconventional chemical weapons in the course of the conflict. The White House claimed that Assad have crossed a “thin line”
The US decision to supply the Syrian rebels with weapons through the CIA cannot be regarded as the step against the Syrian regime alone, that should demonstrate the US allies in the Arab world and in Europe its loyalty, but it’s a step against Moscow as well. This decision is closely connected to the “Snowden case”.
Peter Lvov, doctor of political sciences – especially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.
