Report: Obama Authorized U.S. Support for Syrian Rebels
President Barack Obama has signed a secret order
authorizing U.S. support for rebels seeking to depose Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad and his government, U.S. sources familiar with the matter told Reuters
on Wednesday.
The sources said that Obama's order, approved earlier
this year and known as an intelligence "finding," broadly permits the
CIA and other U.S. agencies to provide support that could help the rebels oust
Assad.
Precisely when Obama signed the secret intelligence
authorization, an action not previously reported, could not be determined and
the full extent of clandestine support that agencies like the CIA might be
providing also is unclear, Reuters reported.
White House spokesman Tommy Vietor declined comment.
The report noted that the White House is for now
apparently stopping short of giving the rebels lethal weapons, even as some
U.S. allies do just that. U.S. and European officials, however, have said that
there have been noticeable improvements in the coherence and effectiveness of
Syrian rebel groups in the past few weeks.
That represents a significant change in assessments of
the rebels by Western officials, who previously characterized Assad's opponents
as a disorganized, almost chaotic, rabble.
A U.S. government source acknowledged that under
provisions of the presidential finding, the United States was collaborating
with a secret command center operated by Turkey and its allies.
Last week, Reuters reported that, along with Saudi Arabia
and Qatar, Turkey had established a secret base near the Syrian border to help
direct vital military and communications support to Assad's opponents.
This "nerve center" of the base, according to
the report, is in Adana, a city in southern Turkey about 60 miles from the
Syrian border, which is also home to Incirlik, a U.S. air base where U.S.
military and intelligence agencies maintain a substantial presence.
Turkey's government has been demanding Assad's departure
with growing vehemence. Turkish authorities are said by current and former U.S.
government officials to be increasingly involved in providing Syrian rebels
with training and possibly equipment.
European government sources told Reuters that wealthy
families in Saudi Arabia and Qatar were providing significant financing to the
rebels. Senior officials of the Saudi and Qatari governments have publicly
called for Assad's departure.
On Tuesday, NBC News reported that the Free Syrian Army
had obtained nearly two dozen surface-to-air missiles, weapons that could be
used against Assad's helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. Syrian government
armed forces have employed such air power more extensively in recent days.
NBC said the shoulder-fired missiles, also known as MANPADs,
had been delivered to the rebels via Turkey.
Some conservative U.S. lawmakers, such as Republican
Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, have criticized Obama’s administration
for moving too slowly to assist the rebels and have suggested the U.S. government
become directly involved in arming Assad's opponents.
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