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(Image source: The New York Times / Bryan Denton)
BY ZACH TOOMBS
Syria’s rebels will receive more aid from the U.S. through a deal hatched Sunday — though
it’s not the kind they were seeking.
The top U.S. diplomat, Secretary of State John Kerry met with Friends of Syria over
the weekend in Istanbul, including the United Kingdom and other western nations — and
promised $123 million of new aid for rebels. (Via Al Jazeera)
That will double current U.S. backing for opposition forces and will for the first time
include battlefield support equipment, like armor-plated cars. But it won’t include
weapons — something Syrian rebels have continually requested. (Via Sky News)
“The situation in Syria is simply horrific. It is horrible. And cities and neighborhoods
are under fire constantly from heavy artillery.” (Via BBC)
The U.K. and France are considering sending weapons themselves. Though the U.S. withholding
of arms and ammunition is rooted in fears that those weapons would fall into the hands
of terrorists, like Al Qaeda groups operating in the conflict.
Syria has been engaged in a bloody civil war for two years now. The United Nations estimates
70,000 people have died. The rebels are made up of several factions, some with close ties
to the Islamic radicals the West has been fighting for years. (Via CBS)
The Washington Post writes that has lead to a “...dispute over which rebel factions
to aid, what kind of assistance to provide and what to demand in return ... different
factions — supported by different foreign governments — [are] vying for power and
control over Syria’s future.”
Later Sunday, Kerry is traveling to Brussels to meet with top officials for NATO. They’ll
discuss the conflicts in both Syria and Afghanistan.