Let’s arm the rebels!

FSA fighter mans M2 browning in Northern Syria.
Source: Mada Media [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)]

“I found all these numerals printed on the side of a spent missile casing lying in the basement of a bombed-out Islamist base in eastern Aleppolast year. At the top were the words “Hughes Aircraft Co”,Of course, the weapons might have been sent (illegally under the terms of the unenforceable EUC) to a nice, cuddly, “moderate” militia like the now largely non-existent “Free Syrian Army”, many of whose weapons – generously donated by the west – have fallen into the hands of the “Bad Guys”; i.e. the folk who want to overthrow the Syrian regime (which would please the west) but who would like to set up an Islamist cult-dictatorship in its place (which would not please the west).” READ MORE.

“‘The opposition groups that are receiving the most of the lethal aid are exactly the ones we don’t want to have it,’ said one American official familiar with the outlines of those findings, commenting on an operation that in American eyes has increasingly gone awry.” READ MORE.

The United States has acknowledged its support to Syrian opposition forces, orchestrated primarily through resupply from the territories of Jordan and Turkey. READ MORE.

“‘I believe there are ways to get weapons to the opposition without direct United States involvement,’ Mr. McCain said. ‘The Iranians and the Russians are providing Bashar Assad with weapons. People that are being massacred deserve to have the ability to defend themselves.’
‘So I am not only not opposed,’ he said, ‘but I am in favor of weapons being obtained by the opposition.'” READ MORE.

A sample shipment in detail: Jane’s Defence Weekly

More reports:

“Perhaps worst, the CIA-backed fighters were so divided politically, and so interwoven with extremist opposition gorups, that the rebels could never offer a vialbe political future…. Run from secret operations centers in Turkey and Jordan, the program pumped many hundreds of millions ofdollars to many dozens of milita groups…. CIA-backed fighters may have killed or wounded 100,000 Syrian soldiers and their allies over the past four years.” READ MORE.

“Critics in Congress had complained for years about the costs — more than $1 billion over the life of the program — and reports that some of the C.I.A.-supplied weapons had ended up in the hands of a rebel group tied to Al Qaeda further sapped political support for the program.” READ MORE.

Reuters: Rebel videos show first U.S.-made rockets in Syria

Ponder this: none of the weapons used in the Syrian war are manufactured domestically. The main suppliers are the United States, NATO-allied countries and Russia or ex-Soviet bloc countries. Also chipping in: China, North Korean and Iran.

Jaysh al-Izza fighter launches US/Turkey supplied BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missile in 2017. It also proved successful against French-supplied SA-340 helicopters provided to Syria.
Source: Qasioun News Agency [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)]