Please contribute material of a reasonable and educated nature in future and refrain from irrelevant and specious material. Thank you.

By monitoring the flow of weapons from Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

That does not give you licence to troll.

The Rules apply to all

Here is support for my "material"

And by the way, I don't think you, or any poster, should be the judge of what news sources are irrelevant.



Obama authorizes secret CIA 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 said.

Mr. 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.


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/obama-authorizes-secret-cia-support-for-syrian-rebels/article4457317/?cmpid=rss1

It is, but that does not give you licence to troll.



Please remain on topic and debate the issue in an adult fashion.



No, you and your friend have ruined the thread.



I'm sure you do.



You reasons are immaterial to me, you have demonstrated that you do.

I ask you and your friend to refrain from ruining this thread any further.

I'll judge based on my studies and continue to do so.





Let's have a look at the article


Obama authorizes secret CIA support for Syrian rebels


Mark Hosenball

Washington — Reuters


Published Thursday, Aug. 02 2012, 8:48 AM EDT

Last updated Thursday, Aug. 02 2012, 8:49 AM EDT


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 said.

Mr. 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.


This and other developments signal a shift toward growing, albeit still circumscribed, support for Mr. al-Assad’s armed opponents – a shift that intensified following last month’s failure of the U.N. Security Council to agree on tougher sanctions against the Damascus government.

The White House is for now apparently stopping short of giving the rebels lethal weapons, even as some U.S. allies do just that.

But U.S. and European officials 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 Mr. al-Assad’s opponents as a disorganized, almost chaotic, rabble.

Precisely when Mr. Obama signed the secret intelligence authorization, an action not previously reported, could not be determined.

The full extent of clandestine support that agencies like the CIA might be providing also is unclear.

White House spokesman Tommy Vietor declined comment.

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 Mr. al-Assad’s opponents.

This “nerve center” is in Adana, a city in southern Turkey about 100 km 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 moderate Islamist 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 said 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.

On Wednesday, however, Bassam al-Dada, a political adviser to the Free Syrian Army, denied the NBC report, telling the Arabic-language TV network Al-Arabiya that the group had “not obtained any such weapons at all.” U.S. government sources said they could not confirm the MANPADs deliveries, but could not rule them out either.

Current and former U.S. and European officials previously said that weapons supplies, which were being organized and financed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia, were largely limited to guns and a limited number of anti-tank weapons, such as bazookas.

Indications are that U.S. agencies have not been involved in providing weapons to Assad’s opponents. In order to do so, Obama would have to approve a supplement, known as a “memorandum of notification, to his initial broad intelligence finding.

Further such memoranda would have to be signed by Obama to authorize other specific clandestine operations to support Syrian rebels.

Reuters first reported last week that the White House had crafted a directive authorizing greater U.S. covert assistance to Syrian rebels. It was unclear at that time whether Obama had signed it.

Separately from the president’s secret order, the Obama administration has stated publicly that it is providing some backing for Mr. al-Assad’s opponents.

The State Department said on Wednesday the U.S. government had set aside a total of $25-million for “non-lethal” assistance to the Syrian opposition. A U.S. official said that was mostly for communications equipment, including encrypted radios.

The State Department also says the United States has set aside $64-million in humanitarian assistance for the Syrian people, including contributions to the World Food Program, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other aid agencies.

Also on Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury confirmed it had granted authorization to the Syrian Support Group, Washington representative of one of the most active rebel factions, the Free Syrian Army, to conduct financial transactions on the rebel group’s behalf. The authorization was first reported on Friday by Al-Monitor, a Middle East news and commentary website.

Last year, when rebels began organizing themselves to challenge the rule of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Mr. Obama also signed an initial “finding” broadly authorizing secret U.S. backing for them. But the president moved cautiously in authorizing specific measures to support them.

Some U.S. lawmakers, such as Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, have criticized Mr. Obama for moving too slowly to assist the rebels and have suggested the U.S. government become directly involved in arming Mr. al-Assad’s opponents.

Other lawmakers have suggested caution, saying too little is known about the many rebel groups.

Recent news reports from the region have suggested that the influence and numbers of Islamist militants, some of them connected to al-Qaeda or its affiliates, have been growing among Mr. al-Assad’s opponents.

U.S. and European officials say that, so far, intelligence agencies do not believe the militants’ role in the anti-Assad opposition is dominant.

While U.S. and allied government experts believe that the Syrian rebels have been making some progress against Mr. al-Assad’s forces lately, most believe the conflict is nowhere near resolution, and could go on for years.

Well, nothing new there, we knew from the NY times article that the CIA were operating on the Turkish/Syrian border monintoring the flow of weapons, this order allows for further co-operation. A co-operation that remains unclear at this stage. Thanks for the link.

Engdahl: CIA plays ugly role, trains Syrian rebels

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9U3Tf1ejLY

And I suppose you believe every word of every major news item.

You can "judge" all you want then, but you don't dictate to me.

Al-Qaeda is far more than just a US intelligence asset, the organization and label of Al-Qaeda is a catch-all term that is used to camouflage the operations of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other affiliated intelligence services.

This is very true. When I hear the buzz word Ql-Qaeda it is like a bell ringing and pointing to CIA black OPs going on.

They really should stop using that term, they are giving themselves away.

No, but I don't extrapolate beyond the evidence supplied. Unlike some, I don't believe everything I read or view. I possess the education that allows me to discern fact from opinion.

Please refrain from trolling.

would you please source those Allegations with reputable Sources?
IE,non-CT-Sites,nor Basement-YouTubes?

As you have said many many times on here,,,They have no imagination....same old MO

I'm not 'dictating'. I'm asking you and your friend to refrain from trolling. Please note the difference. Now, I have to go to work. Have a nice evening.

I am not "trolling."

Please refrain from calling my posts "trolling."

But if you want to agree to stay out of my threads, I will stay out of yours.

I read both sides and I read alternative news, not just Corporate approved ilk.

Please refrain from calling my posts "trolling."