What do you think?
The United States has offered to give the Syrian opposition $60 million in new aid, including "non-lethal" supplies such as food and medicinefor the first time.
Secretary of State John Kerry made the announcement at a Friends of Syria meeting in Rome, where several Western governments have promised to ramp up assistance to the Syrian opposition.
In what the Associated Press called "a significant policy shift," Kerry said Washington would more than double its aid to Syria's civilian opposition to help it govern rebel-controlled areas.
"Given the stakes," Kerry said, the UnitedStates will also make food and medical supplies available to the military council that represents the Free Syrian Army – the first time Washington has offered direct assistance to rebel fighters.
However, Kerry's offer "fell short of rebel demands" for arms, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, as well as the alternative military assistance – body armor, armoredvehicles, training – some had speculated would be on the table, Reuters reported .
Western and Arab countries may go further, however, when they meet withleading opposition bloc the Syrian National Coalition in Istanbul next week. One European diplomat told Reuters that the SNC's allies would discuss providing"military and humanitarian support."
The US pledge has been met with skepticism inside Syria.
"America is planning and bluffing the world with statements many know they will not adhere to it," said one activist from Ariha who asked not to be named. "When has America committed to its promises?"
The university student, who studiedin Aleppo before the revolution suspendedhas education, said little of the money received through the Syrian National Council, based outside of the country, reaches the fighters on the ground.
"Strange is the revolution in Syria," he said. "Fighters suffer a shortage of weapons and gear while the Syrian National Coalition receives support and funds from Western capitals."
Khalid Soliman, an FSA fighter from Hama said he also held doubts regarding how much support the USA would give the Syrian opposition.
"I want you to realize, no one wantsto help syrian," He said. "Only Syrians help Syria. This we have learned very well."
Britain in particular has been pushing its European partners to relax the arms embargo on Syria to allow military equipment to flow tothe rebels. Foreign Secretary William Hague has said the UK is determined to"ramp up" aid and would soon announce new assistance, the BBC reported .
Time wrote that Britain, France and Italy weren't planning to supply the Free Syrian Army with weapons. However, Britain and France were "keen togive the rebels the means to protect themselves from attacks by Assad's forces, including Scudmissiles fired in recent days against the city of Aleppo."
The Friends of Rome in a statement today pledged "more political and materialsupport" for the SNC and to get "concrete assistance" in Syria, Al Jazeera reported .
"The US and all the countries represented here believe the Syrian opposition coalition can successfully lead the way to a peacefultransition, but they cannot do it alone... they need more support from all of us," Kerry said .

Russia has been accused by Western diplomats of reneging on a pledgeto stop supplying arms to the Syrian regime. The assurances made over a month ago were presented by British officials as a sign that the Kremlin was distancing itself from President Bashar al-Assad and his ruling coterie.
The flow of arms has,however, continued unhindered with the Russians stressing that there was no United Nations prohibition on supplies and it was simply fulfilling its contractual obligations. As well as air- and naval-defence systems, the Kremlin may now be preparing to send Yak-130 jets which can be fitted with missiles to carry out ground attacks, according to American and European officials.
The Syrian regime has extensively used warplanes to carry out raids on heavily populated areas, leading to dozens of civilian casualties. Russia's state arms agency holds a$550m contract to supply 36 of the Yaks,which are trainers but can also be used on combat missions. Last year, a Russian-operated ship carrying helicopter gunships and air-defence missiles was forced to turn back to Russia, after its British insurers withdrew coverage. The aircraft were subsequently sent through a different shipping company.
While the Assad regime continues to receive weapons, from Iran as well as Russia, a British attempt to provide military aid to the Syrian rebels failed ata European Union meeting in Brussels today.
There was agreement, instead, on an amendment which would allow more "non-lethal" assistance to the opposition. But the outcome of the meeting in Brussels made it very clear that David Cameron'sGovernment had been isolated in its efforts to strengthen militarily the moderate revolutionary factions, who have been increasingly sidelined by jihadist groups receiving arms and money from backers in the Gulf states.
Russia has insisted that it is within its rights to keep arming the regime asthere are no UN resolutions prohibiting this. Anatoly Isaikin, the director of Rosoboronexport, said: "In the absence of [UN] sanctions, we are continuing to fulfil our contract obligations. We are mostly shipping air-defence systems and repair equipment intended for various branches of the military."
However, it is the Syrian regime's air defences, overhauledand upgraded with Russian help, which have been a powerful deterrent against the West declaring a "no-fly zone" of the type which, after it became a bombing campaign, brought down Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.
Western officials also claim that Moscow has refused to provide full details ofthe contractual obligations they haveto fulfil and there is also evidence that the regime is getting further Russian arms through third parties.
Critics point to the British proposal on arming the rebels as an example of lack ofclarity in the Westernapproach. The move had been opposed from the outset by Germany and Scandinavian countries as well as by Baroness Ashton, the British head of EUforeign affairs."There is no shortageof arms in Syria," saidJean Asselborn, the Luxembourger Foreign Minister.
The French, who had backed the UK position, have become more lukewarm since the troops they sent to Mali found Western arms supplied to Libyan rebels in the jihadist arsenal. Yesterday, the Hollande governmentseemed satisfied with the agreement on non-lethal aid."Technical assistance and protection of civilians will be easier," said Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
In the US, the outgoing Secretary ofState, Hillary Clinton, had advocated arming the rebels. The new defence secretary, Leon Panetta, also backed the move and stated that the head of US military, General Martin Dempsey, wasalso on board. However, General Dempsey and Barack Obama have publicly urged caution in the past over getting entangled in Syria.
The Russians, on the other hand, insist that their opposition to UN resolutions against the Assad regime, bitterly criticised by the US and Britain, has not stopped the building of growing links withthe Syrian opposition.
Ahmad al-Khatib, the head of the Syrian National Coalition forOpposition Forces – set up at the instigation of the West to replace the Syrian National Council, which had become faction-ridden – has offered to hold direct talks with the regime.
Today, Ali Haidar, Mr Assad's minister for national reconciliation, responded: "We, the government and me personally, will meet,without exceptions, Syrian opposition groups inside and outside Syria."
It remains to be seen whether the talks will actually take place, but UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman held the offers were "the most promising thingwe've heard on Syria recently".
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/revealed-russias-double-dealing-on-arms-to-assad-regime-leaves-uk-isolated-over-syria-8500385.html

I think it is giving aid and comfort to the enemy... IE: the terrorists.

I thought Al-Qaeda was the great terrorist enemy of America and now we are giving them money?

I am outraged by this act of treason.

Impeach everyone.

"Russia has insisted that it is within its rights to keep arming the regime asthere are no UN resolutions prohibiting this."

Good for Russia.

If Assad goes,so will the Russians!
Doubt the Opposition would provide Russia with Dockingfacilities like Assad-Regime does!
Would definitely be a strategic setback for Russia in the ME!
One they could ill afford!

The Free Syrian Army and the SNC are not Al-Qaeda.

The Free Syrian Army:


The Free Syrian Army (Arabic: الجيش السوري الحر‎, Al-Jayš Al-Suri Al-Ḥurr, FSA) is the main armed opposition structure operating in Syria that has been active during the Syrian civil war. Composed of defected Syrian Armed Forces personnel and volunteers, its formation was announced on 29 July 2011 in a video released on the internet by a uniformed group of deserters from the Syrian military who called upon members of the Syrian army to defect and join them. The FSA's leader in August 2011, Colonel Riad al-Asaad, announced that the FSA would work with demonstrators to bring down the system, and declared that all security forces attacking civilians were justified targets. The FSA coordinated with the Syrian National Council starting in December 2011, and supported the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces after the coalition's November 2012 creation. A major reorganisation of the FSA command structure occurred in December 2012, with al-Asaad retaining his formal role but losing effective power and Brigadier General Salim Idris becoming Chief of Staff and effective leader.


The Syrian National Council:


The Syrian National Council (Arabic: المجلس الوطني السوري‎, al-Majlis al-Waṭanī as-Sūri) sometimes known as SNC, the Syrian National Transitional Council, or the National Council of Syria is a coalition of Syrian opposition groups based in Istanbul, Turkey. It formed as a Syrian opposition coalition in 2011 during the Syrian civil war against the government of Bashar al-Assad. After the formation, the council itself asked for international recognition, but denied seeking to play the role of a government in exile, but this changed a few months later, when violence in Syria became increasingly intense. The Syrian National Council seeks the end of Bashar al-Assad's rule and the establishment of a modern, civil, democratic state. The SNC National Charter lists human rights, judicial independence, press freedom, democracy and political pluralism as its guiding principles. SNC has links with the Free Syrian Army, a paramilitary that is composed partly of defected Syrian Armed Forces personnel, who have been active during the Syrian civil war.

This is interesting: Yahoo news:

Key military players in Syria's civil war

http://news.yahoo.com/key-military-players-syrias-civil-war-143738925.html




New York times:

Syrian Rebels Tied to Al Qaeda Play Key Role in War

BAGHDAD — The lone Syrian rebel group with an explicit stamp of approval from Al Qaeda has become one of the uprising’s most effective fighting forces, posing a stark challenge to the United States and other countries that want to support the rebels but not Islamic extremists.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/09/world/middleeast/syrian-rebels-tied-to-al-qaeda-play-key-role-in-war.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Many experts believed that President Bashar al-Assad of Syria would not survive 2012. They were wrong. But the regime is slowly weakening and now, there seems a good chance that he will no longer be in power by the end of 2013. The end could come in one of three ways: 1) he boards a plane out of the country, perhaps to Russia 2) he flees to an Alawite stronghold within Syria 3) or he refuses to leave Damascus, and is killed.
And what happens next? The fear of many is that a new civil war breaks out as soon as the Assad regime is toppled, and that this is fought along sectarian lines. It's very hard to be optimistic about Syria's immediate future. Sadly, 2013 looks like it will be a year of suffering and bloodshed, amidst a worsening humanitarian crisis.

That's the sad Fate of most Countries that have been ruled by a Strongman and his Tribe/Party for so long!
Usually end in another Civil war,with another Strongman,or Group taking the Reins.

Unfortunately, when tyranny ends, warlords rise to fill the vacuum.

If America is all about democracy, then why has America, in the past, installed dictators after overthrowing a democracy?

strategic values, generally there is something in the place in question they want... i'm sure a nice oil pipeline/route from iraq to Mediterranean Sea could come in handy...

So then you admit that America does it for greed and commerce.

Then why do they lie to the Sheeple and pretend to be fighting for peace or justice, freedom and democracy?

could be one of many probable reasons... how would i know why they do what they do?

I was under the impression you were one of the Elite insiders.

sometimes

Yes, I have always stated that when Assad is finally deposed, sectarian violence is likely to erupt and the internecine strife would tear what is left of the country apart. Just like Lebanon in the 80's.

I think this support for the SNC and FSA is an effort to avoid this scenario. By giving aid to these groups, there is hope that the militant jihadists will not have the resources to challenge the new leadership.

Iran may lend support to the jihadists to thwart the installation of a moderate government that may have affiliations that conflict with Iranian interests.

I think publicly stating that the US government is giving money to these groups takes away their creditability and actually increases the chances of an ongoing civil war.

This is the Wahabis war.. Let them fund the humanitarian mission..

I agree, when Assad is deposed, the Iranians (and possibly the Russians if a deal can be struck) will probably aid extremists against the SNC/FSA and internecine strife will escalate. In addition US support will only create more anti-western feeling, and the propaganda machines of the ME will go into overdrive.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki warned that if the Syrian rebels win the civil war it could create a haven for extremists and destabilize the region, in an interview with the Associated Press .
The AP noted that while al-Maliki stopped short of voicing support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, his comments were the strongest warnings to date of the turmoil a collapse in the government could cause.
Al-Maliki, a Shiite Muslim, voiced a fear common among other Shiites that Sunni Muslims would take over in Syria once Assad was ousted.
"Neither the opposition nor the regime can finish each other off," he told the AP. "The most dangerous thing in this process is that if the opposition is victorious, there will be a civil war in Lebanon, divisions in Jordan and a sectarian war in Iraq."
Al-Maliki's comments come as the United States has hinted at expanding support for the Syrian rebels. US Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States is seeking ways "to accelerate the transition" from Assad's regime.
Anti-government protests in Iraq that began in earnest in 2011, inspired by the Arab Spring, soon lost momentum. But in recent months they have flared again among the country's Sunni minority.
Protesters accuse Al-Maliki of bias toward the Shiite majority, at the expense of the Sunnis and other minority groups.
Austin Long, assistantprofessor of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University , spent many years in Iraq as a military analyst and adviser.
Long told GlobalPost that there were legitimate concerns that a post-Assad Syria could destabilize the region. He said if the rebels win, it would likely resemble the current situation in Libya, where a variety of armed militias dominate certain areas with noreal central government control.
“Libya had knock-on effects to Mali that no one anticipated,” he said during a Skype interview on Monday. “Syria touches on so many more places that are already unstable, likeIraq, Lebanon and even Jordan.”
Long said there is also the possibility that a Sunni extremist state with ties to Al Qaeda coulddevelop in Syria, which would have devastating effects for the region.
The US government believes that one of the Syrian opposition's strongest forces, the Islamic group Jabhat al-Nusra , is an extension of Al Qaedain Iraq (AQI). The United States officially designated al-Nusra a terrorist organization in December.
“We have strong reason to believe Jabhat al-Nusra contains a lot of people affiliated withAQI,” Long said. “Thismeans they already have a lot of Iraqi blood on their hands."
The rebel group's possible affiliation with Al Qaeda also complicates US efforts to support theSyrian opposition. So far the United States has refrained from outright arming the rebels, fearing the weapons could fall into the hands of terrorist groups.
But Long warned of the danger of lumping all Islamic rebel groups in Syria under the same terrorist banner.
“Jihadist or extremistdoes not automatically make you a terrorist,” he said. The targeting ofcivilians is the real mark of a terrorist, he said. “You need tolook at the tactics.”