Sources: Obama rebuffing his own NSC on aid to Syrian rebels

Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has stonewalled a recommendation
from his staff to send body armor to Sunni rebels in Syria.

White House sources said Obama ignored a recommendation by the National
Security Council to send non-lethal combat equipment to those fighting the
regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

U.S. President Barack Obama waves before entering Air Force One to depart Israel at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, on March 22.   /UPI/Debbie Hill
U.S. President Barack Obama waves before entering Air Force One to depart Israel at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv on March 22. /UPI/Debbie Hill

The sources said Obama, determined to reconcile with Syria’s leading ally, Iran, has refused to consider supplying anything more than food and medicine to the rebel movement.

“The National Security Council recommended that the United States give
non-lethal military assistance such as body armor and night vision goggles
to the Syrian rebels last month, but U.S. President Barack Obama did not
approve the recommendation,” the U.S. news website The Cable reported.

Cable correspondent Josh Rogin reported that Obama received an
inter-agency recommendation in February 2013 to expand supplies to
Syrian rebels. The NSC recommendation, which included the Defense
Department, State Department, CIA and Vice President Joseph Biden, called for Washington to begin transferring military equipment that fell short of being lethal.

An administration source confirmed the Cable report. The source said
that for more than a year Obama, who felt similar pressure for U.S.
intervention in Libya in 2011, rebuffed appeals by his top White House aides
to expand U.S. assistance to the Sunni rebels that would result in the
ouster of Assad.

“Obama’s refusal to listen to his top aides on Syria means that he is
soliciting and accepting advice outside official channels,” the source said.

The Cable report came amid a spate of articles in the U.S. media that
Washington was finally training and arming Syrian rebels in Jordan. But the
Cable said the White House did not approve anything more than 200,000
ready-to-eat meals for the rebel Free Syrian Army.

“At this time, NATO does not intend to intervene militarily in Syria,”
White House press secretary Jay Carney said on March 26.

Congressional leaders have intensified appeals to Obama for military
intervention in Syria. Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Carl Levin
and the ranking Republican, Sen. John McCain, have called on the president
to establish a no-fly zone in northern Syria with the use of six Patriot
missile defense batteries sent to neighboring Turkey.

“In what moral universe would the U.S. not want to provide body armor
and other non-lethal equipment to the brave Syrians who are fighting against
Assad?” McCain asked. “Once again, it seems the president is isolated even
within his own administration.”

You must be logged in to post a comment Login