The Patriot Post® · Aid to Syrian Insurgents

The U.S. is considering direct aid to Syrian Fighters, read the front page headline in the section What’s News in the February 28, 2013 World Street Journal. My first reaction was a happy “finally!”, given that the bloody civil war had been going in Syria for over two years with a tally, so far, of over 70 thousand civilians killed, 4 million affected, 2 million displaced and 925 thousand civilians who have had to flee the Country.

Finally, I thought, it took a blood shed and the destruction of a great part of the country for our government to realize it was time to change our “leading from behind” policy and take an energetic step to the front and change our Syria policy that was still based on the belief that President Bashar al-Assad was a “reformer” rather than a brutal murderer dictator like many others in the Muslim world.

My enthusiasm ended when as I continue reading I saw that “the [US] Officials stressed that the new assistance wouldn’t involve weapons shipments or military involvement.” The assistance would include only 60 million dollars in non-lethal help consisting of ready-to-eat meals for the civilians and medical supplies for the insurgents.

I still was asking myself why now? And found the answer when I read in the condensed news the following ‘related information’: “Islamist extremist appear to have gained power within the insurgency while moderates have lost clout.” Well, things began to fall in place. Only when the signals coming from Syria began to show that the Islamists extremists appeared to be gaining power within the insurrection did the administration decide to increase their assistance to the rebels.

It should make little difference to the insurrection that the new support would not yet include heavy weapons or military assistance and air cover. It should also be immaterial to the ascending rebel group that the European community and the insurgency in general have both expressed disappointment and disdain for the upgraded American assistance.

In this context, it is appropriate to remind the insurgency as well as their European sympathizers of the F-16 fighter jets and the M1A1 tanks the US has committed to provide Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi, an old member of the Muslim Brotherhood, which some articles in the US press define as a “conservative organization” and whose time has come to receive the military aid we should reserve for our true friends and allies.

The insurrection should be more patient and wait a little longer. Their big pieces of hardware are just showing clearly on the horizon. Also they should have in their sights what Morsi is still receiving from the US: $1.3 billion a year in aid in spite of his hostile policies and attitude toward us. They should expect further assistance, if not similar in size, proportionally equivalent to Syria’s importance to US foreign policy.