Posted on 06/18/2013 12:40:47 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
(Reuters) - Rebels fought to halt an advance by President Bashar al-Assad's forces into northern Syria on Monday while U.S. President Barack Obama faced a showdown with Russia's Vladimir Putin over Obama's decision last week to arm the insurgents.
New evidence emerged of escalating foreign support for the rebels, with a Gulf source telling Reuters that Saudi Arabia had equipped fighters for the first time with shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, their most urgent request. Rebels said Riyadh had also sent them anti-tank missiles.
European nations backing the rebels would "pay the price" if they joined those sending weapons to Syria, President Bashar al-Assad told a German newspaper.
The Saudi weapons deal was disclosed as rebel fighters confront government troops and hundreds of militants from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia seeking to retake the northern city of Aleppo, where heavy fighting resumed on Monday.
After months of indecision, the Obama administration announced last week that it would arm the rebels because Assad's forces had crossed a "red line" by using nerve gas. That has put Washington on the opposite side of the two-year-old civil war from its Cold War foe Moscow, which supplies weapons to Assad.
The United Nations has urged all sides to stop sending arms to a conflict that has killed at least 93,000 and shows no sign of abating. But those calls have been ignored, with regional and global powers doubling down on support for either side.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Back later.
It seems that the foreign-policy dream team (Obama, Biden, Kerry, (HR)Clinton) have managed to re-ignite the Cold War. Furthermore, they did this in order to further the cause of Islamists, who hate the entire western world. It’s so insane that it has to be a work of genius, not stupidity.
What are the odds they're giving US equipment to the rebels that King Barry will then quietly replace the next time he bows to the Saudi king?
Putin respected Bush.
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