"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,
sources familiar with the matter said.
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 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." Yahoo News
-----------------------------
I haven't seen this in any other stories thus far. Can it be that an effort is being made to keep this quiet? I have no personal knowledge of this US government matter and so can comment. The story says that the "finding" involved" dealt with non-lethal assistance, but also that the rebels have reeceived a couple of dozen MANPAD shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles. Provenance? Who knows? It will take more than these missiles to even the odds.
It is widely, wildly, jubilantly reported today that the rebels used a captured tank to attack an airport inside Aleppo. whe it gets to be half a dozen tanks i will start to pay attention.
Rebel over-confidence led them to allow videos of their actions aginst prisoners to be put on the internet. Americans and Euros are highly sensitive to a lack of moral purity in their proteges.
Two things: 1. The rebels will be more careful. 2. An effort wil be made to keep such material off Western media.
pl
http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-obama-authorizes-secret-support-syrian-rebels-010014457.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/02/syria-rebel-tank_n_1732100.html
