Looks Like We Get To Bomb Syria?

[caojyn]

http://antiwar.com/blog/2013/09/12/justin-amash-govt-is-breaking-law-by-sending-weapons-to-opposition-forces-in-syria/

Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that “the CIA has begun delivering weapons to rebels in Syria, ending months of delay in lethal aid that had been promised by the Obama administration, according to U.S. officials and Syrian figures.”

“The shipments,” the article continued, “began streaming into the country over the past two weeks, along with separate deliveries by the State Department of vehicles and other gear — a flow of material that marks a major escalation of the U.S. role in Syria’s civil war.”

Today, Republican Representative Justin Amash, who opposes U.S. intervention in Syria, tweeted the following:

Under #NDAA, you'd be indefinitely detained w/o charge or trial if you sent weapons to opposition forces in #Syria. Gov't is breaking law.

I take it Amash is referring to the clause of the USA PATRIOT Act which prohibits giving material support to groups designated by the United States as terrorists. In Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, the court found that “training,” “expert advice or assistance,” “service,” and “personnel,” all qualified as material assistance.

Last year, the U.S. State Department officially designated the Syrian rebels’ foremost fighting group, Jabhat al-Nusra, a terrorist organization. The U.S. has maintained all along that they are employing a “vetting process” to make sure all the material support they send to Syria’s rebels doesn’t go to the bad guys. But U.S. officials told the Washington Post last year that the CIA knew very little about who was receiving U.S. support, nor could they control exactly where it ended up. The New York Times also reported that the Obama administration has been “increasing aid to the rebels” even though “we don’t really know” who is receiving it.

More troubling, the Times published an article confirming that, “Most of the arms shipped at the behest of Saudi Arabia and Qatar to supply Syrian rebel groups fighting the government of Bashar al-Assad are going to hard-line Islamic jihadists.” Incidentally, those weapons were being sent with U.S. approval and coordination.

More than sending material to officially designated terrorist groups, the U.S. is aiding Syria’s rebels despite the fact that the United Nations has repeatedly condemned them for committing war crimes. Further still, the Wall Street Journal reported two months ago that legal advisers to President Obama warned that the U.S. “risked violating international law” by arming the rebels.

So is the U.S. government breaking the law by aiding and abetting terrorists? I would think so. American citizens have been convicted for much less under these material support laws.

interesting....

 

[dennishoddy]

I heard on the radio today that Assad said he would give up his chemical weapons if Israel gave up their nukes.
All of this means it will end up in a stalemate.

 

[okietool]

I wonder if our President will send them some copies of his dvd like he gave the Queen.
Or maybe they forgot to take their double barrel out on the balcony and blast off a couple of rounds ala Biden.

I realize the situation is a lot more serious than my comments, but we can't even control our own borders, how could we possibly find Sarin Gas in Syria when they are actively trying to keep it from us (allegedly)?

We need to clean our own house now and stop trying to clean our neighbors' homes.

And IMO The President is more pissed off because they defied him than upset over the dead people.

 

[BIG_MIKE2005]

I heard on the radio today that Assad said he would give up his chemical weapons if Israel gave up their nukes.
All of this means it will end up in a stalemate.

Yep, Assad is taking full advantage of Obama's weakness. Everyone in the world knows the majority of American people are against getting involved, Congress is divided but leaning more towards voting no when the time comes & other world leaders are starting to dictate their own terms when dealing with us. Assad knows he has Russia backing him & most likely already helping him move things around or bolster his military incase of attack, Iran just waiting for things to pop off & Israel just waiting to respond if it does pop off.

What they did effectively do was trick Washington into giving them a month of delay to move assets & prepare. We were ready to strike & it being postponed worked out in their advantage, not ours. Obama & company can keep saying this isn't time sensitive but it is & the fact Kerry directly said they would not settle for any delay tactics means it is very much time sensitive. They were also tricked into giving Assad extra time by Russia acting on Kerry's off hand comment & Syria jumping onboard with Russia. Now the ball is in their court & we have lost leverage. Not to mention the more time that passes the more bad publicity we are receiving as a nation about not only getting involved with strikes but by helping the rebels that we keep saying are not terrorists affiliated but basically ALL other news reports from around the world contradict.

 

[0311]

Worrisome is that there is an outside chance that POTUS would favor a nuclear disarmament of Israel. So would McCain, I think.

 

[BIG_MIKE2005]

Worrisome is that there is an outside chance that POTUS would favor a nuclear disarmament of Israel. So would McCain, I think.

If we even attempted to go that route Israel would shoot us the finger. there is NO way Israel will give up ANY of their weapons. Too many enemies in the region who have said multiple times they wish to wipe Israel off the map.

 

[okietool]

Worrisome is that there is an outside chance that POTUS would favor a nuclear disarmament of Israel. So would McCain, I think.

I'm not sure Israel would favor that.
And I expect they would tell him to take a flying

 

[caojyn]

Worrisome is that there is an outside chance that POTUS would favor a nuclear disarmament of Israel. So would McCain, I think.

I couldn't care less about Israel, but yea it's probably a bad idea

 

[TedKennedy]

I don't think that's gonna happen.

 

[0311]

If we even attempted to go that route Israel would shoot us the finger. there is NO way Israel will give up ANY of their weapons. Too many enemies in the region who have said multiple times they wish to wipe Israel off the map.

Well, I'm sure you're right. But look what's he done to Egypt's foreign aid, cutting it off, because they essentially rebelled against Moslem extremists running their government. This will present an opportunity for the hand wringing Senator John McCain to get some photo ops, as well. Also worrisome, is that POTUS has 3 & 1/2 more years to whiddle away at Israel. Military aid may recieve more scrutiny, too. As it has to Egypt.