VIDEO: Lieberman say's it's time to arm the rebels
cnn
13-Feb-2012 (one comment)

Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman says a coalition should form and offer arms support to the Syrian rebels fighting Assad.

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Darius Kadivar

Lieberman is Foolishly Wrong and Here is Why !

by Darius Kadivar on

Arming the Rebels in Syria as some are suggesting in diplomatic circles including neo cons like this fellow would be a huge mistake particularly if there is no Plan B.

The Arab league with the help of Turkey should simply move in and "liberate" the Syrians. Otherwise this will turn into an even more bloody and endless war to last for years if not decades in the heart of the Middle East.

By arming the Rebels you can be sure Russia will oppose it by trying to do the same with the Syrian Government and the result will be a proxy war again which can only last years and aimed at filling the pockets of Arms dealers too happy to satisfy all parties involved.

In addition by arming the rebels in this particular case can very well end up in the hands of Al Quaeda which has openly supported the uprising only to highjack the revolution and legitimate calls for help of the Syrian people.

This situation if VERY Different from that in Libya. 

To begin with The Syrian opposition is too divided to act efficiently on it's own.

Secondly only a Joint Operation as in the case of Libya (but this time without direct Western Intervention) which would involve Only Arab league nations and Turkey  would be seen as a legitimate intervention to protect civilians.

Starting with a No fly zone imposed by the Arab League and Turkey given their immediate concerns due to their territorial proximity can justify such an intervention.

After all the Turks have no scruples when it comes to bombarding Kurdish rebellion in Iraq and they don't bother asking for a UN resolution to act whenever they feel there is a threat at their frontiers.

Russia on the other hand won't be able to oppose such an initiative given the clear hostility of an ever growing Arab public opinion towards Russia's blind support of Syria's crackdown.

But arming the Rebels would be the pretext Russia and China are looking for to doom the Syrian revolution and turn it into an endless Civil War which it's not meant to be with risks of seeing this spill into Syria's immediate and unstable neighborhoods like Iraq, lebanon and even Jordan where the Muslim Brotherhood is strongly calling for a Jihad against Assad.

Liberman is an Idiot or a smart and interested ally of Arms dealers ready to make profits over the misery of people in the region.

Don't fall for his crocodile tears. Like Dick Chesnay His interests are elsewhere ... In his bank account ...

and not with the people he is flattering by dubbing them as "Freedom Fighters" whom he hardly knows firsthand.

People are not fighting for "democracy" they are first and foremost fighting for survival. If they can subesquently establish a democratic state and handle it in a Post Assad Syria which we all hope it can then all the better but don't try and depict a hypothetical aspiration or even possible future without depicting the sitation as it really is. 

The Rebels cannot defend themselves and are being slaughtered. Arming them should be carried out by a well recognized Coalition composed essentially of Muslim nations of the region ranging from Turkey to the Arab League. This has to be a Libyan Style Operation with Only the above nations involved and No Western government be it Europe or the US involved which would then be opposed by Russia and China as an attempt towards a Western Style Regime Change.

Once the coalition is shaped with a clear objective being the protection of civilians and calling for  Assad's departure then they can strike and arm the rebels in order to overthrow their tyrant as was the case in Libya but this time without the slightest intervention of the Western Powers.

These are extremely sensitive times and the risks are truly high not only for Syria but the entire region if the Arab League and Turkey don't get their priorities straight and offer a clear vision and united Front to bring an end to Assad's brutal regime. 

 

My Humble Opinion. DK