Americans lashed before on the fragile opposition including the National Coalition which couldn't fulfill any concrete progress. The weakness they had showed in representing the revolution inside Syria and in the international side. Analyst said to Zaman Alwasl.
Two months ago, Frederic Hof, former special adviser for transition in Syria at the U.S. Department of State, dissolved in an interview with The American Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), the important American interest to deal with Major General Salim Idriss, leader of the Supreme Military Council of Free Syrian Army and the commander of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who's operating out from Turkey.
Hof described
Idriss as a capable, competent, and honest officer who can use to try to bring
order to this chaos and begin to marginalize some of these jihadist elements is
his role as the sole address for U.S. support.
On June 13, the White House announced it would provide direct military assistance to the Syrian rebels. Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes told reporters on a conference call the new assistance to the Syria opposition’s Supreme Military Council, or SMC, would have “direct military purposes.”
“The president
has made a decision about providing more support to the opposition,” Rhodes
said. “That will involve providing direct support to the SMC. That includes
military support. I cannot detail for you all of the types of that support for
a variety of reasons.”
Central Intelligence Agency began moving
weapons to Jordan from a network of secret warehouses as part of a plan to arm
the Syrian rebels within a month after first vetting the fighting groups. The Wall Street Journal reported
On June 13, the White House announced it would provide direct military assistance to the Syrian rebels. Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes told reporters on a conference call the new assistance to the Syria opposition’s Supreme Military Council, or SMC, would have “direct military purposes.”
The assistance, Rhodes stressed, is “aimed at strengthening the effectiveness of the SMC on the ground.”
Both Jordan
and Turkey reportedly have been serving as forward bases for the rebels to
enter Syria and for the transfer of weapons to aid the rebels.
Idriss is a real force
''He's got a staff, and he's got a
headquarters. The way this conflict has evolved is very local in character. You
have various armed organizations in different neighborhoods, different cities,
different towns, operating under the label of "Free Syrian army" to
distinguish themselves from the regime and from others, like the jihadists.''
Hof said.
The American advisor
said about the White house intention to work through the Supreme Military
Council, which is led by a Syrian exiled defector, Major General Salim Idris,
operating out of Turkey. This is the organization trying to impose some command
and control over the disparate elements of the Free Syrian Army.
The idea and
this is basically part of the Obama administration's revised strategy is to try
to make General Idriss the channel, the funnel, the authoritative address for
the needs of the free Syrian army, whether it is weaponry, which the United
States is still not in the business of providing, or nonlethal assistance,
which is really important in terms of food, communications, body armor,
medical, and the like.
The one piece of real leverage that Idris who by all accounts is a very capable, competent, and honest officer can use to try to bring order to this chaos and begin to marginalize some of these jihadist elements is his role as the sole address for U.S. support. This is what the president is going to be looking for.
By Mohamed Hamdan
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