Arming Syrian Rebels Is A Mistake
By Bader George Qarmout
As an American of Christian Arab descent, I believe that arming the Syrian rebels is a mistake and will haunt the US in the near future.
The rebels are made up of 2 types of fighters. Some of the rebels are true democracy loving Syrians who want to free their people and nation from tyranny. The majority of rebels, on the other hand, are Syrian and non-Syrian (Al Qaeda) Muslim extremists who want to topple the government to replace it with a strict Islamist anti-western government. These two groups have become comingled and it’s nearly impossible to differentiate between the two. If we support the rebels how we can be sure we are not arming the Islamist extremists?
We can’t.
The Obama Administration’s decision to arming Syria’s rebels will deepen America’s involvement in a war that is being fought along sectarian lines, pinning Sunni and Shiite Muslims, and threatening the stability of Israel and Jordan.
I have spoken with a Christian women and her son who just fled Syria to the US, and they spoke of Christian persecution and mass murder and dismemberment of Christians in Syria. She also said that many of the Rebel fighters are imports from other Muslim nations like Chechnya, and Afghanistan.
There is no such thing as a good outcome of the Syrian uprising. It frightens me to see what is happening in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and other Muslim nations. There are fears that Assad’s stockpile of chemical weapons, believed to be one of the world’s largest, could fall into the hands of Islamic extremist groups.
The only safe solution is not to arm any of the parties, because choosing the lesser of two evils, is still dealing with evil. We need to make sure our allies in the Middle East like Israel and Jordan are safe and supported with humanitarian aid to help the refuges migrating to Jordan. We need to work closely with Israel and build up our defense systems in the region. We must NOT hinder Israel from doing what it believes is in her best interest. A United Nations no-fly zone would make a significant impact to protect civilian life and bring both sides to the negotiating table for a conference set to take place in Geneva in July.
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I stand behind you on this assessment, Badr. Syria is a LOSE-LOSE for the US and the west. If Assad maintains control, Iran and Hezbollah are the winners. Lebanon is a big loser in that scenario and of course Israel.
The rebels are now almost exclusively run by the Muslim extremist. I was just reading that one of the most powerful, successful secular Syrian brigades that fought to free Aleppo was disbanded by the extremist. The leader of that group says he can’t compete with the resources, command and control strengths of the extremist. At this point it is too late to arm the rebels. The Christian genocide is going on all over west Asia and populations that have lived peaceably for literally thousands of years are being forced out. Funny how Obama and our press neglect them……..
No need to sacrifice our troops to an ungrateful bunch of people that will only hate us in the future or turn on us, i.e. Afghanistan.
A UN no-fly zone???
Sorry, but the UN is useless with Russia’s veto power.
Isn’t it funny though, we could care less about Christians being discriminated against (or worse)? God forbid someone said something bad about other religious groups in the Middle East.
Oh, forgive me, our fearless leader just spoke in Belfast and blamed Catholic private schools for the problems. I guess it’s obvious where his sympathies lie.
Dear Bader,
It’s nice to see you change your mind in April you supported arming the Rebels. I think you also make another mistake in thinking of involving the United Nations because with that comes US Military personal. Also I think the United Nations has killed enough young American’s.
I personally think the United States needs to stay completely out of it no arms / no air assets for a no fly zone. WE also have to much in the way of defense systems in the region already. This humanitarian aid , tell me were do we get the money?
I think it’s stupid thinking on your part to even hint at any kind of our involvement or the United Nations…. ( Nice to see you hugging the UN and thinking they could cure anything ) See while you may think it’s great and feel some sympathy for those poor people…….
I am reminded of my fellow 8th Marines who died there 30 years ago. 241 Oct 23 1983….. Just remember this…………
THEY CAME IN PEACE ….
From a poor Marine who never forgot… Let them kill each other and so be it…
I would not limit this to Syria. The entire foreign policy is a LOSE-LOSE situation. When are we going to go back to DEFENSE as the purpose of the military?
No easy answers here but very healthy that a debate is taking place. If you look at recent history you would note that weapons given to the Afghan mujahadeen in the 1980s to help them repel the Soviets fell into the hands of the Taliban, which in turn harbored Al Qaeda.
In the Iraq disaster you could make an arguement that the United States attacked a sovereign country whose supposed level of wrong-doing is now known to be less than recent atrocities committed by the Syrian regime such as the slaughter of 100 people including 50 children after a peaceful demonstration, the current use of chemical weapons, and the constant shelling of civilian neighborhoods.
You can also make a strong case for the idea that Americans are suffering from war fatigue after the long committment in Iraq (which will go on for decades and cost trillions in caring for the vets who served there.)
I think its becoming clear that Iranian aid to the regime and aid from Russia are going to tip the scales in favor of Assad remaining in power (along with a brutal crackdown against any remaining opposition.)
While there are no guarantees about anything, there are people such as Sen. McCain (who has meet with the opposition) that believe military aid (weapons) can be provided to moderate elements of the Free Syrian Army and kept out of the hands of more extremist groups.
Bob English would support Obama. He supports anything Obama, a pure blind supporter of anything that a D supports.
If Obama said Bob run into this burning house and dont come out would you do it?
Give me a break, this is the same mistake made in Egypt, which is now in the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Let them fight it out and stay out of it. Just like we should have done in Iraq and Afganistan. You see not hard for this R to say those wars need to end.
And don’t try to say you are in line with McCain as your rationale for supporting this policy. You support it because you march lock step with anything Obama or any Dem supports.
This R says McCain is wrong.
@it figures…Maybe you should re-read what I wrote rather than what you would like to think I wrote.
FYI, your comparison of “the same mistake made in Egypt” is not a good one since in that instance a corrupt dictator was overthrown by many elements in that country. Mubarak was history and following the advice of people like Palin to send American troops to prop him up would have the United States in another long prolonged war in the Middle East.
Lesson to be learned from places like Iran and Egypt is that when the US supports a corrpupt brutal dictaorship and the day comes when that dictator is overthrown, you can assume the US will not have the same cozy relationship withe new govt. Same thing will happen in Saudi Arabia sooner or later.
Bob English – Senator McCain supports the wrong solution for the wrong reasons and at the wrong time. This is his modus operandi if you will and clearly highlights his ineffective leadership and decision making skills. His go along to get along way of operating and thinking in the senate just further drives us further down the road to ruin.
This is definitely one of many “Foreign Entanglements” that we should avoid. Arming a bunch of supposed “moderates” who in reality hate America and will seek to destroy us and our way of life in the future in the Syrian conflict highlights just how silly we have become as a nation. Haven’t we learned anything yet about sticking our noses where they really don’t belong?
There is absolutely no compelling reason for us to expend our people’s lives or treasure in pursuing Mr. McCain’s erroneous vision regarding projection of American power for what are really ill-conceived reasons.
The outcome will be far worse in the long haul than letting this play out between the factions involved. Yes, there are foreign fighters on the side of the “rebels” however spending inordinate amounts of money and American lives for what will be a dubious outcome (look at Iraq and Afghanistan) at best is just plain silly and a waste of precious resource. This administration with the help of “Moderate” Republicans such as McCain, Rove and the rest of the “go along to get along, good old beltway boys are exactly what is wrong with this country.
In case no one has noticed we have spent an inordinate amount of resources between Bush and Obama and we clearly have very little to show for it other than the debt and loss of American lives. The debt we have left to our children and their children’s children. The loss of American lives is beyond measure, now you wish to embroil us in another foreign tragedy? This is just another globalist foray into an area of dubious return.
As for the UN, that too is a wishful solution (look how things turned out in Libya and Egypt) that has zero chance of having a positive outcome in this conflict.
Lastly, the term “Moderate Element” is a misnomer if ever there was one in this conflict. Didn’t we learn anything from the fiasco in Benghazi? They say that doing the same thing time after time expecting a different outcome is the definition of insanity. Tyranny will prevail no matter what we do or whom we support in that conflict, believing anything else is insanity!
Perhaps this conflict is a job for the Arab countries in the region. They should get off of their sorry backsides and commit their own people, resources and wealth to settle once and for all the issues that have been simmering for years. Shia vs Sunni, this is a direct issue for Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey for sure. Let them put their efforts into resolving the Shia/Asad issues.
Personally, as an American veteran, I am sick and tired of seeing our troops used as stooges for the UN, the Arab oil cartel or as mercenaries for a bunch of anti-American dictators around the world. We have no dog in this fight…..defense is defense…let’s learn from our mistakes in Libya, Egypt, etc. and not make the same stupid mistakes again! For what its worth….
@Joe..agree with you that any commitment of American troops in Syria is out of the question and I would also like to see the other Arab countries in the region try to help in a the resolution of the issue.
Only other thought regarding Egypt is that although many here don’t like the way things turned out, the other possible outcomes could have been far worse especially if the US committed its miltary to trying to prop up Mubarak and killed a few thousand protesters in the process. Dont forget that a free and fair election was held in Egypt after Mubarak hit the road.