Friday, June 22, 2012

CIA Funneling Arms to Syrian Rebels Through Turkey - by John Glaser

 The CIA has officers secretly operating in southern Turkey, helping allies to funnel arms to Syrian opposition fighters across the border into Syria to aid in the fight against the regime of President Bashar al Assad.

“The weapons, including automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition and some antitank weapons, are being funneled mostly across the Turkish border by way of a shadowy network of intermediaries including Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood and paid for by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar,” according to the New York Times.

The Times reports the CIA officers have been in southern Turkey for several weeks aiming to help keep the weapons and ammunition flowing across the border out of the hands of al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups within the rebel militias. This corresponds to reports in May that the Obama administration was preparing a plan that would attempt to vet rebel militias in Syria to determine whether they would be suitable recipients of munitions through US allies.

Read more: CIA Funneling Arms to Syrian Rebels Through Turkey -- News from Antiwar.com