US Rethinks Arming Syria “Rebels”, says Chuck Hagel

WASHINGTON (ST) _ US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has acknowledged his government is no longer ruling out arming Syrian what he considered “rebels” fighting in Syria .

Speaking in Washington Hagel confirmed the US was reconsidering its opposition to providing weapons to , what he called  Syrian “rebels,” but stressed that no decision had been made yet. “Arming the “rebels” – that’s an option,” he told reporters.

“You look at and rethink all options. It doesn’t mean you do or you will. These are options that must be considered with the international community: what is possible, what can help accomplish [our] objectives.”

Reuters reported Hagel made the comments at a joint news conference with British Defense Secretary Philip Hammond.

Hammond said the UK had so far been unable to provide weapons because of an EU ban on arming terrorist groups fighting in Syria

But “we will look at the situation when that ban expires in a few weeks’ time,” he added.

Hagel and his British counterpart indicated that existing evidence of alleged chemical weapon was not sufficient to trigger an international response in Syria .

Hammond said the public still remembered that claims of weapons of mass destruction, which led to the Iraq invasion in 2003, turned out to be incorrect.

“There is a very strong view that we have to have very clear, very high-quality evidence before we make plans and act on that evidence,” he said.

Media reports revealed the involvement of Washington in providing terrorist groups in Syria, with weapons ,  used in shedding the blood of the Syrian people, including weapons transported from  Zagreb  and Libya to terrorists in Syria and  training terrorists fighting in Syria  in camps in Jordan , as acknowledged  by U.S. Senate Rand Paul last February.

T. Fateh