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Jihadi MANPADS: History Teaches 'Precisely Nothing'
"The fact that thousands of Islamists in the spirit of al-Qaeda are battling Assad is something Washington finds a little confusing. There, apparently, they have learned to distinguish between 'subtle shades of grey.' Anyone in this implacable Islamist Syria who is pro-Western is 'our son-of-a-bitch,' and useful to democracy. Something similar occurred in Libya, where 'useful' fighters of Qaddafi got so carried away by their struggle for democracy, they destroyed the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi and brutally killed the ambassador."By Georgy Bovt
In Barack Obama's administration, a delicate question is being discussed: whether or not to supply man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) to rebels fighting Bashar al-Assad's regime. In recent months, Assad's troops have succeeded, and his toppling is not at all in evidence. Nevertheless, the U.S. operates on the principle of "Carthage must be destroyed"!
While lengthy talks in Geneva yielded no results, the fact that thousands of Islamists in the spirit of al-Qaeda are battling Assad is something Washington finds a little confusing. There, apparently, they have learned to distinguish between "subtle shades of grey." Anyone in this implacable Islamist Syria who is pro-Western is 'our son-of-a-bitch," and useful to democracy. Something similar to this occurred in Libya, where "useful" fighters of the tyrant Qaddafi got so carried away by their struggle for democracy, they destroyed the American Consulate in Benghazi and brutally killed the ambassador. If anything disturbs Hillary Clinton's campaign to be next American president, it will be this particular episode: as secretary of state, this got by her.
In Syria, one such "Westernized" man is considered to be Ahmad Jarba, head of the Syrian National Coalition. He was in Washington not long ago and raised the question of supplying MANPADs to his men. Allegedly, with over 160,000 people killed since the civil war broke out and Assad began taking the upper hand, only weapons in that range of lethality can undermine Assad's air superiority and turn the tide of the war.
A "breakthrough" in the area of supplying weapons has already occurred: The United States recently began supplying "moderate" insurgents with modern anti-tank weapons. This was done within the framework of a special agreement with Saudi Arabia (Saudis are eager to topple Assad, ally of their main enemy, Iran).
Not everyone is inspired by the idea of supplying Syrian rebels with MANPADS. Thus, former CIA director David Petraeus called the plans "a nightmare threat." After all, if they can help in the fight against al-Assad, there's no guarantee they won't be used outside Syria. No one can say whether they'll be used by terrorists against civilian aircraft. At one time, the delivery of similar systems, "Stinger" missiles, helped the Afghan mujahedeen in their struggle against Soviet aircraft. Of course, the United States has long puzzled over how to recover these items from around the world, including buying them from "undesirable elements."
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