Pentagon Fears Syrian Rebel Weapons Pose Proliferation Risk

A screenshot from a video showing a Free Syrian Army soldier on a rooftop in Zabadani. The Pentagon fears that the weapons pipeline flowing from Persian Gulf states could pose a proliferation risk. Photo: Flickr/SyriaFreedom

The Pentagon insists that it’s not arming the Syrian rebels, merely helping out with the U.S. policy of providing humanitarian aid. But the weapons pipeline that Persian Gulf states have opened to the rebels, with U.S. assistance, could end up flooding the volatile Mideast with small arms, the Pentagon fears.
“We have broad-based concerns about the conflict in Syria, period,” said George Little, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, during a Monday briefing. “We have concerns about weapons proliferation inside Syria and yes, we do have concerns that some of those weapons could fall into the wrong hands.”
That may not be a hypothetical fear. Islamic militant factions within the Syrian rebel coalition appear to be benefiting from the arms pipeline, which runs principally from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. “The opposition groups that are receiving the most of the lethal aid are exactly the ones we don’t want to have it,” an anonymous official told The New York Times on Monday.

Read More................