CNN 2012-07-01（在线收听） |
A small group of CIA officers are working from Turkey, helping allies decide which opposition groups inside Syria should be receiving arms. That's according to The New York Times, which cites unnamed sources saying rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank weapons are being sent through Turkey into Syria. CNN reported back in May that the US was increasing its coordination with Gulf nations who are working to arm the opposition. Officials insisted Thursday the US is not providing arms to Syrian rebel groups, but is concerned about who makes up those groups. Any time that weapons fall into the wrong hands anywhere around the world is a problem.
US intelligence agencies now estimate an Al Qaeda force inside Syria to be some 500 strong. A new report by the Institute for the Study of War spells out the challenges in separating them from an opposition force that has now grown to some 40,000 men.
The more difficult question is the rebel groups that are more Salafists(A Salafi is a Muslim who emphasises the Salaf [?????], meaing "predecessors" or "ancestors," the earliest Muslims, as model examples of Islamic practice), more, you know, conservative Islamist groups, that are not quite, you know, Al Qaeda organizations. They're not necessarily in favor of global Islamic jihad, but nonetheless have a more conservative Sunni outlook and that, you know, they could end up becoming more powerful over time.
A US official tells CNN that the opposition is clearly becoming more effective. Assad may have the upper hand militarily, but he now has to confront more than a ragtag bunch of guys.
Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Mike Rogers, says that while the US should be in a better position to understand these opposition groups, he doesn’t have a high comfort level right now with the US claim any role in channeling the flow of any weapons that may be moving towards those groups.
Suzanne Kelly, CNN, Washington. |
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