US & UK Suspend Aid To Syrian Terrorists As Recommended By BigAndy9

11th December 2013

About time too!

The US and UK have suspended all "non-lethal" support for rebels in northern Syria, but not humanitarian aid.

A US embassy spokesman in Ankara said the decision was made after Islamist rebels seized bases belonging to the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA).

Fighters from the Islamic Front, a new alliance of rebel groups, ousted FSA-aligned fighters from the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey last week.

The non-lethal aid includes medicine, vehicles and communications equipment.

The US and European countries have been reluctant to supply weapons and ammunition directly to rebel groups in Syria because of concerns that they might end up in the possession of jihadists affiliated to al-Qaeda.

However, they have reportedly facilitated secret arms shipments.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25331241

Glad to hear Obama and Cameron finally listened, Andy!

Ben_Reilly wrote:Glad to hear Obama and Cameron finally listened, Andy!

Well, I recommended it while I was chatting to my next door neighbour...

Still - good for the Syrian people!

Surely some of the many NSA cameras and microphones picked it up ... or maybe your neighbor talked to someone else over the phone   

Ben_Reilly wrote:Surely some of the many NSA cameras and microphones picked it up ... or maybe your neighbor talked to someone else over the phone   

I talk in code   

At any rate, I like the suspension of weapons sales. While I have no doubt there are some good people over there fighting Assad, I have a lot of doubt that the Western governments have any reliable way of knowing who the good guys really are ...

Ben_Reilly wrote:At any rate, I like the suspension of weapons sales. While I have no doubt there are some good people over there fighting Assad, I have a lot of doubt that the Western governments have any reliable way of knowing who the good guys really are ...

It's non-lethal aid.

They have never publicly given or sold arms to the terrorists.

They sure don't Ben, which was one of the reasons they didn't go in and help the Syrian people, and that must have been a tough decision with what is being done to them, but when you can't tell the good from the bad how do you know you are helping?   The Syrian refugee numbers are sky high, and how their neighbours are coping taking in millions I have no idea, but they are.   The impact on the rest of the world is limited at the moment, but that won't be the case much longer.

Having said that, just seen this:


Syria: Worries Over Refugees Caught In Storm
Aid agencies and the army are rushing supplies to thousands of Syrian refugees as a fierce winter storm takes hold in Lebanon.

The UN has said it is "extremely worried" about thousands of Syrian refugees caught in a winter storm in Lebanon.

Freezing temperatures, snow and torrential rain have hit northern Arsal, just across the border from Syria, where people fleeing the civil war live in flimsy shelters.

UN refugee agency the UNHCR has been working around the clock with the Lebanese army to hand out supplies including thermal blankets and plastic tarp.

"Many are really substandard," said UNHCR spokeswomen Lisa Abou Khaled.

The shelters are usually little more than plastic sheeting nailed to wooden frames.

Agencies are now stockpiling items such as blankets and mattresses to help refugees whose shelters might be flooded or destroyed by the storm, which has been nicknamed Alexa.

Nightime temperatures in the Arsal region are forecast to be -4C (28F) with three to five inches (7.6 -13cm) of snow predicted.

More than 20,000 refugees have arrived in the area in the last few months, overwhelming the small town.

"The Syrian refugees here are shivering with cold, especially the ones in tents," said Wafiq Khalaf, a member of Arsal's municipal council.

"Water has come into the tents from the roofs and from the ground where there is flooding," he told the AFP news agency.

"At the moment there is more than 10cm of snow on the ground, but more is expected," he said.

More than 835,000 Syrian refugees are registered in Lebanon but the real number is thought to be more than one million.

More at: http://news.sky.com/story/1180871/syria-worries-over-refugees-caught-in-storm

Poor things, as if they haven't suffered enough.

I guess I really don't see what the difference would be between humanitarian aid and, for example, medicine  :\\:[:

But I don't see meddling and nation-building doing any good. I think problems are usually best solved by those actually experiencing them, regardless of what support they might get.

        
Ok you know what I could have sorted it out WHO      you can trust.

to get a gun you got to eat some bacon and drink a beer.             
that will stop most of the fundamentalists

veya_victaous wrote:        
Ok you know what I could have sorted it out WHO      you can trust.

to get a gun you got to eat some bacon and drink a beer.             
that will stop most of the fundamentalists

I don't think so veya, as they are all muslims, the 'rebel' rebels, the Al Qeda rebels and Assad's troops. None of them would eat the bacon or drink the beer. Not a very good test of fundamentalists I'm afraid.

lolz
My sister in law is Muslim
She and her brother Eat bacon and drink beer
Because Secularism is Better, and Bacon is tasty        

And that is the point the Rebels are split into two groups Muslims and Secularists. And they are Secularists that is willing to Shoot at Muslims and Assad troops to bring secularism to their nation (that is why they are asking for guns). So I would guess they are willing to Embrace one of the many Secular freedoms (freedom to eat what you want) if that is also going to get them weapons to help their struggle.

PLUS I was joking          

I just had this vision of you walking round waving a piece of bacon LOL Wouldn't it be nice is life was that simple.

BigAndy9 wrote:11th December 2013

About time too!

The US and UK have suspended all "non-lethal" support for rebels in northern Syria, but not humanitarian aid.

A US embassy spokesman in Ankara said the decision was made after Islamist rebels seized bases belonging to the Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA).

Fighters from the Islamic Front, a new alliance of rebel groups, ousted FSA-aligned fighters from the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey last week.

The non-lethal aid includes medicine, vehicles and communications equipment.

The US and European countries have been reluctant to supply weapons and ammunition directly to rebel groups in Syria because of concerns that they might end up in the possession of jihadists affiliated to al-Qaeda.

However, they have reportedly facilitated secret arms shipments.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25331241

Just as well Miliband stopped Cameron in his tracks in his rush to war.