A Free
Syrian Army fighter (Reuters/Yazan Homsy – think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)
MADAyuMadyan - CIA mula mempersenjatai pemberontak Syria secara terang-terangan. Dalam 2 minggu
yang lalu Amerika Syarikat telah dilaporkan mula menyampaikan senjata kepada
militan melawan kerajaan Syria. Washington menjangka CIA memantau penyampaian
agar bantuan itu tidak berakhir di tangan Al ‘Qaeda bersekutu.
Menurut
laporan Washington Post, selepas beberapa bulan janji-janji untuk memberi
bantuan kepada pemberontak Syria secara ‘Rasmi', Washington akhirnya dibenarkan
penyampaian secara terbuka senjata dan peluru kuasa anti-Assad - walaupun
kebimbangan bahawa beberapa senjata yang boleh berakhir di tangan fundamentalis
Islam.
Sudah
kembali pada bulan April Setiausaha Negara Amerika Syarikat, John Kerry
berjanji bahawa bantuan rasmi ‘nonlethal' akan mula mengalir “dalam masa
beberapa minggu.”
Pada
bulan Mei Jawatankuasa Senat Hubungan Luar telah meluluskan rang undang-undang
yang akan membenarkan, jika ditandatangani, pentadbiran Obama untuk membekalkan
senjata kepada pembangkang Syria. Walau bagaimanapun, pada hakikatnya ia
mengambil masa beberapa bulan sebelum pentadbiran Obama membuat keputusan itu.
Halangan
terbesar bagi Washington untuk membantu pemberontak Syria semakin sentiasa
kehadiran Al ‘Qaeda membimbangkan di kalangan barisan pemberontak.
Akhirnya
keputusan itu dibuat ketika Presiden Barack Obama sedang mempertimbangkan
serangan peluru berpandu pada negeri Syria berdaulat mengejar tujuan untuk
menewaskan Presiden Bashar Assad.
Setakat
ini tidak ada sebarang komen rasmi daripada CIA.
Bantuan
maut terutamanya disalurkan kepada pejuang bawahan kepada Ketua Salim Idriss,
komander Majlis Tertinggi Tentera pasukan pemberontak yang berpaling tadah dari
Tentera Syria tahun lepas.
Puak ini
yang memisahkan kumpulan pembangkang bersenjata dianggap sebagai kejahatan yang
lebih kecil jika dibandingkan dengan lain-lain unit militan jihad dengan pautan
yang terbukti untuk diiktiraf di peringkat pertubuhan-pertubuhan pengganas antarabangsa
seperti Al ‘Nusra Front, yang dikaitkan dengan cawangan Al ‘Qaeda Iraq.
CIA
mengawal dan menjejaki penghantaran senjata ringan dilaporkan dan senjata lain
melalui negara-negara yang bersempadan dengan Syria, seperti Turki dan Jordan.
Jabatan
Negara Amerika Syarikat mempunyai program berasingan sendiri menyampaikan
kenderaan dan gear yang lain tidak membawa maut seperti: Peralatan komunikasi, maju
kit perubatan pertempuran dan paket makanan berkalori tinggi kepada kuasa-kuasa
pembangkang Syria menggunakan saluran bekalan sama.
"Majlis
Tertinggi Tentera menerima begitu sedikit sokongan bahawa mana-mana sokongan
yang kami terima adalah yang menyenangkan," Khaled Saleh, jurucakap
Gabungan pembangkang Syria, dilaporkan sebagai berkata.
2 tahun setengah
pertumpahan darah yang berterusan di Syria tidak memberi kelebihan penting
kepada kedua-dua belah konflik. Dalam keadaan bantuan Amerika ini boleh memberi
pemberontak bersenjata Syria memaksa tangan yang atas ke atas tentera kerajaan
di medan perang.
Selain
itu, pegawai-pegawai Amerika Syarikat mengakui, bekalan senjata perlu bersorak
sehingga tentera pemberontak yang telah mengalami kerugian besar sejak
kebelakangan ini.
“Mereka melihat kepimpinan
mereka yang mempunyai sedikit kesan,” kata Washington Post penasihat kanan
Jabatan Negara mengenai bantuan ke Syria Mark S. Ward, bertanggungjawab bagi
penyelarasan penghantaran bantuan ‘nonlethal’ kepada pemberontak Syria dari Turki.
CIA starts arming Syrian
rebels overtly
In the
past two weeks the US has reportedly begun delivering arms to militants
fighting the Syrian government. Washington expects the CIA to monitor the
delivery so that the aid does not end up in the hands of Al-Qaeda associates.
According
to the Washington Post report, after months of promises to provide aid to
Syrian rebels in an ‘official’ manner, Washington has finally sanctioned open
delivery of arms and munitions to anti-Assad forces - despite fears that some
of the weapons could end up in the hands of Islamic fundamentalists.
Already
back in April the US Secretary of State John Kerry promised that official
‘nonlethal’ aid would start flowing “in a matter of weeks.”
In May
the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations had passed a bill that would allow,
if signed, the Obama administration to supply arms to Syrian opposition.
However, in reality it took months before the Obama administration made up its
mind.
The
biggest hindrance for Washington to aid Syrian rebels has always been the ever
growing presence of Al-Qaeda jihadists among rebel ranks.
In the
end the decision was made at a time when President Barack Obama was considering
missile strikes on sovereign Syrian state pursuing the aim of ousting President
Bashar Assad.
So far
there has been no official comment from the CIA.
The
lethal aid is primarily being channeled to fighters subordinate to General
Salim Idriss, the commander of the Supreme Military Council of the rebel forces
who defected from the Syrian Army last year.
This
faction of dissociated armed opposition groups is considered to be smaller evil
if compared to other jihadist militant units with proven links to
internationally recognized terrorist organizations, such as Al-Nusra Front,
which is associated with the Iraqi branch of Al-Qaeda.
The CIA
controls and tracks the delivery of reportedly light weapons and other
munitions via countries bordering Syria, such as Turkey and Jordan. The US
State Department has its own separate program of delivering vehicles and other
non-lethal gear, such as communication equipment, advanced combat medical kits
and high-calorie food packets to the Syrian opposition forces using the same
supply channels.
“The
Supreme Military Council is receiving so little support that any support we
receive is a relief,” Khaled Saleh, a spokesman for the Syrian Opposition
Coalition, is reported as saying.
Two-and-a-half
years of ongoing bloodshed in Syria has not given a decisive advantage to
either side of the conflict. In this situation American aid could give the
Syrian armed rebel forces an upper hand over the government troops on the
battlefield. Also, the US officials admit, the weapons supply should cheer up
the rebel troops that have been suffering massive losses lately.
“They
see their leadership is having some impact,” told the Washington Post the State
Department’s senior adviser on assistance to Syria Mark S. Ward, responsible
for coordination of nonlethal aid delivery to the Syrian rebels from Turkey.
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