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| Syrian group in U.S. seeks to arm rebels |
| 2012-08-30 |
| From a one-room office in an unfinished glass tower three blocks from the White House, an amorphous network of activists is doing what the Obama administration will not: attempt to arm the rebels trying to overthrow Syria's government. The Syrian Support Group, incorporated in April as a nonprofit organization, has few resources and, so far, few donations, and whether it succeeds in its larger goal remains to be seen. But it is already serving as a conduit between the United States and the armed forces seeking to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad and having an effect on U.S. policy. The group has surprisingly extensive contacts among rebel commanders of the Free Syrian Army, a rare license from the Treasury Department allowing it to sidestep sanctions and a conviction that the assistance the administration has so far offered Syrians — mainly communications equipment — is simply not enough to defeat Assad. Its members regularly consult State Department officials, including the U.S. ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, who has been based in Washington since the U.S. Embassy in Damascus closed in February. Their unusual relationship with the U.S. government reflects the Obama administration's constrained, at times convoluted policy toward Syria's raging conflict. |
| Posted by:tipper |