KERRY’S ABSOLUTE DEFEAT

Syria Today: Saudi Arabia to US “Intervention Syria Today: Saudi Arabia to US “Intervention Goes Ahead”

EAWorldview – Scott Lucas et.al. – Even in the staid presentation of the US Government’s press release, the announcement by the Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal — made while the American Secretary of State, John Kerry, stood next to him — was sharp:

“An invaded country, where genocide is being perpetrated, is not a normal situation. And I can say with all clarity that we will help the Syrian people defend themselves.”

In other words, Washington could continue to dither over whether to proceed with supply of heavy arms to the insurgency, but the Saudis are going ahead.

Saud’s declaration, after talks with Kerry in Riyadh, confirmed what is an open secret to the close observer: weapons — lots of them, including anti-tank missiles, RPGs, and recoilless rifles — are now reaching opposition fighters. Video footage in recent days has shown Russian Konkurs anti-tank missiles, Chinese HJ-8 systems, and RPG-22s, among other heavy arms. In battles such as the fight for Minnegh Airbase, the regime’s last major base in Aleppo Province, that equipment has played an increasing role.

Moreover, the supply is making nonsense of the US attempt to discriminate between “moderate” insurgents, who can receive the arms, and the “extremist” factions who cannot. The brigades in the videos cross any boundaries between “secular” and “religious” and go beyond any idea of a supply co-ordinated by the Free Syrian Army.

However, there is a significant distinction. It appears that the arms are coming across the Turkish border, following talks in Turkey between the Saudis and the insurgents which must have been approved by Ankara. So far, the US hesitation is holding up the supplies — at least overt supplies — in the south from Jordanian bases.

Meanwhile, Kerry’s reply to the in-your-face declaration by Prince Saud?

“We’re trying to understand as well as possible what each nation is doing today, what they’re prepared to do, and obviously, how we can work in a way that isn’t at cross-purposes.”

Syrian Information Minister Slams Al-Saud Comments On Arming Insurgents

Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi has sharply criticized comments by Saudi Foreign Minister Al Saud, State media report on Wednesday.

Al Zoubi blamed Saudi “weapons, money and terrorists” for violence in the country, adding: “No blame for Saud al-Faisal if he considered Syria as an occupied land and Palestine is liberated as his punctured memory and illusory dreams control his discourse.”

The Speaker of the Syrian People’s Assembly, Mohammad Jihad al-Laham, also slammed Saudi Arabia, saying that the country faced “international terrorism orchestrated by old and neo colonialist countries and funded by oil sheikhdoms that seek to legitimize terrorism by issuing takfiri fatwas that justify murder and destruction.”

http://eaworldview.com/2013/06/26/syria-today-saudi-arabia-to-us-intervention-goes-ahead/