MidnightWatcher – Prophecy in Motion

Meh. Despite the atrocities these rebels have committed, they’re “reflective and representative enough of the Syrian population”… right? …

Proverbs 22:24-25, “Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.”

By Karen DeYoung, The Washington Post – “President Obama is preparing to send lethal weaponry to the Syrian opposition and has taken steps to assert more aggressive U.S. leadership among allies and partners seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, according to senior administration officials.

The officials said they are moving toward the shipment of arms but emphasized that they are still pursuing political negotiation. To that end, the administration has launched an effort to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin that the probable use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government — and the more direct outside intervention that could provoke — should lead him to reconsider his support of Assad.

But Obama, who spoke by telephone with Putin on Monday and is sending Secretary of State John F. Kerry to Moscow in the coming days, is likely to make a final decision on the supply of arms to the opposition within weeks, before a scheduled meeting with Putin in June, the officials said.

Confirmation that the Assad government has used chemical weapons, Obama said Tuesday, would mean that ‘there are some options that we might not otherwise exercise that we would strongly consider.’…

Yet even as Obama voiced caution in responding to what he has called the ‘red line’ on chemical weapons, the senior officials described him as ready to move on what one described as the ‘left-hand side’ of a broad spectrum that ranged from ‘arming the opposition to boots on the ground.’

‘We’re clearly on an upward trajectory,’ the senior official said. ‘We’ve moved over to assistance that has a direct military purpose.'” Read more.

‘Nowhere In Rebel-Controlled Syria Is There A Secular Fighting Force To Speak Of’ – ” In Syria’s largest city, Aleppo, rebels aligned with Al Qaeda control the power plant, run the bakeries and head a court that applies Islamic law. Elsewhere, they have seized government oil fields, put employees back to work and now profit from the crude they produce. Across Syria, rebel-held areas are dotted with Islamic courts staffed by lawyers and clerics, and by fighting brigades led by extremists. Even the Supreme Military Council, the umbrella rebel organization whose formation the West had hoped would sideline radical groups, is stocked with commanders who want to infuse Islamic law into a future Syrian government. Nowhere in rebel-controlled Syria is there a secular fighting force to speak of.” Read more.

Is Al Qaeda Our New Peace Partner In Syria? – “Would you help Al Qaeda fighters attempt take over a chemical weapons plant? President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry essentially just did. Fortunately, the armed insurgents were stopped just a mile from the compound after vicious fighting. It would have been unthinkable in the months and years after Sept. 11 that our leadership in Washington would be actively helping al Qaeda and other radical Islamic fighting forces secure oil fields in Syria, conquer chemical weapons plants and eventually the country. But that’s exactly what we are doing.” Read more.