Syrian Democratic Forces and Free Syrian Army fighters gesture on the back of pickup trucks in a village on the outskirts of al-Shadadi, in Hasakah countryside, Syria, Feb. 19, 2016. (photo by REUTERS/Rodi Said)
The House voted for the first time today to explicitly authorize the incoming Donald Trump administration to arm vetted Syrian rebels with anti-aircraft missiles.
While the language in the annual defense bill also creates restrictions on the provision of the controversial weapons, it represents a win for Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., a fervent advocate of helping the rebels resist President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies. The Senate is expected to pass the bill next week.
Until now, the transfer of man-portable air-defense systems, or MANPADs, had been implicitly authorized in the absence of an outright ban. Critics, however, view the new provision as tantamount to a policy recommendation for the president-elect.
Read more ....
Update: Congress is trying to send anti-aircraft missiles to Syria’s jihadist-infested rebellion (RARE)
WNU Editor: Supplying anti-aircraft missiles to the Syrian rebels would be a huge mistake .... and one that I hope that both the current White House and the future Trump administration will not exercise.
8 comments:
I hope McCain is planning to take responsibility for the first civilian planes they are used on.
WTF..
Now thats a brilliant plan, what could go wrong? After all, it's not like those people are unstable and would resort to suicide bombings or the like, go a head and give them MANPADs it will be OK, total trustworthy and stable these Rebels. One has to wonder how insane our So Called Leadership are.
Yea baby,shoot them Russki planes down! It's God's work!
I find it hard to beleive that they dont already have manpads by the dozen looted from syrian armouries.
Trump has made it clear as vodka, he has no interest in supporting rebels or antagonusing Putin.
The only risk l see is Obama giving the order as parting gift to Trump.
I find it hard to beleive that they dont already have manpads by the dozen looted from syrian armouries.
Trump has made it clear as vodka, he has no interest in supporting rebels or antagonusing Putin.
The only risk l see is Obama giving the order as parting gift to Trump.
Fazman,
You are quite correct. Mr. Trump has no intention of supporting such rebels or antagonizing Putin. He is wise.:-) Putin js the most powerful man and heads the most powerful armed forces in the world. Provokkng them is unwise in the extreme.
Now, if something does go wrong, America is not at fault. After all we chose wisely for a different direction when we voted against Obama's clone of Hillary Clinton in terms of policy.
When we voted for Obama twice, we were infected by a "cultural Stockholm Syndrone." We aren't cured but "baby steps" have been taken towards healing. Hopefully the Russians will take this into account in their dealings with us.
http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/fileadmin/docs/G-Issue-briefs/SAS-IB9-MANPADS-and-Syria.pdf
US Stingers have roughly 25% more range and are 40% faster than the Soviet/Russian/Chinese Grail style MANPAD's. They are much harder to decoy with flares or passive systems.
While the jihadi's have some MANPADs and have downed some Syrian and Russian aircraft, they have too few, and are "limited", to the point that they are not used in an "air defense" role, but more in an "ambush" role, targetting aircraft taking off or landing.
When the US "allowed" the jihadi's and their sponsors to "uparm" wih ATGM's in 2013, TOW's and similar systems became so common and plentiful in jihadi hands, that the jihadi's used them as LOS artillery in the 2014 Ildib Offensive.
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