Short
of weapons, rebel forces have been fighting the Syrian government of President
Bashar al-Assad for more than two years. At the same time, there is a debate in
the West over whether the United States and other Western countries should
provide weapons to the insurgents.
-snip-
Mona
Yacoubian, senior analyst with the Stimson Center in Washington, takes it one
step further.
“From an American interest standpoint, of course there are lingering,
continuing concerns about whether or not such arms would end up in the wrong
hands, in the hands of jihadist extremists who have an agenda that is inimical
to the interests of the United States,” she said. “And there is also the issue
of the fact that this is a sectarian civil war and in
fueling, or providing arms to one side, does the United States and others
become essentially partisans in what is a sectarian civil war.”
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