Thursday, May 01, 2014

Anne Barnard pleas for more arms for Syrian rebels

It is amazing that Western correspondents in Beirut now openly call for arming (or more arming) of the Syrian rebels. Look at this story: the headline is about bombing by the Syrian regime and then it is followed immediately by this plea: "It was the type of attack that opposition figures seek to halt with a renewed push for military aid to defend against aerial bombardments. Leaders of the armed opposition and the main exile opposition coalition plan to travel to Washington next week to push the Obama administration to lift its objections to allowing antiaircraft missiles to flow to insurgents deemed to be moderate, coalition officials said on Wednesday.

The goal is to push for antiaircraft and antitank missiles “and to change the American public opinion” regarding support for Syria’s armed opposition, said Bahia Mardini, a media adviser to the exile body, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces."  And after Barnard finishes her job, she remembers that the day before the Syrian rebels also attacked a school but look how it is phrased:  "The Aleppo bombing came a day after mortar shells struck a school in government-held Damascus, killing at least 14 people and wounding more than 80, and a separate mortar attack killed three children in a camp for the displaced in the Damascus suburb of Adra; state media blamed insurgents. The reported death toll rose to 100, including women and children, in a double bombing on Tuesday in a government-controlled area of Homs."  But notice that in the case of the bombing by the rebels, she does not identify the side that did it as if it is a mystery.