A few weeks after armed Syrian rebel groups gained control of Aleppo,
Syria on July 18, 2012, a Reuters
article by Mark Hosenball, titled “Exclusive: Obama authorizes secret U.S.
support for Syrian rebels”, revealed on Aug. 1, 2012 some more details about
the U.S. government’s covert and overt support for the armed insurgency in
Syria:
“President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing U.S.
support for rebels seeking to depose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his
government, U.S. sources familiar with the matter said.
“Obama's order, approved earlier this year and known as an intelligence `finding,’
broadly permits the CIA and other U.S. agencies to provide support that could
help the rebels oust Assad…Precisely when Obama signed the secret intelligence
authorization, an action not previously reported, could not be determined…A
U.S. government source acknowledged that under provisions of the presidential
finding, the United States was collaborating with a secret command center
operated by Turkey and its allies.
“Last week, Reuters reported that, along with Saudi Arabia and Qatar,
Turkey had established a secret base near the Syrian border to help direct
vital military and communications support to Assad's opponents.
“This `nerve center’ is in Adana, a city in southern Turkey about 60
miles from the Syrian border, which is also home to Incirlik, a U.S. air base
where U.S. military and intelligence agencies maintain a substantial presence….Turkish
authorities are said by current and former U.S. government officials to be
increasingly involved in providing Syrian rebels with training and possibly
equipment.
“European government sources said wealthy families in Saudi Arabia and
Qatar were providing significant financing to the rebels…Current and former
U.S. and European officials previously said that weapons supplies, which were
being organized and financed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia, were largely limited to
guns and a limited number of anti-tank weapons, such as bazookas….Separately
from the president's secret order, the Obama administration has stated publicly
that it is providing some backing for Assad's opponents….Recent news reports
from the region have suggested that the influence and numbers of Islamist
militants, some of them connected to al Qaeda or its affiliates, have been
growing among Assad's opponents…”
According to a 2013 Amnesty International human rights group
report, in Syria during 2012, “government forces…carried out indiscriminate
attacks on residential areas using aircraft, artillery shells, mortars,
incendiary weapons and cluster bombs” and “together with their support militias,
they arrested thousands of people.” In addition, “at least 550 were reported to
have died in custody, many after torture,” others were extrajudicially
executed” and “security forces’ snipers continued to shoot peaceful
anti-government demonstrators and people attending public funerals.”
But the same 2013 Amnesty International report also noted
that in Syria during 2012, the “armed groups fighting against the government
also committed gross abuses, including war crimes,” “tortured and/or summarily
killed government soldiers and militia members after taking them prisoner and
carried out indiscriminate bombings that killed or injured civilians.”
The 2013 Amnesty International report described how the
lives of many people in Syria were impacted by the continued foreign
government-backed armed revolt against Assad’s Baath regime in 2012:
“…Hundreds of
thousands of people were forced to flee their homes; the UN estimated that over
2 million people were internally displaced and living under conditions of
extreme hardship within Syria, and that since the beginning of the conflict
almost 600,000 had fled as refugees to neighboring countries, where conditions
were often harsh….A bomb attack in the capital Damascus on 18 July, for
which the Free Syrian Army [FSA] claimed responsibility, killed the Defense
Minister and his deputy, the Assistant Vice-President and the Head of the
National Security Bureau. Two days later, armed opposition groups launched an
offensive that spread the armed conflict to Aleppo, Damascus and elsewhere….
“Armed groups fighting against the government, including
some linked to the FSA, …carried out suicide and other bomb attacks, and at
times fired imprecise weapons such as artillery and mortars in densely
populated neighborhoods, used inherently indiscriminate weapons such as
anti-personnel landmines, and prepared or stored munitions and explosives in
residential buildings, endangering civilian occupants…By the end of the year,
armed opposition groups were reported to be increasingly threatening and
attacking minority communities perceived to be pro-government…
“Government forces and militias routinely used lethal and
other excessive force to quell peaceful protests calling for the `fall of the
regime’. Hundreds of people, including children and bystanders, who posed no
threat to the security forces or others, were killed or wounded by government
snipers during protests and public funerals of “martyrs”. ..At least 550
people, including children, were reported to have died in custody, most
apparently as a result of torture or other ill-treatment. Many of those who
died were suspected government opponents…
“Government forces launched frequent, indiscriminate air
strikes against opposition-controlled areas, prompting almost all residents of
these areas to flee. Others, particularly those from minority groups, also fled
their homes fearing attacks from armed opposition groups. Many camped in the
countryside or sought refuge in caves; others went to live with relatives or
left the country. Refugees from elsewhere resident in Syria, including
Palestinian refugees, faced particular difficulties in accessing safety…By the
end of the year, thousands of people were living in camps beside the border
with Turkey in dire conditions…”
But the 2013 Amnesty International Report also noted that in
2012, “in February, the government held a referendum on a new Constitution that
ended the Baath party’s long monopoly on power, but fell short of opposition
demands for sweeping political reforms,” “parliamentary elections were held 90
days later,” and Assad’s Baath regime “announced general amnesties in January
and October” of 2012.
(end of section 2 of part 28)
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