Terrorism & Security

US will send nonlethal aid directly to Syrian rebels (+video)

Secretary of State John Kerry said that some groups the US doesn't support are gaining more influence with the rebels in the absence of greater Western help.

By Whitney Eulich, Staff writer / February 28, 2013

US Secretary of State John Kerry (l.) talks to Syrian opposition coalition leader Mouaz al-Khatib during an international conference on Syria at Villa Madama, Rome, Thursday, Feb. 28, 2013.

Riccardo De Luca/AP

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Whitney Eulich

Latin America Editor

Whitney Eulich is the Monitor's Latin America editor, overseeing regional coverage for CSMonitor.com and the weekly magazine. She also curates the Latin America Monitor Blog.

In Pictures: Crisis Continues in Syria

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US Sec. of State John Kerry announces $60 million in food and medical supplies going to Syrian opposition after meeting in Rome.

The United States is planning to boost the size and scope of its aid to Syria, a policy shift announced at an international conference on Syria in Rome today.

Aid will remain nonlethal, but for the first time, it will be sent to Free Syrian Army fighters battling the government, reports Reuters. In the past, aid has only gone to unarmed groups and local councils. Secretary of State John Kerry also announced the US government will more than double aid for Syrian civilians, pledging $60 million.

“No nation, no people should live in fear of their so-called leaders,” Mr. Kerry said.

Other European nations are expected to provide further assistance to the opposition, as well, potentially including “defensive military hardware,” reports The Associated Press.

"We want to help the Syrian opposition to better be able to meet the needs of the Syrian people," Kerry said at a news conference in Paris yesterday. "They've had difficulty doing that now. And some folks on the ground that we don't support and whose interests do not align with ours are delivering some of that help."

According to The New York Times, nonlethal aid could possibly go beyond food and medical equipment, including things such as night-vision devices, vehicles, or communications equipment. “[O]ne official said that the financing the United States planned to send to the resistance might indirectly help the rebels arm themselves as it might free up other funds to purchase weapons,” reports the Times.

Today’s meeting in Rome of The Friends of Syria group – made up of the Syrian opposition and 11 foreign powers that support them – comes days before a meeting of the Syrian National Coalition in Turkey. According to Al Jazeera, at the Istanbul meeting the main Syrian opposition group is expected to “elect a prime minister and government to run parts of Syria seized from [President Bashar al-]Assad’s control.”

According to the Times, a primary goal of the US is to support the opposition in strengthening its credibility among the Syrian population.

Since the conflict erupted two years ago, the United States has provided $365 million in humanitarian aid to Syrians. American officials are increasingly worried that extremist members of the resistance against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, notably the Jabhat al-Nusra Front, which the United States has asserted is affiliated with Al Qaeda, will take control of portions of Syria and cement its authority by providing public services, much as Hezbollah has done in Lebanon….
To blunt the power of extremist groups, the United States wants to help the Syrian Opposition Council, the coalition of Syrian resistance leaders it backs and helped organize, deliver basic services in areas that have been wrested from the control of the Assad government.