US Pledges Another $100 Million to Syrian Rebels

Aid Includes Body Armor, Night-Vision Goggles

Another ‘Friends of Syria’ conference, being held seemingly every few weeks lately, has led to another pledge of more US government funding for the Syrian rebellion by Secretary of State John Kerry.

The new pledge will see another $100 million in US aid, including “non-lethal” military equipment, including body armor and night-vision goggles, being provided to the rebels.

The US is already providing training for rebels by way of a camp in Jordan, and has repeatedly offered “humanitarian aid” directly to rebel factions. They have been reluctant to provide US weapons directly, however, preferring to act as an intermediary for Saudi weapons flowing into the nation.

UN Special Envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi has urged a new round of peace talks between the Assad government and the rebels, but with constant increases in aid bolstering rebels’ belief they’ll eventually prevail, there is little interest among them to actually engage in talks.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.