Clinton: Syria Rebels to Find Arms ‘Somewhere’

'Absolutely No Doubt' of Regime Change

Arriving in London today on the first leg of a tour of the region, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she believed that the Syrian rebels would be able to arm themselves better in the future, predicting “increasingly capable” forces who would find arms “somewhere.

Clinton’s comments come just days after other State Department officials said the option of directly arming the rebels was being considered, if Assad continued to refuse US demands for him to resign.

Clinton said today that she has “absolutely no doubt” that the Assad regime would eventually fall, but expressed hope that it would happen soon because “more lives would be saved” that way.

The rebels already have considerable arms, of course, as they include a significant force of defectors from the Assad-backed military. The Arab League has also committed to aid the rebel factions, and al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) has infiltrated the country to at least some extent.

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.