Kofi Annan: Use of Force Would Make Syria Conflict Worse

Iran Accuses Arab Nations of Sending Mercenaries

Former UN Secretary General and current special envoy to Syria Kofi Annan today warned the international community against using force to settle the ongoing conflict in the nation, warning after talks with the Arab League that such a move would only make the situation even worse.

This comes amid growing calls to increase intervention in the country, and the British government announced that it is considering more “non-lethal” aid to the rebel factions.

But the real concern in Syria is not the “non-lethal” aid but rather the reports of impending attacks and the claims that the rebels are already being directly supported. Today, Iran’s ambassador to France said they had information that certain unnamed Arab nations had been sending not only money and arms, but mercenaries, to Syria on behalf of the US and Israel.

Calls for the US to directly send weapons to Syria’s rebels were a hot topic of discussion yesterday in the Senate, where Sen. John McCain mocked military concerns that the weapons would wind up in al-Qaeda’s hands, saying that the greater risk was not intervening militarily.

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.