British FM: Undecided on Arming Syrian Rebels

Rebel Leader Says Whole War Depends on British Arms

A week after British and French officials sabotaged EU talks and forced the Syrian arms embargo to expire, the British government seems to be having second thoughts, with Foreign Secretary William Hague saying the nation is now unsure whether or not to arm the Syrian rebels.

The British government in general and Hague in particular had been push hard to arm the rebels at all costs, and had even claimed they were considering doing so in defiance of an EU embargo if they weren’t able to get it lifted.

Free Syrian Army (FSA) leader General Salim Idris, always keen to push for new arms, is now making the rounds in the British press, insisting that all depends on the British military arming them, and that without British arms, the war of regime change will fail.

Idris and other rebel officials have been predicting imminent victory on the one hand, but also imminent defeat if they aren’t given massive amounts of arms. With growing concerns about the al-Qaeda domination of the rebellion, many nations are now seen as extremely reluctant to throw arms at any faction within the fight, since they will inevitably be spread amongst all the groups, and remain in use long after the current war.

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.