Obama Waives Federal Law That Prevents Arming of Terrorists So He Can Arm The Syrian Rebels

Nooooooo.

Christian and Alawite civilians in Syria will have further reason to despair, this week, when they find out that the president of the United States has decided to waive federal law in order to continue arming their barbaric tormentors.

Via The Washington Examiner: 

President Obama waived a provision of federal law designed to prevent the supply of arms to terrorist groups to clear the way for the U.S. to provide military assistance to “vetted” opposition groups fighting Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.

Some elements of the Syrian opposition are associated with radical Islamic terrorist groups, including al Qaeda, which was responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pa., in 2001. Assad’s regime is backed by Iran and Hezbollah.

The president, citing his authority under the Arms Export Control Act, announced today that he would “waive the prohibitions in sections 40 and 40A of the AECA related to such a transaction.”

Those two sections prohibit sending weaponry to countries described in section 40(d): “The prohibitions contained in this section apply with respect to a country if the Secretary of State determines that the government of that country has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism,” Congress stated in the Arms Control Export Act.

“For purposes of this subsection, such acts shall include all activities that the Secretary determines willfully aid or abet the international proliferation of nuclear explosive devices to individuals or groups or willfully aid or abet an individual or groups in acquiring unsafeguarded special nuclear material,” the law continues.

The law allows the president to waive those prohibitions if he “determines that the transaction is essential to the national security interests of the United States.”

The usual suspects on the Republican side have actually endorsed this madness including Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., who said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday, “Our intelligence agencies, I think, have a very good handle on who to support and who not to support.”  He went on to admit that “there’s going to be mistakes. We understand some people are going to get arms that should not be getting arms. But we still should be doing everything we can to support the free Syrian opposition.”

He thinks. He thinks the CIA under John Brennan is going to have a good handle on who to arm. (hint: Muslim brotherhood types.)

But at least he admits “mistakes” will be made. 

Mistakes like the decision to terrorize and occupy the ancient Christian village of Maaloula, where the Free Syrian opposition (and friends) broke into village homes,  killed three people and took six young Greek-Catholics Christians prisoners. The bodies were left in the streets as a warning to the population.

“These people are traumatised,” sources told AsiaNews. “Entire families have left their entire lives in Maaloula. They do not need only material goods such as food, water, a bed to rest but also spiritual support, especially the elderly, women and children. ”

The rebels of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) (“moderates” – ed) invaded the village last Thursday, defeating government forces with the support of al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Brigades.

After taking control of the city, Islamists begun to desecrate Christian buildings, destroying the crosses on the dome of the Greek-Catholic monastery of Saints Sergius and Bacchus.

According to one eye witness, five Christians were seized and  told, “either you convert to Islam, or you will be beheaded.”

A  Christian woman from the besieged town who had fled to Damascus, tearfully described the Free Syrian Army & Al Qaeda Infestation to a BBC reporter. She begged Obama to stop sending them weapons “because they are killing us!” When asked what the rebels she saw terrorizing the town looked like, she said said they were wearing “Free Syrian Army” clothes. Yep, those would be the moderate “good guys” Obama has been arming. Note that they have been fighting right alongside the al Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front.

When the reporter asked her about Obama’s plan to punish the Syrian regime for killing civilians with chemical weapons, she cried, “no that’s wrong! It’s wrong!…it’s a big liar (sic) you can watch the video (this one?)  and you can tell…”

On Saturday, in a Damascus church heavy with gold and grief, they mourned the Christians who were killed. The framed photographs of the dead sat next to the holy icons of the Greek Orthodox faith, some men in the pews bandaged from injuries they’d received. “We blame Obama” one woman in black yelled, “he should have the Nobel peace prize taken away from him – he is helping the rebels who killed our Christian brothers”.

How in the world are our intelligence agencies going to be able to prevent the weapons we give to the so-called “moderate rebels”  from getting into the hands of the  Jihadists? They are in many cases fighting side by side. Muslim Brotherhood-type Islamists’ and Al Qaeda fighters make up the overwhelming majority of who’s fighting on the rebel side over there..

“The ‘moderate’ force which we are told about supposedly consists of those rebel brigades aligned with the Supreme Military Command, of Major-General Salim Edriss,” he continued. ”Most of the units aligned with the SMC actually come from a 20-unit strong bloc called the Syrian Islamic Liberation Front. This includes some powerful brigades, such as Liwa al-Islam in the Damascus area, Liwa al Farouq and Liwa al Tawhid. These and the overwhelming majority of the units aligned with the SMC are Islamist formations, who adhere to a Muslim Brotherhood-type outlook.”

This is cockamamie. We should have no part of this.

MORE:

The Washington Times: Al Qaeda-linked Syrian rebels kill 7 women, 4 children in Alawite village: report:

Fighters from the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front have reportedly killed 22 people, including women, children and elderly men, in an Alawite village in central Syria, a rights monitoring group said on Thursday.

***

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is opposed to Assad, said the victims included seven women, three men over the age of 65, and four children under the age of 16, Reuters reported.

Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Observatory, said the victims were not members of any pro-Assad militias. They were shot in their homes.

 

Tell Congress: Stop Obama from funding the Syrian Rebels

Legislation in the U.S. House and Senate is aimed at stoppingObama from arming the Syrian rebel terrorists.

A simple three-page bill, the “Protecting Americans from the Proliferation of Weapons to Terrorists Act of 2013” – H.R.2494 and S. 1201 – would “prohibit the President from using any funds on activities that would escalate U.S. involvement in the Syrian civil war.”

This bipartisan effort to keep our arms out of Syria is sponsored by Rep. Christopher Gibson (NY-19), Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN-6), Rep. Scott DesJarlais (TN-4), Rep. Jeff Duncan (SC-3),Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (NE-1), Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12), Rep. Walter B. Jones, Jr. (NC-3), Rep. Richard M. Nolan (MN-8), Rep. Mark Pocan (WI-2), and Rep. Peter Welch (VT).

In the U.S. Senate, the bill has the support of Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), and Sen. Tom Udall (D-NM).

“Giving weapons to the Syrian opposition means, in all likelihood, that the United States will be arming and aiding extremist groups who seek to defeat us and our way of life,” says Rep. Michele Bachman. “To make the American taxpayer pay to send arms to our enemies is madness. Rather than unilateral foreign policy decision-making from the White House, there needs to be careful debate by Congress, as is our constitutional responsibility, and a clear strategy that is in line with America’s national security interests before any involvement is considered.”

Sen. Mike Lee says: “Any military involvement in Syria, including the arming of Syrian rebels, needs to be authorized through Congress, where concerns can be publicly debated and the American people can have a say. We have to ensure that we are not arming extremist groups who seek to cause chaos in the region and harm the United States and our allies. The long-term objectives of increased involvement in Syria are vague, as are the necessary commitments and costs. The United States cannot be involved in more nation building in the Middle East.”