Obama administration denies role in arming Syrian rebels
President Barack Obama's administration has repeatedly said over the past few months that it won't ship arms to Syria's outgunned opposition, warning that doing so will only escalate the bloody conflict there. But the Washington Post reported Wednesday that the U.S. has been helping to coordinate shipments of "more and better weapons" to the rebels, with Persian Gulf nations picking up the tab.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland denied that Washington was playing any role in arming the rebels.
"With regard to any assertions with regard to lethal (aid), we are not involved in that," she said at her daily briefing.
"The United States has made a decision to provide nonlethal support to civilian members of the opposition. This is things like medical equipment. This is communications, things to help them, first of all, deal with the humanitarian aspects but also to help them to communicate better so that they can plan and be ready for the period of transition that we expect and want to see in Syria," she said.
So is Washington helping to coordinate arms shipments?
-- Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary
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