Salaam
Some updates
First Syria rebels armed and trained by CIA 'on way to battlefield'
The first cell of Syrian rebels trained and armed by the CIA is making its way to the battlefield, President Barack Obama has reportedly told senators.
During a meeting at the White House, the president assured Senator John McCain that after months of delay the US was meeting its commitment to back moderate elements of the opposition.
Mr Obama said that a 50-man cell, believed to have been trained by US special forces in Jordan, was making its way across the border into Syria, according to the New York Times.
The deployment of the rebel unit seems to be the first tangible measure of support since Mr Obama announced in June that the US would begin providing the opposition with small arms. Congressional opposition delayed the plan for several weeks and rebel commanders publicly complained the US was still doing nothing to match the Russian-made firepower of the Assad regime. Mr McCain has been a chief critic of the White House's reluctance to become involved in Syria and has long demanded that Mr Obama provide the rebels with arms needed to overthrow the regime.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10283758/First-Syria-rebels-armed-and-trained-by-CIA-on-way-to-battlefield.html
Obama hints at larger strategy to topple Assad in effort to win over Republicans
President suggests strikes could lead to longer-term mission as tough White House rhetoric begins to win over Republicans
Barack Obama portrayed his plans for US military action in Syria as part of a broader strategy to topple Bashar al-Assad, as tougher White House rhetoric began to win over sceptical Republicans in Congress on Tuesday.
While stressing that Washington's primary goal remained "limited and proportional" attacks, to degrade Syria's chemical weapons capabilities and deter their future use, the president hinted at a broader long-term mission that may ultimately bring about a change of regime.
"It also fits into a broader strategy that can bring about over time the kind of strengthening of the opposition and the diplomatic, economic and political pressure required – so that ultimately we have a transition that can bring peace and stability, not only to Syria but to the region," he told senior members of Congress at a White House meeting on Tuesday.
Obama has long spoken of the US desire to see Assad step down, but this is the first time he has linked that policy objective to his threatened military strikes against Syria. It follows pressure on Monday, from senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, to make such a goal more explicit.
The apparent change of emphasis appeared to resolve some of the political deadlock on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, as House speaker John Boehner and a series of other Republican leaders announced that they would back the president's call for military authorisation from Congress. House majority leader Eric Cantor was most explicit, calling for the US to take sides in the "sectarian proxy war" against Iran.
"A well-designed and well-executed strike that deters the use of chemical weapons and diminishes the capacity of the Assad regime can contribute to the achievement of a clear and attainable goal: the ultimate displacement of the Assad regime by moderate elements within the opposition," he said in a statement.
The endorsement of GOP leaders could be important in winning over the Republican-controlled House, where Obama has failed to win any support since his re-election in November. But even the Republican leadership has struggled to control Tea Party radicals in the House, and an anti-interventionist wing in the Senate led by Rand Paul remains a substantial challenge for the White House.
"I'm going to support the president's call for action, and I believe my colleagues should support the president's call for action," Boehner said after meeting the president at the White House. "The use of these weapons has to be responded to, and only the United States has the capability and the capacity to stop Assad and to warn others around the world that this type of behaviour is not to be tolerated."
So far, the tougher US rhetoric does not seem to have deterred Democrats who back the president's call for military action on humanitarian grounds. Emerging from the White House meeting shortly after Boehner, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi said Syria's alleged used of chemical weapons was "outside the circle of acceptable human behaviour", but said she would not whip Democrats into voting yes.
"I don't think congressional authorisation is necessary, but I do think it is a good thing, and I think we can achieve it," she added.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/03/obama-strategy-assad-republicans-syria
Syria tensions rise as Israel test-fires missile defence system
Sparrow target missile launch triggers alerts across region, and Binyamin Netanyahu says attacks on Israel 'not advisable'
Israel fired a missile on Tuesday to test a new defence system, triggering alerts across a region that is braced for impending international military strikes against Syria.
The Israeli defence ministry confirmed it had launched a Sparrow target missile at 9.15am local time. It said the test of the Arrow anti-missile system was successful. The exercise was conducted jointly with the United States, according to Israel. However, a spokesman for the US navy European headquarters told Reuters: "No missiles were fired from US ships in the Mediterranean."
Russia sounded the alert, saying its radars at Armavir, near the Black Sea, had detected the launch of two ballistic "objects" in the area, fired from the central Mediterranean towards the east.
A Syrian source told Lebanese television that nothing had been detected by its early warning system.
The Israeli defence ministry said in a statement: "The experiment tested enhanced capabilities of a new type of target missile from the Sparrow series. Arrow anti-missile defence systems, including radars and a command and control system, were also tested."
It added: "The Sparrow missile successfully launched and performed its planned trajectory, in according with the test plan."
It was detected and tracked by the Arrow III missile defence system. "All the elements of the system performed according to their operational configuration."
Israel has redeployed most of its anti-missile systems to the north of the country over the past week amid fears that the Syrian regime could launch attacks on its neighbour – with whom it is still technically at war – following US strikes. The US-funded missile defence systems are effective at intercepting rockets, but Israel acknowledges that it does not have sufficient capacity to protect the country in the face of a sustained onslaught from Syria or Lebanon.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/03/syria-israel-missile-defence-system?CMP=twt_fd
