U.S. Officials: Iran is Stepping Up Lethal Aid to Syria

Quoted by Joby Warrick and Liz Sly, Washington Post

“Iran has been involved in the crackdown by Assad on a much larger scale than previously thought,” said Ammar Abdulhamid, a Washington-based Syrian activist and a member of the Syria Working Group of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank.

U.S. officials: Iran is stepping up lethal aid to Syria

A mention in the Washington Post:

“Iran has been involved in the crackdown by Assad on a much larger scale than previously thought,” said Ammar Abdulhamid, a Washington-based Syrian activist and a member of the Syria Working Group of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank.

Listening to the Syrian Resistance

On February 15, at the headquarters of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, I helped set up a conference call via Skype that introduced rebel leaders from Damascus and Its Suburbs to a host of policy experts from Washington. This is Cliff May’s take on the event. Cliff is the president of FDD.

How Many Syrians Must Die before a U.S. Intervention?

An intervention in the U.S. Today Debate Club

Many Washingtonians claim that Syrian dictator Bashar Assad has been thrown back against the ropes, boxed in by international sanctions, and growing hordes of protesters whom he cannot contain, no matter how brutally he cracks down on them.

In truth, Assad is hardly alone. Iran and Hezbollah have stood by his side from the first moment, providing intelligence, and by some accounts weapons and other assistance to the loyalist forces. More recently, China and Russia have drawn a line in the sand, refusing to acquiesce to the demise of Assad’s regime, exercising their respective vetoes at the United Nations Security Council. Continue reading “How Many Syrians Must Die before a U.S. Intervention?”