U.S. officials split over arming Syrian rebels

PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. officials are split over whether to arm Syria's rebel forces or make other military moves that would deepen U.S. involvement in the conflict, Belfast Telegraph said.

President Barack Obama's top national security advisers met at the White House to air their differences. The administration's caution persists despite its nearly two-year-old demand that President Bashar Assad step down, its vows to help the besieged Syrian rebels on the ground and its threats to respond to any chemical weapons use.

U.S. officials had hoped this week to reach a decision on arming the rebels to halt the violence that has now killed some 80,000 people and motivate the government and the opposition to hold peace talks.

But they are still uncertain whether that is the best way to reshape a war that now includes Hezbollah and Iranian fighters backing Assad's armed forces, and al Qaida-linked extremists backing the rebellion.

"Nobody wins in Syria the way things are going," Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters after talks with British Foreign Secretary William Hague. "The people lose and Syria as a country loses. And what we have been pushing for, all of us involved in this effort, is a political solution that ends the violence, saves Syria, stops the killing and destruction of the entire nation."

Despite increased support in Congress and the administration for lethal aid, officials said those closest to the president are divided on whether to begin providing Syria's armed opposition with weapons or to consider more drastic steps such as using U.S. airpower to ground Assad's gunships and jets.