Obama's order, approved earlier this year and known as an
intelligence "finding," broadly permits the CIA and other U.S.
agencies to provide support that could help the rebels oust Assad.
This and other developments
signal a shift toward growing, albeit still circumscribed, support for Assad's
armed opponents - a shift that intensified following last month's failure of
the U.N. Security Council to agree on tougher sanctions against the Damascus
government.
The White House is for now
apparently stopping short of giving the rebels lethal weapons, even as some
U.S. allies do just that.
But U.S. and European
officials have said that there have been noticeable improvements in the
coherence and effectiveness of Syrian rebel groups in the past few weeks. That
represents a significant change in assessments of the rebels by Western
officials, who previously characterized Assad's opponents as a disorganized,
almost chaotic, rabble.
Precisely when Obama signed
the secret intelligence authorization, an action not previously reported, could
not be determined.
The full extent of clandestine
support that agencies like the CIA might be providing also is unclear.
White House spokesman Tommy
Vietor declined comment.
'NERVE CENTER'
A U.S. government source
acknowledged that under provisions of the presidential finding, the United
States was collaborating with a secret command center operated by Turkey and
its allies.
Last week, Reuters reported
that, along with Saudi Arabia and Qatar, Turkey had established a secret base
near the Syrian border to help direct vital military and communications support
to Assad's opponents.
This "nerve center"
is in Adana, a city in southern Turkey about 60 miles from the Syrian border,
which is also home to Incirlik, a U.S. air base where U.S. military and
intelligence agencies maintain a substantial presence.
Turkey's moderate Islamist
government has been demanding Assad's departure with growing vehemence. Turkish
authorities are said by current and former U.S. government officials to be
increasingly involved in providing Syrian rebels with training and possibly
equipment.
European government sources
said wealthy families in Saudi Arabia and Qatar were providing significant
financing to the rebels. Senior officials of the Saudi and Qatari governments
have publicly called for Assad's departure.
On Tuesday, NBC News reported
that the Free Syrian Army had obtained nearly two dozen surface-to-air missiles,
weapons that could be used against Assad's helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
Syrian government armed forces have employed such air power more extensively in
recent days.
NBC said the shoulder-fired
missiles, also known as MANPADs, had been delivered to the rebels via Turkey.
On Wednesday, however, Bassam
al-Dada, a political adviser to the Free Syrian Army, denied the NBC report,
telling the Arabic-language TV network Al-Arabiya that the group had "not
obtained any such weapons at all." U.S. government sources said they could
not confirm the MANPADs deliveries, but could not rule them out either.
Current and former U.S. and
European officials previously said that weapons supplies, which were being
organized and financed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia, were largely limited to guns
and a limited number of anti-tank weapons, such as bazookas.
Indications are that U.S.
agencies have not been involved in providing weapons to Assad's opponents. In
order to do so, Obama would have to approve a supplement, known as a
"memorandum of notification, to his initial broad intelligence finding.
Further such memoranda would
have to be signed by Obama to authorize other specific clandestine operations
to support Syrian rebels.
Reuters first reported last
week that the White House had crafted a directive authorizing greater U.S.
covert assistance to Syrian rebels. It was unclear at that time whether Obama
had signed it.
OVERT SUPPORT
Separately from the
president's secret order, the Obama administration has stated publicly that it
is providing some backing for Assad's opponents.
The State Department said on
Wednesday the U.S. government had set aside a total of $25 million for
"non-lethal" assistance to the Syrian opposition. A U.S. official
said that was mostly for communications equipment, including encrypted radios.
The State Department also says
the United States has set aside $64 million in humanitarian assistance for the
Syrian people, including contributions to the World Food Program, the
International Committee of the Red Cross and other aid agencies.
Also on Wednesday, the U.S.
Treasury confirmed it had granted authorization to the Syrian Support Group,
Washington representative of one of the most active rebel factions, the Free
Syrian Army, to conduct financial transactions on the rebel group's behalf. The
authorization was first reported on Friday by Al-Monitor, a Middle East news
and commentary website.
Last year, when rebels began
organizing themselves to challenge the rule of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi,
Obama also signed an initial "finding" broadly authorizing secret
U.S. backing for them. But the president moved cautiously in authorizing
specific measures to support them.
Some U.S. lawmakers, such as
Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, have criticized Obama for
moving too slowly to assist the rebels and have suggested the U.S. government
become directly involved in arming Assad's opponents.
Other lawmakers have suggested
caution, saying too little is known about the many rebel groups.
Recent news reports from the
region have suggested that the influence and numbers of Islamist militants,
some of them connected to al Qaeda or its affiliates, have been growing among
Assad's opponents.
U.S. and European officials
say that, so far, intelligence agencies do not believe the militants' role in
the anti-Assad opposition is dominant.
While U.S. and allied
government experts believe that the Syrian rebels have been making some
progress against Assad's forces lately, most believe the conflict is nowhere
near resolution, and could go on for years.
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