Obama signs secret order to aid Syria rebels
(Reuters /Al Jazeera) – US President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorising US support for rebels seeking to depose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government, Reuters news agency said quoting sources familiar with the matter.
Obama’s order, approved earlier this year and known as an intelligence “finding”, broadly permits the CIA and other US agencies to provide aid that could help the rebels dislodge Assad from power. The shift towards supporting Assad’s armed opponents intensified following last month’s failure of the UN Security Council to agree on tougher sanctions against the Damascus government.
The full extent of clandestine support that agencies like the CIA might be providing also is unclear. White House spokesman Tommy Vietor declined comment on the matter. The White House has apparently stopped short of giving the rebels lethal weapons, even as some US allies have been doing just that.
Western media under ‘gag order’ as most linked articles have been scrubbed:
Obama signs order supporting Syria’s rebels, reports say
(The Guardian) – US government source acknowledges that US is collaborating with a secret ‘nerve centre’ operated by Turkey and its allies
Reuters Thursday 2 August 2012 18.25 EST
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Via WaybackMachine Archive only:
Obama authorized covert support for Syrian rebels, sources say
(CNN) Aug. 1, 2012 – President Barack Obama has signed a covert directive authorizing U.S. support for Syrian rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, U.S. officials told CNN on Wednesday.
The secret order, referred to as an intelligence “finding,” allows for clandestine support by the CIA and other agencies.
It was unclear when the president signed the authorization for Syria, but the sources said it was within the past several months.
My search for information and added to my diary – Ghouta Earliest Report from Syrian Support Group – Mohammad Salaheddine/a>.
US Treasury Grants Arms License to Syrian Support Group (SSG)
Support Group Granted License to Supply Military Goods
The Syrian Support Group was established earlier this year to lobby for U.S. backing for the Free Syrian Army. It includes Syrian expatriates and works with retired Syrian military officers, Louay Sakka, a Syrian-Canadian co-founder of the group, said in a June interview. Brian Sayers, its director of government relations, is a former Political Officer Operations and Missions at NATO HQ.
U.S. Nonprofit Wins License to Supply Free Syrian Army
“Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the License, the Syrian Support Group, Inc. (the “Licensee”) may export, sell, or supply to the Free Syrian Army (“FSA”) financial, communications, logistical, and other services otherwise prohibited by Executive Order 13582 in order to support the FSA…”
According to Treasury License No. SY-2012-294747-1, dated 23 July 2012, the Syrian Support Group, Inc. (SSG) will be providing “otherwise prohibited” services to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) under the supervision of the Office of Terrorism Finance and Economic Sanctions Policy at the U.S. Department of State. The license was announced on the SSG website syriansupportgroup.org after a copy was leaked to the public.
Posted @Juan Cole’s Informed Comment on August 2, 2012 – Obama signed finding to help Syria Uprising.
I further looked at the basis of the Executive Orders signed by Obama pertaining to Syria.
Extended below the fold …
Executive Order 13582 of August 17, 2011
Blocking Property of the Government of Syria and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to Syria
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,
I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, in order to take additional steps with respect to the Government of Syria’s continuing escalation of violence against the people of Syria and with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13338 of May 11, 2004, as modified in scope and relied upon for additional steps taken in Executive Order 13399 of April 25, 2006, Executive Order 13460 of February 13, 2008, Executive Order 13572 of April 29, 2011, and Executive Order 13573 of May 18, 2011, hereby order:
As I have written before, the Obama administration is pushing forward George Bush’s foreign policy based on the Neocon doctrine for the Middle East. It’s written here in black on white, Obama has incorporated Executive Orders signed by the Bush administration. It started in the year 2004 ahead of the Hariri assassination of 2005, which forced more sanctions on Syria based on false premises and fraudulent witnesses provided by Israel to the U.N. Investigation by Mehlis. Obama and his staff build on these accusation with offences related to human rights abuses … by the Assad regime.
Executive Order 13338 of May 11, 2004
Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting the Export of Certain Goods to Syria
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act of 2003, Public Law 108-175 (SAA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,
I, George W. Bush, President of the United States of America, hereby determine that the actions of the Government of Syria in supporting terrorism, continuing its occupation of Lebanon, pursuing weapons of mass destruction and missile programs, and undermining United States and international efforts with respect to the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States and hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat. To address that threat, and to implement the SAA, I hereby order the following:
Executive Order 13399 of April 25, 2006
Blocking Property of Additional Persons in Connection With the National Emergency With Respect to Syria
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)
[Because the terrorist threat continues, the national emergency declared on September 14, 2001, and the measures adopted to deal with that emergency must continue in effect beyond September 14, 2006. Therefore, I am continuing in effect for an additional year the national emergency I declared on September 14, 2001, with respect to the terrorist threat. This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.
GEORGE W. BUSH.],section 5 of the United Nations Participation Act, as amended (22 U.S.C. 287c) (UNPA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code; and in view of United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1636 of October 31, 2005,
I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, determine that it is in the interests of the United States to (1) assist the international independent investigation Commission (the “Commission”) established pursuant to UNSCR 1595 of April 7, 2005, (2) assist the Government of Lebanon in identifying and holding accountable in accordance with applicable law those persons who were involved in planning, sponsoring, organizing, or perpetrating the terrorist act in Beirut, Lebanon, on February 14, 2005, that resulted in the assassination of former Prime Minister of Lebanon Rafiq Hariri, and the deaths of 22 others, and other bombings or assassination attempts in Lebanon since October 1, 2004, that are related to Hariri’s assassination or that implicate the Government of Syria or its officers or agents, and (3) take note of the Commission’s conclusions in its report of October 19, 2005, that there is converging evidence pointing to both Lebanese and Syrian involvement in terrorist acts, that interviewees tried to mislead the Commission’s investigation by giving false or inaccurate statements, and that a senior official of Syria submitted false information to the Commission. In light of these determinations, and to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13338 of May 11, 2004, concerning certain actions of the Government of Syria, I hereby order:
○ U.N. Report of the Mission of Inquiry into the Circumstances, Causes and Consequences of the 14 February Beirut Bombing [Mehlis Report Edits]
○ Whitewashing the Hariri assassination?
○ Power and Perception: The Special Tribunal for Lebanon
