WASHINGTON -- After months of quietly lobbying for U.S. military intervention in Syria, representatives from a leading Syrian opposition group seeking to overthrow President Bashar Assad sought on Tuesday to shift the Syria debate from chemical weapons toward the broader crisis of the ongoing civil war.
Speaking at the National Press Club, Najib Ghadbian, the Syrian Coalition's special representative to the United States and the United Nations, said, "chemical weapons are a small component" of the problems facing Syria.
"The larger context is that Syrians deserve to be protected by the international community," which, he said, had "failed to carry out its responsibility."
He called on the U.S. to provide significantly more "sophisticated" military assistance to the Free Syrian Army, calling it a crucial step in forcing Assad's regime to the negotiating table. Like American officials, however, Ghadbian stressed that this does not mean U.S. "boots on the ground." U.S. military assistance to the Syrian rebels stalled this summer amid concerns about extremist elements within the coalition forces.
Also at the press club on Tuesday, Syrian Coalition media director Khalid Saleh sought to allay fears that U.S. resources might end up in the hands of al Qaeda-affiliated groups. "Every new Free Syrian Army brigade that joins the Supreme Military Council … must agree to the bylaws of the SMC," he explained, which include prohibitions on child soldiers and foreign fighters. Saleh declined to say exactly what kind of military assistance rebels already received from abroad.
But in the face of opposition to U.S. military strikes from Congress and the American public, the Obama administration has embraced an alternative -- a U.N. agreement that would strip Assad of chemical weapons. Testifying in Congress Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry called the plan "the ultimate way to degrade and deter [Syrian President Bashar] Assad’s arsenal."
Absent from Kerry's opening statement, however, was any mention of removing Assad from power, a goal the Syrian opposition members said is a precondition to their backing any international action on Syria.
"We will not support any U.N. plan that includes Bashar Assad," said Ghadbian, a position he said was solidified after Assad "committed atrocities," including a sarin gas attack in August that killed hundreds of civilians on the outskirts of Damascus. The Syrian government denies involvement in the attack.
Longer-term, Ghadbian added, "there will be a transitional government [in Syria], which means Assad has no role."
Despite the strongly worded statements, the opposition representatives were clearly frustrated by the recent turn of events, and the strong anti-war sentiment among American voters.
"The Syrian people want peace," said Syrian Coalition member Farah Attasi, her voice animated with emotion. "Where was this anti-war movement when the Syrian people cried for help?"
Before You Go
