According to the London-based Reuters news agency, the U.S. Congress in a secret vote approved funding for military assistance to "Syrian rebels" until the end of the fiscal year, ending September 30, 2014 [1].

It does not appear to have been a secret session of Congress, but rather a secret meeting in the course of the normal session.

The agency specifies that the assistance consists of small arms, including anti-tank rockets, but would exclude anti-aircraft material.

Reacting immediately, the delegation of the Syrian Arab Republic to the Geneva 2 Conference, on 28 January, submitted to a vote a statement echoing some of the points contained in the final communiqué of the Geneva 1 conference [2], notably the condemnation of foreign military support for terrorist groups (thus the double game played by the U.S.).

However, the "Syrian Opposition" team rejected the proposal of the Syrian Arab Republic, despite the fact that no new rhetorical element had been introduced.

In his 2014 State of the Union address on 28 January, President Barack Obama attempted to minimize the U.S. contradictions. In a passage dealing with the fight against Al-Qaeda, he stated: "In Syria, we’ll support the opposition that rejects the agenda of terrorist networks" [3]. However, the President failed to name the opposition "which rejects the agenda of terrorist networks" or which represents it.

Citing presidential adviser Bruce Riedel, Reuters asserts that these weapons are not likely to change the outcome of the war, but rather to make it last. According to Riedel: "The Syrian war is a stalemate. The rebels lack the organization and weapons to defeat Assad; the regime lacks the loyal manpower to suppress the rebellion." Yet, on the ground, the armed groups - mainly made up of foreigners - have continued to draw back over the past four months.

A former CIA asset, Bruce Riedel has advised four U.S. presidents. He is currently attached to the Albright Group and to the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution. He omitted to point out that his country would not be delivering anti-aircraft weapons to the "Syrian rebels" in order to maintain Israel’s air superiority.

The Reuters report was not picked up by the U.S. mainstream media, which are not allowed to mention the existence of secret sessions of Congress. Yesterday, most of the media in NATO-member states were abiding by the same censorship.

[1] “Congress secretly approves U.S. weapons flow to ’moderate’ Syrian rebels”, by Mark Hosenball, Reuters, 27 January 2014.

[2] “Action Group for Syria Final Communiqué”, Voltaire Network, 30 June 2012.

[3] “Barack Obama’s 2014 State of the Union Address”, by Barack Obama, Voltaire Network, 29 January 2014.