Earlier this month, US President Barack Obama authorized a covert plan that will see more arms shipments being moved to Jordan from a network of secret warehouses. These new deliveries, together with rebel training and a simultaneous push to mobilize shipments from EU and Arab allies, are timed to allow a concerted push by the Syrian militants starting by early August.
Armaments in question include light guns and possibly antitank missiles, which will be pulled to Jordan within three weeks. The CIA is allegedly planning to spend about two additional weeks training a group of Syrian rebels to make sure they know how to use the weapons they are to be given.
Talks are under way with other countries, including France, about pre-positioning EU-donated weapons in Jordan, while Saudi Arabia is preparing to arm a handpicked squad of insurgents with some 20 shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles, called Manpads.
Starting in August, the US intelligence will be regularly sending militants over to Syria, according to diplomats briefed on CIA plans. The Pentagon believes it will take them some four to five months to invade Syria with enough rearmed and trained insurgents to tip the balance and topple President Assad.
However, the US plan to aid Syrian rebels is strewn with debates, with some US officials urging the CIA to act faster, while others argue that careful measures are necessary to make sure any rebels they arm don't join al Qaeda-affiliated groups.
Source: The Wall Street Journal