A very long-overdue move. The US government says that there is conclusive proof from analyzing dead rebel bodies that Assad has used chemical weapons against his own people. US policy is now officially amended to include supplying weapons including anti-tank missile launchers, ammunition, and CIA instructors to train the rebels on the new weaponry. Advanced anti-aircraft weapons are not in scope.
The past failure to properly support the FSA has led to other groups amongst the Syrian rebels that are connected to international militant networks being more successful instead. This should enable the FSA to reclaim its leadership position amongst the Syrian opposition movements.
Syria regime used chemical weapons against rebels, US officials say | World news | The Guardian
The US has said it will provide military support to the Syrian rebels after confirming it believes there is concrete evidence of nerve gas attacks by government forces against rebel groups.
The assessment that limited attacks have taken place, based on CIA tests on blood, urine and hair samples from dead or wounded rebel fighters, is the first time Washington has supported claims made by British and French intelligence services in recent weeks. Assad has repeatedly denied using any chemical weapons in the bitter civil war.
“Following a deliberative review our intelligence community assesses that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin, on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year,” said a White House statement.
"Our intelligence community has high confidence in that assessment given multiple, independent streams of information. The intelligence community estimates that 100 to 150 people have died from detected chemical weapons attacks in Syria to date; however, casualty data is likely incomplete. "
The White House believes its assessment means Syria has crossed the so-called “red line” that President Barack Obama established early in the conflict as a test for further western intervention to support the rebels.
Late on Thursday details began to emerge of the shape military aid might take. Senator John McCain, one of the strongest proponents of US military action in Syria, said he was told on Thursday that Obama had decided to “provide arms to the rebels”, a decision confirmed by three US officials, according to the Associated Press. The officials cautioned that decisions on the specific type of weaponry were still being finalised, AP said, but they might include small arms, ammunition, assault rifles and a variety of anti-tank weaponry such as shoulder-fired remote-propelled grenades and other missiles.
The CIA was expected to be tasked with teaching the rebels how to use the arms the White House had agreed to supply, AP said. The New York Times gave a similar outline of the arms involved, while adding that the anti-aircraft munitions hotly sought by the rebels were not under consideration. Syrian rebel groups have repeatedly called for both anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles.