US Suspends Nonlethal Aid to Syria Rebels

US aid for Syrian over the past two years has been limited and non-lethal, but the Obama administration has temporarily stopped that, too, after a group of Islamist fighters stormed warehouses containing US equipment. The US is not keen on extending military aid for rebels that could fall in the Islamists hand or see them rise to power in a transitional government. Identifying moderates amid warring factions is a challenge. A peace conference is scheduled for January by the United Nations, but “with rebels feuding with one another instead of concentrating on fighting Mr. Assad, and with the United States still groping for a reliable partner in Syria, the odds of any peace conference breaking the cycle of bloodshed appeared to have dimmed,” reports the New York Times. The civil war has left more than 100,000 dead and millions more refugees. The Assad regime probably remains in place, though isolated, as long as its opponents are fragmented and reject human rights. – YaleGlobal