There is much at stake for both sides in the war taking place in Syria. For the Turks and the Muslim Brotherhood, taking Syria would be a monumental victory for the neo-Ottomans who seek a return of the caliphate. For Iran, such a scenario would mean a major defeat. For all intents and purposes, Assad’s Syria is the lynchpin that is keeping the balance of power in the Middle East from tipping toward the Brotherhood / Turks in a major way.
Iran is heavily invested in Assad retaining power. The Obama administration has made it clear since the dawn of the ‘Arab Spring’ that it seeks to aid the Brotherhood / Turks in practically every struggle.
Enter Secretary of State John Kerry, whose daughter is married to an Iranian-American who has several relatives who still live in Iran. Theoretically, this reality could open Kerry up to blackmail if he is pushing pro-Brotherhood / anti-Assad policies the Mullahs see as threatening or overly lopsided.
It’s obvious Kerry is choosing sides, especially when he’s seen considering military assistance to the Brotherhood / Al-Qaeda rebels in Syria while calling on Iraq to halt Iranian arms shipments to Syria.
That leads to this development, via Bloomberg:
Secretary of State John Kerry met today with leaders of the Syrian opposition, after indicating the U.S. is preparing to distribute more aid to rebels seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.
Kerry, who is participating in a conference of the Group of Eight foreign ministers in London, heard demands for weapons from officials led by Ghassan Hitto, the newly elected interim prime minister of the opposition, according to a U.S. official who attended the meeting and asked not to be named discussing diplomatic matters.
At stake is whether the U.S. will move beyond food and medical supplies to give fighters items such as body armor and night-vision goggles.
While the top U.S. diplomat didn’t make any promises to the Syrian opposition, Kerry will resume the conversation at an April 20 meeting in Istanbul of the “Friends of Syria” group of countries, which includes many European and Arab nations, the official said.
Notice Kerry is touting body armor and night-vision goggles. That isn’t weaponry but body armor helps prevent the opposition from inflicting casualties and night-vision goggles helps Kerry’s side inflict more casualties on the opposition. In any event, there is certainly a difference between those things and humanitarian aid.
Also, Kerry heard demands for weapons from Ghassan Hitto? As if one needed any more evidence that the Muslim Brotherhood is behind the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), consider that Hitto was once the vice president of CAIR in Dallas-Fort Worth.
As the war in Syria becomes more protracted, look for both sides to pull out more stops. If the Assad regime is on the brink of falling, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch for the Mullahs to attempt to use the family members of Kerry’s in-laws as bargaining chips.
Republican Senators who did not bring up Kerry’s familial ties to Iran during the confirmation process – especially in light of the war in Syria, which makes those ties even more relevant – would have a bit of explaining to do.
Perhaps they didn’t bring it up because they were stricken with Islamophobia.