Congress Votes To Give Western Hating Jihadists Anti-aircraft Missiles
by Mike Whitney via shirl - ICH Thursday, Dec 15 2016, 6:31am
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On Thursday, the Senate passed a bill that puts every American who travels by plane at risk. It is among the stupidest pieces of legislation ever written and it explains-- to a great extent-- why the US Congress has a public approval rating of 13 percent and is among the most loathed institutions in America.
The 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) passed the House last Friday in a 375-34 vote. On Thursday, it cleared the senate with a 92 to 7 margin. The bill will now be sent to Obama where it is expected to be signed into law. According to an article on SOFREP titled "Congress authorizes anti-aircraft missiles for Syrian opposition":
"Congress for the first time authorized the Department of Defense to provide vetted-Syrian rebels with anti-aircraft missiles. The provision is contained within the $619 billion Fiscal Year 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, which passed the Senate on Dec. 8 and the House on Dec. 2.
Under the bill, the Secretaries of Defense and State must submit a report to Congress explaining why they determined Syrian groups need man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS)."
(SOFREP: Trusted News and Intelligence From Spec Ops Veterans, "Congress authorizes anti-aircraft missiles for Syrian opposition")
You read that right, Congress just passed a bill that will provide shoulder-launched ground-to-air missiles to lunatic jihadists who will undoubtedly use them to take down American or Israeli jetliners. The argument that these Islamic militants are fully vetted is complete nonsense as both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have repeatedly shown. According to a recent article in the New York Times, rebel groups supported by the USG "have entered into battlefield alliances with the affiliate of al Qaida in Syria formerly known as al Nusra." The Wall Street Journal reports that rebel groups are "doubling-down on their alliance with al Qaida. This alliance has rendered the phrase 'moderate rebels' meaningless."
Everyone who has followed developments on the ground in Syria knows that the distinction between the "good" terrorists and the "bad" terrorists is pure bunkum. The various militias are merely the many heads of the same homicidal anti-government hydra that has killed over 400,000 Syrians and decimated a large part of the country. The CIA should not be assisting any of these madmen let alone providing them with lethal state-of the-art weapons that will inevitably be used to take down US aircraft. Here's more from the same article:
"The inclusion of the provision represents a departure from previous versions of the NDAA. The original House bill specifically prohibited the transfer of MANPADS to “any entity” in Syria, while the Senate bill did not address it."
So, the original bill forbid "the transfer of MANPADS" to Syrian militants because it was considered too dangerous. But now that Obama's proxy-army is getting pulverized in Aleppo, Congress has taken off the gloves and gone into full-revenge mode. Isn't that what's really going on?
And it looks like Obama has already given this crazy policy a big thumbs up. Check out this "Presidential Determination and Waiver ....on the Arms Export Control Act to Support U.S. Special Operations to Combat Terrorism in Syria" that the White House issued late Thursday:
"By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 2249a of title 10, United States Code, sections 40 and 40A of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA) (22 U.S.C. 2780 and 2781), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I hereby:
determine that the transaction, encompassing the provision of defense articles and services to foreign forces, irregular forces, groups, or individuals engaged in supporting or facilitating ongoing U.S. military operations to counter terrorism in Syria, is essential to the national security interests of the United States." (Presidential Determination and Waiver)It looks to me like our Nobel prize-winning president just gave Congress's idiot plan his ringing endorsement.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/46036.htm