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White House Rebuffed Clinton-Petraeus Plan to Arm Syrian Rebels
(New York Times) Michael R. Gordon and Mark Landler - Last summer, as the fighting in Syria raged and questions about U.S. inaction grew, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton conferred privately with David Petraeus, the director of the CIA, about joining forces on a plan to arm the Syrian resistance. The idea was to vet the rebel groups and train fighters, who would be supplied with weapons. The plan offered the potential of creating Syrian allies with whom the U.S. could work after Assad's eventual removal. Clinton and Petraeus presented the proposal to the White House, according to administration officials. But with the White House worried about the risks, and with President Obama in the midst of a re-election bid, they were rebuffed.