World View: EU Lifts Weapons Embargo to Syria's Opposition Militias

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• EU lifts weapons embargo to Syria’s opposition militias
• New wave of bombings strikes Shias across Baghdad, Iraq
• Roadside bomb kills five policemen in northwest Pakistan

EU lifts weapons embargo to Syria’s opposition militias

Devastation in Syria (Reuters)

In a startling development late on Monday, European Union foreignministers meeting in Brussels were unable to overcome their bickeringand division to agree on the terms of an extension of the embargo onsupplying weapons to Syria’s opposition rebels, which is set to expirenext week on June 1. The result is that, unless a new agreement isreached, individual EU nations are now each permitted to provideweapons to opposition forces fighting the Bashar al-Assadregime.

France and Britain, with mixed support from the United States, are infavor of supplying weapons to the opposition, while Austria and othercountries strongly oppose it. France and Britain put forth acompromise proposal to extend the embargo for two months, on conditionthat it would be partially lifted when the two months ended. Theyargued that the mere threat of the embargo ending would cause al-Assadto back down and stop killing innocent women and children, a claimthat’s really laughable. Anyway, the compromise got nowhere, and nowthere’s no embargo at all.

Those who support supplying weapons to the opposition say thatal-Assad’s regime has been making significant military gains in theconflict, thanks to the use of heavy weapons supplied by Russia andIran.

Those who oppose supplying weapons to the rebels express the fear thatthe weapons will end up in the hands of al-Qaeda linked terrorists, ashappened in Libya. Al-Qaeda linked terrorists obtained weapons andtraining from the Libya military action, and are now makingterror strikes on target across the “Sahel” region of Africa,including Mali and Niger.

Britain and France say that they have no immediate plans to supplyarms to the rebels. Telegraph (London) and Independent (London)

New wave of bombings strikes Shias across Baghdad, Iraq

A new escalating wave of car bombings struck mostly Shia Muslimneighborhoods in and around Baghdad on Monday, in the latest round ofterrorist violence that have killed more than 430 people so far inMay. It’s assumed that the perpetrators were Sunni terrorists fromal-Qaeda in Iraq. Iraq’s Shia government has been increasinglymarginalizing Sunnis ever since the American soldiers withdrew inDecember, 2011, and it’s believed that Sunni terrorists have beenusing terrorism to retaliate. AFP and AP

Roadside bomb kills five policemen in northwest Pakistan

Terrorist bombings are almost a daily occurrence in Pakistan, and aremote controlled roadside bomb exploded on Monday in northwestPakistan, killing five policemen and destroying their vehicle.Sectarian terrorist violence has been increasing, from Central andSouth Asia into the Mideast, and that trend will continue until itspirals into war. Daily Times (Pakistan)

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