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Washington, DC—At two Armed Services Committee hearings this week, Senator Jim Webb sought greater clarity about the Syrian opposition and the regional dynamics of the ongoing crisis.  Senior U.S. defense and intelligence officials acknowledged they lacked clear information regarding the exact nature of opposition forces or the involvement of outside countries and groups such as al-Qaeda. These acknowledgements came as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was drafting a resolution condemning the violence carried out by the Syrian government. Senator Webb sought to ensure that the resolution precisely captured the complexities of the situation in Syria and the wider region.

“You can hear the frustration that people up here think they need to do something, but we have to be careful what we do,” said Senator Webb. “What is the nature of the Syrian opposition? How much of this is domestic? How much of it is foreign? What is the regional dynamic? Is al-Qaeda involved?”

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper responded that “there is not a unitary, connected opposition force… . The Free Syrian Army, which is kind of a blanket, generic name that's sort of applied to the collection of oppositionists, is itself not unified. There's an internal feud about who's going to lead it. Complicating this as you implied, of course, are sort of the neighborhood dynamics… . We believe that al-Qaeda in Iraq is extending its reach into Syria.”

Earlier this week, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey responded to similar questions from Senator Webb by saying, “Syria is a much different situation than we collectively saw in Libya. It presents a very different challenge in which we also know that the other regional actors are providing support as a part of a Sunni majority rebelling against a repressive regime.”

Senator Webb urged his colleagues to heed the recent words of Leslie Gelb of the Council on Foreign Relations: “When interventionists become avenging angels, they blind themselves and the nation and run dangerously amok. They plunge in with no plans, with half-baked plans, with demands to supply arms to rebels they know nothing about, with ideas for no-fly zones and bombing. Their good intentions could pave the road to hell for Syrians. Preserving lives today, but sacrificing many more later.”


Partial Transcript
Senate Committee on Armed Services Hearing
February 16, 2012

SENATOR WEBB: Thank you Mr. Chairman and Senator Inhofe both. The writer in me has to say this: before you used that quote from General Burgess, I believe the first person who made that statement was Winston Churchill when he said that the United States and Britain were two countries separated by a common language… and it actually goes to one of the points that I need to make this morning and to ask both of you for your advice on and that's words do count. I also sit on the Foreign Relations Committee and the last few days we've been trying to put together a resolution with respect to Syria. First I would say, Director, that your testimony and your comments were very helpful today.

You can hear the frustration from people like Senator McCain on the fact that people up here think they need to do something, but we have to be careful what we do. We have to be careful about the statements that we make as a Senate. I have had a number of occasions since I've been here to look at some of these statements that are well-meaning, but hastily drawn, overly conclusive in their tone and not really complete in the details. These things are pulled into the media and they say the Senate “unanimously” made this particular conclusion about one event or another.

We had General Dempsey up here two days ago. I asked him a question about the nature of the opposition in Syria. Not going to what the Assad regime would be capable of doing--which by the way, Director, I thought you laid out in very understandable specifics--but really what is on the other side of the picket line? Who are they? How much of this is domestic? How much of it is foreign? What is the regional dynamic? He made one comment; I'm going to give you a partial quote: "Syria is a much different situation that we collectively saw in Libya. It presents a very different challenge in which we also know that the other regional actors are providing support as a part of a Sunni majority rebelling against a repressive regime."

We all know this. I think you made some comments about this as well. I asked him about the reports in the media last week that al-Qaeda was involved in some of the assassination attempts in Syria. He would not reject it out of hand; he said he didn't know. But one of the things that General Dempsey was very clear about was they were still attempting to analyze the intelligence information to come to some sort of conclusions. So this is an opportune time for me to ask both of you, what are your thoughts on the nature of the opposition that is active on the ground in Syria right now?

JAMES R. CLAPPER: As I indicated earlier, the opposition is very fractionated. There is not a national movement, even though there is a title of the Syrian National Council, but a lot of that is from external--exiles and the like. But there is not a unitary, connected opposition force. It's very local. It's on a community by community basis. In fact in some communities, the opposition is actually providing municipal services as though it's running the community and trying to defend itself against attacks from the Syrian regime-controlled military.

The Free Syrian Army, which is kind of a blanket, generic name that's sort of applied to the collection of oppositionists, is itself not unified. There's an internal feud about who's going to lead it. Complicating this as you implied, of course are sort of the neighborhood dynamics.

The Iranians--very, very concerned about propping up Assad so they have sent help in terms of trainers, advisers and equipment--mostly riot suppression equipment--that sort of thing.

Another disturbing phenomenon that we've seen recently apparently is the presence of extremists who have infiltrated the opposition groups. The opposition groups in many cases may not be aware they are there. We've had the two attacks that you alluded to, the two bombings in Damascus in December I think it was and then the two additional bombings in Aleppo, both of which were targeted against security and intelligence buildings and had all the earmarks of an al-Qaeda like attack. So we believe that al-Qaeda in Iraq is extending its reach into Syria.

Complicating all of this is -- and this is another contrast with Libya, where we had one or two or three sites that had chemical warfare components, it is a much more complex issue in Syria, which has an extensive network of such installations. Although to this point, they -- and we're watching this very carefully--they appear to be secure.

So, many complexities here involving the opposition, which I'm sure will affect any discussion about coming to some assistance.

BURGESS: There's not a whole lot I can add to what Director Clapper laid out. The only other comment that I would make is in regard to what we have seen referencing the al-Qaeda like events. As we try and look at some of that, it appears to be those elements that may already be in country. But what we haven't seen so far, and what we have not assessed yet, is whether there would be what I would call a clarion call to outsiders coming in, to augment. We haven't seen much of that up to this time, so basically the team that's on the ground is playing with what it has.

WEBB: Thank you. I would like to read very briefly from a piece that was just published by Leslie Gelb, who needs no introduction as a foreign policy expert in our country, saying, “When interventionists become avenging angels, they blind themselves and the nation and run dangerously amok. They plunge in with no plans, with half-baked plans, with demands to supply arms to rebels they know nothing about, with ideas for no-fly zones and bombing. Their good intentions could pave the road to hell for Syrians. Preserving lives today, but sacrificing many more later.”

Again I hope members of this body will keep this in mind as we develop policies.

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