According to a report published on Saturday in Politico, the sudden decision by President Obama to renew plans to arm Syrian rebels fighting against the Islamic State was driven by Saudi Arabia. According to the account, Obama’s White House counter-terrorism advisor Lisa Monaco was in Saudi Arabia last weekend, where she got a commitment from the Kingdom to provide training bases for the Syrian rebels. She raced back to Washington and reportedly briefed President Obama personally in the Oval Office on Tuesday morning. On the basis of the Saudi promise, Obama met with Congressional leaders and got them to approve an added $500 million in aid to the rebels, to be included in the continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government through December. The adding of the $500 million in support to the rebels, along with the leaking of the Saudi offer to host training bases, caused a backlash on Capitol Hill and strengthened the hands of those Members of Congress demanding that Obama formally get Congressional authorization for further military actions against the Islamic State.
With momentum building for the declassification of the 28 pages of the original 9/11 Joint Congressional Inquiry report detailing Saudi complicity with the hijackers, and with more and more evidence surfacing of the Saudi funding of the Islamic State and other Al Qaeda spinoffs, the idea that the Saudis would “offer’’ to host a training camp for Syrian rebels to fight against the Islamic State almost defies logic. Nevertheless, according to the Politico account, it was the Saudi offer that triggered the Administration’s push.
