Reuters/Muzaffar Salman - Three weapons hang on a wall depicting a map of Syria in a safe house of Martyr Al-Abbas, a rebel group, in Aleppo June 11, 2013.
Opinion
Will Arming Syrian Rebels Lead to Disaster?
June 15, 2013, Bruce Riedel
In arming the Syrian rebels, the Obama administration should pay careful attention to the parallels of backing the Afghan mujahedin in the 1980s, and how uncertainty surrounding Washington’s goals and misperception of the interests of regional allies ultimately resulted in unintended consequences in Afghanistan, Bruce Riedel argues. Similar mistakes in Syria today could result in a recipe for disaster.