Rubio: Syrian rebels need ammo, non-lethal assistance

As the White House considers stepping up its non-lethal assistance to Syrian rebels, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., suggested Wednesday that it also consider sending ammunition to the forces fighting dictator Bashar al-Assad.

“We don’t have to give them weapons. I think they have plenty of weapons, quite frankly,” Rubio said in remarks at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank. “What the opposition really needs is access to ammunition.”

“That’s a step that I’m prepared to advocate for, the provision of ammunition to resistance groups within Syria that we believe we can build a long-term dialogue with,” he said. …

The problem for the United States is that the “best-equipped, best-armed factions in Syria are the most radical ones,” he said. “We should want the best-organized and best-equipped and most dominant groups in the opposition to be groups that are friendly to our national interests.”