[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 135 (Thursday, October 3, 2013)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7165-S7166]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SYRIA
Mr. McCAIN. Madam President, I come to the floor to talk for a short
period of time about Syria, which is, although not dominating our
conversation here--lead stories in both the Washington Post and the
Wall Street Journal are deeply disturbing.
First, I would like to point out that on the front page of the Wall
Street Journal today there is an article titled ``Syrian Regime Chokes
Off Food To Town That Was Gassed.'' I repeat: ``Syrian Regime Chokes
Off Food To Town That Was Gassed.''
Government forces are tightening the noose around one of
the suburbs gassed by chemical weapons in August, raising
concerns of a fresh humanitarian crisis as residents forage
for olives, grapevine leaves and other basic foods.
Pro-regime fighters--
That is Bashar al-Assad's killers--
have encircled about 12,000 people, mostly civilians but
also including some rebel fighters, in the town of
Moadhamiya, according to local and international aid workers,
opposition activists and people interviewed on Monday in a
government-controlled section of the town.
This is a town that is strategically important to both sides because
the flow of humanitarian and military aid flows through this particular
area for those who are fighting in Aleppo and in Damascus.
The story goes on:
``We won't allow them to be nourished in order to kill
us,'' said a 24-year-old pro-regime paramilitary in the
government-controlled section. . . . ``Let them starve for a
bit, surrender and then be put on trial.''
These are the same people, apparently government forces, that are
``cooperating'' with us on chemical weapons, that are allowing
inspectors to come in to gather the chemical weapons. So they have
12,000 people encircled, that they have already gassed, 1,400 of them,
400 children in the same town. So now they are going to starve them.
Like the fighters said, ``Let them starve for a bit, surrender and then
be put on trial.''
It is remarkable. An opposition activist inside the rebel-held side
of the town who was reached by Skype said the situation is so dire now
in the rebel-controlled area that people are subsisting on whatever
they can forage locally, including olives, grapevine leaves, fresh
mint, and figs.
So here we have the latest result of our wonderful and much heralded
agreement on chemical weapons. They killed, in this town, 1,400 people,
400 of them children, with gas. Now they are going to kill 12,000 more
with conventional weapons: bombs, guns, tanks, knives. Brutality and
torture has characterized their behavior for a long period of time.
It seems to me it is a little bizarre. It is a little bizarre that we
are hailing this cooperation from Bashar Assad on chemical weapons, and
meanwhile the slaughter goes on: 110,000 dead, 1 million children
refugees, the surrounding countries being destabilized, and, of course,
the refugee camps are terrible situations to which we have not given
the assistance that we should.
I urge all of my colleagues, if they had the opportunity, to visit
one of these refugee camps and hear the stories of the murder, the gang
rapes, the torture that is the official doctrine of Bashar Assad, not
random acts of violence. The defectors from Bashar Assad's military
will tell you that is their training and indoctrination and
instructions.
So the second article today is from the Washington Post. ``CIA
ramping up covert training program for moderate Syrian rebels.''
The CIA is expanding a clandestine effort to train
opposition fighters in Syria amid concern that moderate U.S.-
backed militias are rapidly losing ground in the country's
civil war.
But the CIA program is so miniscule that it is expected to
produce only a few hundred trained fighters each month even
after it is enlarged, a level that officials said will do
little to bolster rebel forces that are being eclipsed by
radical Islamists in the fight against the government of
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Here is the interesting part.
The CIA's mission, officials said, has been defined by the
White Houses's desire to seek a political settlement, a
scenario that relies on an eventual stalemate among the
warring factions rather than a clear victor. As a result,
officials said, limits on the agency's authorities enable it
to provide enough support to help ensure that politically
moderate, U.S.-supported militias don't lose but not enough
for them to win.
Picture these young people who are fighting in Syria today. The
official U.S. policy is that they will provide weapons but only enough
so they cannot win. Those people are being slaughtered. They are being
murdered. They are dying. Some 110,000 have died. I am not sure how
many of them were actual fighters. The official U.S. policy, according
to the Washington Post, is that they want them not to win.
It is hard to motivate people to fight for a cause that we are not
willing to help them win.
The agency has trained fewer than 1,000 rebel fighters this
year, current and former U.S. officials said. By contrast,
U.S. intelligence analysts estimate that more than 20,000
have been trained to fight for government-backed militias by
Assad's ally Iran
[[Page S7166]]
and the Hezbollah militant network it sponsors.
So we have trained 1,000. We are going to do about 100 a week, I
guess, something like that. More than 20,000 have been trained by the
Iranians, who are all in, and we expect them to be able to continue
fighting.
The CIA is ramping up its effort . . . it was clear that
the opposition was losing, and not only losing tactically but
on a more strategic level.
Congressman Mike Rogers, whom I respect a lot, Chairman of the House
Intelligence Committee, said there is a--
. . . high degree of frustration . . . with the Syrian
strategy. The situation in Syria is changing faster than the
administration can keep up. U.S. support for moderate
opposition groups is less than robust and has been hobbled by
inconsistent resource allocation with stated goals.
CIA veterans expressed skepticism that the training and
weapons deliveries will have any meaningful effect. In
Jordan, operatives involved in training and arming rebels
lament that we're being asked to do something with nothing.
I would like to quote some articles:
``Al-Qaeda expands in Syria via Islamic State.''
A rebranded vision of Iraq's al-Qaeda affiliate is surging
onto the front lines of the war in neighboring Syria,
expanding into territory seized by other rebel groups and
carving out the kind of sanctuaries that the U.S. military
spent more than a decade fighting to prevent in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
We left Iraq. Iraq is now deteriorating. Thousands of people are
being killed literally every month. Now we see Al Qaeda coming from
Iraq in larger and larger numbers.
Finally, I would like to mention the Wall Street Journal article from
some time ago:
``Iranians Dial Up Presence in Syria. Shiite Militiamen From Across
the Arab World Train at a Base Near Tehran to Do Battle in Syria.''
At a base near Tehran, Iranian forces are training Shiite
militiamen from across the Arab world to do battle in Syria--
showing the widening role of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard
Corps in Syria's bloody war.
The busloads of Shiite militiamen from Iraq, Syria and
other Arab states have been arriving at the Iranian base in
recent weeks, under cover of darkness, for instruction in
urban warfare and the teaching of Iran's clerics, according
to Iranian military figures and residents in the area. The
fighters' mission: Fortify the Syrian regime of President
Bashar al-Assad against Sunni rebels, the U.S. and Israel.
So here is what we should take away from all this recent reporting:
Despite the recent agreement on chemical weapons, that agreement does
nothing to address the underlying conflict in Syria, which not only
continues but is getting worse and worse.
So, my friends, as the administration trumpets this deal of chemical
weapons, the fact is that the slaughter goes on. It is clear to these
people whom I have spoken with personally, tragically their morale is
badly damaged. They believe they have been abandoned. The ongoing
tragedy and massacre continues in Syria. The United States will pay a
very heavy price in the future unless we do something rather dramatic.
I yield the floor.
Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that after the
quorum call I be recognized.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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