Salon.com > Freya Peterson

U.S. offers Syrian rebels $60 million of new aid

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 15:40:00 +0000

The US has offered to give the Syrian opposition $60 million in new aid – including, for the first time, "non-lethal" supplies such as food and medicine.

Secretary of State John Kerry made the announcement at a Friends of Syria meeting in Rome, where several Western governments have promised to ramp up their assistance to the Syrian opposition.

In what the Associated Press called "a significant policy shift," Kerry said Washington would more than double its aid to Syria's civilian opposition to help it govern rebel-controlled areas.

"Given the stakes," Kerry said, the US will also make food and medical supplies available to the military council that represents the Free Syrian Army – the first time that Washington has offered direct assistance to rebel fighters.

State Department faulted over Benghazi attacks

Wed, 19 Dec 2012 14:44:00 +0000

The State Department has come up for harsh criticism in an official report that cites "grossly inadequate" security at America's mission in Benghazi during the Sept. 11 attacks that killed US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and three others.

The leaders of an independent panel issued the scathing assessment in a review that, according to Reuters, found "leadership and management" deficiencies in the department and "real confusion" in Washington and in the field over who could — and should — have made decisions involving security.

The findings of the Accountability Review Board, some of which are classified and will only be heard behind closed doors before the House and Senate foreign affairs committees, may taint the four-year tenure of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Reuters wrote.