A national security expert listened in on the White House’s Syria call Thursday. Here are her takeaways. “We didn’t get any closer to a no-fly zone today.”
Via: Muzaffar Salman / Reuters
WASHINGTON — On Thursday, the White House announced the red line had been crossed in Syria. President Bashar Assad's regime has used chemical weapons, National Security Council deputy advisor Ben Rhodes told reporters on a conference call, and that means "military support" for the Syrian rebels.
What does "military support" mean, exactly? Rhodes was vague about what the phrase entailed for the U.S.. But experts and politicians have been kicking around ideas for how to use the American military in Syria for quite a while now, and the crossing of President Obama's red line by Assad leads to several likely options, they say.
One of those experts, National Security Network executive director Heather Hurlburt, listened in on Rhodes' call and gave BuzzFeed a readout.
There are several ways to provide military aid, Hurlburt said. The first is by providing access to training and technology, which can change the dynamics on the battlefield without providing weapons or ammunition.
"There's lots of categories of things that are not by themselves lethal but that make you a better and more lethal soldier," she said.
U.S. allies England and France have said they're willing to provide arms to the Syrian rebels. Military assistance from the U.S. could entail American training in military tactics and use of the arms.
"There's been rumors that some of that was already going on," Hurlburt said.
