US, Saudis Back Syrian Rebels to Support 'Arms Industry in the West'

© AFP 2023 / BARAA AL-HALABI Rebel fighters from the "First Battalion" under the Free Syrian Army take part in a military training on June 10, 2015, in the rebel-held countryside of the northern city of Aleppo
Rebel fighters from the First Battalion under the Free Syrian Army take part in a military training on June 10, 2015, in the rebel-held countryside of the northern city of Aleppo - Sputnik International
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Hardliners in the US often say that Washington and its allies should provide more aid, funds and training to so-called moderate rebels in Syria so that they put an end to the deadly conflict, but this strategy only perpetuates violence in the region, because moderate forces in Syria "simply do not exist," human rights activist Craig Murray told RT.

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"They are a figment of the imagination," the former UK ambassador asserted.

Last year, the Pentagon admitted that its $500 million program aimed at training moderate forces in the Syrian opposition produced only five or six fighters. The rest joined Daesh, al-Qaeda or other radical groups trying to establish a caliphate in the embattled Arab country.

In other words, any assistance foreign governments, including the US and Saudi Arabia, provide to Syrian rebels (whether they consider them to be moderate or not) falls directly or indirectly into the hands of extremist groups in the region plagued by violence for decades.

"You have to see this as a kind of continuum, where the UK and the US are supporting essentially Saudi funded and Saudi organized and inspired forces to fight a sort of sectarian war across the Middle East. It all ties in with what the Saudis are doing with their bombing in Yemen," he said.

A group of Syrian rebels supported by US politicians for their “moderate” position, and who received US military equipment, has disbanded after heavy losses. - Sputnik International
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Riyadh launched a military campaign in the poorest country in the Arab world last year, causing what the UN and human rights groups consider a humanitarian disaster.

These efforts, according to Murray, do not contribute to resolving conflicts.

"Much of it is about support for the arms industry in the West and arms sales rather than any serious attempts to achieve a proper political outcome in Syria. It is very dangerous indeed. We are creating more violence, more radicalization, and more groups who ultimately will be a danger to everybody," he noted.

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