US Encouraged Coup Against Syria's Assad in 2011, Wall Street Journal Reports
Reuters <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001VFuEIJGBILn8Zl4iYQhVGTWS2K_F34xyiSPnp4k9MbKQG28RsdJ0f1jD2XTdpeoDspRsbDUgk-WTqSSmAhezEjIej0zRQ89vipV-97Rs9xwctG42EvMoEMXNzsh8obIjP0wZVvVaKQ_ee-OvsN64YUJnFsF-l1wZJQ51AMIljdNTGNyjhqRteabo4zuFuUNympDVnP54NzHbLHow7pN4F1QmtzxuChEP1vaTNKkfA4iKcw11AFpaibMvuzM5JUW0qCuGAkxIRag6uK5IWrli1pYB0MxB5iqTGMKfVavq86c=&c=AWv7m1BQr4LffpQcy1DSmPyrTQQmcoHDQX67yPmXfZRYl_a3f4GYXQ==&ch=cx6dF_Q7ImjBI7Kvi6vghH0pcFRD5xBClTUNn-yD6gk-vse3WDLhaA==> http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2015/Dec-24/328873-us-encouraged-coup-againt-assad-in-2011-wsj.ashx U.S. officials held secret communications with members of President Bashar Assad's government to try to limit violence in Syria, and explored ways to encourage a military coup in 2011 as the civil war got under way, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. American intelligence officials identified army officers belonging to Assad's minority Alawite sect who could lead a coup, but they found few weak spots to exploit, the Journal said, citing interviews with more than two dozen people, including current and former U.S. officials. The moves were made as Assad's government began cracking down on protests and soldiers started leaving the army, the Journal said. ... The Obama administration shifted away from trying to influence Assad's government and toward supporting Syrian rebels in 2012, the newspaper reported. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SERBIAN NEWS NETWORK" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/senet. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
