Pour financer le programme secret de la CIA en Syrie, les États-Unis ont (une fois de plus) compté sur l’argent séoudien, à hauteur de plusieurs milliards de dollars.
U.S. Relies Heavily on Saudi Money to Support Syrian Rebels
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/24/world/middleeast/us-relies-heavily-on-saudi-money-to-support-syrian-rebels.html
American officials have not disclosed the amount of the Saudi contribution, which is by far the largest from another nation to the program to arm the rebels against President Bashar al-Assad’s military. But estimates have put the total cost of the arming and training effort at several billion dollars.
Et l’article indique que l’armement de la rébellion par les Séoudiens et les Qataris a commencé au tout début de 2012 (« plus d’un an » avant « le printemps 2013 »). Il n’y avait alors pas de programme de la CIA, dit l’article, mais c’est tout de même la CIA qui organise la contrebande d’armes vers la Syrie (c’est hors-programme, alors ?)…
When Mr. Obama signed off on arming the rebels in the spring of 2013, it was partly to try to gain control of the apparent free-for-all in the region. The Qataris and the Saudis had been funneling weapons into Syria for more than a year. The Qataris had even smuggled in shipments of Chinese-made FN-6 shoulder-fired missiles over the border from Turkey.
The Saudi efforts were led by the flamboyant Prince Bandar bin Sultan, at the time the intelligence chief, who directed Saudi spies to buy thousands of AK-47s and millions of rounds of ammunition in Eastern Europe for the Syrian rebels. The C.I.A. helped arrange some of the arms purchases for the Saudis, including a large deal in Croatia in 2012.
