Week Ahead: Levin asks for Syrian opposition's wish list
Al-Monitor gets preview of the Syrian Opposition Coalition’s request for assistance to the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The Syrian National Coalition is putting together a list of requests for military and other assistance as the Senate Armed Services Committee assembles its annual defense bill next week.
The panel chaired by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., requested the memo during a meeting with President Ahmad Jarba and other leaders of the opposition last week, a top coalition adviser told Al-Monitor in an interview on Friday.
The request, which will be shared with the Armed Services, Foreign Affairs and Intelligence panels in both chambers, is expected to ask Congress to urge the administration to allow US allies in the region to share their anti-aircraft weapons with vetted members of the Western-backed opposition. Other likely asks include: More training and equipment for the opposition; expanding salaries for the Supreme Military Council; and increased support for the interim government and its aid arm, the US-backed Assistance Coordination Unit.
Opposition members hope some of those requests can be included in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which cleared the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday and is scheduled to be marked up by the Senate panel on May 20-21. They’ll continue to press their case with members of the Senate next week — the House is out for a weeklong recess — and are notably expected to meet with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., as well as with President Barack Obama.
