TRANSPARENCY,, YEAH WE HAVE IT..

US President Barack Obama has signed a secretive order
authorizing US financial and military support for Syrian rebel forces,
effectively taking sides in what many observers say has become a full
blown civil war between the opposition forces such as the Free Syria
Army and the ruling government of President Bassar al-Assad and its
military.

Syrian rebel fighters pose for a picture in Hama July 20, 2012. (Credit: Reuters/Shaam News Network/Handout)
According to Reuters,
Obama's order -- known as an "intelligence finding" -- was "approved
earlier this year" and gives the CIA and other US agencies broad
permissions to provide tactical support and funnel equipment to these
opposition forces. The full extent of clandestine support that US
agencies might be providing remains unclear.

Though the order stops short of authorizing the arming of rebels
directly, it was noted that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey -- all US
allies in the region and beneficiaries of large US arms deals -- are
coordinating closely with US operatives and the Syrian opposition
forces.

The news will not be received well by those calling for a diplomatic
solution in Syria or those who caution against further US military
intervention in the region.

"Syria’s war is erupting in a region still seething in the aftermath
of the U.S. war in Iraq and the sectarian legacies it left behind," says
Phyllis Bennis, a director at the Institute for Policy Studies in
Washington. "The fighting is also now taking on an increasingly
sectarian form – and the danger is rising of Syria becoming the center
of an expanded regional war pitting Sunni regimes in Saudi Arabia and
Qatar against Shi’a-dominated governments in Iran and Iraq."

US government officials also confirmed to CNN the
signing of the order, but it remains unclear exactly when it was
signed. The authority granted offers financial assistance, tactical
advisers, and non-lethal military equipment such as satellites radios
and other communication equipment.

One government source acknowledged to Reuters "that under
provisions of the presidential finding, the United States was
collaborating with a secret command center operated by Turkey and its
allies."

Also on Wednesday, in signs of the overt support the US government is
offering the Syrian rebels, the Treasury Department confirmed it has
granted authorization to the Syrian Support Group, a Washington-based
representative of the Free Syrian Army, to conduct financial
transactions on the group's behalf. That authorization was first
reported last week by Al-Monitor, a Middle East news and commentary
website.

In addition, the US State Department has set aside $25 million for
non-military assistance and $64 million for humanitarian aid, including
contributions to the World Food Program, the International Committee of
the Red Cross and other aid agencies.

Reuters concludes their reporting by saying
that although US and allied government experts argue that the Syrian
rebels have been "making some progress against Assad's forces lately,
most believe the conflict is nowhere near resolution, and could go on
for years."

Bennis, meanwhile, argues that only through diplomacy
can this war be ended. "Accountability for war crimes, whether in
national or international jurisdictions, is crucial – but stopping the
current escalation of war must come first," she said.