Clinton: Arming Syrian rebels could help al Qaeda

Syrian activists said that another 135 people were killed there Monday, many of them while fleeing the besieged city of Homs, as Syrian President Bashar Assad continues his brutal, 11-month crackdown on opponents of his regime.

Over the weekend, officials from the U.S. and other countries - dubbed the "friends of Syria" - met in Tunisia and demanded an end to the violence. CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews spoke to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said the U.S. is "deeply distressed" about the civilian casualties but raised serious concerns about calls to arm the Syrian opposition.

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"What are we going to arm them with and against what? We're not going to bring tanks over the borders of Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan," Clinton said.

Another administration concern is that weapons might go to al Qaeda.

"We know al Qaeda [leader Ayman al-] Zawahiri is supporting the opposition in Syria. Are we supporting al Qaeda in Syria? Hamas is now supporting the opposition. Are we supporting Hamas in Syria?" Clinton said. "If you're a military planner or if you're a secretary of state and you're trying to figure out do you have the elements of an opposition that is actually viable, that we don't see. We see immense human suffering that is heartbreaking."

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Watch Andrews' full interview with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton below:

[erpicferl]

the rebellion is syria is a SUNNI one..you know the same guys we were fighting in iraq and the same guys who flew planes into the twin towers....

[FP1970]

Clinton forgets to note that open immigration policies in the U.S. also help al-Qaeda quite a bit. They appreciate the convenience of being able to get their people onto U.S. soil and the wonderfully unguarded border is a big help too. American even has a President that is suing states like Arizona for enforcing American immigration laws that he himself refuses to enforce. If Clinton is worried about helping al-Qaeda, she should have a chat with her boss.

[tom_gwynn]

Hmmm. You seem to be implying we're less safe under the current president? Someone remind me, on whose watch did the largest terrorist attack ever on US soil occur? Oh my goodness, it was Bush, wasn't it? And... let me think... who was the president who avenged the deaths of over 3000 of our fellow Americans by killing the man who planned that operation? Oh my, it was Obama, wasn't it?

I'm sorry, is this not fitting into your faux news worldview? Here's another disturbing fact; under Obama, almost twice as many illegals have been deported as under Bush. As for Arizona, they passed an illegal and unconstitutional law designed to harass and intimidate anyone with brown skin, regardless of their national origin. That racist law *should* be challenged in court, and Obama's just doing his job in doing so. The idea that this somehow helps Al-Qaeda is absurd- the twin towers were not destroyed by a bunch of Roman Catholic maids and gardeners from Mexico, they were destroyed by Muslim Saudi citizens here on tourist visas. Those are the people we have to worry about, not some poor sod wading the Rio Grande looking for a job.

[promontorium]

Clinton is right. Look what has happened in the other states "freed" in Arab Spring. They fooled us before in thinking they wanted democratic rule and freedom. They are simply tossing out moderate dictators for fanatical dictators. They might as well name Al Qaeda as their foreign service branch. All I see is greater and greater oppression, mostly of women and non-Muslims. All these people are fighting for in Syria is who gets to be the oppressor.