US to arm Syrian moderates, but who are they?

While the CIA traditionally favors third-party brokers in its work with local forces, the Department of Defense is frequently more hands-on, favoring direct contacts with the groups they aid.

Tony Badran, an analyst with the Washington-based Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said that aid to the opposition groups has already begun shifting. “It originally went through the SMC, but now the SMC complains that the donors are bypassing them to send money directly to their own groups,” he explained.

…

Read full article here