GOP divided over arming Libyan rebels

Republican lawmakers were split Sunday over whether to begin arming the Libyan rebels battling Col. Moammar Gadhafi’s forces for control of the country.

The idea is being widely debated in Washington policy circles after a report by The New York Times earlier this week indicated President Obama had signed a secret finding authorizing the CIA to provide arms and other support to the rebels, but the weapons had yet to be brought into the country.
 
South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham (R) said Obama has the “wrong strategy in Libya,” but noted he’d support arming the rebels with TOW missiles, which are portable and can be used against armored vehicles and helicopters.
 
{mosads}”I’m ready to look at arming them to help themselves,” Graham said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
 
“We need American air power back into the fight. And we need to take the fight to Tripoli, go after his inner circle. That’s the way to end this war decisively and quickly.”
 
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (R) said using U.S. ground troops in the conflict isn’t “the ideal scenario” but arming the rebels should be considered. “I think the president was right not to take that off the table,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.” “I think we need to learn more about who they are and how they’re working.”
 
Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers (R), who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, disagreed with the two senators. He said the rebels shouldn’t be equipped with U.S. weaponry because the guns could end up pointed at U.S. soldiers in the future.
 
“What we need to know is who they are,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday. “We know what they’re against, the rebels. We know they’re against Moammar Gadhafi remaining in power, but we don’t know what they’re for.”

Instead, he suggested the special forces from the Arab League’s armies could be used to assist the rebels.
 
“If the Arab League is putting those types of forces on the ground, you know, good on ’em,” he said. “The rebels could certainly use that help and support from the Arab League.”
 
Meanwhile, the Senate’s top Democrat said he opposed the idea of arming the rebels.

“I spoke to the president yesterday about this,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) said on “Face the Nation.” “And I think at this stage we really don’t know who the leaders of this rebel group is. We have others, as Secretary Gates has said, that can do it more easily than we can. So I think, at this stage, let’s just wait and see.”

Retired Gen. James Jones, who served as President Obama’s national security adviser until late 2010, echoed Reid’s concern. 

He said Sunday that the administration needs to get “some clarity” about who the make up of the Libyan opposition forces. “I think the first thing that has to be done is to find out who these — who they are,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Jones said the initial part of the military mission – to protect Libyan civilians from Gadhafi – had been accomplished. 

“Now we have to take the rest — follow the rest of the trail to identify these people, then decide, you know, whether that’s meritorious or not in terms training, organizing, equipping,” said Jones, who is also former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO.