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Editor’s note: Mark Bowman is managing director of brewing company SABMiller Africa.

(CNN) — Nothing better sums up Africa’s extraordinary mixture of challenges and opportunities than agriculture. On the one hand, Africa is home to one in four of the world’s hungry and is the only continent which fails to grow enough food to meet its own needs.

Yet it has also half of the world’s unused land suitable for farming. Better still, increasing yields on existing farmland by 50% — still far below the global average — would not only meet Africa’s own food requirements but provide a sizable surplus for export. With global food supply needing to increase by an estimated 70% by 2050, the continent is at the heart of the challenge of food security.

All this explains why agriculture in Africa is finally getting the attention it deserves from both the continent’s governments and donors.

The recent Nutrition for Growth summit generated pledges of $4.1 billion to fight malnutrition and hunger. This builds on the commitments made at Camp David 12 months ago when we, along with other local and multinational companies, committed to collectively invest over $3 billion across the agricultural value chain in Grow Africa countries.

There is now increased pressure on G8 leaders, meeting this week in the UK, to tackle the issues at the heart of food insecurity, including “land grabs.”

Read this: African land grabs, mirage in the desert

In the worst cases, local communities and farmers have been evicted from land they long regarded as their own. Farmland which was once productive can be left idle. Plans to grow crops for export in the future can also be difficult to stomach when local people don’t have food to eat today.

Land purchases which ignore the interests of local communities and the local landscapes are both morally wrong and commercially short-sighted. We need action both nationally and globally to stop them.

But there is a danger that these clear-cut cases fuel opposition to all outside investment or create a false choice between large-scale commercial farming and smallholders. The truth is Africa desperately needs to maximize the potential of both to meet the needs of its citizens.

With smallholder farmers still producing 80% of the food and supporting 65% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa, they are central to any successful sustainable solution. We need to lift the barriers which have seen them locked out of the developments in agriculture from which farmers around the world have long benefited. Where this has happened, the results can be remarkable.

Read this: Africa can feed itself in a generation

As a company, we have been working with African farmers for many years. We buy our raw materials from all sorts of farming systems, from large-scale commercial barley farmers right through to near-subsistence cassava farmers who we are keen to help become viable commercial operators — and at least half of the grains we use come from local farmers.

African farmers key to growing economies

Farm Radio Malawi boosts agriculture

A green revolution for Africa?

The challenge for all who want to see African agriculture drive prosperity for its people is to maximize the benefits which both smallholder and large-scale commercial farming can bring. There is no single answer to preventing land grabs but at the heart of any solution is the need to improve land rights. It is no coincidence that many of the most questionable acquisitions have taken place in countries with the weakest system of land rights in place.

As much as 90% of the land in sub-Sahara Africa is untitled. The result is that communities which may have lived and farmed the land for many generations have no enforceable legal claim to it. In the worst cases, this can allow land to be sold off by governments from under their feet without any hope of compensation.

Read this: Land grabs really water grabs?

Improved land rights which go at least some way to recognize history and usage would help prevent this from happening. Nor is it impossible to put in place. Countries such as Botswana and Ghana have already improved their laws so customarily held lands have the force of private property.

Giving people the protection of legally enforceable land rights does not only give them security. It also gives them greater incentive to invest in their farms and an easier route to get this investment. The lack of legal paperwork to their land remains a major reason for the refusal of banks to lend to farmers.

Improving land rights would also help commercial organizations who want to invest and farm in a responsible way. The present position gives us the worst of all worlds. While bad investors can get away with riding roughshod over the rights of smallholders and communities, the present free-for-all makes it difficult for good investors who want to farm in a way which is beneficial to local people and the environment from accessing land.

It is not just weak land rights which are holding back African agriculture, and the solutions are complex and multi-faceted. But work to put in place a fair and enforceable system would be a major step to helping the continent fulfill its rich potential.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of Mark Bowman.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/18/opinion/land-grabs-africa-mark-bowman/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/-RMlB16cjLg/land-rights-help-africa-feed-itself

Editor’s note: Mark Bowman is managing director of brewing company SABMiller Africa.

(CNN) — Nothing better sums up Africa’s extraordinary mixture of challenges and opportunities than agriculture. On the one hand, Africa is home to one in four of the world’s hungry and is the only continent which fails to grow enough food to meet its own needs.

Yet it has also half of the world’s unused land suitable for farming. Better still, increasing yields on existing farmland by 50% — still far below the global average — would not only meet Africa’s own food requirements but provide a sizable surplus for export. With global food supply needing to increase by an estimated 70% by 2050, the continent is at the heart of the challenge of food security.

All this explains why agriculture in Africa is finally getting the attention it deserves from both the continent’s governments and donors.

The recent Nutrition for Growth summit generated pledges of $4.1 billion to fight malnutrition and hunger. This builds on the commitments made at Camp David 12 months ago when we, along with other local and multinational companies, committed to collectively invest over $3 billion across the agricultural value chain in Grow Africa countries.

There is now increased pressure on G8 leaders, meeting this week in the UK, to tackle the issues at the heart of food insecurity, including “land grabs.”

Read this: African land grabs, mirage in the desert

In the worst cases, local communities and farmers have been evicted from land they long regarded as their own. Farmland which was once productive can be left idle. Plans to grow crops for export in the future can also be difficult to stomach when local people don’t have food to eat today.

Land purchases which ignore the interests of local communities and the local landscapes are both morally wrong and commercially short-sighted. We need action both nationally and globally to stop them.

But there is a danger that these clear-cut cases fuel opposition to all outside investment or create a false choice between large-scale commercial farming and smallholders. The truth is Africa desperately needs to maximize the potential of both to meet the needs of its citizens.

With smallholder farmers still producing 80% of the food and supporting 65% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa, they are central to any successful sustainable solution. We need to lift the barriers which have seen them locked out of the developments in agriculture from which farmers around the world have long benefited. Where this has happened, the results can be remarkable.

Read this: Africa can feed itself in a generation

As a company, we have been working with African farmers for many years. We buy our raw materials from all sorts of farming systems, from large-scale commercial barley farmers right through to near-subsistence cassava farmers who we are keen to help become viable commercial operators — and at least half of the grains we use come from local farmers.

African farmers key to growing economies

Farm Radio Malawi boosts agriculture

A green revolution for Africa?

The challenge for all who want to see African agriculture drive prosperity for its people is to maximize the benefits which both smallholder and large-scale commercial farming can bring. There is no single answer to preventing land grabs but at the heart of any solution is the need to improve land rights. It is no coincidence that many of the most questionable acquisitions have taken place in countries with the weakest system of land rights in place.

As much as 90% of the land in sub-Sahara Africa is untitled. The result is that communities which may have lived and farmed the land for many generations have no enforceable legal claim to it. In the worst cases, this can allow land to be sold off by governments from under their feet without any hope of compensation.

Read this: Land grabs really water grabs?

Improved land rights which go at least some way to recognize history and usage would help prevent this from happening. Nor is it impossible to put in place. Countries such as Botswana and Ghana have already improved their laws so customarily held lands have the force of private property.

Giving people the protection of legally enforceable land rights does not only give them security. It also gives them greater incentive to invest in their farms and an easier route to get this investment. The lack of legal paperwork to their land remains a major reason for the refusal of banks to lend to farmers.

Improving land rights would also help commercial organizations who want to invest and farm in a responsible way. The present position gives us the worst of all worlds. While bad investors can get away with riding roughshod over the rights of smallholders and communities, the present free-for-all makes it difficult for good investors who want to farm in a way which is beneficial to local people and the environment from accessing land.

It is not just weak land rights which are holding back African agriculture, and the solutions are complex and multi-faceted. But work to put in place a fair and enforceable system would be a major step to helping the continent fulfill its rich potential.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of Mark Bowman.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/18/opinion/land-grabs-africa-mark-bowman/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/4ewQyFQAFqg/why-land-rights-help-africa-feed-itself

Editor’s note: Mark Bowman is managing director of brewing company SABMiller Africa.

(CNN) — Nothing better sums up Africa’s extraordinary mixture of challenges and opportunities than agriculture. On the one hand, Africa is home to one in four of the world’s hungry and is the only continent which fails to grow enough food to meet its own needs.

Yet it has also half of the world’s unused land suitable for farming. Better still, increasing yields on existing farmland by 50% — still far below the global average — would not only meet Africa’s own food requirements but provide a sizable surplus for export. With global food supply needing to increase by an estimated 70% by 2050, the continent is at the heart of the challenge of food security.

All this explains why agriculture in Africa is finally getting the attention it deserves from both the continent’s governments and donors.

The recent Nutrition for Growth summit generated pledges of $4.1 billion to fight malnutrition and hunger. This builds on the commitments made at Camp David 12 months ago when we, along with other local and multinational companies, committed to collectively invest over $3 billion across the agricultural value chain in Grow Africa countries.

There is now increased pressure on G8 leaders, meeting this week in the UK, to tackle the issues at the heart of food insecurity, including “land grabs.”

Read this: African land grabs, mirage in the desert

In the worst cases, local communities and farmers have been evicted from land they long regarded as their own. Farmland which was once productive can be left idle. Plans to grow crops for export in the future can also be difficult to stomach when local people don’t have food to eat today.

Land purchases which ignore the interests of local communities and the local landscapes are both morally wrong and commercially short-sighted. We need action both nationally and globally to stop them.

But there is a danger that these clear-cut cases fuel opposition to all outside investment or create a false choice between large-scale commercial farming and smallholders. The truth is Africa desperately needs to maximize the potential of both to meet the needs of its citizens.

With smallholder farmers still producing 80% of the food and supporting 65% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa, they are central to any successful sustainable solution. We need to lift the barriers which have seen them locked out of the developments in agriculture from which farmers around the world have long benefited. Where this has happened, the results can be remarkable.

Read this: Africa can feed itself in a generation

As a company, we have been working with African farmers for many years. We buy our raw materials from all sorts of farming systems, from large-scale commercial barley farmers right through to near-subsistence cassava farmers who we are keen to help become viable commercial operators — and at least half of the grains we use come from local farmers.

African farmers key to growing economies

Farm Radio Malawi boosts agriculture

A green revolution for Africa?

The challenge for all who want to see African agriculture drive prosperity for its people is to maximize the benefits which both smallholder and large-scale commercial farming can bring. There is no single answer to preventing land grabs but at the heart of any solution is the need to improve land rights. It is no coincidence that many of the most questionable acquisitions have taken place in countries with the weakest system of land rights in place.

As much as 90% of the land in sub-Sahara Africa is untitled. The result is that communities which may have lived and farmed the land for many generations have no enforceable legal claim to it. In the worst cases, this can allow land to be sold off by governments from under their feet without any hope of compensation.

Read this: Land grabs really water grabs?

Improved land rights which go at least some way to recognize history and usage would help prevent this from happening. Nor is it impossible to put in place. Countries such as Botswana and Ghana have already improved their laws so customarily held lands have the force of private property.

Giving people the protection of legally enforceable land rights does not only give them security. It also gives them greater incentive to invest in their farms and an easier route to get this investment. The lack of legal paperwork to their land remains a major reason for the refusal of banks to lend to farmers.

Improving land rights would also help commercial organizations who want to invest and farm in a responsible way. The present position gives us the worst of all worlds. While bad investors can get away with riding roughshod over the rights of smallholders and communities, the present free-for-all makes it difficult for good investors who want to farm in a way which is beneficial to local people and the environment from accessing land.

It is not just weak land rights which are holding back African agriculture, and the solutions are complex and multi-faceted. But work to put in place a fair and enforceable system would be a major step to helping the continent fulfill its rich potential.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of Mark Bowman.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/18/opinion/land-grabs-africa-mark-bowman/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/4ewQyFQAFqg/why-land-rights-help-africa-feed-itself

(CNN) — Could the end of the war in Afghanistan be in sight? A flash of hope flickered at the end of the tunnel Tuesday.

Afghan forces formally took over security responsibilities for their violence-plagued country from NATO-led troops on Tuesday, marking a key transition in the long and costly war.

President Hamid Karzai also announced that a government group dedicated to Afghan peace and reconciliation will go to the Gulf state of Qatar and participate in talks with the Taliban militant group — long the adversary of the Afghan and coalition soldiers trying to keep order in the nation.

“You are the sons and guardians of this country, and it is your responsibility to protect it,” Karzai told his troops at a handover ceremony in Kabul. “I wish a long-term peace in Afghanistan.”

The head of NATO said Afghans are now in charge.

Security handed over to Afghan forces

Inside a firefight with the Taliban

Born solely to serve others

Packing up, shipping out of Afghanistan

“The main effort of our forces is shifting from combat to support. We will continue to help Afghan troops in operations, if needed, but we will no longer plan, execute or lead these operations,” NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at the ceremony.

“By the end of 2014, our combat mission will be completed,” Rasmussen said.

With the handover, U.S. and coalition forces move into a backup role and let Afghan National Security Forces — long questioned for their preparedness and commitment — handle the combat in the restive nation.

British Defense Minister Philip Hammond called the handover a “hard-fought milestone.”

“Afghanistan will continue to face challenges as it builds toward becoming a secure and stable state,” he said. “The Afghanistan our combat forces leave at the end of 2014 will not be perfect, but will be able to stand independently and will never again provide a haven for terrorists to attack the West.”

During his State of the Union address in January, President Barack Obama said, of the approximately 66,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, more than half — 34,000 — will come home in the next year and the country’s war in Afghanistan would be over by the end of 2014.

The Taliban regime in Afghanistan was sheltering al Qaeda when the terror network launched attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. The next month, the United States cranked up military operations that led to the toppling of the Taliban government.

Ever since, international forces have been fighting radical Islamic militants in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan.

What does this news mean for Afghanistan and the United States? Here are some key questions that will be asked in the coming months:

1. Are the Afghan troops up to the task?

There are certainly doubts.

A Pentagon review in December found that only one of 23 Afghan army brigades was capable of functioning on its own.

Meanwhile, literacy rates are low, desertion rates are high, and many deserters have joined the insurgency. There also have been a troubling number of “green-on-blue” attacks: Afghan troops attacking their American comrades.

But then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta spoke positively about the progress Afghans had made in growing their army, reducing violence and becoming more self-sufficient. At the time, Afghan forces were leading nearly 90% of operations across the country.

“We’re on the right path to give (Afghanistan) the opportunity to govern itself,” Panetta said.

Karzai has said he welcomes the U.S. troop withdrawal and insists his army can defend the country against the Taliban.

“It is exactly our job to deal with it, and we are capable of dealing with it,” Karzai said during an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

2. What are the biggest challenges?

The main fear among Afghans is that the country could revert to another civil war once the United States withdraws its combat troops.

“Some people we’ve spoken to sort of take it for granted that there’s going to be a civil war when the United States leaves,” said CNN’s Erin Burnett on a trip last year to Afghanistan. “It happened before when the Soviet Union left (in 1989).”

Above all, Karzai said the Afghan army needs the tools to battle the insurgents, namely more equipment and firepower. He came to the Pentagon in January with a wish list asking for more helicopters, drones and other hardware, according to a senior defense official.

“We need an air force. We need air mobility,” Karzai told Amanpour. “We need proper mechanized forces. We need, you know, armored vehicles and tanks and all that.”

Retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, once America’s top commander in Afghanistan, said the Afghan people are “terrified.”

“They’re terrified because they think they have something to lose,” McChrystal said. “There has been progress made. There is a better life. There are girls in school. There are things that are better than they were and opportunities potentially ahead.

“But they’re afraid that if we completely abandon them in 2014, as they perceive we did in 1989, (things) would all go back.”

And in Washington, there are worries that the wrong move could put the United States right back where it started, with nothing to show for a bloody conflict that started in 2001.

3. How big a threat does the Taliban still pose?

The Taliban are still “resilient and determined,” according to a recent Pentagon report, and pose a major security threat.

The Taliban continues to carry out high-profile attacks in the capital, Kabul, even targeting the Afghan Supreme Court during a suicide attack in June. Another strike targeted a building near Kabul airport.

On Tuesday, a suicide bomber attacked the convoy of Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, a member of parliament, killing three people and wounding 21 others. Three bodyguards were among the injured. Mohaqiq — a Shiite and an ethnic Hazara — is a member of Afghanistan’s political opposition.

Despite the ongoing insurgency, Karzai seems eager to resume stalled peace talks with the Taliban and include them in the political process.

The High Peace Council of Afghanistan will go to Qatar and participate in talks with the Taliban, Karzai said Tuesday.

The move coincides with the Taliban opening an office in the Gulf nation of Qatar. The council is a body that Karzai appointed to work toward ending the fighting and seeking peace with militants.

“With the opening of the Taliban office in Qatar, we hope peace talks will start soon,” Karzai told reporters in Kabul.

The Taliban pulled out of talks last year, but Karzai said in January that they “are very much conveying to us that they want to have peace talks. They’re also people. They’re also families. They also suffer, like the rest of Afghans are suffering.”

Javid Ahmad, a Kabul native now with the Asia Program of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said he believes revitalized peace talks are essential to Afghanistan’s future and to the legacy of America’s war.

4. What support will the United States and allies provide?

American forces, now at about 66,000, are expected to dip to 32,000 by the end of the year and further throughout 2014.

The plan is to withdraw all combat troops but keep a residual force in the country to help train Afghans and carry out counterterrorism operations when needed.

The size of that force is still being discussed.

Gen. John Allen, the former commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, recommended between 6,000 and 15,000 troops. But that figure was lowered to a range between 2,500 and 9,000, according to a defense official.

The United States and NATO have pledged to continue to support and train Afghan forces in what Rasmussen deems a “new relationship,” starting in 2015.

Acknowledging that there is still much to do in the interim 18 months, Rasmussen said, “Today, our shared goal is in sight.”

CNN’s Joe Sterling contributed to this report.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/18/world/asia/afghanistan-handover/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/AXtTYGJCgHU/afghan-forces-take-over-now-what

(CNN) — Could the end of the war in Afghanistan be in sight? A flash of hope flickered at the end of the tunnel Tuesday.

Afghan forces formally took over security responsibilities for their violence-plagued country from NATO-led troops on Tuesday, marking a key transition in the long and costly war.

President Hamid Karzai also announced that a government group dedicated to Afghan peace and reconciliation will go to the Gulf state of Qatar and participate in talks with the Taliban militant group — long the adversary of the Afghan and coalition soldiers trying to keep order in the nation.

“You are the sons and guardians of this country, and it is your responsibility to protect it,” Karzai told his troops at a handover ceremony in Kabul. “I wish a long-term peace in Afghanistan.”

The head of NATO said Afghans are now in charge.

Security handed over to Afghan forces

Inside a firefight with the Taliban

Born solely to serve others

Packing up, shipping out of Afghanistan

“The main effort of our forces is shifting from combat to support. We will continue to help Afghan troops in operations, if needed, but we will no longer plan, execute or lead these operations,” NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at the ceremony.

“By the end of 2014, our combat mission will be completed,” Rasmussen said.

With the handover, U.S. and coalition forces move into a backup role and let Afghan National Security Forces — long questioned for their preparedness and commitment — handle the combat in the restive nation.

British Defense Minister Philip Hammond called the handover a “hard-fought milestone.”

“Afghanistan will continue to face challenges as it builds toward becoming a secure and stable state,” he said. “The Afghanistan our combat forces leave at the end of 2014 will not be perfect, but will be able to stand independently and will never again provide a haven for terrorists to attack the West.”

During his State of the Union address in January, President Barack Obama said, of the approximately 66,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, more than half — 34,000 — will come home in the next year and the country’s war in Afghanistan would be over by the end of 2014.

The Taliban regime in Afghanistan was sheltering al Qaeda when the terror network launched attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001. The next month, the United States cranked up military operations that led to the toppling of the Taliban government.

Ever since, international forces have been fighting radical Islamic militants in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan.

What does this news mean for Afghanistan and the United States? Here are some key questions that will be asked in the coming months:

1. Are the Afghan troops up to the task?

There are certainly doubts.

A Pentagon review in December found that only one of 23 Afghan army brigades was capable of functioning on its own.

Meanwhile, literacy rates are low, desertion rates are high, and many deserters have joined the insurgency. There also have been a troubling number of “green-on-blue” attacks: Afghan troops attacking their American comrades.

But then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta spoke positively about the progress Afghans had made in growing their army, reducing violence and becoming more self-sufficient. At the time, Afghan forces were leading nearly 90% of operations across the country.

“We’re on the right path to give (Afghanistan) the opportunity to govern itself,” Panetta said.

Karzai has said he welcomes the U.S. troop withdrawal and insists his army can defend the country against the Taliban.

“It is exactly our job to deal with it, and we are capable of dealing with it,” Karzai said during an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

2. What are the biggest challenges?

The main fear among Afghans is that the country could revert to another civil war once the United States withdraws its combat troops.

“Some people we’ve spoken to sort of take it for granted that there’s going to be a civil war when the United States leaves,” said CNN’s Erin Burnett on a trip last year to Afghanistan. “It happened before when the Soviet Union left (in 1989).”

Above all, Karzai said the Afghan army needs the tools to battle the insurgents, namely more equipment and firepower. He came to the Pentagon in January with a wish list asking for more helicopters, drones and other hardware, according to a senior defense official.

“We need an air force. We need air mobility,” Karzai told Amanpour. “We need proper mechanized forces. We need, you know, armored vehicles and tanks and all that.”

Retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, once America’s top commander in Afghanistan, said the Afghan people are “terrified.”

“They’re terrified because they think they have something to lose,” McChrystal said. “There has been progress made. There is a better life. There are girls in school. There are things that are better than they were and opportunities potentially ahead.

“But they’re afraid that if we completely abandon them in 2014, as they perceive we did in 1989, (things) would all go back.”

And in Washington, there are worries that the wrong move could put the United States right back where it started, with nothing to show for a bloody conflict that started in 2001.

3. How big a threat does the Taliban still pose?

The Taliban are still “resilient and determined,” according to a recent Pentagon report, and pose a major security threat.

The Taliban continues to carry out high-profile attacks in the capital, Kabul, even targeting the Afghan Supreme Court during a suicide attack in June. Another strike targeted a building near Kabul airport.

On Tuesday, a suicide bomber attacked the convoy of Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, a member of parliament, killing three people and wounding 21 others. Three bodyguards were among the injured. Mohaqiq — a Shiite and an ethnic Hazara — is a member of Afghanistan’s political opposition.

Despite the ongoing insurgency, Karzai seems eager to resume stalled peace talks with the Taliban and include them in the political process.

The High Peace Council of Afghanistan will go to Qatar and participate in talks with the Taliban, Karzai said Tuesday.

The move coincides with the Taliban opening an office in the Gulf nation of Qatar. The council is a body that Karzai appointed to work toward ending the fighting and seeking peace with militants.

“With the opening of the Taliban office in Qatar, we hope peace talks will start soon,” Karzai told reporters in Kabul.

The Taliban pulled out of talks last year, but Karzai said in January that they “are very much conveying to us that they want to have peace talks. They’re also people. They’re also families. They also suffer, like the rest of Afghans are suffering.”

Javid Ahmad, a Kabul native now with the Asia Program of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said he believes revitalized peace talks are essential to Afghanistan’s future and to the legacy of America’s war.

4. What support will the United States and allies provide?

American forces, now at about 66,000, are expected to dip to 32,000 by the end of the year and further throughout 2014.

The plan is to withdraw all combat troops but keep a residual force in the country to help train Afghans and carry out counterterrorism operations when needed.

The size of that force is still being discussed.

Gen. John Allen, the former commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, recommended between 6,000 and 15,000 troops. But that figure was lowered to a range between 2,500 and 9,000, according to a defense official.

The United States and NATO have pledged to continue to support and train Afghan forces in what Rasmussen deems a “new relationship,” starting in 2015.

Acknowledging that there is still much to do in the interim 18 months, Rasmussen said, “Today, our shared goal is in sight.”

CNN’s Joe Sterling contributed to this report.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/18/world/asia/afghanistan-handover/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/AXtTYGJCgHU/afghan-forces-take-over-now-what

(CNN) — Al Qaeda’s affiliate inside Syria is now the best-equipped arm of the terror group in existence today, according to informal assessments by U.S. and Middle East intelligence agencies, a private sector analyst directly familiar with the information told CNN.

Concern about the Syrian al Qaeda-affiliated group Jabhat al-Nusra, also known as the al-Nusra Front, is at an all-time high, according to the analyst, with as many as 10,000 fighters and supporters inside Syria. The United States has designated al-Nusra Front as a terrorist group with links to al Qaeda in Iraq.

That assessment is shared by some Middle Eastern intelligence agencies that have long believed the United States is underestimating the Sunni-backed al Qaeda movement in the country, according to a Middle East source. It is also believed that Iran is running training camps inside Syria for Hezbollah and that other Iranian militia fighters are coming into the country to fight for the regime.

The analyst has been part of recent discussions with the U.S. intelligence community, which is urgently working to understand what is going on inside the war-ravaged country and is consulting outside experts. The analyst, who declined to be named because of the sensitive nature of the information, stressed that all assessments about Syria are approximate at best because of the lack of U.S. personnel on the ground.

On front line with al-Assad fighters

Sen.: Time to ‘tip the scales’ in Syria

Obama’s options for aiding rebels

Syria’s humanitarian crisis

With the growing strength and support for al-Nusra, U.S. concerns are growing about its influence to further destabilize Syria and potentially pose a greater regional threat, administration officials have told CNN.

Next moves for the U.S. on Syria

“They are making desperate attempts to get chemical weapons,” the analyst told CNN, noting that in the past few weeks, security services in Iraq and Turkey arrested operatives who were “trying to get their hands on sarin.”

A senior U.S. intelligence official told CNN recently that gathering intelligence on Syria, including its potential future use of chemical weapons, is now one of the top priorities of the U.S. intelligence community.

The Obama administration announced last week that it will start arming rebels because Syria crossed a “red line” by using chemical weapons — including sarin gas — against the opposition.

The development is likely to be at the center of the Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland on Monday, setting a riveting backdrop to the meeting after Syria’s longtime ally Russia said the move supports “those who kill their enemies and eat their organs.”

Opinion: Peace in Syria? Talk to Iran

In one corner, the United States, the United Kingdom and France say rebels need more help in ousting a 42-year dynasty and ending a regime that crushes dissent with lethal force.

In the other corner, Russia says its supply of arms to the Syrian regime isn’t nearly as bad as sending weapons to the rebels.

“I believe you will not deny that one should hardly back those who kill their enemies and eat their organs. … Do you want to support these people? Do you want to supply arms to these people?” Russian President Vladimir Putin asked Sunday.

He was referring to a widely circulated video that allegedly showed a rebel fighter eating the heart of a dead soldier. The video, posted by a group loyal to the Syrian government, raised questions about the rebels’ credibility, even though the Syrian opposition widely condemned the act.

On Monday, Putin and U.S. President Barack Obama will meet one-on-one to discuss the war that has now killed more than 92,000 people, including thousands of children.

On the ground in Damascus: Locals defiant toward more U.S. help of rebels

Chaos on the ground

While world leaders struggle to form a unified front, the seesaw battles rage on inside Syria — and at a staggering price. About 5,000 Syrians are killed every month, the United Nations said.

The opposition once controlled the Damascus suburb of Yarmouk, which served as a Palestinian refugee camp. But Palestinian fighters supporting the regime say they’re taking the area back.

“We will keep fighting until we get rid of Jabhat al-Nusra and al Qaeda and all other insurgents in Syria,” fighter Abu Ihad told CNN’s Fred Pleitgen in Yarmouk.

The pro-government fighters said they’re angry about the U.S. decision to arm the opposition, especially since members of al-Nusra Front have joined the rebels.

In recent weeks, the rebels have suffered a series of devastating setbacks. Their loss of the stronghold Qusayr coincided with the arrival of Hezbollah fighters supporting Syrian troops.

Syrian rebels have pleaded for anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, saying they are outgunned by President Bashar al-Assad’s military.

Explosions rock Damascus military airport

The U.S. has a new game plan

Obama has not detailed the increased military support, but Washington officials told CNN that the plan includes providing small arms, ammunition and possibly anti-tank weapons to the rebels.

The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee told CNN’s Candy Crowley there is a strong consensus on arming Syrian rebels.

“As the Foreign Relations Committee voted nearly a month ago on a strong bipartisan vote of 15-3 … we believe the rebels need to be armed, the moderate elements of those rebels,” said Sen. Robert Menendez, D-New Jersey.

“Public intelligence sources have said that we’ve come to know who, in fact, we could ultimately arm. And the reality is we need to tip the scales, not simply to nudge them. And the president’s moving in the right direction.”

Britain has not decided whether to provide weapons to rebels but has provided technical assistance and training alongside the United States, France and its other allies.

“I’m in no doubt that responsibility lies with President Assad. It is the onslaught that he has inflicted on his own people which is the primary cause of the suffering, the humanitarian catastrophe and the deaths we have seen,” British Prime Minister David Cameron said Sunday.

Russia’s president said he believed both sides were responsible for the bloodshed. Putin said he hoped the G8 summit this week would help broker a peace deal to end the carnage.

But it’s unclear how many more lives may be lost in the meantime.

Putin warns U.S., West against arming organ-eating Syrian rebels

CNN’s Igor Krotov and Kevin Liptak contributed to this report.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/17/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html?eref=edition

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(CNN) — Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Sunday against arming Syrian rebels “who kill their enemies and eat their organs,” referencing a widely circulated video that purports to show a rebel fighter eating the heart of a dead soldier.

Putin’s comments signaled a clear disapproval of a U.S. plan to increase military support to Syrian rebels, and his warning came just one day before he was to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama for talks at the Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland where Syria is expected to top the agenda.

“I believe you will not deny that one should hardly back those who kill their enemies and eat their organs. … Do you want to support these people? Do you want to supply arms to these people?” Putin asked, speaking to reporters in London after meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron.

Explosion, fire at Damascus military airport

Syrian rebels leave their position in the northwestern town of Maaret al-Numan on Thursday, June 13. The White House said on Thursday that the Syrian government has crossed a “red line” with its use of chemical weapons. Tensions in Syria flared in March 2011 during the onset of the Arab Spring, escalating into an ongoing civil war. View the most compelling images taken since the start of the conflict.

Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are seen near Qusayr on Thursday, May 30.

Syrian rebels take position in a house during clashes with regime forces in the old city of Aleppo on May 22.

Syrian army soldiers take control of the village of Western Dumayna north of the rebel-held city of Qusayr on Monday, May 13. Syrian troops captured three villages in Homs province, allowing them to cut supply lines to rebels inside Qusayr town, a military officer told AFP.

Rebel fighters fire at government forces in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, May 12.

Searchers use a flashlight as they look for survivors among the rubble created by what activists say was a missile attack from the Syrian regime, in Raqqa province, Syria, on April 25.

A Kurdish fighter from the “Popular Protection Units” (YPG) takes position inside a building in the majority-Kurdish Sheikh Maqsood area of Aleppo, on Apri. 21.

People walk past destroyed houses in the northern Syrian town of Azaz on Sunday, April 21.

Free Syrian Army fighters take positions prior to an offensive against government forces in the Khan al-Assal area, near Aleppo on Saturday, April 20.

Men inspect damage at a house destroyed in an airstrike in Aleppo on April 15.

Syrian and Kurdish rebel fighters walk in the Sheikh Maqsud district of Aleppo on April 14.

A female rebel monitors the movement of Syrian government forces in Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsud neighborhood on April 11.

A rebel runs to avoid sniper fire from Syrian government forces in Aleppo on Thursday, April 11.

Syrian rebels observe the movement of Syrian government forces around Al-Kendi hospital in Aleppo on Wednesday, April 10.

Rescue teams and security forces check out the scene of a deadly car bomb explosion in Damascus on April 8.

The fighting has taken a toll on buildings in Aleppo’s Saladin district, seen here on April 8.

A Syrian rebel runs for cover in Deir ez-Zor on April 2.

A rebel checks for snipers across the street toward the Citadel in Aleppo, Syria, on Saturday, March 30, in this photo taken by iReporter Lee Harper.

A Free Syrian fighter mourns the death of a friend in Aleppo on March 30, in this photo taken by iReporter Lee Harper.

A Syrian opposition fighter runs for cover from Syrian army snipers in Aleppo on Wednesday, March 27.

A Syrian girl covers her face to protect herself from fumes as a street covered with uncollected garbage is fumigated in Aleppo on Sunday, March 24.

A Syrian man and his family drive past damaged buildings in Maarat al-Numan, on Wednesday, March 20.

Syrians carry the body of a Syrian army soldier during a funeral ceremony in Idlib province on Tuesday, March 19.

Syrian rebels take position in Aleppo, the largest city in the country, on March 11.

Syrian men search for their relatives amongst the bodies of civilians executed and dumped in the Quweiq River on March 11.

A Free Syrian Army fighter looks back as smoke rises during fighting between rebel fighters and forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad on the outskirts of Aleppo on Saturday, March 2.

Residents read Shaam News newspapers published by the Free Syrian Army in Aleppo on March 2.

A member of the Free Syrian Army reacts to the death of a comrade who was killed in fighting, at Bustan al Qasr cemetery in Aleppo on Friday, March 1.

A rebel fighter throws a home-made grenade at Syrian government forces in Aleppo on February 16.

A member of the Free Syrian Army stands with his weapon as he looks at a rainbow in Aleppo on February 16.

A Syrian woman looks through a bus window in Aleppo on February 14.

Free Syrian Army fighters walk through a dust-filled stairwell in Damascus on February 7.

A Syrian rebel gestures at comrades from inside a broken armored personnel carrier in Al-Yaqubia on February 6.

A rebel fighter throws a hand grenade inside a Syrian Army base in Damascus on February 3.

People stand in the dust of a building destroyed in an airstrike in Aleppo, Syria on February 3.

Free Syrian Army fighters run as they enter a Syrian Army base during heavy fighting in the Arabeen neighborhood of Damascus on February 3.

An unexploded mortar shell fired by the Syrian Army sits lodged in the ground in Damascus on January 25.

Fighters from Fateh al Sham unit of the Free Syrian Army fire on Syrian Army soldiers at a check point in Damascus on January 20.

A Free Syrian Army fighter walks between buildings damaged during Syrian Air Force strikes in Damascus on January 19.

A Syrian rebel fighter tries to locate a government jet fighter in Aleppo on January 18.

Syrian rebels launch a missile near the Abu Baker brigade in Albab on January 16.

A Syrian boy walks near rubbish next to tents at a refugee camp near the northern city of Azaz on the Syria-Turkey border, on January 8.

Syrians look for survivors amid the rubble of a building targeted by a missile in Aleppo on January 7.

A father reacts after hearing of a shelling by forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo on January 3.

A patient smokes a cigarette at Dar Al-Ajaza psychiatric hospital in Aleppo on December 18, 2012. The psychiatric ward, housing around 60 patients, has lacked the means to function properly since fighting broke out there in July.

Syrians mourn a fallen rebel fighter at a rebel base in the al-Fardos area of Aleppo on December 8.

Members of Liwa (Brigade) Salahadin, a Kurdish military unit fighting alongside rebel fighters, monitor the area in the besieged district of Karmel al-Jabl in Aleppo on December 6.

A member of Liwa Salahadin aims at a regime fighter in the besieged district of Karmel al-Jabl in Aleppo on December 6.

Two young boys sit underneath a washline in a refugee camp on the border between Syria and Turkey near Azaz on December 5.

The bodies of three children, who were allegedly killed in a mortar shell attack that landed close to a bakery in Aleppo, on December 2, are laid out for identification by family members at a makeshift hospital at an undisclosed location of the city.

Smoke rises in the Hanano and Bustan al-Basha districts in Aleppo on December 1 as fighting continues through the night.

Damaged houses in Aleppo are seen after an airstrike on November 29.

A Syrian rebel mourns the death of a comrade in Maraat al-Numan on November 20.

Syrians protesters stand on Assad’s portrait during an anti-regime demonstration in Aleppo on November 16.

A Syrian rebel takes cover during fighting against Syrian government forces in Aleppo on November 15.

Syrian opposition fighter Bazel Araj, 19, sleeps next to his pistol in Aleppo on November 11.

A rebel fighter fires at a Syrian government position in Aleppo on November 6.

A Syrian rebel leaps over debris left in the street while running across a “sniper alley” near the Salahudeen district in Aleppo on November 4.

Rebels hold their position in the midst of a battle on November 3 in Aleppo.

A man cries while being treated in a local hospital in a rebel-controlled area of Aleppo on October 31.

A man is treated for wounds after a government jet attacked the Karm al-Aser neighborhood in eastern Aleppo on October 31.

A Syrian rebel interrogates a handcuffed and blindfolded man suspected of being a pro-regime militiaman in Aleppo on October 26.

Smoke rises from a fuel station following a mortar attack as Syrian women walk on a rainy day in the Arqub neighborhood of Aleppo on October 25.

A Syrian rebel fires at an army position in the Karm al-Jabal district of Aleppo on October 22.

A wounded Syrian boy sits on the back of a truck carrying victims and wounded people to a hospital following an attack by regime forces in Aleppo on October 21.

A man lies on the ground after being shot by a sniper for a second time as he waits to be rescued by members of the Al-Baraa Bin Malek Battalion, part of the Free Syria Army’s Al-Fatah brigade, in Aleppo on October 20.

Syrian army soldiers run for cover during clashes with rebel fighters at Karam al-Jabal neighborhood of Aleppo on October 20.

Smoke rises after a Syrian Air Force fighter jet fired missiles at the suburbs of the northern province of Idlib on October 16.

A Syrian opposition fighter stands near a post in Aleppo on October 11.

A Syrian man mourns the death of his father, who was killed during a government attack in Aleppo on October 10.

A rebel fighter is carried by his friends and laid on a gurney to be treated for gunshot wounds sustained during heavy battles with government forces in Aleppo on October 1.

Syrian rebels help a wounded comrade to an Aleppo hospital after he was injured in a Syrian army strike on September 18.

Free Syria Army fighters are reflected in a mirror they use to see a Syrian Army post only 50 meters away in Aleppo on September 16.

A Syrian man carrying grocery bags tries to dodge sniper fire as he runs through an alley near a checkpoint manned by the Free Syria Army in Aleppo on September 14.

A woman walks past a destroyed building in Aleppo on September 13.

Free Syrian Army fighters battle during street fighting against Syrian army soldiers in Aleppo on September 8.

A Syrian man wounded by shelling sits on a chair outside a closed shop in Aleppo on September 4.

A woman sits in her wheelchair next to her house, damaged by a Syrian air raid, near Homs on August 26.

Members of the Free Syrian Army clash with Syrian army soliders in Aleppo’s Saif al-Dawla district on August 22.

A man mourns in front of a field hospital on August 21 in Aleppo.

Wounded civilians wait in a field hospital after an air strike on August 21 in Aleppo.

People pray during the funeral of a Free Syrian Army fighter, Amar Ali Amero, on August 21.

A man cries near the graves of his two children killed during a recent Syrian airstrike in Azaz on August 20.

A Syrian woman holds her dead baby as she screams upon seeing her husband’s body being covered following an airstrike by regime forces on the town of Azaz on August 15.

A Syrian rebel runs in a street of Selehattin during an attack on the municipal building on July 23.

Syrian rebels hunt for snipers after attacking the municipality building in the city center of Selehattin on July 23.

Members of the Free Syrian Army’s Mugaweer (commandos) Brigade pay their respects in a cemetery on May 12 in Qusayr.

Syrian rebels take position near Qusayr on May 10.

A Free Syrian Army member takes cover in underground caves in Sarmin on April 9.

Rebels prepare to engage government tanks that advanced into Saraquib on April 9.

Men say prayers during a ceremony in Binnish on April 9.

A young boy plays with a toy gun in Binnish on April 9.

A Free Syrian Army rebel mounts his horse in the Al-Shatouria village near the Turkish border in northwestern Syria on March 16, a year after the uprising began.

Syrian refugees walk across a field before crossing into Turkey on March 14.

A rebel takes position in Al-Qsair on January 27.

A protester in Homs throws a tear gas bomb back towards security forces, on December 27, 2011.

A man stands under a giant Syrian flag outside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on December 24, 2011.

A member of the Free Syrian Army looks out over a valley in the village of Ain al-Baida on December 15, 2011.

Members of the Free Syrian Army stand in an valley near the village of Ain al-Baida, close to the Turkish border, on December 15, 2011.

Displaced Syrian refugees walk through an orchard adjacent to Syria’s northern border with Turkey on June 14, 2011, near Khirbet al-Jouz.

A Syrian man holds up a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad during a rally to show support for the president in Damascus on April 30, 2011.

Syrians rally to show their support for President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on April 30, 2011.

A screen grab from YouTube shows thick smoke rising above as Syrian anti-government protesters demonstrate in Moaret Al-Noman on April 29, 2011.

A screen grab from YouTube shows Syrian anti-government protesters run for cover from tear gas fired by security forces in Damascus on April 29, 2011, during the “Day of Rage” demonstrations called by activists to put pressure on al-Assad.

Syrians wave their national flag and hold portraits of al-Assad during a rally to show their support for their leader in Damascus on March 29, 2011.

A woman sits by the hospital bed of a man allegedly injured when an armed group seized rooftops in Latakia on March 27, 2011, and opened fire at passers-by, citizens and security forces personnel according to official sources.

Syrian protesters chant slogans in support of al-Assad during a rally in Damascus on March 25, 2011.

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Syrian civil war in photos

How will the U.S. arm Syria’s rebels?

The video referenced by Putin first surfaced online in May and generated outrage. The video, which was posted by a group loyal to President Bashar al-Assad, also raised questions abut the credibility of the rebels despite widespread condemnation of the act by the opposition.

Putin said those actions do not represent the “humanitarian and cultural values” of Europe or Russia.

Opinion: Why a man eats another man’s heart

What types of weapons do rebels need?

Rebels: U.S. unlikely to give heavy arms

McCain pushes more intervention in Syria

Fareed’s Take: U.S. arming Syrian rebels

“If we speak calmly, in a businesslike fashion, let me draw your attention to the fact that Russia supplies arms to the legitimate government of Syria in full compliance with the norms of international law,” he said. “We are not breaching any rules and norms. Let me emphasize that: we are not breaching any rules and norms, and we call on all our partners to act in the same fashion.”

Russia has been at odds with the United States, the UK and others over how to bring an end to the bloodshed in the civil war that has raged in Syria for more than two years, a conflict that the United Nations estimates has left more than 92,000 people dead and millions displaced.

Russia and Syria have an alliance dating back to the Cold War, and Moscow has been one of the leading weapons suppliers for al-Assad’s government.

Obama is expected during his meeting with Putin to make his case for increasing support to the rebels. Obama’s administration announced the move last week after it said Syria crossed a “red line” with the use of chemical weapons, including sarin gas, against the opposition.

Obama has not detailed the increased military support, but Washington officials told CNN that the plan includes providing small arms, ammunition and possibly anti-tank weapons to the rebels.

World leaders have put enormous pressure on al-Assad to end the war and step down, and U.N. Security Council efforts to take action have been repeatedly blocked by Russia and China.

Cameron, meanwhile, told reporters that Britain had not decided whether to provide weapons to rebels but was providing technical assistance and training alongside the United States, France and its other allies.

“I’m in no doubt that responsibility lies with President Assad. It is the onslaught that he is inflicted on his own people which is the primary cause of the suffering, the humanitarian catastrophe and the deaths we have seen,” he said.

Putin told reporters that he hoped the G8 summit would provide an avenue that would allow him to help broker a peace deal to end the Syrian conflict. He said he believed both sides were responsible for the bloodshed.

Will Rouhani alter Iran’s policy on Syria?

Cameron acknowledged that he and Putin have deep differences on the issue of Syria but said they agree that it will take political and diplomatic efforts to help end the carnage.

Putin did not address Russian concerns that the United States may attempt to enforce a no-fly zone over Syria, using F-16 fighter jets and Patriot missiles based in Jordan.

On Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned the United States against taking such action, saying it would be a violation of international law, according to Russian state broadcaster Russia Today.

Russian television reported that Lavrov’s comments followed speculation in the media that a no-fly zone could be imposed through the deployment of the missile systems and fighter jets sent by the United States to global military drills in Jordan.

Those reports followed news that the United States had approved a Jordanian request to keep the fighter jets and missiles in the country after the conclusion of a joint military exercise.

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki has dismissed media accounts that Obama has decided on establishing a no-fly zone. Those reports are incorrect, she told reporters on Friday.

U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes also addressed the matter Friday when he was asked how difficult it would be to establish a no-fly zone.

“In Syria, when you have the situation where regime forces are intermingled with opposition forces, they’re fighting in some instances block by block in cities. That’s not a problem you can solve from the air,” he said.

Syrian rebels have pleaded for anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, saying they are outgunned by al-Assad’s miltary.

In recent weeks, the rebels have suffered a series of devastating setbacks, including the loss of the stronghold of Qusayr near the Syria-Lebanon border, that coincide with the arrival of Hezbollah fighters who have been reinforcing government troops.

In recent days, al-Assad’s military and the Hezbollah fighters, backed by Lebanon and Iran, have been battling rebels for control of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

CNN’s Saad Abedine and Igor Krotov contributed to this report.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/16/world/meast/syria-civil-war/index.html?eref=edition

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The famous wicker basket flagsticks will be on full view again at the 2013 U.S. Open on the East Course at Merion.

The history of golf at the Merion club dates back to 1896, with the East Course being completed in 1912.

Merion is regarded as one of the most picturesque courses in world golf, and this sunset view from the 10th tee takes in the ninth green with the fourth green in the background.

Merion’s trophy cabinet reflects its staging of 18 USGA events and a host of important tournaments.

Ben Hogan plays his famous one-iron approach to the final green in the 1950 U.S. Open at Merion. It is acknowledged as one of the greatest shots in golfing history and he went on to win the tournament in a playoff.

The U.S. Open trophy is paraded next to the plaque on the 18th hole which marks the point from which Hogan played his famous shot.

The club used by Hogan is on public display in the USGA museum, having been stolen but then found by a collector.

A plaque in the clubhouse is dedicated to the course’s designer, Scotsman Hugh Wilson, who was a member at Merion.

A commemorative stone on the par-four 12th on the East Course marks the hole on which the great Bobby Jones completed golf’s first “grand slam” in 1930 by winning the final of the U.S. Amateur.

Players will take aim at the wicker basket targets rather than the conventional flags, making it harder to judge the wind direction.

The wicker basket flagsticks are gathered up each night by a special machine before being put out the next morning.

Leading PGA Tour professional Rickie Fowler (left) was among the victorious American Walker Cup team which beat Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the last major event to be staged at Merion in 2009.

The legendary Lee Trevino won the U.S. Open at Merion in 1971 after beating Jack Nicklaus in a playoff. He has fond memories of the unique course.

The changing room at Merion has a old-fashioned qualities, with massive metal lockers as the main feature.

Players will tee off at the U.S. Open right in front of the dining patio in the clubhouse.

When the original Merion club was founded in 1865, it was used for the traditional British sport of cricket.

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(CNN) — “I love Merion, and I don’t even know her last name,” legendary golfer Lee Trevino was once memorably quoted when asked about the venue for this week’s U.S. Open.

“Supermex” had good cause for his admiration of the famous inland links near Philadelphia, having won the 1971 edition of the tournament after a playoff with Jack Nicklaus, no less.

Nicklaus, who went on to win a record 18 major titles, described Merion’s championship East Course as “Acre for acre, maybe the best test of golf in the world.”

Current No. 1 Tiger Woods is another big fan. “You have to be so disciplined to play that course,” he said after a recent practice round.

So what is it about the Merion which evokes such praise — and what will await Woods and his rivals when they bid for major glory this week? Thursday’s opening round was disrupted by the arrival of predicted bad weather, but there is much more at the Pennsylvania venue to challenge the world’s top golfers.

Historic club to host U.S. Open

Tour stars on God and golf

Tour stars on God and golf

CNN’s Living Golf has gone behind the scenes at the iconic venue to provide the definitive guide to the magic of Merion and all its charms.

Wicker wonders

Foremost among them are the famous red wicker baskets which are positioned above the pin sticks in place of conventional flags — a peculiarity these days, though more common earlier in the history of golf.

They first appeared at Merion in 1915, three years after the course opened in September 1912.

The historical origins of the baskets and indeed the reason for them remain unclear, but by the time the 1916 U.S. Amateur Championship was hosted — the first major event on the course — they were still in place and have remained ever since.

The green staff even have a special machine into which each individual wicker basket flag can be gathered up each night in the “wicker cart.”

When a move to replace “the wickers” with standardized flags was mooted, the outcry was loud and clear.

But, according to Trevino, they add to the challenge facing the golfers, particularly in breezy conditions.

“Generally when we stand out in the middle of the fairway we can see which way the flag is blowing so we have some idea of how to play the wind,” he told CNN.

“But with the wicker baskets, no!”

The toughest of five courses at Bethpage State Park on Long Island, Bethpage Black joined the U.S. Open roster in 2002 after the USGA decided to bring its flagship tournament to a public venue. Green fee: $130 weekdays, $150 weekends.

Designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and opened for play in 2007, this 7,165-yard, par 72 stunner on the shores of Puget Sound hosted the 2010 U.S. Amateur. It will host its first U.S. Open in 2015. Green fee: $219.

Erin Hills hosted the U.S. Amateur in 2011 and will host the U.S. Open in 2017. The 7,823-yard, par 72 course is a walking-only course, with neither motorized nor pull carts allowed. Green fees: $200.

Jack Nicklaus said: “If I had only one more round to play, I would choose to play it at Pebble Beach. It’s possibly the best in the world.” Green fees: $495.

Pinehurst No. 2 hosted a PGA Championship in 1936, a Ryder Cup in 1951 and its second U.S. Open in 2005. Next year, it will become the first venue to host a U.S. Open and a U.S. Women’s Open in subsequent weeks. Stay-and-play packages from $488.

Tiger Woods won the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines after hobbling his way around the course with a knee injury, then dispatching Rocco Mediate on the first sudden-death playoff hole. Green fee: $183.

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U.S. Open courses you can play

A golf coaching dynasty

Golf’s billion dollar pioneer

Whoever emerges the winner this Sunday evening will be presented with a wicker basket to commemorate their win along with the championship trophy.

One-iron wonder

In 1950, the legendary American golfer Ben Hogan won the U.S. Open at Merion — just 16 months after suffering terrible injuries in an automobile crash which nearly claimed his life.

By a curious twist, and for the only time, the wicker baskets were not used that year.

Perhaps they did not want to upset Hogan — who had the unfair reputation of being a ruthless and aloof winning machine — on his courageous comeback trail.

So when he came to play his second shot to the testing par-four 18th in the final round, he would have seen a flag blowing in the far distance over 200 yards away.

Struggling with pain from his still-healing injuries and knowing he needed to find the small green with his shot to have any real chance of joining two other golfers in a playoff, Hogan selected a one-iron club — which hits the ball far and low if hit correctly.

Ever the perfectionist, Hogan’s strike was pure perfection and brought gasps from the galleries as it arrowed its way to the heart of the green.

Two putts for a par were enough and he won the next day’s 18-hole playoff against Lloyd Mangrum and George Fazio.

The drama of the moment was captured for posterity by famous Sports Illustrated and Life Magazine photographer Hy Peskin. It is rated one of the best sports photos of the 20th century.

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That club used by Hogan now resides in the U.S. Golf Association Museum as one of its prized exhibits.

Iconic winners

Hogan would be near the top of any list of all-time great golfers, but call it coincidence, the best of the best have filled the honors board at Merion.

The 1916 U.S. Amateur was the first tournament for a 14-year-old Bobby Jones. He returned in 1924 to win the event, but his victory in 1930 is best remembered.

In the days before the U.S. Masters and PGA Championship, the majors were considered to be the U.S. and British Opens and the British and U.S. Amateur Championships.

Jones, the dominant golfer of his era, amateur or professional, arrived at Merion in September 1930 needing to win the U.S. Amateur to complete the set in the same calendar year.

In the 36-hole final, played to a matchplay format, he thrashed his unfortunate opponent Eugene Homans, watched by a massive crowd. A reporter labeled the feat as the “Grand Slam” — a term which has stuck. It was to prove Jones’ final tournament as he retired from competition aged just 28 to practice law, although he was the driving force behind founding the Masters at Augusta.

Olin Dutra won the first U.S. Open to be staged at Merion in 1934, Hogan’s 1950 heroics have gone down in golfing folklore, while Nicklaus famously led the United States to victory there in the Eisenhower Trophy (the World Amateur Team Championship) in 1960.

His four-round total of 269 is considered one of the greatest displays in the history of the game, but when Nicklaus returned to Merion for the U.S. Open at the peak of his powers in 1971 he found Trevino barring his way to victory.

They both tied in 280 level par after four rounds on a course Trevino described as holding “a lot of trouble and with a lot of tall grass.”

David Graham’s 1981 U.S. Open victory

Recreating golf’s most iconic photograph

Few gave him much chance in the playoff, but with a round of 68 to Nicklaus’ 71 he claimed his second U.S. Open and his words “had beaten the best” giving him the belief he “really belonged” in very elite of golf.

David Graham claimed the fourth staging of U.S Open at Merion in 1980 and was in awe of his place in golfing history, becoming the first Australian to win the tournament.

“Bobby Jones won there, Trevino, Hogan won there and then this little kid from Australia comes along and wins,” he told CNN.

Hogan phoned him after his victory and they had lunch. “He liked international players, he congratulated me on winning. It was cool,” Graham said.

Anyone for cricket

Coming from Australia, Graham would acknowledge that while golf is a popular sport, cricket is a national obsession as it is in England — the two battling for supremacy for the famous Ashes.

When the original Merion club was founded in 1865 — a playground for the rich society elite of Philadelphia — the British influence was still strong, so cricket was the chosen sport for the country club setting, while tennis also became popular.

In 1896, a golf club was formed from the membership and a course built on existing grounds.

The Merion East Course came later — completed in 1912 and built on land acquired near Ardmore.

It was designed by one of the club’s members, Scotsman Hugh Wilson — who had never done such a job before.

Scottish roots

He went back home to find inspiration from Scotland’s famous coastal links courses, and it was he who introduced the wicker baskets.

North Berwick Golf Course, near the border of England, has a strong resemblance to Merion, particularly the 15th and 17th holes.

The style of the bunkers is also different from that commonly found in the United States and according to Trevino are devilishly difficult. They are nicknamed the “white faces of Merion” and with good reason.

“The Scottish-type bunkers are unbelievable because you think you might be in the bunker, then all of a sudden you’re in the lip of it and you can’t find your ball, I mean it’s hiding in there!” Trevino told CNN.

Trevino believes that despite its short length by modern standards, the combination of the bunkers, small greens and forbidding rough will leave Tiger and co. with a very real test.

“That’ll be the toughest little 7,000-yard golf course you’ll ever see.”

Lunch tee

One of other challenges facing the players will be the unusually close proximity of the dining patio to the first tee.

Nerves jangling at the start of an important round, the players can almost hear the tinkle of cutlery and glasses as the members tuck in to some fine cuisine.

“It almost feels like you’re teeing off in a carport because the first tee is just outside the door there,” Trevino said.

“That’s the way all the courses used to be. If you go over to Scotland and if you shank a ball out of a bunker, then you’ll break the biggest window in the world in a dining room.

“That’s the way they built it — they had a lot of property, they didn’t waste it. Now you’re building golf courses on 500 acres and nine holes covers five miles!”

Merion, hosting the U.S. Open for the fifth time, takes up a mere 120 acres.

All about tradition

As Trevino and others have suggested, it is a course absolutely dripping with traditional influence and none more so than the clubhouse, which was once a farmhouse.

Players will use a changing room full of big metal lockers and period features.

Photos and old scorecards adorn the walls and there is a massive trophy case — appropriate for a club which has hosted more USGA events, 18 in all, than any other in the United States.

The last was the 2009 Walker Cup amateur competition, where the likes of Rickie Fowler helped the United States to victory over Great Britain and Ireland.

Once on the course, players and caddies will have to do without yardage markers, while golf carts are prohibited even for members.

Graham has nothing but praise for the work of the club in preserving its culture and heritage.

“They’ve done such a superb job with their museum, they’re very cognizant of the club’s tradition and they do what Augusta National does. At all costs they protect the integrity of the club,” the 67-year-old said.

“Certain (U.S.) Opens, like the one at Pebble Beach, is a little special and certainly the Open at Merion was special, especially for me.”

Doubtless, whoever writes their name into the roll of honor under 2012 U.S. Open champion Webb Simpson will take away similar thoughts and join a list of special greats.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/13/sport/golf/golf-us-open-merion-magic-woods/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/2rp2_BZ2kd4/wicker-men-test-at-u-s-open

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Syrian rebels leave their position in the northwestern town of Maaret al-Numan on Thursday, June 13. The White House said on Thursday that the Syrian government has crossed a “red line” with its use of chemical weapons. Tensions in Syria flared in March 2011 during the onset of the Arab Spring, escalating into an ongoing civil war. View the most compelling images taken since the start of the conflict.

Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are seen near Qusayr on Thursday, May 30.

Syrian rebels take position in a house during clashes with regime forces in the old city of Aleppo on May 22.

Syrian army soldiers take control of the village of Western Dumayna north of the rebel-held city of Qusayr on Monday, May 13. Syrian troops captured three villages in Homs province, allowing them to cut supply lines to rebels inside Qusayr town, a military officer told AFP.

Rebel fighters fire at government forces in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, May 12.

Searchers use a flashlight as they look for survivors among the rubble created by what activists say was a missile attack from the Syrian regime, in Raqqa province, Syria, on April 25.

A Kurdish fighter from the “Popular Protection Units” (YPG) takes position inside a building in the majority-Kurdish Sheikh Maqsood area of Aleppo, on Apri. 21.

People walk past destroyed houses in the northern Syrian town of Azaz on Sunday, April 21.

Free Syrian Army fighters take positions prior to an offensive against government forces in the Khan al-Assal area, near Aleppo on Saturday, April 20.

Men inspect damage at a house destroyed in an airstrike in Aleppo on April 15.

Syrian and Kurdish rebel fighters walk in the Sheikh Maqsud district of Aleppo on April 14.

A female rebel monitors the movement of Syrian government forces in Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsud neighborhood on April 11.

A rebel runs to avoid sniper fire from Syrian government forces in Aleppo on Thursday, April 11.

Syrian rebels observe the movement of Syrian government forces around Al-Kendi hospital in Aleppo on Wednesday, April 10.

Rescue teams and security forces check out the scene of a deadly car bomb explosion in Damascus on April 8.

The fighting has taken a toll on buildings in Aleppo’s Saladin district, seen here on April 8.

A Syrian rebel runs for cover in Deir ez-Zor on April 2.

A rebel checks for snipers across the street toward the Citadel in Aleppo, Syria, on Saturday, March 30, in this photo taken by iReporter Lee Harper.

A Free Syrian fighter mourns the death of a friend in Aleppo on March 30, in this photo taken by iReporter Lee Harper.

A Syrian opposition fighter runs for cover from Syrian army snipers in Aleppo on Wednesday, March 27.

A Syrian girl covers her face to protect herself from fumes as a street covered with uncollected garbage is fumigated in Aleppo on Sunday, March 24.

A Syrian man and his family drive past damaged buildings in Maarat al-Numan, on Wednesday, March 20.

Syrians carry the body of a Syrian army soldier during a funeral ceremony in Idlib province on Tuesday, March 19.

Syrian rebels take position in Aleppo, the largest city in the country, on March 11.

Syrian men search for their relatives amongst the bodies of civilians executed and dumped in the Quweiq River on March 11.

A Free Syrian Army fighter looks back as smoke rises during fighting between rebel fighters and forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad on the outskirts of Aleppo on Saturday, March 2.

Residents read Shaam News newspapers published by the Free Syrian Army in Aleppo on March 2.

A member of the Free Syrian Army reacts to the death of a comrade who was killed in fighting, at Bustan al Qasr cemetery in Aleppo on Friday, March 1.

A rebel fighter throws a home-made grenade at Syrian government forces in Aleppo on February 16.

A member of the Free Syrian Army stands with his weapon as he looks at a rainbow in Aleppo on February 16.

A Syrian woman looks through a bus window in Aleppo on February 14.

Free Syrian Army fighters walk through a dust-filled stairwell in Damascus on February 7.

A Syrian rebel gestures at comrades from inside a broken armored personnel carrier in Al-Yaqubia on February 6.

A rebel fighter throws a hand grenade inside a Syrian Army base in Damascus on February 3.

People stand in the dust of a building destroyed in an airstrike in Aleppo, Syria on February 3.

Free Syrian Army fighters run as they enter a Syrian Army base during heavy fighting in the Arabeen neighborhood of Damascus on February 3.

An unexploded mortar shell fired by the Syrian Army sits lodged in the ground in Damascus on January 25.

Fighters from Fateh al Sham unit of the Free Syrian Army fire on Syrian Army soldiers at a check point in Damascus on January 20.

A Free Syrian Army fighter walks between buildings damaged during Syrian Air Force strikes in Damascus on January 19.

A Syrian rebel fighter tries to locate a government jet fighter in Aleppo on January 18.

Syrian rebels launch a missile near the Abu Baker brigade in Albab on January 16.

A Syrian boy walks near rubbish next to tents at a refugee camp near the northern city of Azaz on the Syria-Turkey border, on January 8.

Syrians look for survivors amid the rubble of a building targeted by a missile in Aleppo on January 7.

A father reacts after hearing of a shelling by forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo on January 3.

A patient smokes a cigarette at Dar Al-Ajaza psychiatric hospital in Aleppo on December 18, 2012. The psychiatric ward, housing around 60 patients, has lacked the means to function properly since fighting broke out there in July.

Syrians mourn a fallen rebel fighter at a rebel base in the al-Fardos area of Aleppo on December 8.

Members of Liwa (Brigade) Salahadin, a Kurdish military unit fighting alongside rebel fighters, monitor the area in the besieged district of Karmel al-Jabl in Aleppo on December 6.

A member of Liwa Salahadin aims at a regime fighter in the besieged district of Karmel al-Jabl in Aleppo on December 6.

Two young boys sit underneath a washline in a refugee camp on the border between Syria and Turkey near Azaz on December 5.

The bodies of three children, who were allegedly killed in a mortar shell attack that landed close to a bakery in Aleppo, on December 2, are laid out for identification by family members at a makeshift hospital at an undisclosed location of the city.

Smoke rises in the Hanano and Bustan al-Basha districts in Aleppo on December 1 as fighting continues through the night.

Damaged houses in Aleppo are seen after an airstrike on November 29.

A Syrian rebel mourns the death of a comrade in Maraat al-Numan on November 20.

Syrians protesters stand on Assad’s portrait during an anti-regime demonstration in Aleppo on November 16.

A Syrian rebel takes cover during fighting against Syrian government forces in Aleppo on November 15.

Syrian opposition fighter Bazel Araj, 19, sleeps next to his pistol in Aleppo on November 11.

A rebel fighter fires at a Syrian government position in Aleppo on November 6.

A Syrian rebel leaps over debris left in the street while running across a “sniper alley” near the Salahudeen district in Aleppo on November 4.

Rebels hold their position in the midst of a battle on November 3 in Aleppo.

A man cries while being treated in a local hospital in a rebel-controlled area of Aleppo on October 31.

A man is treated for wounds after a government jet attacked the Karm al-Aser neighborhood in eastern Aleppo on October 31.

A Syrian rebel interrogates a handcuffed and blindfolded man suspected of being a pro-regime militiaman in Aleppo on October 26.

Smoke rises from a fuel station following a mortar attack as Syrian women walk on a rainy day in the Arqub neighborhood of Aleppo on October 25.

A Syrian rebel fires at an army position in the Karm al-Jabal district of Aleppo on October 22.

A wounded Syrian boy sits on the back of a truck carrying victims and wounded people to a hospital following an attack by regime forces in Aleppo on October 21.

A man lies on the ground after being shot by a sniper for a second time as he waits to be rescued by members of the Al-Baraa Bin Malek Battalion, part of the Free Syria Army’s Al-Fatah brigade, in Aleppo on October 20.

Syrian army soldiers run for cover during clashes with rebel fighters at Karam al-Jabal neighborhood of Aleppo on October 20.

Smoke rises after a Syrian Air Force fighter jet fired missiles at the suburbs of the northern province of Idlib on October 16.

A Syrian opposition fighter stands near a post in Aleppo on October 11.

A Syrian man mourns the death of his father, who was killed during a government attack in Aleppo on October 10.

A rebel fighter is carried by his friends and laid on a gurney to be treated for gunshot wounds sustained during heavy battles with government forces in Aleppo on October 1.

Syrian rebels help a wounded comrade to an Aleppo hospital after he was injured in a Syrian army strike on September 18.

Free Syria Army fighters are reflected in a mirror they use to see a Syrian Army post only 50 meters away in Aleppo on September 16.

A Syrian man carrying grocery bags tries to dodge sniper fire as he runs through an alley near a checkpoint manned by the Free Syria Army in Aleppo on September 14.

A woman walks past a destroyed building in Aleppo on September 13.

Free Syrian Army fighters battle during street fighting against Syrian army soldiers in Aleppo on September 8.

A Syrian man wounded by shelling sits on a chair outside a closed shop in Aleppo on September 4.

A woman sits in her wheelchair next to her house, damaged by a Syrian air raid, near Homs on August 26.

Members of the Free Syrian Army clash with Syrian army soliders in Aleppo’s Saif al-Dawla district on August 22.

A man mourns in front of a field hospital on August 21 in Aleppo.

Wounded civilians wait in a field hospital after an air strike on August 21 in Aleppo.

People pray during the funeral of a Free Syrian Army fighter, Amar Ali Amero, on August 21.

A man cries near the graves of his two children killed during a recent Syrian airstrike in Azaz on August 20.

A Syrian woman holds her dead baby as she screams upon seeing her husband’s body being covered following an airstrike by regime forces on the town of Azaz on August 15.

A Syrian rebel runs in a street of Selehattin during an attack on the municipal building on July 23.

Syrian rebels hunt for snipers after attacking the municipality building in the city center of Selehattin on July 23.

Members of the Free Syrian Army’s Mugaweer (commandos) Brigade pay their respects in a cemetery on May 12 in Qusayr.

Syrian rebels take position near Qusayr on May 10.

A Free Syrian Army member takes cover in underground caves in Sarmin on April 9.

Rebels prepare to engage government tanks that advanced into Saraquib on April 9.

Men say prayers during a ceremony in Binnish on April 9.

A young boy plays with a toy gun in Binnish on April 9.

A Free Syrian Army rebel mounts his horse in the Al-Shatouria village near the Turkish border in northwestern Syria on March 16, a year after the uprising began.

Syrian refugees walk across a field before crossing into Turkey on March 14.

A rebel takes position in Al-Qsair on January 27.

A protester in Homs throws a tear gas bomb back towards security forces, on December 27, 2011.

A man stands under a giant Syrian flag outside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on December 24, 2011.

A member of the Free Syrian Army looks out over a valley in the village of Ain al-Baida on December 15, 2011.

Members of the Free Syrian Army stand in an valley near the village of Ain al-Baida, close to the Turkish border, on December 15, 2011.

Displaced Syrian refugees walk through an orchard adjacent to Syria’s northern border with Turkey on June 14, 2011, near Khirbet al-Jouz.

A Syrian man holds up a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad during a rally to show support for the president in Damascus on April 30, 2011.

Syrians rally to show their support for President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on April 30, 2011.

A screen grab from YouTube shows thick smoke rising above as Syrian anti-government protesters demonstrate in Moaret Al-Noman on April 29, 2011.

A screen grab from YouTube shows Syrian anti-government protesters run for cover from tear gas fired by security forces in Damascus on April 29, 2011, during the “Day of Rage” demonstrations called by activists to put pressure on al-Assad.

Syrians wave their national flag and hold portraits of al-Assad during a rally to show their support for their leader in Damascus on March 29, 2011.

A woman sits by the hospital bed of a man allegedly injured when an armed group seized rooftops in Latakia on March 27, 2011, and opened fire at passers-by, citizens and security forces personnel according to official sources.

Syrian protesters chant slogans in support of al-Assad during a rally in Damascus on March 25, 2011.

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Washington (CNN) — Syria has crossed a “red line” with its use of chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin gas, against rebels, a move that is prompting the United States to increase the “scale and scope” of its support for the opposition, the White House said Thursday.

The acknowledgment is the first time President Barack Obama’s administration has definitively said what it has long suspected — that President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have used chemical weapons in the ongoing civil war.

“The intelligence community estimates that 100 to 150 people have died from detected chemical weapons attacks in Syria to date; however, casualty data is likely incomplete,” Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, said in a statement released by the White House.

“While the lethality of these attacks make up only a small portion of the catastrophic loss of life in Syria, which now stands at more than 90,000 deaths, the use of chemical weapons violates international norms and crosses clear red lines that have existed within the international community for decades,” Rhodes added.

White House: Syria crosses ‘red line’

Wesley Clark: Nothing off table in Syria

McCain: We can’t just do nothing anymore

Syrian army gains ground against rebels

The administration also appeared to indicate that it was stepping up its support of the rebels, who have been calling for the United States and others to provide arms needed to battle al-Assad’s forces.

“Put simply, the Assad regime should know that its actions have led us to increase the scope and scale of assistance that we provide to the opposition, including direct support to the (rebel Supreme Military Council). These efforts will increase going forward,” Rhodes’ statement said.

‘Our own timeline’

Rhodes later told reporters on a conference call that the president has made a decision about military support for the rebels but stopped short of saying the U.S. government would put weapons in the hands of rebels.

The president has previously said he did not foresee a scenario with “American boots on the ground in Syria.”

Rhodes also said no decision has been made by Obama over whether to institute a no-fly zone in Syria, something rebel forces have said is needed to halt al-Assad’s aerial bombardment of their strongholds.

The administration plans to share its findings with Congress and its allies, and it will make a decision about how to proceed “on our own timeline,” Rhodes said.

Syria will be among the chief topics for Obama at the Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland next week, where Rhodes said the president will share the U.S. findings on al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons.

“We’ll be consulting at the G8 and the United Nations about what might be necessary,” Rhodes said.

Syria has long maintained that rebels, not government forces, are behind the use of chemical weapons. It also asked the United Nations to investigate its claims, but it didn’t allow inspectors into the country after the United Nations demanded that its teams be given unrestricted access to the country.

The administration believes that al-Assad’s government maintains control of the chemical weapons and that there is “no reliable, corroborated reporting to indicate that the opposition in Syria has acquired or used chemical weapons,” Rhodes statement said.

Rhodes gave no indication of how many times al-Assad’s forces used chemical weapons, but a U.S. Senate source briefed on the matter said the administration believes Syria used such weapons on at least eight occasions.

Chemical weapons used by Syria?

What is sarin gas, and how does it work?

U.S. says Syria crossed ‘red line’

Syrian teacher turned war photographer

No ‘half measures’

The White House announcement comes at a critical time for the Syrian opposition, which has suffered a series of significant losses in recent weeks.

The setbacks in large part have coincided with the arrival of thousands of Hezbollah Shiite fighters, backed by Lebanon and Iran, to reinforce al-Assad’s forces battling the mainly Sunni uprising.

After months of gaining ground, the rebels this month lost Qusayr — one of its strongholds near the Lebanese border — that was considered essential for its supply route.

U.S. Sen. John McCain, who has repeatedly called on the administration to step up its support of the rebels, said on CNN’s Situation Room that the rebels need anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons.

“They need a lot more military assistance,” McCain, an Arizona Republican, said, adding that the United States and its allies also need to “establish a ‘no-fly’ zone to create a safe area” within Syria.

“You can’t do it with half measures. You can’t do it with just supplying weapons,” he said.

McCain said the options were not ideal and a response will not be easy. But doing nothing, he said, would be catastrophic.

Until now, the United States has limited its aid to rebels, providing communications equipment, medical supplies and food.

What complicates any U.S. military support for the opposition is that many of the rebel fighters are militants with pro-al Qaeda sympathies, the same stripe of militants America has battled in Iraq and Afghanistan.

They include an group called the al-Nusra Front, a rebel group that the United States says has links to al Qaeda.

Earlier this year, the United States said its intelligence analysts had concluded “with varying degrees of confidence” that chemical weapons had been used in the Syrian civil war. But Obama said then that “intelligence assessments alone are not sufficient.”

Syria’s stockpile

As recently as last week, France’s foreign minister said sarin gas had been used several times in the Syrian civil war, citing results from test samples in France’s possession.

In early May, the head of the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said that evidence points to the use of sarin by Syrian rebel forces. But the commission later issued a news release saying it “has not reached conclusive findings as to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict.”

In April, the head of the Israeli military’s intelligence research said the Syrian government is using chemical weapons against rebel forces.

Sarin gas can be hard to detect because it is colorless, odorless and tasteless. It can cause severe injuries, including blurred vision, convulsions, paralysis and death, to those exposed to it.

Analysts believe the Syrian government may have one of the largest stockpiles of chemical weapons in the world. Specifically, the supply is believed to include sarin, mustard and VX gases, which are banned under international law. Syria has denied the allegation.

The Chemical Weapons Convention prohibits the production, stockpiling and use of chemical and biological weapons. Syria is not one of the 188 signatories to the convention.

In recent months, reports have repeatedly surfaced that Syrian forces have moved some of the chemical weapons inventories possibly because of deteriorating security in the country, raising fears the stockpile could fall into the hands of al Qaeda-linked groups working with the opposition should al-Assad’s government fall.

As a result, the United States has been talking with neighboring countries about the steps needed to secure the weapons should al-Assad be forced from office.

The U.N. estimates that more than 92,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in March 2011, when a brutal government crackdown on Arab Spring-inspired protests devolved into an armed conflict.

Barbara Starr and Jessica Yellin reported from Washington, and Chelsea J. Carter reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen, John Crawley and Chandler Friedman contributed to this report.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/13/politics/syria-us-chemical-weapons/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/bdTq2OtM8sU/syria-latest

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Syrian rebels leave their position in the northwestern town of Maaret al-Numan on Thursday, June 13. The White House said on Thursday that the Syrian government has crossed a “red line” with its use of chemical weapons. Tensions in Syria flared in March 2011 during the onset of the Arab Spring, escalating into an ongoing civil war. View the most compelling images taken since the start of the conflict.

Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are seen near Qusayr on Thursday, May 30.

Syrian rebels take position in a house during clashes with regime forces in the old city of Aleppo on May 22.

Syrian army soldiers take control of the village of Western Dumayna north of the rebel-held city of Qusayr on Monday, May 13. Syrian troops captured three villages in Homs province, allowing them to cut supply lines to rebels inside Qusayr town, a military officer told AFP.

Rebel fighters fire at government forces in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, May 12.

Searchers use a flashlight as they look for survivors among the rubble created by what activists say was a missile attack from the Syrian regime, in Raqqa province, Syria, on April 25.

A Kurdish fighter from the “Popular Protection Units” (YPG) takes position inside a building in the majority-Kurdish Sheikh Maqsood area of Aleppo, on Apri. 21.

People walk past destroyed houses in the northern Syrian town of Azaz on Sunday, April 21.

Free Syrian Army fighters take positions prior to an offensive against government forces in the Khan al-Assal area, near Aleppo on Saturday, April 20.

Men inspect damage at a house destroyed in an airstrike in Aleppo on April 15.

Syrian and Kurdish rebel fighters walk in the Sheikh Maqsud district of Aleppo on April 14.

A female rebel monitors the movement of Syrian government forces in Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsud neighborhood on April 11.

A rebel runs to avoid sniper fire from Syrian government forces in Aleppo on Thursday, April 11.

Syrian rebels observe the movement of Syrian government forces around Al-Kendi hospital in Aleppo on Wednesday, April 10.

Rescue teams and security forces check out the scene of a deadly car bomb explosion in Damascus on April 8.

The fighting has taken a toll on buildings in Aleppo’s Saladin district, seen here on April 8.

A Syrian rebel runs for cover in Deir ez-Zor on April 2.

A rebel checks for snipers across the street toward the Citadel in Aleppo, Syria, on Saturday, March 30, in this photo taken by iReporter Lee Harper.

A Free Syrian fighter mourns the death of a friend in Aleppo on March 30, in this photo taken by iReporter Lee Harper.

A Syrian opposition fighter runs for cover from Syrian army snipers in Aleppo on Wednesday, March 27.

A Syrian girl covers her face to protect herself from fumes as a street covered with uncollected garbage is fumigated in Aleppo on Sunday, March 24.

A Syrian man and his family drive past damaged buildings in Maarat al-Numan, on Wednesday, March 20.

Syrians carry the body of a Syrian army soldier during a funeral ceremony in Idlib province on Tuesday, March 19.

Syrian rebels take position in Aleppo, the largest city in the country, on March 11.

Syrian men search for their relatives amongst the bodies of civilians executed and dumped in the Quweiq River on March 11.

A Free Syrian Army fighter looks back as smoke rises during fighting between rebel fighters and forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad on the outskirts of Aleppo on Saturday, March 2.

Residents read Shaam News newspapers published by the Free Syrian Army in Aleppo on March 2.

A member of the Free Syrian Army reacts to the death of a comrade who was killed in fighting, at Bustan al Qasr cemetery in Aleppo on Friday, March 1.

A rebel fighter throws a home-made grenade at Syrian government forces in Aleppo on February 16.

A member of the Free Syrian Army stands with his weapon as he looks at a rainbow in Aleppo on February 16.

A Syrian woman looks through a bus window in Aleppo on February 14.

Free Syrian Army fighters walk through a dust-filled stairwell in Damascus on February 7.

A Syrian rebel gestures at comrades from inside a broken armored personnel carrier in Al-Yaqubia on February 6.

A rebel fighter throws a hand grenade inside a Syrian Army base in Damascus on February 3.

People stand in the dust of a building destroyed in an airstrike in Aleppo, Syria on February 3.

Free Syrian Army fighters run as they enter a Syrian Army base during heavy fighting in the Arabeen neighborhood of Damascus on February 3.

An unexploded mortar shell fired by the Syrian Army sits lodged in the ground in Damascus on January 25.

Fighters from Fateh al Sham unit of the Free Syrian Army fire on Syrian Army soldiers at a check point in Damascus on January 20.

A Free Syrian Army fighter walks between buildings damaged during Syrian Air Force strikes in Damascus on January 19.

A Syrian rebel fighter tries to locate a government jet fighter in Aleppo on January 18.

Syrian rebels launch a missile near the Abu Baker brigade in Albab on January 16.

A Syrian boy walks near rubbish next to tents at a refugee camp near the northern city of Azaz on the Syria-Turkey border, on January 8.

Syrians look for survivors amid the rubble of a building targeted by a missile in Aleppo on January 7.

A father reacts after hearing of a shelling by forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in Aleppo on January 3.

A patient smokes a cigarette at Dar Al-Ajaza psychiatric hospital in Aleppo on December 18, 2012. The psychiatric ward, housing around 60 patients, has lacked the means to function properly since fighting broke out there in July.

Syrians mourn a fallen rebel fighter at a rebel base in the al-Fardos area of Aleppo on December 8.

Members of Liwa (Brigade) Salahadin, a Kurdish military unit fighting alongside rebel fighters, monitor the area in the besieged district of Karmel al-Jabl in Aleppo on December 6.

A member of Liwa Salahadin aims at a regime fighter in the besieged district of Karmel al-Jabl in Aleppo on December 6.

Two young boys sit underneath a washline in a refugee camp on the border between Syria and Turkey near Azaz on December 5.

The bodies of three children, who were allegedly killed in a mortar shell attack that landed close to a bakery in Aleppo, on December 2, are laid out for identification by family members at a makeshift hospital at an undisclosed location of the city.

Smoke rises in the Hanano and Bustan al-Basha districts in Aleppo on December 1 as fighting continues through the night.

Damaged houses in Aleppo are seen after an airstrike on November 29.

A Syrian rebel mourns the death of a comrade in Maraat al-Numan on November 20.

Syrians protesters stand on Assad’s portrait during an anti-regime demonstration in Aleppo on November 16.

A Syrian rebel takes cover during fighting against Syrian government forces in Aleppo on November 15.

Syrian opposition fighter Bazel Araj, 19, sleeps next to his pistol in Aleppo on November 11.

A rebel fighter fires at a Syrian government position in Aleppo on November 6.

A Syrian rebel leaps over debris left in the street while running across a “sniper alley” near the Salahudeen district in Aleppo on November 4.

Rebels hold their position in the midst of a battle on November 3 in Aleppo.

A man cries while being treated in a local hospital in a rebel-controlled area of Aleppo on October 31.

A man is treated for wounds after a government jet attacked the Karm al-Aser neighborhood in eastern Aleppo on October 31.

A Syrian rebel interrogates a handcuffed and blindfolded man suspected of being a pro-regime militiaman in Aleppo on October 26.

Smoke rises from a fuel station following a mortar attack as Syrian women walk on a rainy day in the Arqub neighborhood of Aleppo on October 25.

A Syrian rebel fires at an army position in the Karm al-Jabal district of Aleppo on October 22.

A wounded Syrian boy sits on the back of a truck carrying victims and wounded people to a hospital following an attack by regime forces in Aleppo on October 21.

A man lies on the ground after being shot by a sniper for a second time as he waits to be rescued by members of the Al-Baraa Bin Malek Battalion, part of the Free Syria Army’s Al-Fatah brigade, in Aleppo on October 20.

Syrian army soldiers run for cover during clashes with rebel fighters at Karam al-Jabal neighborhood of Aleppo on October 20.

Smoke rises after a Syrian Air Force fighter jet fired missiles at the suburbs of the northern province of Idlib on October 16.

A Syrian opposition fighter stands near a post in Aleppo on October 11.

A Syrian man mourns the death of his father, who was killed during a government attack in Aleppo on October 10.

A rebel fighter is carried by his friends and laid on a gurney to be treated for gunshot wounds sustained during heavy battles with government forces in Aleppo on October 1.

Syrian rebels help a wounded comrade to an Aleppo hospital after he was injured in a Syrian army strike on September 18.

Free Syria Army fighters are reflected in a mirror they use to see a Syrian Army post only 50 meters away in Aleppo on September 16.

A Syrian man carrying grocery bags tries to dodge sniper fire as he runs through an alley near a checkpoint manned by the Free Syria Army in Aleppo on September 14.

A woman walks past a destroyed building in Aleppo on September 13.

Free Syrian Army fighters battle during street fighting against Syrian army soldiers in Aleppo on September 8.

A Syrian man wounded by shelling sits on a chair outside a closed shop in Aleppo on September 4.

A woman sits in her wheelchair next to her house, damaged by a Syrian air raid, near Homs on August 26.

Members of the Free Syrian Army clash with Syrian army soliders in Aleppo’s Saif al-Dawla district on August 22.

A man mourns in front of a field hospital on August 21 in Aleppo.

Wounded civilians wait in a field hospital after an air strike on August 21 in Aleppo.

People pray during the funeral of a Free Syrian Army fighter, Amar Ali Amero, on August 21.

A man cries near the graves of his two children killed during a recent Syrian airstrike in Azaz on August 20.

A Syrian woman holds her dead baby as she screams upon seeing her husband’s body being covered following an airstrike by regime forces on the town of Azaz on August 15.

A Syrian rebel runs in a street of Selehattin during an attack on the municipal building on July 23.

Syrian rebels hunt for snipers after attacking the municipality building in the city center of Selehattin on July 23.

Members of the Free Syrian Army’s Mugaweer (commandos) Brigade pay their respects in a cemetery on May 12 in Qusayr.

Syrian rebels take position near Qusayr on May 10.

A Free Syrian Army member takes cover in underground caves in Sarmin on April 9.

Rebels prepare to engage government tanks that advanced into Saraquib on April 9.

Men say prayers during a ceremony in Binnish on April 9.

A young boy plays with a toy gun in Binnish on April 9.

A Free Syrian Army rebel mounts his horse in the Al-Shatouria village near the Turkish border in northwestern Syria on March 16, a year after the uprising began.

Syrian refugees walk across a field before crossing into Turkey on March 14.

A rebel takes position in Al-Qsair on January 27.

A protester in Homs throws a tear gas bomb back towards security forces, on December 27, 2011.

A man stands under a giant Syrian flag outside the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus on December 24, 2011.

A member of the Free Syrian Army looks out over a valley in the village of Ain al-Baida on December 15, 2011.

Members of the Free Syrian Army stand in an valley near the village of Ain al-Baida, close to the Turkish border, on December 15, 2011.

Displaced Syrian refugees walk through an orchard adjacent to Syria’s northern border with Turkey on June 14, 2011, near Khirbet al-Jouz.

A Syrian man holds up a portrait of President Bashar al-Assad during a rally to show support for the president in Damascus on April 30, 2011.

Syrians rally to show their support for President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on April 30, 2011.

A screen grab from YouTube shows thick smoke rising above as Syrian anti-government protesters demonstrate in Moaret Al-Noman on April 29, 2011.

A screen grab from YouTube shows Syrian anti-government protesters run for cover from tear gas fired by security forces in Damascus on April 29, 2011, during the “Day of Rage” demonstrations called by activists to put pressure on al-Assad.

Syrians wave their national flag and hold portraits of al-Assad during a rally to show their support for their leader in Damascus on March 29, 2011.

A woman sits by the hospital bed of a man allegedly injured when an armed group seized rooftops in Latakia on March 27, 2011, and opened fire at passers-by, citizens and security forces personnel according to official sources.

Syrian protesters chant slogans in support of al-Assad during a rally in Damascus on March 25, 2011.

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Washington (CNN) — Syria has crossed a “red line” with its use of chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin gas, against rebels, a move that is prompting the United States to increase the “scale and scope” of its support for the opposition, the White House said Thursday.

The acknowledgment is the first time President Barack Obama’s administration has definitively said what it has long suspected — that President Bashar al-Assad’s forces have used chemical weapons in the ongoing civil war.

“The intelligence community estimates that 100 to 150 people have died from detected chemical weapons attacks in Syria to date; however, casualty data is likely incomplete,” Ben Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, said in a statement released by the White House.

“While the lethality of these attacks make up only a small portion of the catastrophic loss of life in Syria, which now stands at more than 90,000 deaths, the use of chemical weapons violates international norms and crosses clear red lines that have existed within the international community for decades,” Rhodes added.

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The administration also appeared to indicate that it was stepping up its support of the rebels, who have been calling for the United States and others to provide arms needed to battle al-Assad’s forces.

“Put simply, the Assad regime should know that its actions have led us to increase the scope and scale of assistance that we provide to the opposition, including direct support to the (rebel Supreme Military Council). These efforts will increase going forward,” Rhodes’ statement said.

‘Our own timeline’

Rhodes later told reporters on a conference call that the president has made a decision about military support for the rebels but stopped short of saying the U.S. government would put weapons in the hands of rebels.

The president has previously said he did not foresee a scenario with “American boots on the ground in Syria.”

Rhodes also said no decision has been made by Obama over whether to institute a no-fly zone in Syria, something rebel forces have said is needed to halt al-Assad’s aerial bombardment of their strongholds.

The administration plans to share its findings with Congress and its allies, and it will make a decision about how to proceed “on our own timeline,” Rhodes said.

Syria will be among the chief topics for Obama at the Group of Eight summit in Northern Ireland next week, where Rhodes said the president will share the U.S. findings on al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons.

“We’ll be consulting at the G8 and the United Nations about what might be necessary,” Rhodes said.

Syria has long maintained that rebels, not government forces, are behind the use of chemical weapons. It also went to the United Nations with its claims, but al-Assad would not allow U.N. inspectors into the country to try to verify the claims.

The administration believes that al-Assad’s government maintains control of the chemical weapons and that there is “no reliable, corroborated reporting to indicate that the opposition in Syria has acquired or used chemical weapons,” Rhodes statement said.

Rhodes gave no indication of how many times al-Assad’s forces used chemical weapons, but a U.S. Senate source briefed on the matter said the administration believes Syria used such weapons on at least eight occasions.

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No ‘half measures’

The White House announcement comes at a critical time for the Syrian opposition, which has suffered a series of significant losses in recent weeks.

The setbacks in large part have coincided with the arrival of thousands of Hezbollah Shiite fighters, backed by Lebanon and Iran, to reinforce al-Assad’s forces battling the mainly Sunni uprising.

After months of gaining ground, the rebels this month lost Qusayr — one of its strongholds near the Lebanese border — that was considered essential for its supply route.

U.S. Sen. John McCain, who has repeatedly called on the administration to step up its support of the rebels, said on CNN’s Situation Room that the rebels need anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons.

“They need a lot more military assistance,” McCain, an Arizona Republican, said, adding that the United States and its allies also need to “establish a ‘no-fly’ zone to create a safe area” within Syria.

“You can’t do it with half measures. You can’t do it with just supplying weapons,” he said.

McCain said the options were not ideal and a response will not be easy. But doing nothing, he said, would be catastrophic.

Until now, the United States has limited its aid to rebels, providing communications equipment, medical supplies and food.

What complicates any U.S. military support for the opposition is that many of the rebel fighters are militants with pro-al Qaeda sympathies, the same stripe of militants America has battled in Iraq and Afghanistan.

They include an group called the al-Nusra Front, a rebel group that the United States says has links to al Qaeda.

Earlier this year, the United States said its intelligence analysts had concluded “with varying degrees of confidence” that chemical weapons had been used in the Syrian civil war. But Obama said then that “intelligence assessments alone are not sufficient.”

Syria’s stockpile

As recently as last week, France’s foreign minister said sarin gas had been used several times in the Syrian civil war, citing results from test samples in France’s possession.

In early May, the head of the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said that evidence points to the use of sarin by Syrian rebel forces. But the commission later issued a news release saying it “has not reached conclusive findings as to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict.”

In April, the head of the Israeli military’s intelligence research said the Syrian government is using chemical weapons against rebel forces.

Sarin gas can be hard to detect because it is colorless, odorless and tasteless. It can cause severe injuries, including blurred vision, convulsions, paralysis and death, to those exposed to it.

Analysts believe the Syrian government may have one of the largest stockpiles of chemical weapons in the world. Specifically, the supply is believed to include sarin, mustard and VX gases, which are banned under international law. Syria has denied the allegation.

The Chemical Weapons Convention prohibits the production, stockpiling and use of chemical and biological weapons. Syria is not one of the 188 signatories to the convention.

In recent months, reports have repeatedly surfaced that Syrian forces have moved some of the chemical weapons inventories possibly because of deteriorating security in the country, raising fears the stockpile could fall into the hands of al Qaeda-linked groups working with the opposition should al-Assad’s government fall.

As a result, the United States has been talking with neighboring countries about the steps needed to secure the weapons should al-Assad be forced from office.

The U.N. estimates that more than 92,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in March 2011, when a brutal government crackdown on Arab Spring-inspired protests devolved into an armed conflict.

Barbara Starr and Jessica Yellin reported from Washington, and Chelsea J. Carter reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN’s Frederik Pleitgen, John Crawley and Chandler Friedman contributed to this report.

Article source: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/13/politics/syria-us-chemical-weapons/index.html?eref=edition

Article source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NewsRipplesWeb/~3/VLpF_bwNIbQ/u-s-syria-has-crossed-red-line