Some more investigative journalism from the NYTimes that is sure to cause a political scandal in DC. U.S.-Approved Arms for Libya Rebels Fell Into Jihadis’ Hands is not necessarily filled with ground breaking revelations but that this info is out in the open is still quite crucial. On the face of it, there is no great surprise that the Qataris distributed arms to all takers and that they may have favoured radical Islamist groups. That we knew before hand. But what is new is the direct confirmation that American officials blessed these arms shipments and then later raised doubts and objections. That looks bad given subsequent developments.
The Obama administration secretly gave its blessing to arms shipments to Libyan rebels from Qatar last year, but American officials later grew alarmed as evidence grew that Qatar was turning some of the weapons over to Islamic militants, according to United States officials and foreign diplomats.But in the months before, the Obama administration clearly was worried about the consequences of its hidden hand in helping arm Libyan militants, concerns that have not previously been reported. The weapons and money from Qatar strengthened militant groups in Libya, allowing them to become a destabilizing force since the fall of the Qaddafi government.He said that Qatar would not have gone through with the arms shipments if the United States had resisted them, but other current and former administration officials said Washington had little leverage at times over Qatari officials. “They march to their own drummer,” said a former senior State Department official. The White House and State Department declined to comment.In March 2011, just as the Libyan civil war was intensifying, Mr. Turi realized that Libya could be a lucrative new market, and applied to the State Department for a license to provide weapons to the rebels there, according to e-mails and other documents he has provided. (American citizens are required to obtain United States approval for any international arms sales.)