On June 19, the House took an important step by prohibiting the transfer of MANPADS (shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles) to actors in Syria. [1] House passage of the bipartisan Conyers-Yoho-Welch-Amash-Grayson-DesJarlais-Nolan amendment showed that Members of the House understood that these are particularly dangerous weapons due to the possibility that they could be used by terrorists against civilian planes in Israel and elsewhere. [2] [3] [4]
Recent events in Iraq have shown that there is no border separating Sunni insurgents fighting the government of Syria from Sunni insurgents fighting the government of Iraq, nor any boundary between different groups of Sunni insurgents.
Members of the Senate Defense Appropriations Subcommittee are in a unique position to advance this legislation. They could virtually ensure that the House provision becomes law by including it in the Senate’s Defense Appropriation.
References:
1. House Votes to Ban Some, but Not All, Weapons for Syrian Rebels
http://blogs.rollcall.com/five-by-five/house-votes-to-ban-some-but-not-all-weapons-for-syrian-rebels/
2. 19 Reps say NO to MANPADS in Syria
http://fcnl.org/issues/middle_east/19_reps_syria_manpads/
3. JFP stmt: House bars transfer of MANPADS to Syria
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/node/1527
4. 14,000 at MoveOn - Congress: Back Welch-Jones-Mulvaney-Conyers Against Syria Manpads
http://www.justforeignpolicy.org/act/Welch-Syria-no-manpads
Just Foreign Policy