Incoming US Secretary of State John Kerry, on his first foreign
trip, set forth what sounded like a new Obama administration
policy for Syria in his remarks in Paris Wednesday, Feb. 27.
They were accompanied by reports that the US was stepping up its
support for the Syrian opposition. It would cover training
rebels at a base in the region and non-lethal assistances and
equipment, such as vehicles, communications equipment and night
vision gear.  But Kerry’s remarks did not reflect a new policy
but merely recycled old definitions which confirmed US
disengagement from Syria, rather than “stepping up support” for
the Syrian opposition “for the first time.” US supplies of
nonlethal assistance to Syrian rebels date back to early last
year. The US has moreover been training Syrian rebels in
Jordanian bases near the Syrian border for more than a year to
carry out three missions:  1. To seize control of Bashar Assad’s
chemical weapons arsenal;  2. To create a pro-Western core
command structure as a factor in post-Ass