U.S. SENDING MORE HUMANITARIAN AID TO SYRIAN REFUGEES.

Map:  Turkey.  Credit:  U.S. CIA
FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
08/11/2012 09:15 AM EDT
Additional Humanitarian Assistance for Those Fleeing the Violence in Syria

Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
August 11, 2012
The United States is pursuing every available avenue, including focused diplomatic efforts, to secure full and unfettered access for humanitarian organizations to reach, and provide humanitarian assistance to the innocent children, women, and men caught in the middle of the ongoing Syrian conflict. Today in Istanbul, Secretary Clinton announced the United States is providing an additional $5.5 million in humanitarian assistance bringing the total U.S. contribution for this crisis to nearly $82 million. This latest tranche of U.S. assistance is targeted toward communities who have sought refuge in Turkey.

The Government of Turkey, in coordination with the Turkish Red Crescent, provides humanitarian assistance including shelter, food, and access to health and education services to Syrians in eleven camps in four provinces along the Turkey-Syria border. This additional U.S. funding will assist in providing lifesaving assistance to the more than 50,000 people who fled to camps in Turkey to escape the violence of the Syrian regime. This additional U.S. funding, through UNHCR and IOM, will assist in protecting the fundamental well-being of the most vulnerable people, through the provision of tents, blankets, kitchen sets, and other critical relief supplies. This funding will support increased access to basic health care, mobile health clinics, and psychosocial support services to help Syrians in camps cope with the trauma of witnessing brutal conflict and leaving family, friends, homes, and livelihoods behind.

In total, for humanitarian activities both inside Syria and in neighboring countries, the United States is providing:

$27.5 million to the World Food Program (WFP);
$23.1 million to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR);
$15.1 million to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs);
$8 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC);
$3 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA);
$2.75 million to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF);
$1 million to the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC);
$500,000 to the International Organization for Migration (IOM);
$500,000 to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs; and
$300,000 to the UN Department of Safety and Security for support of humanitarian operations

We recognize the generosity of the Governments of Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Iraq, who have kept their borders open and are hosting and providing assistance to those fleeing the violence in Syria. We commend the efforts of the United Nations and other international organizations and nongovernmental organizations to ease the trauma that the conflict in Syria has inflicted on those fleeing the violence.

While the first hope of those fleeing violence is to be able to return to their homes and help build a democratic Syria, this may not be an option for some time to come. For that reason, the United States is working with our counterparts to plan for the future needs of those Syrians seeking safety in neighboring countries.

PENTAGON SAYS IRAN IS HELPING SYRIA AND AL-QAIDA HAS PRESENCE

Photo Credit:  U.S. Department of Defense  

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

Pentagon: In Syria, Iran Helps Asad, al-Qaida Foments Violence

By Cheryl Pellerin

WASHINGTON, May 31, 2012 - In Syria, where Bashar al-Asad's government continues to massacre its population, Iran is supporting the regime and members of al-Qaida are in the country for their own purposes, Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. John Kirby told reporters today.

"We remain deeply troubled and concerned by the ongoing violence in Syria and by the horrific acts of the Asad regime against its own people," Kirby told reporters at a Pentagon press briefing.

"And we certainly have seen reports and have reason to believe that Iran continues to assist the Asad regime in committing these acts of atrocities against the Syrian people," he added.

Other nations share that concern, the Pentagon spokesman said, and some are providing lethal assistance to opponents of the Syrian regime.

Kirby said defense officials have seen but cannot confirm reports that the Iranians are using commercial airliners to move arms into Syria.

"The larger issue here is that the Iranian regime, Tehran, continues to support, in tangible and intangible ways, the Asad regime," he added, "and that needs to stop."

At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney said the administration has been focused on the need to bring about a political transition in Syria sooner rather than later.

"The longer that Asad and his thugs are allowed to brutally murder the Syrian people, the more likely it becomes a sectarian civil war; the more likely that it spills over Syrian borders; the more likely that it transforms into a proxy war with different players," Carney said, "including ... Iran, which is already engaging in malignant behavior with regards to the Syrian situation, stepping up that kind of activity and not being alone in doing that."

What's happening in Syria, he added, "only underscores the urgent need to take action to prevent further devolution of the situation there, take action to support the process of political transition, to isolate and pressure Asad into taking himself out of power so that that transition can proceed."

At the Pentagon, Kirby said defense officials believe "al-Qaida has some presence inside Syria and interest in fomenting violence in Syria."

He added, "We do not believe they share the goals of the Syrian opposition or that they are even embraced by the opposition ... The sense that we get is that it is primarily members of [al-Qaida in Iraq] that are migrating into Syria."

Syria drew renewed world attention following a massacre May 25 of more than 100 people north of the city of Homs which international observers largely blamed on forces linked to the government.

U.S. policy on Syria is to work with international partners to put diplomatic and economic pressure on Damascus to help stem the humanitarian crisis.

The Defense Department supports the administration's position, Kirby said, while providing options to the nation's leaders for other potential responses.

"That's what we do and we would be irresponsible if we weren't thinking about options, whether or not they're called for, he said"

The military can be valuable in any number of scenarios, not all of which involve combat, Kirby added.

"The point is we're doing the prudent thing that we're supposed to do, which is to think through options. But we've not been called to present any," the Pentagon spokesman said.

"These are decisions that only the policymakers can make," Kirby said. "And again, we're supporting the commander in chief's intent, which is to keep the pressure on [the Asad regime] diplomatically and economically."