Syria Internet Shutdown Can Be Bypassed By Rebels Says US
Washington, DC – The Syria internet shutdown cay be bypassed by the Syrian government rebel opposition according to the United States State Department. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the Syria internet access shutdown, including some cell phone services and land lines, was allegedly enacted by the Assad government during a potential military operations blackout.
As these Syrian rebels battle forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad just outside Damascus it is now claimed the Syria internet blackout was not caused by the Assad government. Syria’s information minister told state television that “terrorists targeted the Internet lines.”
According to Reuters, the United States State Department said Syrian contacts had informed it that Syria’s Internet had been disrupted primarily in Damascus, Hama, Homs and other parts of Syria. But the Obama administration has been supporting the people of Syria by providing them with technology that should allow them to circumvent the Syria internet shutdown.
“We condemn this latest assault on the Syrian people’s ability to express themselves and communicate with each other,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told a news briefing. “It again speaks to the desperation of the [Assad] regime as it tries to cling to power.”
The United States support of the rebels can be likened to the support offered in Egypt during the so-called “Arab Spring” that saw the rise of Egyptian President Mohamed “Pharaoh” Mursi. Mursi came to power through the Muslim Brotherhood, which has ties to Muslim terrorists groups and supported Hamas during the recent conflict in Israel’s Gaza strip.
Unfortunately, some fear the Syrian rebel opposition might hold similar allegiances based upon the tactics and suicide bombings in Damascus. It’s even rumored that members of al-Qaeda might be helping the rebels, although others claim al-Qaeda supports Assad. The leader of the Syrian rebels, Mustafa al-Sheikh, said earlier this month that divisions among factions within the Syrian rebel opposition might cause them to “turn into terrorists.”
“If there’s no quick decision to support us, we will all turn into terrorists,” Mustafa al-Sheikh said. “If you apply the pressure that’s been applied to Syria, it will explode in all directions. Terrorism will grow quickly.”
U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford said that the United States is focused on providing “non-lethal aid” for the Syrian opposition, which should “help the Syrian people tell the world what is going on inside Syria.”
“We’ve provided some 2,000 communications kits, pieces of equipment, since this effort began,” Nuland said, saying the equipment included computers, phones and cameras. “They are all designed to be independent from and able to circumvent the Syrian domestic network precisely for the reason of keeping them safe, keeping them secure from regime tampering, from regime listening, from regime interruption.”
The Syria internet and communications blackout prevents the world from truly knowing what is going on in Syria. What do you think about the United States providing non-lethal aid to the Syrian rebels?
