CIA begins weapons delivery to Syrian rebels - The Washington Post

Even as Russian officials are working with Assad to eliminate Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons, the US is overtly delivering arms to insurgents in that country, according to this article in the Washington Post:

The CIA has begun delivering weapons to rebels in Syria, ending months of delay in lethal aid that had been promised by the Obama administration, according to U.S. officials and Syrian figures. The shipments began streaming into the country over the past two weeks, along with separate deliveries by the State Department of vehicles and other gear — a flow of material that marks a major escalation of the U.S. role in Syria’s civil war.

The arms shipments, which are limited to light weapons and other munitions that can be tracked, began arriving in Syria at a moment of heightened tensions over threats by President Obama to order missile strikes to punish the regime of Bashar al-Assad for his alleged use of chemical weapons in a deadly attack near Damascus last month
Not everyone in America agrees with this policy, however. Congressman Dennis Kucinich has been outspoken against supplying the rebels with arms, which may fall into the hands of jihadists, despite reassurances from the Obama administration that the weapons can be "tracked."

kucinich.bluestatedigital.com | TELL CONGRESS: STAND FOR AMERICA - VOTE NO TO ANY ATTACK ON SYRIA

A Pew Research Center poll also reveals that 70% of Americans oppose arming the insurgency, according to another Washington Post article:

Americans clearly against arming Syrian rebels, even after ‘red line’ crossed, polls show

The United States is moving to arm Syrian rebels following White House confirmation that the Syrian government used chemical weapons on its own people, but the American people aren't on-board, according to new polls.

A new Pew Research Center poll shows 70 percent of Americans oppose sending arms to the opposition groups, while a new Gallup poll shows 54 percent oppose the Obama administration's decision, compared to 37 percent who support it.

Opposition in the Pew poll is actually higher than ever before in the two-year-old civil war. And that's even as much of the poll was conducted after the White House announced Thursday that the Syrian government had crossed the "red line" and used chemical weapons.

But while the red line was significant to the White House, it doesn't seem to have altered the perceptions of the American people.