The article on Qatar supporting extremists covers much more than Syria and probably should be posted under threads also, but the purpose of putting it here to contrast the two articles and perhaps show some hypocrisy. I know, shocking.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/08/wo...ref=world&_r=1

Qatar’s Support of Islamists Alienates Allies Near and Far

In many cases, several analysts said, Qatar has sought to balance a wager on the future of political Islam as a force in the region with a simultaneous desire not to alienate the West. It has turned a blind eye to private fund-raising for Qaeda-linked groups to buy weapons in Syria, for example, but it has not provided direct government funding or weapons. At times, Mr. Stephens and other analysts said, Western pressure has moved Qatar to at least partly suppress some of the overt fund-raising.
“All the gulf intelligence agencies are competing in Syria and everyone is trying to get the lion’s share of the Syrian revolution,” Sheikh Shafi al-Ajmi, also recently identified by the United States as a fund-raiser for Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, said in an interview on the Saudi-owned Rotana television network last summer.
So much for claims the rebels aren't getting external support.

http://www.latimes.com/world/middlee...ry.html#page=1

Syria rebels, once hopeful of U.S. weapons, lament lack of firepower

Congress has yet to approve a $500-million arms and training program proposed by Obama in June, and the rebels — Western-backed as well as other groups — continue to mostly rely on outdated spoils of war seized from the Syrian army in their fight against the government of President Bashar Assad.
If they're getting support from several other countries how much of our own treasure should be spend?

One concern on the part of the Obama administration is that the Syrian rebels could lose advanced Western-made weaponry to Islamist extremists.

Those concerns have intensified since July, when a Malaysian airliner was shot down over war-racked eastern Ukraine, most likely by a pro-Russia separatist who had come into possession of a sophisticated antiaircraft missile. Nearly 300 people died.

Another issue is that the reliability of Syrian rebel groups allied with the West is sometimes not clear-cut, particularly when the groups must frequently make compromises with groups blacklisted as terrorists by the U.S. to remain viable.
"They said they want to give us [antiaircraft] Stingers but they need to trust us first," Abu Matar said.

Abu Matar, who like Zeidan was trained in Qatar by Americans, said he had already spent more than two years fighting, and didn't learn anything new.
The great game continues.