Pentagon Fears Weapon Proliferation in Syria

Mass of small arms floating around the Middle East is making some nervous

The Pentagon insists that it's not arming the Syrian rebels, merely helping out with the U.S. policy of providing humanitarian aid. But the weapons pipeline that Persian Gulf states have opened to the rebels, with U.S. assistance, could end up flooding the volatile Mideast with small arms, the Pentagon fears.

"We have broad-based concerns about the conflict in Syria, period," said George Little, the Pentagon's chief spokesman, during a Monday briefing. "We have concerns about weapons proliferation inside Syria and yes, we do have concerns that some of those weapons could fall into the wrong hands."