WASHINGTON - Pentagon leaders told Congress on Thursday that they had supported a recommendation to arm Syrian rebels promoted by the State Department and CIA but which was reportedly rebuffed by the White House.

President Barack Obama’s government has limited its support to non-lethal aid for the rebels who, despite receiving weapons from countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia, are poorly armed compared to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s army. 

Senator John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, has championed greater U.S. involvement and chided the Obama administration at a hearing, asking Pentagon leaders: “How many more have to die before you recommend military action?”

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, also confirmed that they backed the recommendation by the State Department and CIA chiefs last year to arm the rebels.

The comments were the first public acknowledgment of Pentagon support since a  Feb. 2 New York Times report about the plans was published.

The Times said that the plan to arm and train rebels was rebuffed over concerns that it could draw the United States into the conflict and that arms could fall into the wrong hands.

Damascus fighting continues 

Meanwhile, explosions rocked the Syrian capital Damascus on Wednesday as armed skirmishes broke out throughout the city. 

The Islamist al-Nusra Front had declared operation “Just Punishment,” the aim of which was to enter into the heart of Damascus, according to Al-Akhbar. They were joined by rebels as well as social media sites buzzed with chatter about the “Great Battle for Damascus” and the “Great Confrontation.”

Syrian government jets bombarded the ring road on Thursday in a bid to halt a rebel advance which threatens President Bashar al-Assad’s hold on the capital, insurgent commanders and opposition activists said according to Reuters. 

Warplanes fired rockets at southern parts of the route where rebels have spent the past 36 hours overrunning army positions and road blocks encircling the heart of the city, the site of key state security and intelligence installations.

The army has so far kept rebels away from the center of Damascus, however. 

Islamic summit urges Syria transaction dialogue 

Also on Thursday, leaders of Muslim-majority nations called for a “serious dialogue” between Syria’s government and an opposition coalition on a political transition to end nearly two years of civil war, but pinned most of the blame for the bloodshed on the state.

The two-day summit of the 57-member Organization of Islamic cooperation backed an initiative by Egypt, Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia to broke negotiations to stop the fighting, during which 60,000 people have died. 

-Reuters, Al-Akhbar, TAAN