The  Arab League which united and petioned successfully last year against  Mohammar Qhadaffi in Libya is once more uniting. The Arab League has  voted to open up ties and actively support the Syrian opposition in its  fight for freedom.

The  Arab League is calling on the Syrian opposition to consolidate in a way  that it can seen as the new government for Syria. Members are urging  their varied governments to give diplomatic recognition to the  opposition as the legitimate government of the war-torn nation.

At  the same time Al Qaeda leaders are urging the Syrian opposition to not  rely on the Arab League or the West, but to cast its lot with Al Qaeda  to protect and defend them. Al Qaeda is also appealing to adherents in  Arab League nations to come fight beside them for the Syrian people.

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri urged Syrians not to rely on the West or Arab governments in their uprising.

"You  know better what they are planning against you. Our people in Syria,  don't depend on the Arab League and its corrupt governments supporting  it," Zawahri said in a video recording posted on the Internet. He  described Assad as a butcher and urged Muslims in Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon  and Jordan to come to the aid of the rebels.

Last  week the United Nations Security Council failed to pass a resolution  calling on Basshar al-Assad to step down and make way for a new  government. The failure came as both Russia and China wielded their veto  power. The Arab League will be back this week asking for an United  Nations Peacekeeping force to join with the Arab League in stopping the  violence and protecting civilians and those who have been wounded. It  has not been made clear if military action will be requested.

The  Arab League threw its support on Sunday firmly behind the opposition  mounting an uprising against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, and  called for the U.N. Security Council to send peacekeepers to halt  bloodshed.

A resolution approved by Arab League ministers meeting  in Cairo called for "opening communication channels with the Syrian  opposition and providing all forms of political and material support to  it." It also urged the Syrian opposition to unite.

The resolution  solidifies Assad's ostracism among his Arab neighbors and will add to  diplomatic pressure on Russia and China, which vetoed U.N. action on  Syria on February 4, to lift their objections and allow the world body  to act.

It said violence against civilians in Syria had violated  international law and that perpetrators deserved punishment. It scrapped  an Arab League monitoring mission.

Syrian television quoted its  ambassador to the League as calling its decision "a flagrant departure  from the group's charter and a hostile act that targets Syria's security  and stability."

"This decision reflects the state of hysteria  and blundering that the governments of some Arab countries are living  in, particularly Qatar and Saudi Arabia after their latest failure at  the U.N. Security Council to get foreign intervention in Syria."

Earlier  on Sunday, Tunisia said it would host the first meeting on February 24  of a "Friends of Syria" contact group made up of Arab and other states  and backed by the West. A similar Libya contact group played a vital  role in coordinating Western and Arab aid to that country's rebels last  year.

"The Syrian people deserve freedom as much as their  brothers in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and other Arab states that witnessed  major political change," Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Ben Abdessalem  told the ministers.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said:  "How long will we stay as onlookers to what is happening to the  brotherly Syrian people, and how much longer will we grant the Syrian  regime one period after another so it can commit more massacres against  its people?"

"At our meeting today I call for decisive measures,  after the failure of the half-solutions," he said. "The Arab League  should...open all channels of communication with the Syrian opposition  and give all forms of support to it."

Most  in the US appear to support the opposition. The Administration of  President Barack Obama has called for al-Assad to step aside.

While  Americans are supportive, most have indicated that the situation is  best handled by the nations in the region of which the Arab League  consists. The Arab League is stepping up to the plate.

From  the Cornfield, I do believe the US must back the Arab League  completely. The Arab states are standing up and making their voices  heard.

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