U.S. Commitment And Promises To Build Up An Effective Syrian Rebel Army Has Failed Miserably

Hosam Katan/Reuters

Jamie Dettmer, Daily Beast: Unreliable Syrian Recruits for an Unworkable Obama Army to Fight ISIS

Only a handful of volunteers signed up for the training program, and many of them quit for Ramadan.

ISTANBUL — An “update on our strategy to degrade and destroy” the Islamic State is how the White House has been promoting President Barack Obama’s remarks Monday at the Pentagon. The president talked about a “systematic campaign of airstrikes” against the extremists and of increasing support to forces fighting the militants in Iraq, but when it came to Syria Obama only fleetingly mentioned the administration’s once-vaunted “train and equip” program for moderate rebels.

Specifically, POTUS said, “I have made it clear to my team that we will do more to train and equip the moderate opposition in Syria.”

Well, here on the ground in Turkey that sounds like an empty promise for an almost empty program. More than half a year after “train and equip” was announced as the means to get friendly non-American boots on the ground to fight the Islamic State extremists, widely known as ISIS or ISIL, we’re not talking battalions or brigades, we’re barely talking companies and platoons.

WNU Editor: I know that if the White House wanted to .... a large and effective Syrian rebel organization could be built up very quickly .... and with U.S. air power in the background .... be a very effective military force in countering any opposition in Syria. But there is no political will in Washington to get involved in another Middle Eastern war .... and definitely not in Syria. So make speeches and promises .... but when it comes to allocating the resources and monies .... do not.