U.S. to partner with vetted Syrian groups, pause rebel training program
A senior U.S. official said the Obama administration has decided to "modify" its policy by focusing on directly supplying weapons and ammunition to vetted opposition forces already fighting on the ground against ISIS in Syria. A number of Pentagon-trained advisors will also be instructed to embed with the domestic forces - Syrian Kurds and other moderate fighters - to help them be more efficient. The decision was made to focus in on vetted groups that have shown results rather than to rely on a Pentagon-led program to train and equip thousands of vetted fighters.
A senior Defense official told CBS' Cami McCormick on Friday that a decision about the future of train and equip program means that it will now be "refocused to enhance its effectiveness."
That change to policy is part of the administration's decision to suspend a $500 million dollar Pentagon-led program to train and equip a large fighting force. That suspension was first reported by CBS' David Martin in late September. At that time the Pentagon acknowledged that the exfiltration of new recruits had been "paused" but insisted it was temporary.
"I remain convinced that a lasting defeat of ISIL in Syria will depend in part on the success of local, motivated, and capable ground forces," Secretary Carter said Friday in a statement. "I believe the changes we are instituting today will, over time, increase the combat power of counter-ISIL forces in Syria and ultimately help our campaign achieve a lasting defeat of ISIL."
Any policy decision on Syria has been a long time coming. President Obama was presented with a number of options last week to both scale up and reduce U.S. involvement in the four and a half year conflict. Senior advisors have been divided over whether fallout from the brutal conflict -- a hemorrhage of refugees, foreign fighters and terrorists -- presented a threat that requires action or whether those symptoms can be contained.
Despite Secretary of State John Kerry and other advisors including Gen. John Allen who have argued for a more muscular response to help the U.S.-supported opposition and create so-called buffer zones to protect civilians, a vocal group of Administration officials pushed for caution. In light of Russia's increasingly aggressive military campaign to bolster the Syrian regime led by Bashar al-Assad, the administration is determined to avoid any involvement that feeds what could be seen as a 'proxy war.'
In recent days, an increasingly vocal group of administration officials have argued that Putin's decision to step up military action in Syria will be similar to the ill-fated Soviet intervention in 1980s Afghanistan. The hypothetical outcome would be that Russia will become a target for jihadis enraged by Putin's decision to bolster Assad whose brutality against Syrians has fed the conflict and drawn in foreign fighters. So far that potential threat has not dissuaded either of Assad's patrons - Iran nor Russia - from increasing their support.
A senior administration official indicated that President Obama has been persuaded by advisors that any explosion of violence from Syria in to the region could be "managed" but also acknowledged that the prospects for a diplomatic solution in Syria appeared "bleak."
The body count from the four and a half year war is impossible to tally but is estimated to be well in excess of 200,000 people. Four million Syrians are refugees and seven million others have been made homeless within their own country due to the violence. Aid groups fear that those millions of displaced people will also attempt to flee.