Former Top Army Official: The U.S. Should Arm The Free Syrian Army
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Dom Giordano talked to retired four-star general and former Vice Chief of Staff for the US Army, Jack Kean, on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT about combating ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
Jack Kean On ISIS
Kean said he agrees with the plan to arm rebels in Syria but wishes we had begun the process years ago.
"It is the right thing to do…The Free Syrian Army is not perfect, but we should've armed them back in 2010 when they first began to ask for it. Secretary Panetta, Secretary Clinton, General Dempsey and General Petraeus all asked and recommended to the President in the summer of 2012, literally two years ago, that this organization be armed, equipped and trained, and he said no. We'd be much better off in Syria today if we had done such a thing, because it is the only organization that has taken on ISIS."
He believes the Free Syrian Army represents the Administration's safest choice to back in the conflict.
"The Free Syrian Army knows that both ISIS and the regime are both bad for Syria. This is a secular organization [that] wants to be inclusive with its government, does not want an Islamist state, and wants a democratic form of government."
Kean did say they still face a steep challenge in Syria, but insists it is worth the risk.
"It's not perfect. These guys are not a military organization as we would think of it. This is armed insurrection. They're conducting an insurgency."
