The new approach is created to intensify military pressure on Raqqa, the self-declared capital of the so-called caliphate the Islamic State has established across much of Syria and Iraq.
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General Lloyd Austin made the comments after the Pentagon’s inspector general confirmed last week that it had opened an investigation into allegations Central Command officials had suppressed intelligence.
The top US commander in the Middle East told a congressional panel that only four or five Syrian rebels trained by the United States remain in the fight against Islamic State.
Rather, Austin and Wormuth made small concessions but did not suggest any changes to the policy. His subordinates later had to take that back.
Central Command, based at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, is responsible for US military operations in 20 countries stretching from Egypt to Afghanistan and including Syria and Iraq.
“I’ve been a member of the committee for almost 30 years, and I have never heard testimony like this”. John McCain, a Republican. “This is absolutely important”, Austin said.
Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook told reporters Thursday that officials are looking to make “adjustments”, adding, “We’re asking a host of questions about this program”.
Ryder insists that all of the U.S.-supplied weaponry provided to these fighters is in control of a “moderate opposition group“, but he would not provide the name of the group.
“We pride ourselves on analytic rigor, in which we look at the vast amount of information to deliver an assessment”, he said. Translated from Pentagon-ese, that means there are some communications and planning links between the USA and the Kurds, but American forces aren’t on the ground planning missions or taking part in combat.
“The reality is that despite the coalition having started its operation, Islamic State continues its expansion”, he said. Though US airstrikes repelled the attack, it was seen as a major setback for the program. “So far, $42 million has been spent to develop the $500 million program which began training in April”. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. Mazie Hirono tossed out to the hearing room.
It’s time for the US and its allies to think outside the box. But in both Iraq and Syria, USA officials have struggled to find such forces. It comes as critics have drawn a direct line between President Barack Obama’s long-standing reluctance to more directly intervene in the fight and the growing flood of Syrian refugees fleeing to the West.
“It’s a small number“, Austin said. That compares to the administration’s original goal to train and equip 5,000 fighters by the end of this year. But she said the current criteria for selecting rebels for the program is in line with what Congress initially authorized.
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“We are acting like fans in the stadium”. While the administration has said Mr. Assad must step down, it has declined to throw its military weight behind forces seeking to oust him. “We are supposed to be owners of this team”.
