Austin told committee members that the United States was looking at better ways to deploy the Syrian forces, but he admitted the U.S. was not even close to reaching its goal of training 5,000-plus in the near term. In order for the group to be defeated, however, “we will need to see stable and inclusive governments in place in Iraq and Syria, and we will have to curb the flow of foreign fighters, cut off ISIL’s resourcing and financing, and effectively counter the enemy’s information operations”, he said. The first several dozen U.S.-trained opposition forces were routed by an al-Qaeda force when they entered Syria in July. Despite the drastically lower-than-expected turnout, officials say more fighters are on the way. Officials said that there may be a loose coalition of hundreds of Syrian Arabs willing to join forces.
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Earnest said the Obama administration has not relied exclusively on training and equipping Syrian rebels to combat Islamic State militants. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.
“What I would tell you is that to our knowledge that is not the case, but again their whereabouts are unknown”, he said. Mazie Hirono tossed out to the hearing room. And the senators stopped short of proposing US ground troops or a wider USA effort. The CIA and other agencies have concluded that the Islamic State organization has been able to replenish its dead with a steady influx of foreign fighters and has not lost significant amounts of territory.
The NSF met significant challenges since Congress authorized the train-and-equip program. Her colleague Sen. Tim Kaine added that he had “major concerns” about the administration’s strategy.
This is the latest blow to President Barack Obama’s war strategy, which has increasingly fallen under scrutiny by critics who have called it weak and ineffective. Rather those strikes had to support ground forces.
While there was never a direct order to alter intelligence on the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the way data was compiled led to rosy reports on US military progress in the Middle East, according to NPR.
Asked about the matter at an intelligence conference last week, DIA Director Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart said there are often disagreements about intelligence assessments, within and between agencies.
Ryder also explained that one reason for the disappointing pace of the program – initially intended to train 3,000 fighters by the end of this year and some 15,000 over three years – is an emphasis on security and quality, due to the sophistication of training and equipment provided to the fighters.
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Appearing alongside him, Christine Wormuth, Undersecretary of Defence for Policy, said around 100 more rebels were now in training. “We are supposed to be owners of this team”.
