The $500 million US effort to train anti-ISIL rebels has yielded “four or five” fighters

[n2doc]

The US military has reportedly spent $500 million to train a local rebel force to counter the Islamic State in Syria, with the Pentagon planning to recruit about 5,000 fighters. Now the top US commander in the Middle East says only “four or five” US- trained Syrian fighters are on the battlefield, casting significant doubt on the US counter-ISIL strategy.

At a hearing in Washington yesterday (Sept. 16), General Lloyd Austin, the head of US Central Command, talked about efforts in both Iraq and Syria (pdf). In Iraq, Austin said, “nearly 13,000 Iraqi soldiers have been trained… and more than 3,000 are currently undergoing training.” In addition: “We also are in the process of assisting with the training and equipping of Sunni tribal fighters. More than 3,100 fighters have successfully completed training; and, 750 additional fighters are scheduled to undergo training in the coming weeks.”

As for the Syrian fighters, however, Austin had only this to offer: “Although the program got off to a slow start, in large part due to the complex nature of the undertaking, we remain confident that it will pay dividends going forward.”

Senator Debra Fischer, a Republican, asked Austin how many active Syrian fighters the US could count right now, given that there were “only about 60 Syrian fighters that had been trained” in July and “we’ve heard reports about attacks on those individuals … Can you tell us what the total number of trained fighters remains?”

“It’s a small number,” Austin admitted. “We’re talking four or five.”

http://qz.com/504489/the-500-million-us-effort-to-train-anti-isil-rebels-has-yielded-four-or-five-fighters/

[Truprogressive85]

1. I thought we were broke ?

So we can train 5 rebels for $500 million ,yet not hire teachers for our schools

geez those people in Washington DC are sure some smart people

[KG]

2. isis fighters are doing ok, not many of them are 'trained'

let's face it, there are no good solutions to clusterfuck america's unleash there. it's ridiculous to add to the chaos and destruction

[n2doc]

3. ISIS has a great deal of ex-Iraq military officers

They are doing the planning and leadership. Of course, W in his infinite wisdom barred the ex-Iraqi army folks from doing much of anything after the war. So they eventually found someone else who could use their training.

[MisterP]

4. Egypt might be the next domino: not only are the officers gaspingly corrupt and the ones

conducing "virginity inspections" against guarantee of rape (then don't have units specifically composed of rapists, that'll help), but even at the Luxor Massacre and the Coptic church bombings many of the perps were reported changing into uniform ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EgyptAir_Flight_648
Egypt has the same setup as Iraq--a growing ultra-Salafist insurgency, zero competence (I've never met a military regime that managed to win a war), a debased and empty dictatorial secularism spewing empty talk of "true Islam" and a "true Muslim polity"