US Officials: Obama Administration Considers Military Training Of Syrian Rebels

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is considering a plan to use U.S. military trainers to help increase the capabilities of the Syrian rebels, in a move that would greatly expand the current CIA training being done quietly in Jordan, U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Thursday.

Any training would take place outside Syria, and one possible location would be Jordan.

The officials said no decision had been made, but that discussions were going on at high levels of the government. It comes as the Obama administration prods Congress to authorize limited military strikes against the Syrian government in retaliation for a deadly Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack.

The proposal to use the U.S. military to train the rebels — something the administration has resisted through more than two years of civil war — would answer the demands of some lawmakers, including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to do more to train and equip the Syrian opposition.

Read more: http://www.startribune.com/politics/national/222583301.html

[Sand Wind]

1. Two years he is saying that and they have not receive a single bullet.nt

[David__77]

3. If that were true, I'd thank God.

No gas on the fire, not one bullet to the Islamist insurgents.

[arewenotdemo]

4. What a pity!

Don't be upset with him. He's signed off on tons of bullets from Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Did you ever see one of your jihadis that wasn't sporting some serious weaponry?

[delrem]

5. Bullshit. HRC's "Friends of Syria" have funded and equipped the entire bloody thing.

As well as supplying the mercenary jihadists, the mercenary academi, "rebel freedom fighters".
The phony "forgetfulness" of the warmongers is just part of their wall of lies - a wall of lies that is as thick as they come.

[arewenotdemo]

7. "Standing up an opposition", (to quote Hillary)

must be incredibly hard work!

[delrem]

10. On top of that, think of the work required to "overlook" it, even while ramping it up another notch.

The LIES LIES and MORE LIES of warmongers grates to the bone.
In war, truth is the first casualty.
-Aeschylus

[dflprincess]

19. She's a real champion of women's rights

I wonder if, God forbid, she's ever president and if, God forbid again, the "rebels" are successful if she'll at least grant asylum to Syrian women who manage to escape the fundamentalist regime she helped install?

[arewenotdemo]

23. This is what absolutely, positively blows my mind....

Clinton, Rice, Power, Feinstein, Boxer...whom am I forgetting....how can these female Democrats be so blind to what amounts to a foreign policy of destabilizing and overthrowing secular regimes that actually offer some protection to women's rights?

[David__77]

2. There is definitely a regime change operation in play.

It is disgusting to fathom that Obama is taking a page from the Bush playbook.

Why doesn't Obama answer the demands of the American people instead of John McCain's demands, and stand down!

[delrem]

6. Because he's in the employ of the MIC and answers the demands of PNAC.

[iamthebandfanman]

8. Worse than cruise missile strikes...

which I am for..

but I cant get behind training soldiers.

in my opinion, thatll have longer lasting effects than any other action we could possibly do.. as they could use those skills outside of Syria.

[delrem]

12. al Qaeda could use those skills outside Syria??? Who'd'a thunkit...

But a good old fashion bombing, with no US casualties - well, that's a GOOD thing.

[arewenotdemo]

24. News flash...

Obama has had the CIA training rebels in Turkey and Jordan for some time.

[markpkessinger]

9. So I guess that means . . .

. . . the U.S. would be running Al Qaeda training camps. Hey, what could possibly go wrong?

[dixiegrrrrl]

13. Uh...isn't that treason then??

giving aid and comfort to teh enemy during a time of war?

Since we are on a permanent war footing
and trying to get rid of Assad
then helping the Al-Quaida people who are with the other rebels against Assad...
sounds like treason.

Not that there is going to be any hurry to start applying LAWS or anything in this country...

[polynomial]

21. The only America made thing we can be proud of

America we made Osama Bin Laden thirty years ago.

The American CIA trained supplied advised supported
Al Qaeda to fight the Russians thirty years ago. Now
do you understand why this stuff appears to be so
ass backwards.

If the mainstream media really did America something
patriotic like spend the next two years discussing
how the CIA secretly built the Jihad we are fighting perhaps
Americans would be different.

[daleo]

22. Good point

I hadn't thought of it that way.

Ten years from now we can go to war with these guys, thus ensuring The Forever War isn't just the title of a book.

[MyNameGoesHere]

11. Are they just flinging poo out there to see what is less smelly? eom

[David__77]

14. What happens when one of those insurgents blows up a marathon in the USA?

Will any American be prosecuted?

[fujiyama]

15. Ugh...I had a horrible feeling McCain, Graham, et al. would goad the president into this

Those two have been the biggest proponents of training the rebels. I heard that Hillary, Paneta and a few others were supporting this and more as well.

And now after all the restraint, I feel like he has given in.

Sometimes with such horrors taking place, the toughest action is not acting - because I really don't see how any of these actions (military support/training for the rebels, bombings) actually helps the situation any. And there's no real end in sight after that. And we've been continuously at war for almost 12 FUCKING YEARS. When does it end?

[warrant46]

16. Why would Hillary want this War ?

I don't see how her Presidential aspirations would be helped by supporting this WAR unless she was somehow tied to the bottomless pit of money from the MIC

[fujiyama]

17. It's not clear, but it looks like she proposed arming the rebels

and it got backing by Panetta and Petreus.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9856382/Leon-Panetta-supports-Hillary-Clinton-plan-to-arm-Syrian-rebels.html

[warrant46]

20. Saw that Interesting though to see how many

different factions there are in the fight.

And how pray tell do you support one over another and get the support to them through all the hoops that must exist

[RobinA]

18. Training Rebels

in a civil war. Uhmmm.... Seems I have some vague memory of this not working out so well in the past. I could be wrong, after all, who am I? These guys are the experts. I can't imagine they'd make the same mistake all over again. And again. And again. And again. And again.

God help us, this is so wrong.

[arewenotdemo]

25. Please, DUers. Contact your reps!

Let them know that we won't forget who votes "YES" for Obama's War!

Come to D.C. to protest!

I assume that almost all of us voted for the man, so we are responsible to some degree for whatever disastrous decisions he makes.

[longship]

26. Charlie Wilson's War. (Always get that wrong)

Fighting the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. There's a damned good movie about it, starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, no less.

Recommended.

No spoilers, but it's all about blowback and dropping the ball when one has an opportunity to make a difference.

Yup! I know it's Hollywood. It's still at least history of sorts. And Charlie Wilson was quite a character in the House.

On edit: Mike Nichols directed it. It's a minor gem.

[Ash_F]

27. Did they each them to eat their foes? /nt