“The main problem thus far has been finding enough Syrian recruits untainted by extremist affiliations or disqualified by physical or other flaws.” And so currently there are under 100 men receiving this training. No one, however, is willing to examine the larger implications of this. The Pentagon is pouring money into this program anyway.
“Sputtering start to U.S. training of Syrian rebels,” by Robert Burns, Associated Press, June 30, 2015 (thanks to The Religion of Peace):
WASHINGTON: Fewer than 100 Syrian rebels are currently being trained by the U.S. military to fight ISIS, a tiny total for a sputtering program with a stated goal of producing 5,400 fighters a year.
The training effort is moving so slowly that critics question whether it can produce enough capable fighters quickly enough to make a difference. Military officials said last week that they still hope for 3,000 by year’s end. Privately, they acknowledge the trend is moving in the wrong direction.
On June 26, 2014, the White House said it was asking Congress for $500 million for a three-year train-and-equip program. It only got started in May, however….
The Syria initiative is seen more as a way of enabling moderate opposition forces to defend their own towns against the militants. Expectations for the Iraqis are much higher; the goal is to have them roll back ISIS and restore the Iraq-Syria border.
The main problem thus far has been finding enough Syrian recruits untainted by extremist affiliations or disqualified by physical or other flaws. Of approximately 6,000 volunteers, about 1,500 have passed muster and await movement to training camps in other countries. Citing security concerns, the Pentagon will not say exactly how many are in training. Officials said that as of Friday, the number was under 100 and that none has completed the program.
“We have set the bar very high on vetting,” said Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.
Maj. Gen. Michael Nagata, the Central Command special operations commander who is heading the program, wants volunteers with more than a will to fight.
“We are trying to recruit and identify people who … can be counted on … to fight, to have the right mindset and ideology,” and at the same time be willing to make combating ISIS their first priority, Defense Secretary Ash Carter told the House Armed Services Committee on June 17.
“It turns out to be very hard to identify people who meet both of those criteria,” Carter said.
Many Syrian rebel volunteers prefer to use their training to fight the government of President Bashar Assad, the original target of their revolution. While ISIS has been a brutal occupant of much of their country, the rebels see the extremists as fighting a parallel war.
The screening does not end with their preferred target. Dozens who were initially accepted have been sent home during training or quit because of revelations about their background or other problems, according to two senior U.S. defense officials. They were not authorized to discuss details and spoke on condition of anonymity….
The Pentagon announced in May that it had begun training 90 recruits in Jordan, but it has refused to give details. Defense officials, however, said last week that training also is underway in Turkey. Eventually it is to be expanded to bases in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Each trainee is receiving a U.S. stipend of between $250 and $400 a month, with the amount set by their skill level, performance and leadership role, said a Pentagon spokeswoman, Navy Cmdr. Elissa Smith.
The Pentagon also is wrestling with how to support those who complete the training and are sent back into Syria. Also, there are questions about how to avoid having their U.S.-supplied arms fall into the wrong hands inside Syria.…
nicu says
So they are showing their real face !
Kick them out of the US !
Shane says
Obama is going to bring tens of thousands of mostly Muslim refugees into the USA. How many of them will become jihadists and fight against us I don’t know, but why let any of them in? Let Muslim countries take in the Muslim refugees and Christian countries take in the others.
spot on says
FOX News found a moderate Muslim so why can anyone else find one.
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
FOX News found a moderate Muslim
Who? When? You joking or messing with us or what?
I ain’t seed no Unicorns on that station. I closely monitor the Fox RINO channel and the only Unicorn they have on there is Zudhi Jasser, a regular on Hannity, but he’s not even a Moslem, he’s a guy who pretends the scriptures don’t even exist but understands the privilege and publicity fake Moslemism can bring, and he gets plenty of the stuff.
Has a Unicorn finally been discovered? Seriously, I hope if one has been taken into captivity, it has been photographed and tested with tissue samples for DNA testing and all. And I hope that it happened on Sean’s highly rated news entertainment show. He’s worked so darn hard on the Unicorn Project, been one its leaders in fact.
What’s next, will a Megalodon finally be caught?
spot on says
Alarmed, I realize there are more UFO and Leprechaun sitings than moderate Muslim sightings and the people that report UFO’s or Leprechauns are commonly referred to as kooks. Not wishing to be thought of as a kook, I will make sure to get his name, location, and link to his bio if and when he ever shows up on FOX Rino again.
Shane says
A moderate Muslim is a Muslim who has run out of ammunition. The “moderate” Muslim is really a myth.
Pew Poll, Muslims Like Sharia Law: http://www.pewforum.org/2013/04/30/the-worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-overview/
The Myth of the Tiny Radical Muslim Minority: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7TAAw3oQvg
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
I thought we had hooked up with those guys who had slaughtered Christians. I heard that these guys –who were good guys, regular people, mainly doctors and dentists and engineers — were gonna be the Freedom Fighters to oppose the evil Bashar using weapons and ammo provided for free by the U.S. taxpayer. Where did those guys go, did they run off for lack of support from us?
Can’t we rely on anybody anymore? Maybe we can talk the Turks into moving in on Bashar, after all, we know that they’re Unicorns and they already have tons of our weapons.
Alex says
Those guys are probably all dead by now anyways. They were getting targeted by Assad and ISIS at the same time.
Bamaguje says
The Turks should move on ISIS instead of Assad.
Assad is simply defending himself, his fellow Alawites and other minorities from the onslaught of rampaging Sunni Jihadis… armed and funded by oil-rich Sunni Gulf Arabs.
Papa Whiskey says
“We have set the bar very high on vetting,” said Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.
And all the Syrian refugees that those 14 Democrat senators want to admit to the U.S.? How high is the bar on vetting them being set?
(Sound of crickets chirping)
Alarmed Pig Farmer says
Isn’t it odd that we’re set to bring a tens of thousands of “refugees” from Syria to go on the welfare, all of them Moslems. One would think that if anybody is a bona fide refugee from that part of the world would be Christians and Yazidis.
It’s like with the huge number of Nigerians brought into this country as “refugees” who for some reason always turn out to be Moslems. From whom are they seeking refuge, from whom they are fleeing, the Christians and Pagans in northern Nigeria?
Michael Copeland says
Selected by the UN, heavily influenced by the OIC, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Sent to USA to undermine the Constitution and bankrupt the country – all part of “Inflict Sharia Law on All Mankind” (I.S.L.A.M.).
EYESOPEN says
Yep.
particolor says
For Sh*t sake ! A Muslim is a Muslim is a Muslim ! 🙁
Peter Buckley says
I don’t know if any UK-based readers bought the Express today, but it carried an article by Ross Clark entitled “No, Prime Minister, Islam is a far from peaceful religion”.
I’ve just been online, only to find exactly the same article, but with a different title:
http://www.express.co.uk/comment/expresscomment/587610/David-cameron-comment-politics-tunisia-terror-terrorism
Why the online title has been changed is a mystery, but full marks to Ross Clark. Please buy the Express today.
I’m not very good with twitter, but here’s his page. Please congratulate him on being the closest yet to nailing the problem.
Please let him know he has the weight of British opinion right behind him:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/aug/02/poll-islam-negative-britain
Marty says
A couple of years back the UK, US etc wanted to fund rebels against the unpleasant but pro WEstern secular Syrian state. Ie fund ISIS.
Can you blame Syrians keeping their heads down (& on) with such allies ?
Alex says
Assad is not “pro Western”. He is Iran’s #1 ally.
Bamaguje says
Assad is a secularist who has little in common with Iran’s tyrannical Islamists.
The major reason he allies with Mullah Iran is because of their common enemy – Sunni Jihad.
Michael Copeland says
This is the same Maj. Gen. Nagata who recently wanted fresh ideas to defeat ISIS. …
“We have not defeated the idea. We do not even understand the idea.”.
Briefings from Robert Spencer or Steven Coughlin would help.
Angemon says
A real head-scratcher, isn’t it?
mortimer says
Moderate Muslims either keep quiet about it or end up dead.
There’s no way for a ‘Moderate Muslim’ to be heard.
That’s the problem…Islamic vigilantism…normative Islam, rather than an aberration.
JamesonRocks says
You can’t find what doesn’t exist. If one thinks they have found a “moderate Muslim,” it is just an illusion.
gerard says
re the photo: Well they look friendly enough! You don’t think so? What are you, some sort of Islamophobe?!
Godwin says
Obama is not keen to destroy ISIS, because he did not use all the US lethal, tank helicopters to kill IS fighters at close range. .High flying warplanes cannot see their targets clearly n many just return without firing a shot.
Kepha says
A lot of us figured this would happen as soon as we saw the Arab Spring turning into the Islamicist Winter–and how we wished we would be proven wrong!
The utter lack of thought and foresight in jumping on the anti-Assad bandwagon shows that the Democrats are every bit the party of stupid wishful thinking as the Republicans, perhaps more so. Washington should have taken a clear warning when it turned out that the Free Syrian Army and Daesh were on the same side. This is all the more reason why Bush, whatever his faults, was a better choice than Kerry in 2008, and why any American with a grain of sense should do what he can to make sure Shrillary Shroo, a corrupt woman and enemy of the First Amendment apart from being a proven incompetent while SecState, should not become president.
Myxlplik says
Heck, our press won’t even publish Mohammed cartoons & they expect “moderate” Muslims to fight ISIS?
Concerned says
ISLAM trains its boys to fire guns , learn combat.
Our society promotes boys wearing dresses.
We are in trouble !!