Hands Off Syria! Hands Off Iraq! No U.S. Intervention!
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The Obama administration asked Congress Thursday to authorize direct U.S. military training and equipment for Syrian opposition fighters, a move that could significantly escalate U.S. involvement in Syria’s civil war.
Money for the program would total $500 million and would expand a current CIA covert training program. It is included in a $68.5 billion request for Overseas Contingency Operations, or OCO, added to the fiscal year 2015 Defense Department budget.
Details of the OCO budget had been withheld from the budget request that Congress has been considering.
The administration has said repeatedly in recent weeks that it was preparing additional assistance to vetted “moderate” opposition forces who are fighting both the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and al-Qaeda-linked militants who have now spread their area of control across the Syrian border into Iraq.
If Congress approves the funding as requested, it would mark the first direct U.S. military participation in the Syrian conflict. The training would likely take place in neighboring Jordan, where the CIA is currently training Syrian opposition forces, and possibly in Turkey.
The request does not specify the type of military equipment that would be included. Although the administration has sent small arms and ammunition, as well as non-lethal assistance, and has allowed others to send U.S.-made anti-tank weapons, it has rebuffed opposition calls for portable anti-aircraft missiles.
The speed with which militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have taken control of Iraqi cities and towns has focused the administration’s attention on what now threatens to become a regional conflagration.
The Syria money is part of a new $5 billion Counterterrorism Partnerships Fund that President Obama announced last month in a speech at West Point. At least 20 percent of the fund will go to the State Department.
An additional $1 billion will pay for continuing U.S. military efforts to reassure NATO allies in Eastern Europe in the face of perceived new expansionary threats from Russia.
The OCO funds also will fund the final withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Afghanistan, as well as the residual force of 9,800 Obama has authorized.
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Obama asks for authorization to provide direct military training to Syrian rebels
Money for the program would total $500 million and would expand a current CIA covert training program. It is included in a $68.5 billion request for Overseas Contingency Operations, or OCO, added to the fiscal year 2015 Defense Department budget.
Details of the OCO budget had been withheld from the budget request that Congress has been considering.
The administration has said repeatedly in recent weeks that it was preparing additional assistance to vetted “moderate” opposition forces who are fighting both the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and al-Qaeda-linked militants who have now spread their area of control across the Syrian border into Iraq.
If Congress approves the funding as requested, it would mark the first direct U.S. military participation in the Syrian conflict. The training would likely take place in neighboring Jordan, where the CIA is currently training Syrian opposition forces, and possibly in Turkey.
The speed with which militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have taken control of Iraqi cities and towns has focused the administration’s attention on what now threatens to become a regional conflagration.
An additional $1 billion will pay for continuing U.S. military efforts to reassure NATO allies in Eastern Europe in the face of perceived new expansionary threats from Russia.
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