The Pentagon has "put a proposal on the table" for U.S. military forces to train and equip moderate Syrian opposition forces for the first time, two Obama administration officials told CNN. If approved, it would dramatically increase the role of the U.S. military in Syria's civil war and would for the first time put American troops in direct contact with opposition forces. The idea has been under consideration since the August 21 chemical weapons attack outside Damascus, which the United States says was carried out by the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
There are few specifics on troops or other aspects of the military proposal, but both officials said the effort envisions training taking place in a country near Syria. "We have any number of options under development that could expand our support to the moderate opposition, but no decision has been taken at this point," Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey said when asked by reporters on Wednesday about the proposal.
Rebel fighters inspect a stairwell amid fighting against Syrian government forces on Thursday, September 19, in the Saif al-Dawla district of Aleppo, Syria. More than 100,000 people reportedly have been killed in Syria since a popular uprising spiraled into a civil war in 2011. Russia and the United States have agreed on a plan to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons stockpile. The plan came about after a deadly attack in August outside Damascus that the West has accused the Syrian regime of being behind.
Until now, any training and equipping of Syrian opposition forces has fallen under the purview of the CIA and has not directly been acknowledged by the United States government. The Obama administration has acknowledged providing logistical, humanitarian and some military assistance to rebels fighting al-Assad's forces in a civil war now in its third year. The training proposal was first floated in the days after the August attack as a means to step up U.S. support for the opposition.
The proposal envisions U.S. troops training certain rebels on small arms, command and control and military tactics, according to one of the officials. Weapons however would not be directly supplied by the United States because legal authority does not exist for the Pentagon to arm the rebels. President Barack Obama, who blames al-Assad's regime for the attack and threatened a limited military strike as punishment, has vowed not to put "boots on the ground" inside Syria.
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Pentagon proposes training moderate Syrian rebels - CNN.com
