U.S. training of Syrian rebels could begin in spring: Pentagon

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

[div class="excerpt"]U.S. training of Syrian rebels could begin in spring: Pentagon

BY DAVID ALEXANDER
WASHINGTON Tue Jan 6, 2015 4:54pm EST

(Reuters) - The U.S. military has made progress in its effort to identify moderate Syrian rebels to train for the fight against Islamic State militants and a U.S. training mission could begin this spring, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.

Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, welcomed statements from Ankara indicating Turkey and the United States plan to conclude a deal this month on training and equipping moderate Syrian rebels, part of a U.S.-led campaign to counter Islamic State forces in Iraq and Syria.

Kirby said Major General Michael Nagata, commander of U.S. special operations forces in the Middle East, was in the process of talking with Syrian opposition groups in an effort to identify individual recruits to train and equip.

"I think if we continue to make the progress that we're making now, that we believe that we could start conducting some training of moderate opposition by early spring," Kirby told a news conference.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/06/us-mideast-crisis-syria-usa-idUSKBN0KF20K20150106

[delrem]

1. "part of a U.S.-led campaign to counter Islamic State forces"

Anyone who believes a word these liars say has to be....
gullible isn't the word.
eta: I'll go with "wilfully ignorant", because such ignorance has to be deliberate.

Sure, of course it's "to counter Islamic State forces", and sure it isn't a continuation of the exact same military program that led to the empowerment of IS in the first place. sheee.

And Turkey? Turkey is the honest broker that, with the USA, cares so deeply about the people of Syria (and Iraq)?
Not to mention Saudi Arabia, the House of Saud, those lovely folk.