Reports that U.S.-backed moderate rebels are being routed by Islamist extremists in Syria have not swayed the Obama administration to change its approach in that country, or to accelerate plans to train and equip new fighters, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
Events over the past few days have put at risk the administration’s plans for a moderate opposition force to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and serve as an alternative to the government of President Bashar al-Assad, whom Washington says must go. Extremist gains in the northern province of Idlib have virtually wiped out two moderate groups under the Free Syrian Army umbrella — Harakat Hazm and the Syrian Revolutionary Front — that had been seen as among those that could provide manpower to the U.S. effort.
But Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters that progress is being made toward the goal of having the first group of 5,000 rebels ready to fight, even though there’s still work to be done before the yearlong process even starts.
“We’ve said repeatedly it’s more important to get this right than to get this fast,” he said. “Obviously these kinds of developments are certainly not helpful to the security situation at large, but we don’t view it as a major setback or major blow to our ultimate objectives of training a moderate opposition.”
Kirby would not address reports that U.S. officials were considering broadening the air campaign to strike at Jabhat al-Nusra, an al Qaeda affiliate leading the attack on the moderate rebels in Idlib, saying “our focus is on [the Islamic State] inside Syria.”
The administration has come under intense criticism for not supporting the moderate rebels, who have complained that the U.S.-led bombing campaign has freed the Assad regime and Islamist extremists to gang up on them and cause them to lose ground. But officials have been unmoved by the criticism.
“Jabhat al-Nusra’s victory over moderate opposition forces in northern Syria over the weekend serves as strong authentication that the administration’s current strategy in Syria is a disaster. Not only is the president’s approach alienating our key potential allies on the ground in Syria, but it is failing to achieve its core objective as [the Islamic State] and other al Qaeda affiliates like Jabhat al-Nusra continue to expand their control and gain recruits,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the FSA’s most prominent supporter in Congress, said Monday.
“This failure complicates the task of finding reliable coalition partners on the ground and generates anger and resentment among the Syrian people, which only benefits our adversaries.”
