US
freezing of Syrian rebel training scheme shows western disarray
As
Russia continues its airstrikes, decision to ‘pause’ troubled
programme caps grim few weeks for US policy on Syria
Ian Black Middle
East editor
Friday 9 October
2015 19.17 BST
The US decision to
“pause” its troubled $500m (£326m) programme to train and equip
moderate Syrian rebels to fight Islamic State (Isis) is yet another
move highlighting western disarray and failure as Russia continues
its airstrikes, which western governments say are supporting Bashar
al-Assad.
The Pentagon said on
Friday it was changing its strategy in Syria. It would supply
“equipment packages and weapons … to a select group of vetted
leaders and their units so that over time they can make a concerted
push into territory still controlled by Isil,” a spokesman said,
using the US acronym for the jihadi group.
The programme, the
most visible element of US backing for Syrian opposition forces, has
suffered embarrassing setbacks. Last month it transpired that it had
trained only four or five fighters inside Syria, while others who
underwent training in Turkey had surrendered to rival groups and
handed over the their weapons when they crossed the border into
Syria. Other covert programmes are run by the CIA.
Syrian opposition
sources, already unhappy with US policy, were sceptical that
meaningful military support would now be forthcoming. Pentagon
officials said that “only basic types of equipment”, not
“higher-end” weapons, such as anti-tank rockets and Manpads
(portable anti-aircraft missiles), would be provided.
Arab diplomats have
said in the last few days that Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies were
looking for new ways to arm anti-Assad rebels in the wake of the
Russian military intervention. Since Russia began its air operations
on 30 September the Syrian regime has dropped more than 150 barrel
bombs on opposition areas. “We cannot depend on the Americans,” a
senior Qatari source said.
But the US was also
in contact with the Syrian Jaysh al-Fateh coalition of mainly
Islamist rebel groups, exploring whether any could be suitable
partners for increased weapons deliveries, the diplomats said.
A senior US official
said there would no longer be any recruiting of Syrian rebels for
training in Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates.
Instead, a single training centre would be set up in Turkey, where a
small group of “enablers” – mostly leaders of opposition groups
– would be vetted and taught operational methods, such as how to
call in airstrikes.
The new effort would
focus heavily on “capable indigenous forces on the ground” –
established Kurdish and Arab rebel groups – rather than recruiting
and vetting a new cadre of moderate rebels. The White House again
made it clear that it was not planning to establish a no-fly zone, as
Syrian rebels and their supporters have long demanded.
The announcement
caps a grim few weeks for US policy on Syria, already weakened by the
perception that while the Obama administration is prepared to fight
Isis, it will not tackle the Assad regime head-on. Instead, the
president is holding out for a political solution to end the four and
a half year conflict.
Gen Lloyd Austin,
who heads the US military’s Central Command, confirmed last month
that 54 graduates of the train and equip programme had been attacked
by the al-Qaida affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, in northern Syria in
July. It is still not clear how many of the fighters fled, were
captured or killed.
Austin told Congress
that there was no way of meeting the original goal of 5,000 recruits
a year. Low numbers were blamed on the laborious vetting process used
to recruit rebels. “It was,” one Pentagon official said on
Friday, “inherently a very complex mission.”
The US, like
Britain, has been signalling in recent weeks that Assad could remain
in power in Damascus for an undefined transitional period, fuelling
opposition fears that they are being abandoned.
Michael Fallon, the
British defence secretary, said after talks with his US counterpart,
Ashton Carter, that the UK government remained committed to building
parliamentary support for RAF airstrikes against Isis in Syria
despite Russia’s intervention.
Carter said Russia’s
support for Assad was illogical and would ultimately rebound against
Moscow. “They are going to have the effect of inflaming the very
extremism that Russia claims to want to combat,” he said. “By
taking the side of Assad, they inflame the civil war – and
therefore extremism – and prolong the suffering of the Syrian
people. They are going to have the effect also of turning everyone
against Russia itself. This will boomerang in a very direct way on
Russia.”
Meanwhile, Russia
said its warplanes had killed several hundred Isis fighters and hit
more than 60 “terrorist targets” in Syria over the past 24 hours.
The deputy head of
the Russian general staff, Lt Gen Igor Makushev, told reporters in
Moscow the targets included a command post in the Islamic State
stronghold of Raqqa, where two senior commanders and about 200
fighters were killed, according to intercepted radio communications.
Strikes on Aleppo killed “some 100 militants”, and other raids
struck command posts and training camps in Latakia, Hama and Idlib.
Western governments
and Syrian rebels say the vast majority of Russian strikes so far
have targeted groups other than Isis in what they describe as a clear
attempt to defend Assad. France’s defence minister, Jean-Yves Le
Drian, said 80% to 90% of Russian strikes in Syria were aimed at
propping up the president.
According to the
British Foreign Office, at least 85 strikes have hit at least 59
targets, mostly using imprecise, unguided munitions. It took six days
for Russia to strike any Islamic State targets at all; 85% of Russian
strikes have been in areas where Isis is not present.
The White Helmets,
volunteer Syrian search and rescue teams, have reported that at least
88 civilians have been killed and 331 injured by Russian strikes.
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