Some of the American-trained Syrian fighters gave at least a quarter of their United States-provided equipment to the Qaeda affiliate in Syria.... More broadly, the program has suffered from a shortage of recruits willing to fight the Islamic State instead of the army of President Bashar al-Assad....
October 9, 2015
$500 million later, the Obama administration gives up on the effort to train and equip rebel forces in Syria...
... in what the NYT calls "an acknowledgment that the beleaguered program had failed to produce any kind of ground combat forces capable of taking on the Islamic State in Syria."
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It is almost as if we have a failed community organizer running our country.
The administration's efforts were probably hurt when their point man got killed in Benghazi.
"...an acknowledgment that the beleaguered program..."
"Beleaguered" is the fancy way of saying 'incompetent', I guess.
I am Laslo.
First, let me get this out of the way, per the "Althouse Law of Credibility Diminishment": "Barack and Michelle Obama are the most beautiful, fabulous, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human beings I've ever known in my life."
Now, to the post --NYT: "..."an acknowledgment that the beleaguered program had failed to produce any kind of ground combat forces capable of taking on the Islamic State in Syria."
Yes, that, plus the fact that Putin, in an apparent show of "weakness" (so saith the left) has decided to blow the living snot out of any American supported forces.
You know, because of Putins "weakness".
Wasn't the logical move to divert, quarter, train and arm the thousands of military-aged, ahem, "refugees fleeing Syria"?
And why would anyone think this influx of migrants will be any less of a debacle than "arming rebels" in Syria?
The Usurper Hussein Obama administration CREATED ISIS by arming Syrian insurgents. He ARMED ISIS. He has committed treason and so has Hillary, as the insurgents who are now ISIS were being armed by an armament trail that went through Libya. Ambassador Stevens knew about it and that's why he was allowed to be killed. What is the penalty for treason?
Incompetence at every level. Someone commented - either here or at the WSJ - that Putin should be allowed to take over the mess in the ME. Except for the fact that I am not entirely sure of his objectives I agree. He, at least, appears to be competent to do what he has decided to do. I am sad to see our military in such bad shape, but after 7 years of promotion by political correctness it should be expected.
Hehe...
I assume the Marines feel the same way about decision making that we troopers do?
"An 80% solution, implemented on time with vigor, always beats the perfect solution, timidly implemented too late"
Does anybody doubt which of those clauses apply to Obama and which to Putin?
Yes, that, plus the fact that Putin, in an apparent show of "weakness" (so saith the left) has decided to blow the living snot out of any American supported forces
apparently we've also walked away from any no fly zone above the good guys.
our latest ROE say that where ever the Russians chose to fly, we're to back off at least 20 miles away, giving them effectively total air supremacy over the ME...
More broadly, the program has suffered from a shortage of recruits willing to fight the Islamic State instead of the army of President Bashar al-Assad....
No kidding, even the most secular groups like the Free Syrian Army and the less Islamic guys like the Islamic Front aren't there to fight ISIS, they're there to fight against Assad, ISIS is just a group that in the way and are fighting them only as a sideshow. They are not and never will be our ground troops against ISIS.
We had a chance early on with Petraus' no-fly zone to allow training in country but the real end of the effort was the president ignoring his own "red line" comments after Assad's forces used poison gas on civilian targets.
The Syrians learned the same lesson so many have learned in the past, don't put your faith in the United States of America.
With some people, it's the amount of money spent, not the results, that is the measure of success for a government program. Measuring actual results is mean-spirited. It's the feelings that count.
relax it's doing what it's sponsors in the kingdom and the emirates, intended, recruit fighters for Jaish eh Fateh, this is the group Volodya was going after,
I think Obama is indeed rather disappointed by his friend Vladimir's behavior, but other than that, I think it is going quite as he intended.
"
apparently we've also walked away from any no fly zone above the good guys.
our latest ROE say that where ever the Russians chose to fly, we're to back off at least 20 miles away, giving them effectively total air supremacy over the ME..."
I was unaware of this. Thanks. They obviously had to create an ROE for the situation. I am disappointed but not shocked at this. Time for the 66 nation coalition (snicker) to pack it in and head home.
But, but, Booosh.
We need an animated GIF of Hillary pounding the reset button over and over.
I think we need a UN resolution condemning their action. That will set everything straight and peace will be at hand.
Not to despair. Hillary! has stated that she will be bypassing Congress after she is anointed. So, there's that. Plus, she was never a failed community organizer.
If you're serving in our military, what do you make of all this?
WTF *are* we doing?
The Obama Administration issued a statement today: "I'm just a girl."
Whitehouse Spokesperson Josh Ernest confirmed that President Obama is in fact just a girl. And Putin is not a girl.
Ernest declined to confirm whether he was or was not a girl.
We all know who the JV team is.
Also, our only carrier in the region has left for home.
The Drill SGT,
"our latest ROE say that where ever the Russians chose to fly, we're to back off at least 20 miles away, giving them effectively total air supremacy over the ME..."
Where did you hear that?
lgv said...
I think we need a UN resolution condemning their action. That will set everything straight and peace will be at hand.
Do you really think that a UN resolution would have any effect without a corresponding hashtag campaign?
You people need to leave foreign policy to the professionals.
"Common sense" tells me that BHO is on the "wrong side of history" as POTUS. He has a great smile, performs very well on TV programs, has a glam wife, makes the womens wet and loves golf.
Monkeyboy is right. The administration and the NY Times is try to morph this effort into the fight against ISIL. It wasn't, it was our proxies in the Syrian civil war to topple Assad. Why else would the Russians be bombing them?
I'll guess most of that money went to a "Foundation".
a more frank description of realities on the ground,
http://snewsi.com/id/15421151249
The "money for nothin'" debacle with the "moderate" Syrian rebels is one of those massive fuck-ups, that, had a Republican administration been responsible, you know we'd be hearing about it on the news 24x7.
Bobby
CNN Via
U.S. officials tell CNN that American pilots are under new, strict rules. If Russian aircraft come within the 20 mile limit, for their own safety the Americans must move away. The U.S. doesn’t think the Russians will shoot them down, but commanders don’t trust Russia not to make a mistake.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/425278/report-us-concedes-air-superiority-over-syria-russia-david-french
This is what you get when you pledge "no boots on the ground."
And I think the Iranians may find it is easier to become allied with Mother Russia than to break the alliance.
The military's program was beset with huge problems from the start. I could (literally) roll off two dozen serious flaws in the program, but- beyond the fact that it was implemented far too late to be of any great value- the strict vetting requirement cuts down to a fraction the number of potential recruits, and the fact that the training must be conducted outside of Syria means that those few volunteers who pass their background checks have to be willing to leave their community-- a community that is currently under attack, by the way, and needs every able-bodied male to defend it-- in order to get some training, weapons and equipment... It doesn't take a genius to tell you that you're not going to be able to find a whole lot of takers.
Note that this is separate from the security assistance program being implemented by Ground Branch.
dbp said...
It is almost as if we have a failed community organizer running our country.
Is Altgeld Gardens asbestos free?
The Drill SGT,
If CNN's source is accurate (I know we don't always trust CNN around here), that's really interesting. I wonder if the other members of CJTF-OIR have adopted the same ROE, or if we're going to see European or Arab allies risk getting into an accident with Russia planes?
Not to worry, this is just Obama playing 3-D chess while everyone else plays checkers.
Arming al Qaeda (while pretending not to) is part of a carefully-calibrated strategy that's going to yield rich rewards for America's foreign policy. The American people would never support arming al Qaeda, but Obama the 3-D chess player knows what needs to be done to win the Syrian civil war. Putin and Assad won't know what hit them.
Oh, you think this administration makes mistakes, as evidenced by the real assault on the MSF hospital in Afghanistan? You simple, narrow-minded rube. Obama the 3-D chess player was drawing needed attention to the plight of MSF in war zones. All part of a carefully-calibrated strategy to win in Afghanistan and help relieve suffering in the grand scheme.
Sometimes you idiot Americans with your questions and criticisms of our genius 3-D chess playing president make me feel ashamed to be American.
Half a billion here, half a billion there, pretty soon you're talking real money.
To Barack Obama a half a billion is chump change. He never intended to fight and so he lost a war.
Can I say that Obama is like the French, who are surrender monkies?
has a glam wife
Put your bong down and no one will get hurt.
Hillary Hillary! Great resume. The only thing missing is a Nobel Peace Prize.
No sense in arming our enemies
I always enjoy reading the NYT comments. Except for a few outliers, they seem to blame congress, the pentagon, John McCain?, And there was at least one Booosch and Cheney thrown in for good measure. Except for a few comments praising Obama for ending the program, you almost wouldn't know he's in charge.
Whenever it comes to failure, Obama is the invisible President.
CNN Via: "U.S. officials tell CNN that American pilots are under new, strict rules. If Russian aircraft come within the 20 mile limit, for their own safety the Americans must move away. The U.S. doesn’t think the Russians will shoot them down, but commanders don’t trust Russia not to make a mistake."
It's very important to obama that his boyfriend not be inhibited in any way.
gerry said...
Can I say that Obama is like the French, who are surrender monkies?
The Frogs get a bit of a bad rap. As long as the use of force is constrained to the FFL or the DGSE, the Frogs understand that force is a natural part of the diplomatic continuum and are both good and decisive.
Hey... can't Obama give me a measly one million and I'll train them via internet to fight. I mean surely I could do no worse.
The French are fighters. They don't always win. The best of them probably come here.
"the Obama administration gives up."
Epitaph.
But, pen and phone, domestically. The contrast between his Machiavelianism on domestic policy and his hope and cave on international policy is starkly striking, is it not?
"Put your bong down and no one will get hurt."
Uh... you sure?
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