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Syria the Misgivings of Division 30 Trainees September 25, 2015 9 News & Analysis Syria The misgivings of Division 30 trainees Manar Abdel Razzak Urfa, Turkey he US-sponsored effort to train moderate Syrian opposition forces to com- bat Islamic State (ISIS) militants is “useless and Ta waste of time and energy,” a rebel commander said. His is among nu- merous criticisms, including from members of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, about the pro- ject aimed at building a new force called Division 30. Three months into the effort, a mere 50 fighters had gradu- ated from the US train-and-equip programme, a far cry from the 15,000-strong force the Syrian op- position and the US administration had envisioned. US Central Com- mand Commander General Lloyd Austin III told a Senate hearing that of those trained and sent to fight in July only “a small number” remained. “We’re talking four or five,” he said. To that, Senator Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., said: “We have to acknowl- edge this is a total failure. I wish it weren’t so, but that’s the fact.” Facing hurdles. Syrian rebel fighters participate in military training in the western countryside of Aleppo. Mustapha Sejari , the commander of a unit that was supposed to re- ing and that the US would provide as a commander of one of the train- “The division’s fighters coordi- vision is participating in the raging ceive US training in Turkey and Jor- air cover, full armament and train- ing units,” Afisi said. nate closely with the (US-led) coa- battles with ISIS in the northern dan , would agree. ing on sophisticated weapons,” one “The mechanism that has been lition forces fighting ISIS, as is the part of rural Aleppo. At the same “The Americans are not serious source said. adopted to implement the project case of the Kurdish People’s Pro- time, there is no coordination about training the Syrian opposi- Many refused to be enlisted be- is inefficient and infeasible but we tection Units, and should be able to whatsoever with the coalition forc- tion. It is a project to pass time and cause of the US restriction that lim- were promised that things will im- achieve progress on the ground if es to target ISIS strongholds in the tag opposition groups as (US) col- ited their fight against ISIS, a move prove in terms of the numbers of they are deployed on the war front area,” Ahmed said. laborators,” Sejari said. Turkey applauded, the source added. trainees and the logistics support,” because they would be relying on In what was seen as an indica- The training started in May with he added, referring to the first 50 coalition air cover,” said the trainee tion that the US plan to train Syrian The mechanism that 500 fighters identified by the Unit- fighters who graduated. who asked not to be named. rebels to combat ISIS is in tatters. has been adopted to ed States as part of the “moderate Afisi warned that the project may US media reports said the Penta- opposition”. But when the Ameri- collapse unless a more serious ap- Many refused to be gon was preparing new plans to implement the cans requested they sign the con- proach is taken to embolden the find sufficient competent fighters, project is inefficient tract, as many as 450 withdrew. fighters. “The truth is that the pro- enlisted because of bolster their fighting capacities “Their argument for pulling out gramme did not make any differ- the US restriction and provide them with intelligence Sejari quit after he concluded was that their main target is to fight ence on the ground, especially in that limited their assistance. the effort was futile. “The Ameri- against the Syrian regime and that fighting ISIS. The division proved to Washington has not given up can project is limited to graduating ISIS would collapse the moment the be inefficient so far. It can hardly de- fight against ISIS on the plan publicly, although the batches of 30 to 50 fighters every regime is toppled because they are fend the area where it is deployed,” moderate opposition fears it is al- three months. Only those who had two faces of the same coin,” anoth- Afisi said. The division’s offices in rural ready crumbling. no other choice stayed in the pro- er opposition source said. The three-year US plan, with a Aleppo were attacked by the al- White House Press Secretary gramme,” he said. The American plan was criticised $500 million annual budget, aims at Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra Front, Josh Earnest said it was easy for Hundreds of fighters enrolled but by the Free Syrian Army (FSA), training and arming 5,000 fighters which accused fighters of collabo- critics to look after the fact and later walked out, refusing to sign which identifies itself as a pillar for a year to combat ISIS. Fighters who rating with the “American enemy”, complain about the training pro- a pledge to refrain from fighting military action in the revolution. passed the test to undergo training and one of its commanders, Colo- gramme’s lack of progress. He said against the regime of Syrian Presi- FSA Deputy Chief of Staff Colonel receive a monthly salary of $225. nel Nadim al-Hassan, was cap- the Pentagon was working to im- dent Bashar Assad, according to Haitham al-Afisi, a former Syrian Candidates should be aged 20-28, tured along with five soldiers. prove the programme. opposition sources who spoke on Army officer, denied there was co- in good health and have never had The US-trained fighters have condition of anonymity. ordination between the Americans contacts with ISIS. not been tested in the battlefield, Manar Abdel Razzak is a Syrian “The opposition groups initially and the FSA on the programme. “We received tough training on according to Colonel Mohamad reporter based in the southern accepted to take part in the pro- “My relationship with the Ameri- the use of various types of weap- al-Ahmed from the Sham Front Turkish city of Gaziantep. gramme on grounds that there is cans is not in my capacity as an of- ons,” said one of the training gradu- group. Additional reporting by the no US conditions or terms for join- ficer of the FSA’s chief of staff but ates. “Not a single fighter from the di- Associated Press. Syria at core of Middle East problems and their solutions Viewpoint yria has long been the violence that has shocked the “doubling down” of Moscow’s fought two wars in the Caucasus, key to the solutions of world. But Assad’s reluctance to support for Assad. Obama Moscow would much rather face conflicts affecting the drift into the sunset may open Reports from Obama adminis- appears to them down in Syria rather than in Middle East. We should another door; this one bringing tration officials say Russia has its own territory. remember, however, back the dangerous tensions of sent a number of ships, armoured be somewhat “The Russians are going to have that a key has a dual the Cold War. personnel carriers and infantry to overly to start getting a little smarter Sfunction: it can open a door or it The latest developments in the Syria in recent weeks. Obama said optimistic than they have been,” said Obama, can lock the door. The key that is Syrian conflict seem to be the that showed Assad was worried who added that the presence of Syria has always been more deployment on the government his grip on power was slipping. if he truly Russian troops in Syria would comparable to the latter. side of Russian troops. A develop- “The strategy that they are believes he make the political settlement of Claude Remaining true to that line of ment that has Washington as well pursuing right now, doubling can bring the conflict much harder. Salhani thought is Syria’s civil war, now in as Tel Aviv worried. down on Assad, I think is a big about an However, Obama appears to be its fifth year. It is a war that In Washington, US President mistake,” Obama said, adding that somewhat overly optimistic if he unlocked doors leading to a Barack Obama wasted no time this “strategy was doomed to early end to truly believes he can bring about number of dangerous pathways. condemning that move, saying failure”. the conflict an early end to the conflict that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s Russia’s decision to send military Russia and before it the Soviet has claimed more than 240,000 refusal to step down has given rise advisers and equipment to Syria Union have traditionally been lives, destroyed the country and to extremist Islamists, such as extended a strategy “doomed to strong supporters of Syria for a created one of the largest refugee Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic failure” and could kill already number of reasons, including the crises in modern history. State (ISIS). stagnant peace efforts. ability to use deep-water port Indeed, the Syrian civil war has The combination of the civil Not that I support the presence facilities on the Mediterranean unlocked many new doors but as, war and extremism shown by of more troops in the area, but if coast. This time, however, the in the past, they all open to new these groups has opened an Obama believes the peace efforts Russians seem to take very centres of conflict, the latest being unprecedented chapter of under way are actually going to seriously the threat of Islamist potentially the revival of the Cold materialise into something expansionism and with good War with Russians and Americans concrete, then he is even less reason given their large and facing each other down over the Syria’s civil war unlocked informed about the realities of the restive Muslim population in the Middle East once again.
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