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Only four or five Syrian rebels trained by the US. for combating Islamic State still fighting in that war-torn country, US General Lloyd Austin, the head of Central Command US Army told Congress Wednesday
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In a speech before the Senate Committee on Armed Services, General Austin acknowledged that the training program of the Syrian armed forces by military experts in Washington will not be performed on time, reports canalABC. When asked by the current number of US-trained Syrian fighters, Austin lamented: "They unascuatro or five people".
The military said that US will not be achieved before the scheduled date, the end of December, the objective of forming a unit of more than 5,000 professional fighters who could fight against the Islamic state in Syria and Iraq. Austin downplayed the significance of this fact, emphasizing that the program is "designed to be complementary to the other things that the US has made"
However, he said he expects the number of combatants to increase over time. So far, USA She has spent in training Syrian rebels about 42 of the 500 million dollars for the program launched last April. Sen. Jeff Sessions described the program of "total failure", and added that it is "too late to react to this failure." Senator John McCane, meanwhile, criticized the report of General Austin: "I have never seen such a remote assessment of reality, of the opinions of experts, as you have done," he said.
Only four or five Syrian rebels trained by the US. for combating Islamic State still fighting in that war-torn country, US General Lloyd Austin, the head of Central Command US Army told Congress Wednesday
Everything about this topic
In a speech before the Senate Committee on Armed Services, General Austin acknowledged that the training program of the Syrian armed forces by military experts in Washington will not be performed on time, reports canalABC. When asked by the current number of US-trained Syrian fighters, Austin lamented: "They unascuatro or five people".
The military said that US will not be achieved before the scheduled date, the end of December, the objective of forming a unit of more than 5,000 professional fighters who could fight against the Islamic state in Syria and Iraq. Austin downplayed the significance of this fact, emphasizing that the program is "designed to be complementary to the other things that the US has made"
However, he said he expects the number of combatants to increase over time. So far, USA She has spent in training Syrian rebels about 42 of the 500 million dollars for the program launched last April. Sen. Jeff Sessions described the program of "total failure", and added that it is "too late to react to this failure." Senator John McCane, meanwhile, criticized the report of General Austin: "I have never seen such a remote assessment of reality, of the opinions of experts, as you have done," he said.
