US Deciding to Train, Equip Syrian ‘FSA’ Militants in Jordan

Local Editor

The White House may soon sign off on a project to train and equip militant forces to be sent to Syria, in an open move that would significantly boost US support to Syrian militants seeking military help in their quest against the Syrian government, US administration officials said on Tuesday.

US President Barack Obama is weighing sending a limited number of US troops to Jordan to be part of a regional training mission that would instruct carefully vetted members of the so-called "Free Syrian Army" on tactics, including "counterterrorism" operations, administration officials said.

The proposed mission would be coordinated by the US but would involve many of the regional countries active in assisting the militants in Syria, including Turkey, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, the officials said.

The State Department declined to comment on the proposed train and equip program on Tuesday.

In a foreign policy speech on Wednesday to the US Military Academy, Obama is expected to frame Syria as a "counterterrorism" challenge and indicate that he will expand assistance to the opposition, according to the officials.
They added that he is not likely to announce the specific program, which is still being finalized.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss administration deliberations by name.

Last week, the Senate Armed Services Committee passed a bill that authorizes the War Department to provide training and equipment to vetted elements of the Syrian opposition.

The US has already spent $287 million so far in "nonlethal aid" on Syria's crisis.

The expected announcement follows discussions between the US and Jordan, whereby Jordan recently expelled the Syrian ambassador as part of what is planned to be an escalation in the effort to isolate al-Assad, who is running for re-election in a June election that the US and its allies have condemned.

The US currently has about 1,500 military troops in Jordan, in addition to the approximately 6,000 that recently arrived there for a limited time to participate in the recent Eager Lion military exercise. Following last year's military exercise, the US left a detachment of F-16 fighter jets and a Patriot missile battery there and about 1,000 personnel associated with the aircraft and the missile system. There also is a staff of about 400 US military in Jordan.

Moreover, small teams of US special operations forces also have rotated in and out of Jordan conducting exercises with Jordanian and Iraqi commandos. The last session was last month [April] while another is scheduled for this June.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team