US: Up to 12,000-15,000 Militant Force Needed to Retake Syria’s East

Local Editor

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, said on Friday that a Syrian militant force of 12,000 to 15,000 will be needed to defeat so-called "Daesh" [ISIL] militants in the country's east, three times the number of militants due to be trained by the United States.

This is while the Pentagon outlined the first steps in a US-led training program that could run several years.

The Pentagon said its assessment teams have already arrived in Saudi Arabia to help map out a US-led program there expected to train more than 5,000 Western-backed opposition militants in the first year.

Dempsey meanwhile said that building up a viable [militant] force on the ground would be a vital part of pushing back the Daesh group in Syria -- but warned it would take time and patience.

He said though that the current plan for 5,000 recruits to be trained and armed by American instructors was never intended to represent the total number of troops forming the so-called "moderate" rebel forces.

"We've had estimates anywhere from 12,000 to 15,000 is what we believe they would need to recapture lost territory in eastern Syria," Dempsey told a news conference at the Pentagon.

"Five thousand has never been the end state...," he said.

The general said defeating the Daesh group would take more than air power and that "a ground component" was an important aspect of the US-led campaign.

"Yes, there has to be a ground component to the campaign against ISIL in Syria," he stated.

It was the first time Washington had put a number on how big a militant force might be required in Syria.

"We believe the path to develop that is the Syrian [so-‘called] "moderate" opposition," he said.

The general said he was "confident" the training effort would be successful but pleaded for patience.

"We have to do it right. Not fast," he said.

The US Congress recently last week approved a plan from US President Barack Obama to train and equip up to 5,000 so-called "moderate" militant troops. The plan is expected to cost $500 million in its first year. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has offered to host the training.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team