Update:
U.S. training Syrian rebels; White House 'stepped up assistance'
CIA
and U.S. military operatives have been secretly teaching Syrian
rebels how to use anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns, the Los Angeles
Times has learned. The White House refuses to confirm but says
'substantial assistance' is being provided.
WASHINGTON
— White House officials refused to comment Friday on a Los Angeles
Times report that CIA operatives and U.S. special operations troops
have been secretly training Syrian rebels with anti-tank and
anti-aircraft weapons since late last year, saying only that the U.S.
had increased its assistance to the rebellion.
The
covert U.S. training at bases in Jordan and Turkey began months
before President Obama approved plans to begin directly arming the
opposition to Syrian President Bashar Assad, according to U.S.
officials and rebel commanders.
“We
have stepped up our assistance, but I cannot inventory for you all
the elements of that assistance,” White House Press Secretary Jay
Carney said. “We have provided and will continue to provide
substantial assistance to the Syrian opposition, as well as the
Supreme Military Council.”
The
Supreme Military Council is the military arm of an umbrella group
that represents more moderate rebel factions, including the Free
Syrian Army.
The
training and Obama’s decision this month to supply arms and
ammunition to the rebels have raised hope among the beleaguered
opposition that Washington ultimately will provide heavier weapons as
well. So far, the rebels say they lack the weapons they need to
regain the offensive in Syria’s bitter civil war.
The
tightly constrained U.S. effort reflects Obama’s continuing doubts
about getting drawn into a conflict that already has killed more than
100,000 people and the administration’s fear that Islamic militants
now leading the war against Assad could gain control of advanced U.S.
weaponry.
The
training has involved fighters from the Free Syrian Army, a loose
confederation of rebel groups that the Obama administration has
promised to back with expanded military assistance, said a U.S.
official, who discussed the effort anonymously because he was not
authorized to disclose details.
The
number of rebels given U.S. instruction in both countries since the
program began could not be determined, but in Jordan, the training
involves 20 to 45 insurgents at a time, a rebel commander said.
U.S.
special operations teams selected the trainees over the last year
when the U.S. military set up regional supply lines to provide the
rebels with nonlethal assistance, including uniforms, radios and
medical aid.
The
two-week courses include training with Russian-designed
14.5-millimeter anti-tank rifles, anti-tank missiles, as well as
23-millimeter anti-aircraft weapons, according to a rebel commander
in the Syrian province of Dara who helps oversee weapons acquisitions
and who asked his name not be used because the program is secret.
The
training began last November at a new American base in the desert in
southwest Jordan, he said. So far, about 100 rebels from Dara have
attended four courses, while rebels from Damascus have attended three
courses, he said.
“Those
from the CIA, we would sit and talk with them during breaks from
training and afterward, they would try to get information on the
situation inside Syria," he said.
The
rebels were promised enough armor-piercing anti-tank weapons and
other arms to gain a military advantage over Assad’s
better-equipped army and security forces, said the Dara commander.
But
arms shipments from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries,
provided with assent from the Americans, took months to arrive and
included less than the rebels had expected.
Since
last year, the weapons sent through the Dara military council have
included four or five Russian-made heavy Concourse anti-tank
missiles, 18 14.5-millimeter guns mounted on the backs of pickup
trucks and 30 82-millimeter recoilless rifles. The weapons are all
Soviet or Russian models but manufactured in other countries, he
said.
“I’m
telling you, this amount of weapons, once they are spread across the
province [of Dara] is considered nothing,” the rebel commander
said. “We need more than this to tip the balance or for there to
even be a balance of power.”
U.S.
officials said the Obama administration and its allies may supply
anti-tank weapons to help the rebels destroy armored vehicles used by
Assad forces. They are less likely to provide portable anti-aircraft
missiles, which the rebels say they need to eliminate Assad’s
warplanes. U.S. officials fear those missiles would fall into the
hands of the Al Nusra front, the largest of the Islamist militias in
the rebel coalition, which the U.S. regards as an Al Qaeda ally.
Secretary
of State John F. Kerry is heading to Qatar on Saturday and will talk
with other governments backing the rebels. A senior State Department
official told reporters Friday that the talks would include
discussions about coordinating deliveries of military aid.
CIA
and White House officials declined to comment on the secret training
programs. Other U.S. officials confirmed the training, but disputed
some of the specific details provided by rebel commanders.
Brig.
Gen. Yahya Bittar, who defected as a fighter pilot from Assad’s air
force last year and is now head of intelligence for the Free Syrian
Army, said training for the last month or so has taken place in
Jordan.
The
training, conducted by American, Jordanian and French operatives,
involves rockets and anti-tank and anti-aircraft weaponry, he said.
Between
80 and 100 rebels from all over Syria have gone through the courses
in the last month, he said, but training is continuing. Graduates are
sent back across the border to rejoin the battle.
Bittar
complained that sufficient weapons had yet to arrive for the rebel
forces and said the Americans have not yet told them when they can
expect to receive additional arms.
“Just
promises, just promises,” he said.
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