Earlier, the New York Times reported that Obama administration had decided to terminate the training and arming program of the Syrian opposition fighters. The Pentagon had planned to allocate 500 million dollars for the continuation of the training. This decision, as reported by the representatives of the Obama administration, was made in connection with the program's failure.
“From the beginning I was skeptical about the idea that we are going to create the quasi-army in Syria. My goal was to test the idea of whether we can teach and provide (arming) to the moderate opposition, who wanted to fight with Islamic State. Consequently, we realized that while Assad is in power, it is very tough to get these guys to focus on ISIL,” Obama said during the ‘60 Minutes’ show on CBS.
Talking about why the United States did not gave up on the idea immediately; Obama said that it was important for them to consider all the available options.
Pentagon chief Ashton Carter said on Friday that the United States may decide to revise training programs for opposition fighters opposing President Assad in Syria.
The White House then made it clear that the US' strategy had been revised and it will work with those groups that are already at war with ISIL. This means the US will provide the Syrian opposition with military equipment that will allow them to operate more efficiently, with the support of US air strikes.
