WASINGTON, December 3 (Sputnik) — The US military is awaiting funding approval from Congress before it can start vetting and recruiting moderate Syrian opposition forces to fight Islamic State jihadist group in Syria and Iraq, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
“We have not begun an active recruiting and vetting program,” Pentagon spokesperson Rear Adm. John Kirby said at a press briefing. “
As we are developing the criteria, guidelines and finalizing infrastructure requirements, we also do need to get the funding that goes with the authorization to actually execute the vetting process,” he said, referring to Congress’ power to authorize funding.
The Pentagon, which would lead the training program along with international partners, is currently crafting criteria for properly vetting fighters to train and to continuously assess them as they progress throughout the program, the spokesperson said, adding that the US military has evaluated possible training sites in Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
“There has been some movement in terms of the crafting criteria for vetting,” Kirby said.
IS Sunni extremist group, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), was fighting against Syrian President Bashar Assad before it started launching attacks in northern and western Iraq in June.
In August, the United States started launching airstrikes against IS positions in Iraq. In September, attacks by the United States and its allies were extended to Syria.
In September, the US Congress temporarily authorized US President Barack Obama’s plan to arm, equip and train moderate Syrian rebels to fight against IS group in Syria and Iraq. The action was included in a $1 trillion continuing resolutionб which would fund overall government operations until December 11. However, Congress has not approved long-term funding for the train-and-equip program, which could be authorized next week by Congress before the December 11 deadline.
