- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Analyst Blames US for Failing to Stop Funding Syrian Mercenaries

© AFP 2023 / OMAR HAJ KADOURRebel fighters fire a heavy machine gun during clashes with Syrian pro-government forces on the frontline facing Deir al-Zoghb, a government-held area in the northwestern Idlib province, on August 31, 2015
Rebel fighters fire a heavy machine gun during clashes with Syrian pro-government forces on the frontline facing Deir al-Zoghb, a government-held area in the northwestern Idlib province, on August 31, 2015 - Sputnik International
Subscribe
The aim of Washington's program to train the forces that are going against ISIL is to deliver arms to the Syrian opposition forces trying to topple President Assad, according to Scott Bennett, a former US Army officer and counterterrorism analyst.

Migrants rush to board a train in the eastern-Croatia town of Tovarnik, close to the border between Croatia and Serbia on September 18, 2015 - Sputnik International
World
ISIL Thugs May Swarm Europe if EU Refuses to Cooperate With Syria
In an interview with Sputnik, former US Army officer and counterterrorism analyst Scott Bennett said that the ultimate goal of Washington's program to train groups in the Middle East to fight the Islamic State is to supply arms to the Syrian opposition forces who are seeking to oust President Bashar Assad. Furthermore, he claims the US has supplied ISIL itself.

"The US is delivering weapons, ammunition and food to the Islamic State forces. It is an operation to use ISIL mercenaries as a destabilizing force [in Syria]," Bennett said.

He warned that Pandora's Box has already been opened and that these mercenary forces had turned into a "toxic residue" in Syria's political landscape.

© AFP 2023 / ZEIN AL-RIFAAn unidentified photographer stands next to rebel fighters from Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam) holding a position behind a sand barrier on August 25, 2015, on the frontline in the Bashkoy area, on the northern outskirts of Aleppo, where opposition fighters are battling Syrian pro-government forces
An unidentified photographer stands next to rebel fighters from Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam) holding a position behind a sand barrier on August 25, 2015, on the frontline in the Bashkoy area, on the northern outskirts of Aleppo, where opposition fighters are battling Syrian pro-government forces - Sputnik International
An unidentified photographer stands next to rebel fighters from Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam) holding a position behind a sand barrier on August 25, 2015, on the frontline in the Bashkoy area, on the northern outskirts of Aleppo, where opposition fighters are battling Syrian pro-government forces

He also slammed Washington's Middle East policy and touted Russia's role in defeating Islamic State militants, a task that he said the White House has failed to implement.

 "I really hope that Vladimir Putin' Russian influence in attacking ISIL will help create a coalition of unified countries with the honest desire and ambition to defeat the fanatics," Bennett said.

Additionally, he urged the United States to stop funding mercenaries, which he said Washington "amazingly fails to do."

Syria’s UN ambassador on Wednesday said Russia had every right to carry out airstrikes against the Islamic State militants in his country - Sputnik International
Syria Says Russia Has Every Right to Combat Islamic State on Its Soil
He referred to classified reports about a number of Gulf countries which are allegedly laundering money in Swiss banks, which were then handed to jihadists.

Last year, the Obama administration announced a program on training Syrian rebel fighters to combat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Earlier this week, General Lloyd Austin, head of the US military's Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Washington's training program is behind schedule, and that the military's target of training 15,000 rebels in three years will not be met on time. It has only trained several so far.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала