Ethos America: US Cuts Aid to Syrian "Rebel Group" for Fighting Assad Regime

On new orders from President Donald Trump, the U.S. military for the first time has cut ties to a Syrian rebel group for doing what the CIA initially trained and equipped them to do -- fight the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.


"They were a partner force of ours, and we can no longer support them because they don't want to fight ISIS," Army Col. Ryan Dillon said of the Shuhada al-Qaryatayn (Martyrs of Qaryatayn) group that was part of the so-called Vetted Syrian Opposition backed by the U.S.

"This is the first time" that the U.S. has cut support for a Syrian opposition group, Dillon, a spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve, said in a video briefing from Baghdad to the Pentagon.

• "We are in the process of ceasing our support," and discussions were underway to get back weapons and other equipment supplied by the U.S. to the group, Dillon said. "We are going to retrieve some of the equipment we provided to them to fight ISIS."

He said U.S. policy now is to give support only to groups committed to fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

• Shuhada al-Qaryatayn violated the policy by leaving the Al Tanf base [?!] in Syria near the Jordanian border on a different mission, Dillon said.

The rebel group "wanted to pursue other objectives, and those objectives were not consistent with fighting ISIS," he said.

"Fighting the regime could be one of those objectives," said Dillon, who declined to be more definitive.
 [military.com]
27/7/17
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