US Troops Arrive in Syria to 'Train' Rebels. Opinions?

2015-11-27T19:10:09-05:00

First US soldiers arrive in Kobane (controlled by our long time friends, the Kurds). Russian news sites are eating this up after Obama said he wouldn't put boots on the ground. Some people say the window of opportunity has already passed. I say the US can still make a big difference if we go in with a clear mission statement and a clear exit strategy. If we don't go in with that mindset, then we will be in for another long one. Check out the link for more information.

BEIRUT: U.S. soldiers are in Kobani, the town in northern Syria nearly destroyed in fierce fighting with ISIS, to train Kurdish forces to battle the extremists, Kurdish sources said Thursday.

Mustapha Abdi, an activist in the town on the Turkish border, told AFP the American instructors had arrived "in recent hours" in what is the first official deployment of U.S. ground troops in Syria.

A source with the Kurdish People's Protection Units said the Americans would help plan offensives on two Syrian cities held by ISIS -- Jarablus and the extremists' Syrian "capital", Raqqa.

At the same time, they would have a role in coordinating with the Kurds and their Arab and Syriac Christian allies on the ground airstrikes on ISIS by the U.S.-led coalition, the YPG source said.

Abdi said that the troops who had arrived were a "first group of instructors" who would train the Kurds.

There was no immediate information on how many of them had arrived or to what branch, or branches, of the military they belong.

The news comes after Brett McGurk, President Barack Obama's special envoy to the coalition, said Sunday that U.S. forces would be arriving on the ground "very soon".

At the end of October, Obama authorized the deployment of 50 special operations troops to Syria, and McGurk said their job would be to "organise" local forces.

A key objective will be to "isolate" Raqqa, he said.

The alliance of local fighters has already retaken more than 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) from ISIS and killed around 300 ISIS fighters, McGurk said.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2015/Nov-26/324765-us-soldiers-in-syria-to-back-anti-isis-kurds-kurdish-sources.ashx

First US soldiers arrive in Syria: Kurdish source

U.S. soldiers are in Kobani, the town in northern Syria nearly destroyed in fierce fighting with ISIS, to train Kurdish forces to battle the extremists, Kurdish sources said Thursday.

Response by LTC Stephen F. made Nov 27 at 2015 8:18 PM

2015-11-27T20:18:57-05:00

If we are training the [peshmerga or another Kurdish group which has proved itself in the fight against ISIS then this is a good thing SSG Private RallyPoint Member. The Kurds and peshmerga have sided with us since we operated the northern no-fly zone after Desert Storm.
They have proven to be indomitable and true allies unlike the Syrian and Iraqi groups which have shifted sides periodically.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Nov 27 at 2015 9:23 PM

2015-11-27T21:23:49-05:00

I don't think FSA is as robust as ISIS and Assad's forces.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 28 at 2015 6:12 AM

2015-11-28T06:12:53-05:00

https://www.rt.com/usa/323744-obama-ndaa-ukraine-syria/

Further information

Obama signs NDAA, approving $800 million aid to ‘moderate’ Syrians, Kiev

President Barack Obama has signed the Pentagon funding bill giving $800 million in aid to both “moderate rebels” in Syria and the Kiev regime. Obama also vowed to work around provisions blocking the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

Response by SPC Byron Skinner made Nov 30 at 2015 5:41 PM

2015-11-30T17:41:10-05:00

Sp4. Byron Skinner. Kobane is a rather interesting place according to Central Command Daily BDA the city of Kobane has been hit by US air strikes daily since last Fall (2014) When the Islamic State took the city. This is the battle where al Baghdadi's 10 year old son was killed fighting side by side with his father. Of course every body but the CIA and the DNA know that al Bagadadi was assented a years ago this month in Mosul where he was to attend a meeting along with daash Leadership and they did a Shakespeare Julius Caesar number on him. Al Baghdadi's barely living body was drug tied to the bumper of a Toyota SUV to a clearing where he took a direct hit from a AIM 114 Hellfire from a drone. There wasn't enough left of al Baghdadi's body for the CIA to get a finger for positive ID. The balk of Islamist State fight fighters departed Kobane in January. Since the then Kurds have been fighting a small number of stay behinds and their own shadows.