Saudi Arabia Indicates It Will Grant U.S. Request for Anti-ISIS Training Program
Source: NYTimes
Saudi Arabia has indicated that it would agree to an American request to provide bases to train moderate Syrian opposition fighters, American officials said on Wednesday.
Saudi willingness to host a training program comes as Secretary of State John Kerry is preparing to fly to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday morning for a high-level strategy session on how to counter to counter the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/11/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-isis.html?emc=edit_na_20140910
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/11/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-isis.html?emc=edit_na_20140910
elehhhhna
(32,076 posts)Iliyah
(25,111 posts)GOP, corporate media start your spinning.
951-Riverside
(7,234 posts)and...
Video: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/syria-arming-the-rebels/
REBEL COMMANDER: [through interpreter] They asked for a group of 80 or 90 fighters from our command, and we headed towards the Turkish border.
NARRATOR: Based on their accounts, we retraced their journey across the border into Turkey. After a 14-hour drive, they say they arrived in the Turkish capital of Ankara and were brought to a hotel. They were kept inside and questioned by Americans, who would only say they were from the military. But the rebels believed they were from the CIA.
REBEL COMMANDER: [through interpreter] We met them for six to seven hours a day. It was medical examinations, questions for each person individually, like, When did you join the uprising? And What was your profession or military rank?
They had tracked our work and asked us to verify information about attacks we carried out, such as who was present and how many men were martyred. Your responses have to match the entire groups.
NARRATOR: A week later, the rebels say they were surprised by what happened next.
REBEL COMMANDER: [through interpreter] We only found out where we were going to be trained on the last day in Ankara, when the Americans said goodbye and that, Tomorrow, well see you in Qatar.
NARRATOR: They were flown 1,500 miles away to Doha, the capital of Qatar, which is a key U.S. ally in the Persian Gulf.
REBEL COMMANDER: [through interpreter] We drove for about two, two-and-a-half hours to reach the training ground. It was close to the Saudi border. We didnt know where we were because it was desert all around.
NARRATOR: Over the course of three weeks, they say they were trained by Americans at a base in the desert guarded by Qatari soldiers. Like many of the rebels who were sent to Qatar, 21-year-old Hussein had never had any previous military training.
HUSSEIN: [through interpreter] They trained us to ambush regime or enemy vehicles and cut off the road. They also trained us on how to attack a vehicle, raid it, retrieve information or weapons and munitions, and how to finish off soldiers still alive after an ambush.
NARRATOR: The rebels were outfitted with brand-new uniforms and boots.
MUHAMMAD ALI: [subtitles] Those trousers are from them, right?
HUSSEIN: [subtitles] Yeah. We got these boots in training.
MUHAMMAD ALI: The Americans were warning the fighters not to tell this story at all. And even at one point, they told them, If in any case this story will be published, we will stop funding you or arming you.
NARRATOR: The CIA and the State Department declined to comment on the fighters accounts of arming and training, though the Obama administration has said it plans to step up support to the rebels, and there have been other reports the CIA is running covert training out of Jordan.
elehhhhna
(32,076 posts)Release the 28 pages of the 9/11 report before we do anything on behalf of Saudi. WE HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW.
daleo
(21,317 posts)I have a hunch these guys aren't really on the side of "moderation".
jamzrockz
(1,333 posts)They so want to "help" with the problem in Syria. I bet they couldn't wait for Kerry to finish talking before they agreed to setting up the terrorist, oops I meant rebel training camp in their country. The dictatorship in that country will use the trained rebels to go after the real target which is Assad.
MFrohike
(1,980 posts)Nothing insures victory like getting patrons to "turn" on their clients.