U.S. nowhere in fielding rebel force in Syria

Jim Michaels | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — As Syria enters a fifth year of civil war, a U.S. plan to build a force of "moderate" rebels to overthrow President Bashar Assad's regime is still far from the field.

The White House announced eight months ago that it will create the opposition force, yet not a single fighter has been trained and the Pentagon still hasn't determined how to protect the rebels if they come under attack from Assad's military.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter acknowledged to Congress this week that the effort to train and equip rebels "is just getting off the ground."

Building a reliable ground force of "moderate" rebels in Syria is a key part of the Obama administration's strategy to counter the expansion of the Islamic State in the region.

As the fighting in Syria has grown from a popular revolt against Assad to a bloody and spreading civil war, the United States is finding itself with fewer options to stem the fighting. Its bombing of Islamic State targets has slowed the expansion of the militants, but that has only strengthened Assad's grip on power, since the extremists are the regime's strongest opponents.

The moderate rebels the U.S. wants to recruit have been pushed further to the sidelines in a war that has killed more than 200,000 people. "Most of the moderates aren't in Syria anymore," said Aram Nerguizian, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank.

Supporters of the White House strategy say the goal is to build a strong local force so American ground troops won't be needed. An enduring transformation in Syria "is not going to take place if the United States just comes in and were to knock out (the Islamic State) and that's it," Secretary of State John Kerry said. "We're not getting suckered into that."

The Pentagon said it will build a force of between 15,000 and 16,000 fighters over three years. Training is expected to begin sometime this spring in the region, where American troops are beginning to prepare training bases.

The force will initially be trained to protect towns and villages. Over time it may be trained and equipped for offensive operations, the Pentagon has said.

Finding moderates has not been easy because their ranks have been badly mauled by extremists groups, such as the Islamic State.

The Pentagon said it identified about 1,200 potential recruits and about 100 of them so far have passed background checks designed to weed out extremists.

Still to be resolved is how to support the force when attacked. A U.S.-led coalition has launched more than 1,200 airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria, but it is not authorized to target Assad's forces, even though President Obama has called for Assad to step aside.

U.S. military officials acknowledge that providing adequate protection for the rebels is essential. "The program won't succeed unless they believe themselves to have a reasonable chance of survival," Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned Congress this week.