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REYHANLI, Turkey — Western-backed “moderate” rebels fighting jihadists in Syria are refusing to do battle and even defecting for lack of weapons and other promised support, leaders said.

Despite President Barack ‘s strategy, outlined last month, to arm and fund rebels to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) and the Assad regime, arms supplies remained at a trickle, they said.

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Even when they received weapons heavier than rifles, they came encumbered with bureaucracy.

“We decide on the mission that we want to do. Then we apply to the operations room for the weapons. If they agree with our military plan, some weapons arrive,” said a commander with the nom de guerre Abu Ahmed.

“If we receive Tow anti-tank missiles, we have to film every time we use one to prove that we haven’t sold it on.”

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The conditions are imposed because of America’s long-standing fear that weapons provided to the “moderate” rebels will end up in the hands of jihadists.