Story highlights General Thomas said the decision was not made to appease Russia which supports Assad

He also claimed coalition has killed 60-70,000 ISIS fighters

(CNN) A senior US general has confirmed that the US has ended a classified CIA program to arm anti-Assad rebels in Syria.

Appearing at the Aspen Security Forum on Friday, General Raymond Thomas, head of US Special Operations Command, said the decision was not made to appease Russia which supports Assad.

"From at least what I know about that program and the decision to end it, absolutely not a sop to the Russians," Thomas said. "It was I think based on an assessment of the nature of the program, what we're trying to accomplish, the viability of it going forward and it was a tough tough decision."

John Brennan, who served as director of the CIA under President Barack Obama was also asked about the decision at Aspen by CNN's Elise Labott. He did not talk about the specifics of the program, but he said the anti-Assad rebels deserve US support.

Thomas went on to offer extended comments on a number of national security and military matters at Aspen.

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