The language would boost Syrian rebels without committing the U.S. to send troops. W.H. seeks to boost Syrian rebels

The White House is circulating a proposal for new authority to arm and equip Syrian rebels, deepening U.S. involvement in the battle against Islamic militants.

The move would force lawmakers to take a position on a key element of the White House’s soon-to-be-unveiled strategy to confront the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. President Barack Obama will lay out a detailed plan against ISIL during a prime-time speech to the nation on Wednesday night as the growing turmoil in the Middle East increasingly dominates the national debate ahead of the midterm elections.


The language the administration is considering would prop up Syrian rebels without committing the U.S. to sending ground troops into Syria.

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“Without an anomaly, the Department of Defense’s ability to begin a program to train and equip appropriately vetted Syrian opposition fighters would be delayed, affecting the Administration’s overall efforts to degrade ISIL and help bring about an end to the conflict,” according to a copy of the White House summary obtained by POLITICO.

The issue was raised at a private White House meeting Tuesday between Obama and congressional leaders, sources said. The effort will put the administration’s strategy under further congressional scrutiny during an election year. If there’s a stand-alone vote on the measure, that could open up White House foreign policy to congressional debate and put vulnerable Democrats in a bind by making them take a stand on the issue. Defense hawks, meanwhile, would have a new issue to push the administration on.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid backed the effort on Wednesday.

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“It’s clear to me that we need to train and equip Syrian rebels and other groups in the Middle East,” Reid said on the floor. “It’s called Title 10 authority. The president has tried to get that from use and we should give it to him. That’s one way of helping to build an international coalition. Congress should do that.”

During the Tuesday meeting, Obama told the leaders that he doesn’t need congressional authority to launch airstrikes against ISIL. But the White House argues in its proposal that Congress needs to give Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel the authority through September 2015 to help the Syrian rebels “stabilize areas under opposition control and facilitate the provision of essential services, defend the United States, its friends and allies, and the Syrian people from the threats posed by terrorists in Syria, and promote conditions for a negotiated settlement,” the plan says.

The White House wants this measure included in a stop-gap spending bill under consideration by Congress but is open to the plan moving separately.

At the meeting, Obama told the leaders “that he has use-of-force authority he needs to carry out the mission he will outline” Wednesday night, a White House official said. “But he needs them to pass [the new authority] before they leave.”

Obama also noted the U.S. doesn’t need additional money for the effort at this point, the official said.

A House GOP leadership aide was cool to the White House proposal.

“This isn’t a new request, and it has thus far faced bipartisan opposition,” the aide said.