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| First U.S. troops head to Middle East to train Syrian opposition | |
| 2015-01-24 | |
| [Rooters] Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the first group of about 100 U.S. troops to head to the Middle East in the next few days to establish training sites for Syrian opposition fighters battling Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... bully boys, the Pentagon said on Friday. Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said the troops, mostly special operations forces, were authorized last week and would begin arriving in countries outside Syria in the coming days, with a subsequent wave of several hundred military trainers following in the weeks thereafter. The U.S. focus in the campaign against Islamic State has been mainly on Iraq, with the exception of a large number of air strikes to support Kurdish fighters trying to prevent the takeover of the Syrian town of Kobani near the Turkish border. Kirby said on Friday that Kurdish forces now control about 70 percent of Kobani, which was seen a few months ago as being near collapse, with much of it in the hands of Islamic State. He said the advanced element of U.S. forces headed to establish training sites amounted to fewer than 100 troops. "They're going to ... take a look at what's there and prepare for further deployments," Kirby said. Turkey, Qatar ...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates... and Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... have offered to host sites where U.S. forces could train members of the Syrian opposition to fight Islamic State and provide security in their home communities. Kirby did not say where exactly the first training sites were located. The U.S. military has said it is planning to send more than 400 troops for the training mission and several hundred support forces for a total of about 1,000 or more. Kirby said last week that several hundred foreign military troops were also expected to act as trainers, including forces from the host countries. He said on Friday that active recruitment of Syrian trainees had not started, although U.S. military officials have been discussing the matter with Syrian groups. U.S. officials have said if the current momentum continues, training could begin in the spring, with the first trainees returning to Syria at year's end. Officials plan to train 5,000 Syrian fighters a year for three years.
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| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #2 "I'se regusted!" Kingfisher quote from 'Amos & Andy'. |
| Posted by: borgboy 2015-01-24 16:56 |
| #1 These U.S. troops wearing boots? They using hover-boards? You know what that means. |
| Posted by: AlanC 2015-01-24 12:10 |