Petraeus, Crocker push Congress on Syria vote
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By Kristina Wong - 09/17/14 01:16 PM EDT
Ahead of a key House vote, prominent former U.S. diplomatic and military officials are urging Congress to approve President Obama’s plan to train and equip moderate Syrian opposition rebels to fight the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
"We write to express our strong support for Congressional authorization of the provision of assistance and training to properly vetted members of the Syrian opposition," former Ambassadors Ryan C. Crocker and Robert S. Ford and retired Gens. Jack M. Keane and David Petraeus wrote in a letter to House Armed Services Committee leadership.
"The Free Syrian Army (FSA) is simultaneously fighting both the murderous regime of Bashar al-Assad and the barbaric [ISIS]," they wrote in the letter, released by Chairman Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) on Wednesday.
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The effort, a key component of Obama’s strategy against ISIS, would entail U.S. military advisers training more than 5,000 Syrian rebels over a year.
The program would need six to eight months to be established, and results would be seen in the eight- to 12-month timeframe, defense officials say.
Lawmakers, however, doubt whether the program is a good idea, and say the weapons provided to the rebels could fall into enemy hands, or that the trained rebels could go after Syrian leader Bashar Assad instead of ISIS.
The support from Crocker, a former ambassador to Iraq, Ford, a former ambassador to Syria, Keane, a former Army vice chief of staff, and Petraeus, a former top commander in Iraq, could help the White House sell the program.
"Building up the moderate opposition in Syria will be a key element of any successful strategy against ISIS. To be sure, after three years of war, it will take a long time to build the moderate opposition. But there is no viable alternative. The United States must set to this task immediately," they wrote.
The former officials cautioned that the measure would not hinder a future vote on authorizing broader military force, or from future congressional consideration of the program as "conditions on the ground evolve."
"But time is of the essence, and we are convinced of the urgent need for Congress to authorize this effort," they wrote.
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