Issues Under Fire: The Syrian Rebels and Another Lost Cause

Issues Under Fire: The Syrian Rebels and Another Lost Cause 

As Russian, Iranian and Hezollah forces prepare for a major ground operation against "the terrorist", the so-called Syrian rebels now stands in the crossfire of every major player in the region. Fighting ISIS on one front, al-Nusera on another (from time to time) and Assad and company on still another, its little wonder why the Pentagon's Syrian rebel training program failed miserably. All things considered, this was Mission Impossible from the word go!  

How the Obama administration could possibly believe it would find 5-15 thousand volunteers (suckers) to sign up to be U.S. approved cannon fodder with no clear endgame in view was wishful thinking at best. Without the willingness to fully support the Syrian opposition with everything they needed to defeat Assad's military, the United States was only sending a bunch of Syrian stooges into a Halal meat grinder. 

Knowing that level of support would never be provided due to the Obama administration's promise to steer clear of another U.S. military conflict, the most the Syrian opposition could have ever expected, was light arms and munitions, ineffective air strikes, humanitarian aid, U.S. government surplus stuff, with logistical support. And of course, more training. Hence, since the Syrian opposition fighters can't trust or rely on the United States to back them to win, many are fleeing the region to avoid certain death or worse.  

Given the fact that the United States didn't even trust the Syrian opposition enough to provide them anymore than would be needed to stay alive to fight another day, the U.S. strategy was anything but foolproof. No matter how much the rebel fighters screamed and pleaded for heavy weapons to defend themselves with, the United States feared those weapons would end up in the hands of the opposition's opposition. And they did! 

Now that the Russians are on the scene, Western powers will find themselves treading far more lighting in the region as to avoid battlefield miscues. With Russian sorties blanketing the skies and Russian troops on the ground supporting Assad's army, while the United States insist upon remaining in country in force, can only lead to a very predictable disaster. Lets face it, we have France, the United States, Russia and Israel all fighting in Syria at the same time and all with nuclear arsenals  of their own. Who know where this could go. 

Bottom line: The extent of this humanitarian tragedy could have been mitigated if only the United States told the Syrian opposition the truth. The truth is, the rebels couldn't defeat the Assad government in a million years with all the support he would eventually receive from his allies. The Obama administrations should have told the rebels the United States would never match the level of support. The Obama administration should have advised the rebels to cut a deal because the U.S. was in no position to do anymore than what was being done. Podcast below!