Obama administration ends $500mn program to train Syrian rebels – well yeah the Russians are just gonna blow them up...so...

https://www.rt.com/news/318107-obama-ends-syrian-rebels/

The Obama administration is set to overhaul the Defense Department's $500 million program to train and equip Syrian rebels, according to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter. The US president is expected to speak on the matter later on Friday.

Carter said during a Friday news conference in London that Washington has been "looking for several weeks at ways to improve" the program.

He added that he "wasn't satisfied with the early efforts" of the program, and that Washington is looking for "different ways to achieve the same kind of strategic objective."

"I think you'll be hearing very shortly from [President Obama] in that regard about the proposals that he has approved and that we are going to go forward with," Carter said following a meeting with his British counterpart Michael Fallon.

There's never been a president less prepared for the job... or the real world for that matter. Just fumbling in the dark.

PkrBum wrote:There's never been a president less prepared for the job... or the real world for that matter. Just fumbling in the dark.

Obama has no strategy or even the ability to formulate an outline of a strategy in the M/E. His legacy will be:

President Obama has been brilliant. If people cannot realize what Syria was always about, then it is not something I can fix. Syria almost won in the 1973 war with Israel. The stated goal of the United States and Israel has always been to weaken the Syrian State. Now add Saudi Arabia another historical staunch ally to the mix and you have America actively working and funding regime change in Syria which exploded into the Civil War.

Two years ago he kept true to the historical goal, but in the process of negotiations with Iran the President clearly saw a shift in the Paradigm. The Israelis and Saudis were supporting ISIS. ISIS was the tar baby which keeps America in the Middle East, and the President had to make a clever choice.....ambivalence toward Syria, bare minimum resistance to ISIS, open break with Israel on the Arms deal, and continued withdrawals from the region. The Soviets almost went to war and intervened in the 1973 war. The Russians were always needed to fix Syria. President Obama is giving lip service to being concerned about the Russians being there, but he is happy as a pig in chit, because it shuts down the covert actions, and it allows a path to a cease fire and stability in the country. The man is playing chess and the checker players continue to miss the point.

Obama has no strategy

That you are able to comprehend. Breaking the Israeli control over our policy in the Middle East is not a quick journey, but it is a necessary journey. We will remain strong backers of Israel, but no more children and wealth being poured down the rabbit hole.

2seaoat wrote:Obama has no strategy

That you are able to comprehend.   Breaking the Israeli control over our policy in the Middle East is not a quick journey, but it is a necessary journey.   We will remain strong backers of Israel, but no more children and wealth being poured down the rabbit hole.

There is no "strategy" to understand. If you believe otherwise you haven't been paying attention.

I have written papers and studied the area since 1970. I am paying attention. Clearly, on this forum, I knew the Russians must take control of Syria to return the nation state to stability. I posted the same in 2013. Lucky guess....hardly. If you do not understand the players. If you do not understand the history. You will come to the conclusion that there is chaos. There is a paradigm shift. We are getting autonomy from Israel and Saudi Arabia. We are breaking the link with MIC and there shills who want us to stay in the Middle East. President Obama has a strategy. He laid it out with clarity in 2008. We are getting out of the Middle East. The Neocons beat the drum of no strategy, because the President has quietly achieved each of his goals. We are heading for the exit, and Israel and Saudi Arabia can pay for their misdeeds themselves. Our children will no longer be sacrificed at the alter of greed, avarice, and geopolitical shell games.