The
top American commander in the Middle East told the Senate Armed
Services Committee that the United States would not reach its goal of
training 5,000 Syrian fighters anytime soon.
Congress Questions General on Syria
Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, the head of
the United States Central Command, told a Senate panel that only a very
small number of Syrian fighters trained by the United States remained
in the fight.
By REUTERS
WASHINGTON
— Only four or five Syrian individuals trained by the United States
military to confront the Islamic State remain in the fight, the head of
the United States Central Command told a Senate panel on Wednesday, a
bleak acknowledgment that the Defense Department’s $500 million program
to raise an army of Syrian fighters has gone nowhere.
