Obama looking for Congress in the fight against the Islamic State
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Version 0 of 1. President Obama is making sure Congress is a partner in the escalation of U.S. involvement in the bloody Syrian civil war with a vote to approve funds to train and equip about 5,000 Syrian anti-Islamic State, anti-Assad fighters over the next year. One key problem is making certain any congressional authority does not restrict the program by setting unworkable limitations on which Syrian fighters can participate. In June 2013, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a bill that authorized the president to provide arms and military training to the Syrian opposition. However, the bill contained provisions that said, “Only units and entities that have gone through a thorough, statutorily-required vetting process by the U.S. government would be eligible for such assistance,” according to the committee’s report on the bill. Those vetting provisions required U.S. officials to assess whether the units and individuals met “certain detailed and specific criteria on human rights and terrorism, as well as whether they demonstrate clear support for civilian rule, cooperate on international counterterrorism and non-proliferation efforts, and are committed to regional stability, among other things,” according to the report. It wasn’t clear how — other than just asking the Syrians — U.S. officials could determine who met those criteria. The measure also required the Defense Department to report whether Syrian groups receiving military equipment were in adherence to U.S. chain of custody requirements — a provision clearly related to the millions of dollars worth of U.S.-provided weapons reported missing in the past by special inspectors general in both Iraq and Afghanistan. According to current and former Pentagon officials, these provisions, had the Senate panel’s bill become law, would have created almost impossible legal requirements for U.S. officials to meet during a brutal civil war — in vetting Syrian fighters and tracking weapons. Up to now, the president, along with many top military and intelligence officials, have believed any such train-and-equip program would not be successful until the hundreds of Syrian armed groups — mostly various Sunni factions — united against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s army. That hasn’t happened. Rather, the “Free Syrian Army” has struggled to unite groups while jihadists such as the al-Qaeda-connected Al Nusra Front and the Islamic State grew stronger. Publicly, the Obama administration began in February 2013 to provide $60 million in nonlethal aid to the Free Syrian Army. At the same time Washington initiated a modest CIA covert program for training vetted Syrian moderates in Jordan, which did not require public congressional support. Since then, 1,000 or more Syrians are reported to have received that training. CIA officials, however, will not discuss the vetting process. Meanwhile, the rapid and recent success of the Islamic State in Iraq — as well as its controlled areas in Syria — forced Obama this year to approve an expanded training and equipping program for Syrian moderates. It was formalized with a request to Congress in June for authority to spend $500 million in fiscal 2015, which begins Oct. 1. It’s to be carried out by Defense under Title 10 of the U.S. code, which requires legislated authorization and funding from Congress. Anticipating the Obama formal request, the Senate Armed Services Committee on June 2 approved a fiscal 2015 defense authorization bill that included a provision for the defense secretary to provide “equipment, supplies, training, and defense services to assist vetted elements of the Syrian opposition.” It contained, however, a vetting provision that said the secretary must determine that recipients of training or equipment must not be a terrorist group listed by the U.S. government and be “committed to rejecting terrorism . . . opposed to sectarian violence and revenge killings [and] committed to establishing a peaceful, pluralistic, and democratic Syria that respects the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all its citizens and committed to civilian rule, including subordinating the military to civilian authority, and rule of law for Syria.” Unlike last year’s Senate Foreign Relations bill, the Armed Services measure said the vetting should be based on “a review of available information,” which a former senior Pentagon official said meant searching current government databases. rather than doing additional inquiries. The U.S. military has gained some vetting experience over the two years it has provided non-lethal aid to Syrian groups. Along with reviewing intelligence community databases, it will work with countries such as Saudi Arabia, whose security agencies are familiar with the Syrian tribal leaders and many of those fighting. Monitoring of Syrian forces will continue as the program progresses. Vetting, Pentagon spokesman Adm. John Kirby said Friday, is “the long pole in that [training and arming] tent” that will require “a number of months before you can actually start and then . . . it’s about a year-long pipeline of training opportunities.” It’s easy to call for building up Syrian anti-Islamic State fighters, and it is another thing to get it done. All the more reason Congress must wisely balance restrictions against reality. For previous Fine Print columns, go to washingtonpost.com/fedpage. |