07-08-2015, 09:56 PM
Well, today's publicly-released low numbers are news to me, but don't really surprise me Tiki. It's disappointing though, for sure.
I know that Kurds from Iraq were allowed to pass through Turkey and got some additional training before crossing into Syria, but those certainly can't be counted as Syrian rebels.
Honestly, I don't blame the Syrian refugees all that much for running instead of fighting. I really believe that most Syrians were happy before the momentum of Arab Springs in Egypt and other countries incited "rebels" in Syria to follow suit.
I wish Assad had been more moderate in his initial response to the uprisings. But, what's done is done. He came down too heavy, the rebels gained some members, and IMO the whole country went to shit when regional Islamic terrorists saw an opportunity to exploit the confusion and upheaval and swarmed in to pursue a lucrative land grab. It may well have been a very good thing if Syrian citizens had the right to bear arms. The potential for infiltration is one reason I support the second amendment in today's environment.
Anyway, who/what would the Syrian refugees really be fighting for/against? I don't think they even know; they're just trying to stay alive and get their families out of the line of three-way fire. I'd guess they don't want to sign up to kill or die when they don't even know who they're killing or dying for.
It sounds like there were, in fact, thousands of 'moderate rebel' candidates for the training in Turkey as Obama claimed 7 months ago. It doesn't surprise me one bit that most had fought with the "terrorist" forces previously though; I think I discussed that assumption in the "Syria" thread a couple of years back.
So, either Obama and company were surprised and gravely underestimated the incestuous nature of the fighters (something even a casual observer like me could clearly see), or he lied about the number of QUALIFIED fighters expected to be trained. Either way, it reflects very poorly on Obama and his administration.
I know that Kurds from Iraq were allowed to pass through Turkey and got some additional training before crossing into Syria, but those certainly can't be counted as Syrian rebels.
Honestly, I don't blame the Syrian refugees all that much for running instead of fighting. I really believe that most Syrians were happy before the momentum of Arab Springs in Egypt and other countries incited "rebels" in Syria to follow suit.
I wish Assad had been more moderate in his initial response to the uprisings. But, what's done is done. He came down too heavy, the rebels gained some members, and IMO the whole country went to shit when regional Islamic terrorists saw an opportunity to exploit the confusion and upheaval and swarmed in to pursue a lucrative land grab. It may well have been a very good thing if Syrian citizens had the right to bear arms. The potential for infiltration is one reason I support the second amendment in today's environment.
Anyway, who/what would the Syrian refugees really be fighting for/against? I don't think they even know; they're just trying to stay alive and get their families out of the line of three-way fire. I'd guess they don't want to sign up to kill or die when they don't even know who they're killing or dying for.
It sounds like there were, in fact, thousands of 'moderate rebel' candidates for the training in Turkey as Obama claimed 7 months ago. It doesn't surprise me one bit that most had fought with the "terrorist" forces previously though; I think I discussed that assumption in the "Syria" thread a couple of years back.
So, either Obama and company were surprised and gravely underestimated the incestuous nature of the fighters (something even a casual observer like me could clearly see), or he lied about the number of QUALIFIED fighters expected to be trained. Either way, it reflects very poorly on Obama and his administration.