General Lloyd Austin, the head of US Central Command wants to once again try and train Syrian fighters to battle Islamic State (ISIS) in their country.
He said, according to Reuters, that it would not be a repeat of the $500 million train-and-equip program which was scrapped last year in favour of increased support to the Kurdish-majority Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who are leading the fight against ISIS in Syria's northeast.
Austin told a Senate hearing on Tuesday that he wants to introduce a new program saying that he has "asked for permission to restart the effort using a different approach."
His different approach, he explained, would see the United States training smaller groups of fighters as opposed to building entire units from scratch.
"As we introduce those people back into the fight, they will be able to enable the larger groups that they're a part of," he said.
He also told the Senate hearing that he gave his recommendations to the Pentagon about what the US should contribute to speed up operations "as we look towards Raqqa and Mosul."
Austin said he providing even more assistance to their allies on the ground in both Iraq and Syria and increasing "some elements of the special operations footprint."
US special forces have been operating in both Iraq and Syria coordinating airstrikes and training allied forces on the ground.
He said, according to Reuters, that it would not be a repeat of the $500 million train-and-equip program which was scrapped last year in favour of increased support to the Kurdish-majority Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who are leading the fight against ISIS in Syria's northeast.
Austin told a Senate hearing on Tuesday that he wants to introduce a new program saying that he has "asked for permission to restart the effort using a different approach."
His different approach, he explained, would see the United States training smaller groups of fighters as opposed to building entire units from scratch.
"As we introduce those people back into the fight, they will be able to enable the larger groups that they're a part of," he said.
He also told the Senate hearing that he gave his recommendations to the Pentagon about what the US should contribute to speed up operations "as we look towards Raqqa and Mosul."
Austin said he providing even more assistance to their allies on the ground in both Iraq and Syria and increasing "some elements of the special operations footprint."
US special forces have been operating in both Iraq and Syria coordinating airstrikes and training allied forces on the ground.
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