Anti-IS coalition's 'train-and-equip' program not enough
The problem with the US-led coalition's "train-and-equip" program is not finding committed soldiers willing to fight but rather finding dedicated, capable leaders to command them.
One of the most significant features of the US strategy to combat the Islamic State (IS) that Secretary of State John Kerry revealed at the end of September was “training and equipping local military forces" in Iraq and Syria. President Barack Obama's administration asked the US Congress for $500 million to train local forces. According to the plan, military training at the individual level will initially be provided to Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters, Kurdish peshmerga and Iraqi Shiite militiamen. After these local forces prove themselves, the support would be expanded with the goal of stopping and then annihilating IS.
In the Iraqi arena, as was the case in 2006-2007, nine brigades of Shiite militiamen and three brigades of peshmerga would be formed as national guard units. The United States has allotted a fund of $1.6 billion to set up the brigades.
In Syria, the goal is to train in the first phase a force of about 2,000 personnel selected from the FSA and Syrian refugees in Turkey. Syrian fighters will be trained at the police academy in the central Anatolian town of Kirsehir. The United States will undertake equipping and financing the project, while training will be provided by Turkey.
According to reports leaked to the media, it is understood that the United States and Turkey are thinking of using these Syrian trainees to set up "safe havens" in Syria against IS and the regime.
