Week ahead: Syrian opposition scores in Senate defense bill

Julian Pecquet

May 23, 2014

Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) (L) and Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) (R) of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hold a meeting with Syrian National Coalition president Ahmad Jarba (C) at the U.S. Capitol in Washington May 7, 2014. U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to meet Jarba during his visit to Washington over the next week, a White House official said on Tuesday. Jarba, who is in Washington through May 14, will meet with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED — Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., (L) and Robert Menendez, D-N.J., (R) of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hold a meeting with Syrian National Coalition President Ahmad Jarba (C) at the US Capitol in Washington, May 7, 2014. — REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

The Syrian opposition's recent lobbying blitz on Capitol Hill is beginning to pay off, with the Senate's defense bill recognizing the Western-backed rebels as a US ally in the war on terror.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) "authorizes the Secretary of Defense to provide equipment, training, supplies, and defense services to assist vetted members of the Syrian opposition," according to a summary of the bill released May 23.