Week ahead: Syrian opposition scores in Senate defense bill

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of May 26.
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
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Julian Pecquet
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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.

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