'Fundamental fallacy' in Obama's plan to arm Syrian rebels? - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Julian Pecquet

Julian Pecquet

Sep 16, 2014

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel (L) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey look at a map showing Islamic State ambition as they testify during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on U.S. policy toward Iraq and Syria and the threat posed by the Islamic State on Capitol Hill in Washington September 16, 2014. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR46G9S — US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel (L) and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey look at a map showing the Islamic State's territorial ambitions as they testify during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Sept. 16, 2014. — REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Syria's president Bashar al-Assad speaks during his meeting with the heads and members of public organizations and professional associations in Damascus, Syria, in this handout released by Syria's national news agency SANA on July 26, 2015. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Sunday the army had been forced to give up areas in order to hold onto more important ones in its fight with insurgents, and the scale of the war meant the military faced a manpower shortage. REUTERS/SANA/Handout via Reuters

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Congress rethinks anti-Assad stance

Julian Pecquet

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) (2ndL) and ranking member Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) (2ndR) listen to testimony by U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter (C) about operations against the Islamic State, on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 28, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst - RTX2C2J5

Congress inches closer to handing Pentagon $350 million for Syrian rebels

Julian Pecquet

Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) walk past a house on the outskirts of the town of al-Shadadi in the northeastern Syrian province of Hasakeh, on February 19, 2016.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance dominated by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), seized on Friday the town of al-Shadadi, a bastion of the Islamic State group (IS) in the Hasakeh province, in northeastern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. / AFP / Delil souleiman (Photo cre

Will Congress rein in US support for Syrian Kurds?

Julian Pecquet

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaks next to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, U.S. Army General Martin Dempsey during the House Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, November 13, 2014. REUTERS/Larry Downing (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CONFLICT) - RTR4E1FT

Hagel: Taking out Assad won't put IS 'back in the box'

Julian Pecquet