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U.S. Senate approves Obama's plan to train, arm Syrian rebels
Published: 2014/9/19 10:30
International (Forat) -The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved President Barack Obama's plan to train and arm vetted Syrian rebels in the efforts to fight the ISIL militant group, a day after the House of Representatives adopted the measure.
The Senate voted 78 to 22 to give the president the authority, as part of a one-trillion-dollar package that funds the federal government through Dec. 11. That means the authority will run out by then.
The legislation will now land on Obama's desk for his signature into law.
"We're in a good position now," Senate majority leader Harry Reid said. "I think it's important that we have the ability to arm and train the rebels the way we're developing an international coalition. So I feel comfortable where we are."
The measure enables the Pentagon to vet, train and arm what Washington calls "moderate" Syrian rebels, who will then fight on the ground while U.S. warplanes carry out airstrikes on the ISIL targets inside Syria, part of a strategy unveiled by Obama on Sept. 10 for degrading and ultimately destroying the radical group running amok both in Syria and Iraq.
The U.S. military has launched air raids on the group's targets in Iraq since Aug. 8, and stepped up the operation over the weekend by hitting targets near Baghdad, the Iraqi capital.
Polls show that the Americans support the airstrikes on the Islamic State both in Iraq and Syria, but they are wary of an open- ended campaign in the region, as Obama said the battle against the group could go beyond his presidency that ends in January 2017.
"It's going to be much harder at this moment to give the president an open-ended commitment than it will be a couple of months from now," said Republican senator Roy Blunt.
As mid-term elections are only two months away, the senator said the short-term plan is "actually the better way to approach this."
In remarks delivered at the White House, Obama said he was " pleased" at Congress's vote for his training plan and at France's joining in the strikes in Iraq.
French President Francois Hollande said earlier in the day that his country was ready to launch air strikes "soon" against the ISIL fighters in Iraq.
Obama reiterated that the American military personnel deployed in Iraq "do not and will not have a combat mission." /End/
Updated: 2014/9/19 11:14
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Published: 2014/9/19 10:30
International (Forat) -The U.S. Senate on Thursday approved President Barack Obama's plan to train and arm vetted Syrian rebels in the efforts to fight the ISIL militant group, a day after the House of Representatives adopted the measure.
The Senate voted 78 to 22 to give the president the authority, as part of a one-trillion-dollar package that funds the federal government through Dec. 11. That means the authority will run out by then.
The legislation will now land on Obama's desk for his signature into law.
"We're in a good position now," Senate majority leader Harry Reid said. "I think it's important that we have the ability to arm and train the rebels the way we're developing an international coalition. So I feel comfortable where we are."
The measure enables the Pentagon to vet, train and arm what Washington calls "moderate" Syrian rebels, who will then fight on the ground while U.S. warplanes carry out airstrikes on the ISIL targets inside Syria, part of a strategy unveiled by Obama on Sept. 10 for degrading and ultimately destroying the radical group running amok both in Syria and Iraq.
The U.S. military has launched air raids on the group's targets in Iraq since Aug. 8, and stepped up the operation over the weekend by hitting targets near Baghdad, the Iraqi capital.
Polls show that the Americans support the airstrikes on the Islamic State both in Iraq and Syria, but they are wary of an open- ended campaign in the region, as Obama said the battle against the group could go beyond his presidency that ends in January 2017.
"It's going to be much harder at this moment to give the president an open-ended commitment than it will be a couple of months from now," said Republican senator Roy Blunt.
As mid-term elections are only two months away, the senator said the short-term plan is "actually the better way to approach this."
In remarks delivered at the White House, Obama said he was " pleased" at Congress's vote for his training plan and at France's joining in the strikes in Iraq.
French President Francois Hollande said earlier in the day that his country was ready to launch air strikes "soon" against the ISIL fighters in Iraq.
Obama reiterated that the American military personnel deployed in Iraq "do not and will not have a combat mission." /End/
Updated: 2014/9/19 11:14
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