Behind the Sudden Death of a $1 Billion Secret C.I.A. War in Syria
After The Washington Post first reported on his decision, Mr. Trump tweeted
that he was ending "massive, dangerous, and wasteful payments to Syrian rebels fighting Assad." During an interview with The Wall Street Journal last month, the president said many of the C.I.A.-supplied weapons ended up in the hands of "Al Qaeda" — presumably a reference to the Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, which often fought alongside the C.I.A.-backed rebels.
During one meeting in the White House Situation Room at the end of the Obama administration, with C.I.A.-backed rebels continuing to lose ground in the face of withering Russian air bombing, Mr. Brennan pressed the case
that the United States continue to back the effort to topple Mr. Assad, according to one person who attended the meeting.
weapons ended up with Nusra Front fighters — and that some of the rebels joined the group
— confirmed the fears of many in the Obama administration when the program began.
"The president’s priority in Syria is fighting ISIS." Backed by Russian aircraft, Syrian government forces gradually began to reclaim areas near the Turkish border
that had long been rebel strongholds, and eventually pushed many of the rebels back to the besieged city of Aleppo.
But by the final year of the Obama administration, the program had lost many supporters in the White House — especially after the administration’s
top priority in Syria became battling the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, rather than seeking an end to Mr. Assad’s government.
But by late 2015 the Russian military offensive in Syria was focusing squarely on the C.I.A.-backed fighters battling Syrian government troops.
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