Obama wants $500m to train Syrian forces

President Obama wants invest $500 million in the Syrian opposition forces, to equip and train them so that they can fight against President Bashar al-Assad, the man responsible for the civil war that has been tearing the country apart since 2011.

This investment that US wants to make is part of a bigger, $5 billion counter-terrorism initiative in the Middle East.

The decision to train Syrian troops also comes as the ISIL terrorist group that has been overtaking Iraq city after city has begun to spill into Syria, which they see as a safe haven and as a source of recruitment.

A US national security spokesperson commented on Obama’s decision: ‘While we continue to believe that there is no military solution to this crisis and that the United States should not put American troops into combat in Syria, this request marks another step toward helping the Syrian people defend themselves against regime attacks, push back against the growing number of extremists like ISIL who find safe haven in the chaos, and take their future into their own hands.’