WASHINGTON (AP) — With the conflicts in Syria and Iraq becoming
increasingly intertwined against the same Sunni extremist group, President
Barack Obama moved on Thursday to ratchet up U.S. efforts to strengthen more
moderate Syrian rebels.
Obama's request to Congress for $500 million in training and arms to the
opposition in effect opens a second front in the fight against militants
spilling over Syria's border and threatening to overwhelm neighboring Iraq.
The train-and-equip mission would be overseen by the Pentagon and would mark
a significant expansion of previous covert effort to arm the more moderate
rebels who are fighting both the extremists and forces loyal to Syrian
President Bashar Assad.
