The U.S. has spent $41 million to train 54 Syrian rebels. They're the New Syria Force, and they are an essential component to America's plans to defeat ISIS. Of course, with only 54 rebels, the program is still just getting started, according to CNN.
There are another 70 rebels due to graduate from the program soon. "Nearly 17,000 Syrian men want to join, but the training is very slow," said Abu Iskander, one of the 54 graduates. "The training program was a dream."
Iskander spoke to CNN from Syria via Skype about the training program and the ongoing conflicts in his country. "The second rule in the training project is that we fight whoever fights us," he said, according to Free Beacon. "We don't want to cry on your TV screens, instead we want the Assad regime to be stopped."
Five members of the New Syria Force were recently captured by an affiliate of Al Qaeda and are in a highly dangerous situation. Iskander wears a GPS device to feed information to U.S. forces. "I go to the front line against ISIS, and I give locations for the warplanes to bomb," he said, reported Free Beacon.
Earlier this month, President Barack Obama authorized airstrikes to protect Syrian forces on the ground who are working against ISIS. Tracking the New Syria Force is still difficult because of the ongoing combat in the country, according to ABC News. The U.S. program hopes to train as many as 54,000 Syrians who are willing to fight ISIS. At least 1,500 Syrians have already been vetted to join the program.
