President Donald Trump has curtailed support for Syrian rebels

Pointer to Damascus, Syria. Photo: depositphotos

Representatives from the White House said that US President Donald Trump had stopped the secret CIA program to provide weapons to the Syrian rebels. Reports about it The Washington Post.

The program was started by the predecessor of Donald Trump, Barack Obama in 2013, in order to put pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The decision to stop this program was made a month ago and, according to officials, this step was part of an effort to improve relations with Russia.

Russia's military support helped Bashar Assad seize power during a six-year civil war, which resulted in more than 300 killing thousands of people and 11 millions more being displaced.

One official argues that such a concession is not particularly significant, since Assad still continues to hold power, but it will be a clear signal to President Putin that Donald Trump is interested in finding ways to interact with Russia.

The decision was made after a meeting in the Oval Office with national security adviser Herbert McMaster and CIA director Mike Pompeo. It is known that prior to this meeting, consultations were held with employees of lower rank and before the meeting of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Germany on July 7.

Two days after the summit, a truce between the United States and Russia entered into force in the three southern Syrian provinces. But, reportedly, the end of the armaments program is not a condition for negotiation.

Doubts about the effectiveness of the program have long been. Groups supported by the CIA have also been repeatedly attacked by Russian air strikes, which began in September 2015.

Experts note that Trump’s decision is also a recognition of Bashar al-Assad’s strengthened position in Syria.

“This is a victory for Assad, Iran and Putin, and all this was bound to happen. But this is also a victory for America: in this case, I believe that Trump is pursuing the right policy. Trying to sideline Russia in Syria is crazy because Russia is helping to persecute al-Qaeda and Daesh (the Arabic name for the ISIS group banned in the Russian Federation), said Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the university, commenting on this message. Oklahoma.

Numerous attempts by American security forces to arm and train local rebels to fight Daesh led to these fighters deserting en masse from training camps. Some even joined the ranks of the radicals, taking with them “brand new guns” and uniforms.

By the end of the Obama administration, some officials were in favor of ending the CIA program. But it was still supported by the majority of Obama's top advisers, who argued that the United States could not give up its allies on the ground.

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders declined to comment on this topic during a briefing at the White House. The CIA also declined to comment.

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