WASHINGTON DC – The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) which is fighting the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) in Syria has not asked Washington for arms, a US General said, not ruling out a request in the future.
General Lloyd Austin, who is in charge of the war in Iraq and Syria, was testifying Wednesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he made clear that the strategy to train and arm moderate Syrian fighters has failed.
“They (YPG) have not asked us for arms, but it does not mean that they won't,” Austin said.
The YPG is the main force fighting ISIS in Syria’s Kurdish regions, or Rojava. The United States and some other Western countries have provided limited air support and arms to the YPG. The force is seen as an extension of Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), but US officials have said they make a distinction between the YPG and the outlawed PKK.
“There are things that we can do to continue to help as they (YPG) try to get supplies into northern Syria, work with the Kurds in northern Iraq to help make sure that we have lines of communication that facilitate that,” Austin said.
He added the YPG has made significant territorial gains in northeastern Syria, but advised the Kurds to partner with Arabs to further push back ISIS.
“What they have asked us over time is sustained air power, sustained airstrikes and they have benefited from those strikes and because of their aggressiveness they have made tremendous difference in northeast,” Austin said.
Throughout the testimony, US strategy to counter ISIS came under heavy criticism by senators.
Austin admitted that of the thousands of Syrians they hoped to train to fight the Islamic State, only “four or five” are currently fighting, according to media reports.
The admission comes amid controversy that top officials at Central Command, which oversees the war efforts against ISIS, pressured analysts to alter reports and exaggerate the US’ progress in the war against the militant extremists.
Austin told the committee he welcomed the investigation and vowed to take "appropriate action" if it concludes that intelligence reports were wrongfully modified.
More than 50 intelligence analysts have complained that their conclusions were undermined, according to reports from The Daily Beast and other news outlets. Officials publicly acknowledged that in July written complaints were made to the US Department of Defense and an investigation was launched.
This is the latest blow to President Barack Obama’s war strategy, which has increasingly fallen under scrutiny by critics who have called it weak and ineffective.
During last night’s tense meeting, senators referred to the strategy as “a joke” and “an abject failure,” reported The Daily Beast.
Austin maintained that despite the latest intelligence controversy and tactical woes, the US continues “to make progress across the battlespace in support of the broader U.S. government strategy to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL.”
Senator John McCain, who serves as committee chair, said, “I've been a member of the committee for nearly 30 years and I've never heard testimony like this. Never,” The Daily Beast reported.
The Pentagon has spent $43 million so far for training 56 fighters, most of whom were killed or captured by the al-Nusra Front in July as they crossed into Syria.
Austin also said that US Special Forces are working with the YPG in Rojava, but CENTCOM denied that in a later statement.
“What our special operations forces have done in northern Syria is they didn't wait for the New Syrian Force program or train and equip program to fully develop,” Austin said.
“At the very onset, they began to engage elements like the YPG and enable those elements, and they are making a difference on the battlefield and there are tens of thousands of YPG out there right now fighting ISIL,” Austin added in response to a question from the Senate.
Several hours after the testimony, CENTCOM posted a statement correcting Austin and stating that he was referring to coordination between the YPG and US via an Operation Center based in the Iraqi Kurdistan region.
“There are no US military forces on the ground in Syria, nor have we conducted any U.S. military training of indigenous Syrian forces in Syria,” the CENTCOM statement said.
Previously, the Obama administration had assessed it would take three years to degrade and defeat ISIS. But Austin was pessimistic if the war and its aftermath would settle in the coming years.
He estimated that stabilizing the region could take up to 15 years, saying defeating ISIS would not solve all problems in the Middle East.
