In what the Obama Administration calls the new strategy in fighting the Assad government  the U.S. military will deploy 400 trainers and hundreds more troops in a train-and-equip mission for Syrian rebel forces, the Pentagon said Friday.

FDRL

Many political analysts are accusing the American double standards when it comes to the international issues , how could the American troops  be deployed  in countries like  Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia  which are also accused of human rights abuses and lack of democratization process which the West preach other nations?

How do the Obama administration going to filter what they call moderate and radicals as part of the Obama administration’s plan to expand training in what they call moderate Syrian rebels?

Amazingly the destruction of Libya the whole world is witnessing today had been foretold by many political analysts but the West kept a deaf ear. Now the whole of Libya is on fire burning and the West look on helpless. Unfortunately many of those groups that are battling forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and extremist groups such as ISIS, as well as others linked to al Qaeda have been swapping allegiance, one time American sympathizers and another time Al Qaeda.

The terror attacks we witnessed in Paris on the Charlie Ebdo Media installations, some have been previously funded by the West and many of them are Citizens of these powerful nations. The Belgian foiled terror attack this week is an example that the West is getting it wrong when it comes to the choice of dealing with the anti-governments all over the World.

Sources from the Pentagon say that the training mission would be led by the military and complement a modest CIA training program, based on what was authorized by the White House more than a year ago.

“Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar have agreed to host training sites, and we anticipate the program to train and equip the moderate Syrian opposition will take approximately 400 U.S. trainers, with the caveat that this number could fluctuate based on course load, course requirements and other variables,” said Cmdr. Elissa Smith, a Pentagon spokeswoman. “We also anticipate that the trainers will have enablers. We expect to begin training in early spring.”

The trainers focused on Syria will join up to 3,000 American troops that were authorized by President Barack Obama last year to act as anti-ISIS fighters in Iraq, which shares a border with Syria. American involvement in the battle against ISIS has been more robust in Iraq, where the government has requested assistance. American planes have conducted numerous bombing missions in both countries.

This new training program is meant to help “moderate Syrian fighters” target ISIS. The moderate fighters are also at war against al-Assad, whom the Obama administration also wants to see defeated. But in her statement, Smith didn’t mention al-Assad as a target of the U.S. training mission.

“The goal for the train and equip program is to build the capabilities of the moderate Syrian fighters to defend the Syrian people; stabilize areas under opposition control; promote the conditions for a negotiated settlement of the conflict in Syria; and empower trainees to go on the offensive against ISIL,” she said, using the U.S. government term for ISIS.

U.S. officials have said that vetting the rebels who take part in the program will play an important role to assure they do not share any dual allegiances to Jabbat al-Nusra, al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, or any other militant groups.

Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, has said training the vetted rebels could take eight to 12 months before they are ready to return to Syria for the fight against ISIS. I will argue that this is a big mistake ever done by any American Administration; they talk about vetting the rebels, how will they vet them? Again they talk of promoting the conditions for a negotiated settlement of the conflict in Syria.

However, these are the same conditions the FDLR is demanding the Rwandan government, why should the same scales of arming the rebels of Syria do not apply to FDLR? Indeed, the Kagame administration came to power in 1994 by using the same scales which are even worse than FDLR. Because of the political appetite of Kagame, it is believed to have been the precursor of the downing of the Habyarimana Presidential Jet, which triggered the genocide and mass murder in 1994.

They recruited child soldiers, murdered many people in Rwanda and Congo, the UN mapping report is the wittiness in all these scandals that have benefited Kagame and some friends in Washington and London irrespective of the loss of life. We appeal to the international community to be impartial and promote dialogue rather than encouraging war and conflicts especially in areas which have suffered murder, and genocide.

Joseph Ruhumuriza

Legal Researcher, Great Lakes Human Rights Link.

http://www.greatlakeshumanrightslink.com/fdlr-need-the-same-international-standards-with-syrian-rebels/