Durbin balks at GOP plan to train, arm Syrian rebels

A proposal from House Republicans to train and arm Syrian rebels is meeting solid resistance from Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois.

Durbin said Tuesday that he wants a “number of changes” to the plan, which would give the Pentagon the authority to build a Syrian rebel army to fight against Islamic State militants.

“It’s not written as clearly as I think it should be,” Durbin said Tuesday, according to Politico. “We’re talking about going into Syria at this point, which is a dog’s breakfast of violence and terrorism, 1,500 different militia groups. His bill envisions vetting them to sort out the ones we can work with and those we can’t. Wow, what an undertaking — to try to turn this into a strategy that stops ISIS No. 1 and doesn’t help us out, No. 2.”

Durbin said the way the proposal is written is too general.

“I think it would be hard to base a strategy on it,” he said.

But when asked about potential changes, Durbin was non-committal.

“We are waiting to see how this comes out of the House, step 1, and what time we have and what opportunity we have to make a difference,” Durbin said.

Via Politico