U.S. Ditches ‘Moderate’ Syrian Rebels And Plans To Build Its Own Force To Fight ISIS

Recently, the U.S. Congress voted to arm and train so-called “moderate” Syrian rebels to fight ISIS in Syria. There were many questions raised about the allegiances and capabilites of the rebel groups under the Free Syrian Army umbrella organization.
Now it appears that U.S. policymakers and commanders have come to the conclusion that the Free Syrian Army is not a reliable ally and has decided to cut ties with it. Instead, the U.S. and its allies will create a separate force for the purposes of fighting ISIS.
Stars and Stripes reports:

John Allen, the retired Marine general in charge of coordinating the U.S.-led coalition’s response to the Islamic State, confirmed Wednesday what Syrian rebel commanders have complained about for months: that the United States is ditching the old Free Syrian Army and building its own local ground force to use primarily in the fight against the Islamist extremists.
“At this point, there is not formal coordination with the FSA,” Allen told reporters at the State Department.
That was perhaps the bluntest answer yet to the question of how existing Syrian rebel forces might fit into the U.S. strategy to fight the Islamic State. Allen said the United States’ intent is to start from scratch in creating a home-grown, moderate counterweight to the Islamic State.

Here’s the problem with creating a force and essentially creating a fourth faction in Syria’s three year old civil war: will they have any credibility among the Syrian people? Does anyone remember the old Iraqi National Congress and how they came to be seen as puppets of America?
A better plan might be for the U.S. to first make sure that the political opposition to the Assad regime has any credibility among Syrians, before helping them build another army and getting involved in a three-front war.

 http://www.ijreview.com/2014/10/188937-u-s-ditches-moderate-syrian-rebels-plans-build-force-fight-isis/