U.S.-trained rebels stumble in Syria conflict

WASHINGTON — The recent capture of a handful of U.S.-trained Syrian fighters shortly after they entered Syria may make it even harder to recruit reluctant volunteers for a new ground force to combat the Islamic State.

The Pentagon defended the training program Thursday, saying there were "challenges" but remaining committed to it.

"The idea that we were caught totally flat-footed ... sending people into a very dynamic and rapidly changing war zone is not accurate," said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman.

About five American-trained troops remained in custody after being taken over the weekend by the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front in Syria.

“It’s a huge embarrassment,” said Jeff White, an analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a former Defense Intelligence Agency official.

The men  captured were part of a force of about 60 troops that were in the first class of Pentagon-trained recruits and had just entered Syria to fight the Islamic State. “It was foolish to send them in in small numbers,” White said.

The troops entered Syria and came under attack Friday. Backed by five U.S. airstrikes, the  rebels repelled the Nusra forces, but a handful were captured.

The Pentagon initially planned to train 5,400 recruits a year, building a force of about 15,000 to counter the Islamic State in Syria.

The Pentagon is struggling to meet those goals because it is looking for recruits who have no ties to radical Islamic groups and are willing to pledge to fight the Islamic State and not the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who is fighting for survival in a four-year-long civil war.

Finding moderate rebels focused on the Islamic State has proved difficult. “Their priority is to fight Assad,” said Chris Kozak, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War.

The Pentagon acknowledges that screening the recruits is challenging.

“To do this right takes time and due diligence in vetting personnel, so we get the right people doing the right things with the training and equipping they are being offered,” said Navy Cmdr. Elissa Smith, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

The Pentagon would not detail how many recruits are in the training pipeline but said the recent attack hasn't hurt the program. "We still have hundreds that are in the final stages of vetting, and we have thousands that have raised their hand expressing interest in joining," Davis said. "That's not changed."

White said the recent capture could hurt recruiting initially, but if the U.S.-backed forces begin to have successes, that would change.

The Pentagon has pledged to support the forces as they deploy into Syria, assuring them they will not be left on their own. That guarantee has raised questions about what would happen if U.S.-trained forces clash with troops from the Syrian government, which the United States does not want to confront militarily.

The Pentagon said it would not discuss specific “rules of engagement,” but U.S. officials suggested they would take action against any force, including Assad's military, threatening the U.S.-trained troops.

“We’ve said all along that we’ll take necessary steps to ensure these forces can successfully carry out their mission,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.

“If the Syrian fighters we have trained and equipped come under attack, the president would have the authority under the Constitution to defend those fighters,” the Pentagon said in a statement.