Washington: A doomed US plan now on hold to train Syrian rebel fighters outside the country to fight the Islamic State was "nuts," former defense secretary Robert Gates said.
President Barack Obama's administration has suspended its $500 million train and equip effort in the latest embarrassment concerning a Syria strategy that has stumbled from one setback to the next.
Pentagon officials say that instead of training rebel units, the US military would dole out weapons to favored commanders already on the ground.
"The only way you can staunch the humanitarian flow, the humanitarian disaster, is through some kind of a safe haven and I think that that's achievable."
"I would not put ground troops in Syria," where a brutal civil war has raged since 2011.
The first broke up after coming under attack from the Al-Nusra Front, an Al-Qaeda franchise.
Last month CENTCOM commander General Lloyd Austin admitted that after the debacle only "four or five" Pentagon-trained rebels remain active in Syria.
"I think there were people in the White House, and I don't want to name any names, who were constantly goading him," Gates said.
He said those people were saying "the military is trying to box you in. The military is trying to trap you. The military is trying to bully you. The military is trying to make you do something you don't want to do."
President Barack Obama's administration has suspended its $500 million train and equip effort in the latest embarrassment concerning a Syria strategy that has stumbled from one setback to the next.
Pentagon officials say that instead of training rebel units, the US military would dole out weapons to favored commanders already on the ground.
"The only way you can staunch the humanitarian flow, the humanitarian disaster, is through some kind of a safe haven and I think that that's achievable."
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"I would not put ground troops in Syria," where a brutal civil war has raged since 2011.
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The first broke up after coming under attack from the Al-Nusra Front, an Al-Qaeda franchise.
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Last month CENTCOM commander General Lloyd Austin admitted that after the debacle only "four or five" Pentagon-trained rebels remain active in Syria.
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"I think there were people in the White House, and I don't want to name any names, who were constantly goading him," Gates said.
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He said those people were saying "the military is trying to box you in. The military is trying to trap you. The military is trying to bully you. The military is trying to make you do something you don't want to do."
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