Kerry Talks Syrian Rebels, ISIS at House Foreign Affairs Hearing
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Credit: US Department of State(WASHINGTON) — Secretary of State John Kerry provided optimistic figures for the size of the Syrian rebel forces at a House hearing Thursday.
“Indeed, the Syrian opposition is in the tens of thousands,” Kerry said at a House Foreign Affairs hearing. While he opted against providing a specific figure, he noted that there are, “at least seven groups with somewhere between a couple of thousand and 4,000 fighters each.”
That figure, Kerry noted, does not include all of the moderate forces.
The secretary of state also questioned whether Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is serious about combating the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
“There is evidence that Assad has played footsie with [ISIS] and he has used them as a tool of weakening the opposition.” Kerry speculated that Assad avoided taking on ISIS headquarters and other assets for that reason, saying “we have no confidence that Assad is either capable of or willing to take on [ISIS].”
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