(Video) [9/18/2014] Congress Approves Mission to Train & Arm Syrian Rebels Barack Obama spoke briefly this evening after Congress voted to train and equip Syrian rebels. The Senate, in a 78-22 vote, authorized the mission as part of a must-pass, stopgap spending bill to keep government agencies operating into December. The House passed a similar measure on Wednesday 273-156, with Republicans backing the president’s measure by more than a 2-1 margin. The leaders of both parties stood with Obama despite questions they had about his plan to arm moderate rebel groups and warnings that the plan could backfire or not be strong enough to make much of a difference as Islamic States forces try to advance in the country. Obama has pledged airstrikes as well but is adamant that he wont send U.S. combat troops to battle the Islamic extremists in either Iraq or Syria. In tonight’s speech, Obama said that the Syrian opposition forces are fighting ISIS and the Assad regime. “With this new effort, we’ll provide training and equipment to help them grow stronger and take on terrorists inside Syria,” he said. “With their barbaric murder of two Americans, these terrorists thought they could fight us. As Americans we do not give into fear and when you harm our citizens, it doesn’t divide us, it unites us.”
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 01:35:45 +0000
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