US ‘adopts violent forces as allies’ in Syria

The United States has adopted “very violent and dangerous forces” in Syria as allies, says a foreign policy analyst in Washington, adding that that is the result of an “incoherent policy” and a “complete lack of understanding.”

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry admitted that the Syrian government is making gains on the ground in its fight against foreign-backed insurgents.

Senior US intelligence officials also warned on Tuesday that a number of Americans have joined al-Qaeda-affiliated groups in Syria and they may try to stage terrorist attacks inside the United States.

“We have a very incoherent policy” in Syria, said James Jatras, a former US diplomat and Senate policy adviser. “I’m afraid that the consequence of Kerry’s admission of failure will be from the Republican opposition just to demand more aid to the terrorists.”

“If we had been supporting the Syrian people, we would not be in this predicament,” Jatras said on Wednesday.

“It shows a complete lack of understanding of the kind of very violent, very dangerous forces we have adopted as our allies in Syria,” he added.

Congress recently approved funding for US weapons deliveries to the Syrian militants fighting against the Syrian government.

In September 2013, a British defense study conducted by IHS Jane’s showed that about 100,000 militants, fragmented into 1,000 groups, are operating against the Syrian government.

The country has been gripped by crisis since March 2011.