# US-Funded Free Syrian Army Units Defecting to ISIS **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 27, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745 "2015-02-27T03:19:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![manfromuncle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@manfromuncle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manfromuncle)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745/1 "2015-02-27T03:19:57Z")
Real smart policy we got here. Send hundreds of [millions of dollars in guns and money](http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-congress-isis-20140918-story.html) to rebels for the purpose of overthrowing Assad, rebels join ISIS. Now Obama asking congress for AUMF to fight ISIS. [http://www.jerusalemonline.com/news/middle-east/israel-and-the-middle-east/israeli-intervention-in-syria-looking-more-likely-10283](http://www.jerusalemonline.com/news/middle-east/israel-and-the-middle-east/israeli-intervention-in-syria-looking-more-likely-10283) > [@](#): > > Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon spoke with outgoing US Defense Secretary [Chuck Hagel](http://www.jerusalemonline.com/general/search-results?cx=partner-pub-6757577162258325%3A8715388293&cof=FORID%3A10&ie=UTF-8&Q=Chuck+Hagel&sa=) to discuss increased Israeli involvement in the war against [IS](http://www.jerusalemonline.com/general/search-results?cx=partner-pub-6757577162258325%3A8715388293&cof=FORID%3A10&ie=UTF-8&Q=IS&sa=&siteurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jerusalemonline.com%2F). According to a report in Haaretz, Israel has been assisting villages around the Golan in exchange for keeping extremist Islamist groups away from the border. \*\* But with the recent defection of the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade from the FSA to the IS dominated Islamist axis, a fact which has been confirmed on Debka and by retired Major General Amos Gilad on Reshet Bet, \*\*Israel may have to become more actively involved in the [Syrian civil war](http://www.jerusalemonline.com/general/search-results?cx=partner-pub-6757577162258325%3A8715388293&cof=FORID%3A10&ie=UTF-8&Q=Syrian+civil+war&sa=&siteurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jerusalemonline.com%2F) due to the ascendancy of Islamic State in strategically sensitive areas near the Israeli border. > > **Additionally, the National reported that Mousab Zaytouneh, a leading figure in the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigades that was killed last Monday, was secretly in league with Islamic State. The report noted that there have been numerous reports from opposition sources that various FSA brigades have been secretly aligned with Islamic State. According to a report in Al Monitor, media leaks on some jihadist pages indicated that the most important sleeper cells in Daraa, which might have pledged their allegiance to IS, include Saraya al-Jihad led by Abu Musab; Tawheed al-Janoub Brigades; and Yarmouk Martyrs.** \*\* VIDEO: Ben Swann: How CIA and US Allies Created ISIS\*\* [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORYL8jPtpQU) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745/2 "2015-02-27T03:35:32Z")
What’s the debate? ---
**Author:** ![manfromuncle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@manfromuncle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manfromuncle)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745/3 "2015-02-27T03:39:31Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > What’s the debate? Is ISIS an enemy created by the military-industrial complex for the purpose of perpetuating the military-industrial complex, for starters. ---
**Author:** ![Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/aca169/32.png) [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inbred_Mm_domesticus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745/4 "2015-02-27T03:40:47Z")
The first article is about Congress supporting the President’s plan to train rebels to fight ISIS. The second article makes a bunch of suggestions that various rebel groups are in league with ISIS but if anything, the rebel group that is most prominent in the article is probably funded by Israel if any foreign power is funding them at all. The third link is to a youtube video which I assume is produced by some wannabe journalist/documentarian hack that I should care less about. So I didn’t waste any more of my life after seeing the first two articles had nothing at all to do with the topic you raise. Did I miss anything so that I might understand the actual evidence that “US-Funded Free Syrian Army Units Defecting to ISIS”? Maybe you accidentally pointed to the wrong links? Perhaps I am too cynical and getting excessively crabby as I get older but has there ever been anyone whose thinking I should take seriously who used the words: “military-industrial complex”? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745/5 "2015-02-27T03:55:01Z")
> [@manfromuncle](#): > > Is ISIS an enemy created by the military-industrial complex for the purpose of perpetuating the military-industrial complex, for starters. No. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745/6 "2015-02-27T04:00:58Z")
> [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](#): > > Perhaps I am too cynical and getting excessively crabby as I get older but has there ever been anyone whose thinking I should take seriously who used the words: “military-industrial complex”? Well, Eisenhower wasn’t too much of a slouch in the brains department. He didn’t go around acting like they were running some sort of cabal, though. He acknowledged they were necessary, and wisely warned against them gaining undue influence. I don’t know of any evidence that the M-I complex was pushing hard to arm the FSA. I imagine the amount of new hardware purchased from U.S. contractors for that purpose would be small, and it would be filled mostly from existing stockpiles. At any rate That they would do this in hopes of perpetuating the conflict through defection from the side they are arming is wayyyy into crazy talk, and would require some damn astounding evidence. ---
**Author:** ![manfromuncle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@manfromuncle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manfromuncle)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745/7 "2015-02-27T04:01:40Z")
> [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](#): > > The first article is about Congress supporting the President’s plan to train rebels to fight ISIS. The second article makes a bunch of suggestions that various rebel groups are in league with ISIS but if anything, the rebel group that is most prominent in the article is probably funded by Israel if any foreign power is funding them at all. The third link is to a youtube video which I assume is produced by some wannabe journalist/documentarian hack that I should care less about. So I didn’t waste any more of my life after seeing the first two articles had nothing at all to do with the topic you raise. > > Did I miss anything so that I might understand the actual evidence that “US-Funded Free Syrian Army Units Defecting to ISIS”? Maybe you accidentally pointed to the wrong links? > > Perhaps I am too cynical and getting excessively crabby as I get older but has there ever been anyone whose thinking I should take seriously who used the words: “military-industrial complex”? Ben Swann is not a wannabe journalist. He was a Fox News anchor and winner of numerous journalism awards: [Ben Swann - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Swann) ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745/8 "2015-02-27T04:15:37Z")
> [@manfromuncle](#): > > Ben Swann is not a wannabe journalist. He was a Fox News anchor [Ben Swann - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Swann) lol. Your wiki link mentions that he is currently working for Russia Today, an equally fair and balanced network. ---
**Author:** ![manfromuncle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@manfromuncle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manfromuncle)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745/9 "2015-02-27T04:19:44Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > lol. > > Your wiki link mentions that he is currently working for Russia Today, an equally fair and balanced network. Do you think the US mainstream media is fair and balanced? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745/10 "2015-02-27T04:23:20Z")
Debka is a good site for getting the Israeli POV. Not exactly accurate on reporting on anything else. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745/11 "2015-02-27T04:24:09Z")
> [@manfromuncle](#): > > Do you think the US mainstream media is fair and balanced? More so than Fox “News”. And just because he’s a journalist doesn’t mean he can’t be batshit insane. Or in it for the money. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745/12 "2015-02-27T04:28:40Z")
> [@manfromuncle](#): > > Is ISIS an enemy created by the military-industrial complex for the purpose of perpetuating the military-industrial complex, for starters. Easy answer. No. Never attribute to malice what can easily be attributed to stupidity. Beyond that the idea of ISIS being a creation of “the military industrial complex” is condescending, more than a little insulting to people in the region and comes dangerously close to a certain amount of racism. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745/13 "2015-02-27T04:30:22Z")
> [@manfromuncle](#): > > He was a Fox News anchor… _snip_. He worked as a local Fox news anchor, not National. Merely average. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745/14 "2015-02-27T04:30:39Z")
> [@manfromuncle](#): > > Ben Swann is not a wannabe journalist. He was a Fox News anchor and winner of numerous journalism awards: [Ben Swann - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Swann) > [@](#): > > He reported on a theory that more than one shooter may have been behind the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. :rolleyes: That sounds like a former good journalist that did brake bad. Also: Getting support from Debka is like getting support from yellow journalism that would made William Randolph Hearst proud. I stopped looking at Debka as a reliable source after they reported that China was sending troops to Afghanistan to help the Taliban against the US when the invasion took place to get Osama and his protectors. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745/15 "2015-02-27T04:35:23Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > :rolleyes: > > That sounds like a former good journalist that did brake bad. > > Also: Getting support from Debka is like getting support from yellow journalism that would made William Randolph Hearst proud. I stopped looking at Debka as a reliable source after they reported that China was sending troops to Afghanistan to help the Taliban against the US when the invasion took place to get Osama and his protectors. According to the wiki link for Swann posted earlier, Swann also appears to be a CT regarding the Sandy Hook shooting, claiming, or at least implying that there was more than one shooter. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745/16 "2015-02-27T04:37:31Z")
> [@manfromuncle](#): > > Do you think the US mainstream media is fair and balanced? Define " US mainstream media" please? Also, since you are defending the credibility of someone who claims there was more than one shooter at the Sandy Hook massacre, what are your thoughts on that? Do you think it was the work of a conspiracy? ---
**Author:** ![manfromuncle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@manfromuncle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manfromuncle)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745/17 "2015-02-27T04:50:39Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > Define " US mainstream media" please? > > Also, since you are defending the credibility of someone who claims there was more than one shooter at the Sandy Hook massacre, what are your thoughts on that? > > Do you think it was the work of a conspiracy? Gee guess you’re right. Anyone who asks questions not in line with the official story is not credible. Any chance of discussing the post? ---
**Author:** ![manfromuncle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/439d5e/32.png) [@manfromuncle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manfromuncle)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745/18 "2015-02-27T04:56:08Z")
> [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](#): > > The first article is about Congress supporting the President’s plan to train rebels to fight ISIS. The second article makes a bunch of suggestions that various rebel groups are in league with ISIS but if anything, the rebel group that is most prominent in the article is probably funded by Israel if any foreign power is funding them at all. The third link is to a youtube video which I assume is produced by some wannabe journalist/documentarian hack that I should care less about. So I didn’t waste any more of my life after seeing the first two articles had nothing at all to do with the topic you raise. > > Did I miss anything so that I might understand the actual evidence that “US-Funded Free Syrian Army Units Defecting to ISIS”? Maybe you accidentally pointed to the wrong links? > > Perhaps I am too cynical and getting excessively crabby as I get older but has there ever been anyone whose thinking I should take seriously who used the words: “military-industrial complex”? Will boil it down further: - US funding FSA - US really funding ISIS - Now US asking taxpayers for funding and authorization to fight ISIS No one sees anything wrong here? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745/19 "2015-02-27T05:04:56Z")
> [@manfromuncle](#): > > Will boil it down further: > > - US funding FSA > > - US really funding ISIS > > - Now US asking taxpayers for funding and authorization to fight ISIS > > No one sees anything wrong here? Prove it. Cite some documentation. Hey look! [Alex Jones agrees with you.](http://www.infowars.com/you-do-realize-that-the-u-s-funded-and-trained-isis-right/) You’re screwed. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745/20 "2015-02-27T05:30:44Z")
> [@manfromuncle](#): > > Will boil it down further: > > - US funding FSA > > - US really funding ISIS > > - Now US asking taxpayers for funding and authorization to fight ISIS > > No one sees anything wrong here? Your chain of logic? Your lack of evidence? Your addiction to hack journalism and overwrought You Tube videos? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-funded-free-syrian-army-units-defecting-to-isis/713745.md?page=2)