Moments ago, the Senate passed a $1 trillion government-funding bill that according to the Hill [5] also gave the president new authority to battle the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The legislation, which has now been approved by both chambers of Congress, now heads to the White House for Obama?s signature. While the stopgap bill will prevent a government shutdown on Oct. 1, the vote will be remembered for a controversial provision that allows Obama to start a new training program for rebel fighters in Syria. In other words, not only will Obama arm some folks, he will also drone some other folks, the same folks he was arming a year ago.
Live statement below:
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Incidentally, those still confused where ISIS got their weapons from, here is the NYT [6]with the explanation, so let's arm ISIS just a little more...
ISIS has stolen hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of weapons and equipment from Iraqi and Syrian military installations. It has also intercepted supplies en route to Syrian rebel groups from foreign governments. Conflict Armament Research, a private firm that investigates arms trafficking, has tracked small arms and rockets used by ISIS that appear to have been provided to other combatants by Saudi Arabia and the United States.
Among the weapons that Conflict Armament Research examined were M16 and M4 rifles stamped “Property of U.S. Govt.” Such weapons are also in the hands of irregular Shiite forces in Iraq, where the United States provided hundreds of thousands of small arms to supportive forces during its long occupation.
Conflict Armament Research found M79 antitank rockets from the former Yugoslavia that were identical to M79 rockets provided by Saudi Arabia to rebels in Syria.
