SYRIA; Congressional Record Vol. 159, No. 135

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SYRIA

Mr. McCAIN. Madam President, I come to the floor to talk for a short

period of time about Syria, which is, although not dominating our

conversation here--lead stories in both the Washington Post and the

Wall Street Journal are deeply disturbing.

First, I would like to point out that on the front page of the Wall

Street Journal today there is an article titled \\\`\\\`Syrian Regime Chokes

Off Food To Town That Was Gassed.'' I repeat: \\\`\\\`Syrian Regime Chokes

Off Food To Town That Was Gassed.''

Government forces are tightening the noose around one of

the suburbs gassed by chemical weapons in August, raising

concerns of a fresh humanitarian crisis as residents forage

for olives, grapevine leaves and other basic foods.

Pro-regime fighters--

That is Bashar al-Assad's killers--

have encircled about 12,000 people, mostly civilians but

also including some rebel fighters, in the town of

Moadhamiya, according to local and international aid workers,

opposition activists and people interviewed on Monday in a

government-controlled section of the town.

This is a town that is strategically important to both sides because

the flow of humanitarian and military aid flows through this particular

area for those who are fighting in Aleppo and in Damascus.

The story goes on:

\\\`\\\`We won't allow them to be nourished in order to kill

us,'' said a 24-year-old pro-regime paramilitary in the

government-controlled section. . . . \\\`\\\`Let them starve for a

bit, surrender and then be put on trial.''

These are the same people, apparently government forces, that are

\\\`\\\`cooperating'' with us on chemical weapons, that are allowing

inspectors to come in to gather the chemical weapons. So they have

12,000 people encircled, that they have already gassed, 1,400 of them,

400 children in the same town. So now they are going to starve them.

Like the fighters said, \\\`\\\`Let them starve for a bit, surrender and then

be put on trial.''

It is remarkable. An opposition activist inside the rebel-held side

of the town who was reached by Skype said the situation is so dire now

in the rebel-controlled area that people are subsisting on whatever

they can forage locally, including olives, grapevine leaves, fresh

mint, and figs.

So here we have the latest result of our wonderful and much heralded

agreement on chemical weapons. They killed, in this town, 1,400 people,

400 of them children, with gas. Now they are going to kill 12,000 more

with conventional weapons: bombs, guns, tanks, knives. Brutality and

torture has characterized their behavior for a long period of time.

It seems to me it is a little bizarre. It is a little bizarre that we

are hailing this cooperation from Bashar Assad on chemical weapons, and

meanwhile the slaughter goes on: 110,000 dead, 1 million children

refugees, the surrounding countries being destabilized, and, of course,

the refugee camps are terrible situations to which we have not given

the assistance that we should.

I urge all of my colleagues, if they had the opportunity, to visit

one of these refugee camps and hear the stories of the murder, the gang

rapes, the torture that is the official doctrine of Bashar Assad, not

random acts of violence. The defectors from Bashar Assad's military

will tell you that is their training and indoctrination and

instructions.

So the second article today is from the Washington Post. \\\`\\\`CIA

ramping up covert training program for moderate Syrian rebels.''

The CIA is expanding a clandestine effort to train

opposition fighters in Syria amid concern that moderate U.S.-

backed militias are rapidly losing ground in the country's

civil war.

But the CIA program is so miniscule that it is expected to

produce only a few hundred trained fighters each month even

after it is enlarged, a level that officials said will do

little to bolster rebel forces that are being eclipsed by

radical Islamists in the fight against the government of

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Here is the interesting part.

The CIA's mission, officials said, has been defined by the

White Houses's desire to seek a political settlement, a

scenario that relies on an eventual stalemate among the

warring factions rather than a clear victor. As a result,

officials said, limits on the agency's authorities enable it

to provide enough support to help ensure that politically

moderate, U.S.-supported militias don't lose but not enough

for them to win.

Picture these young people who are fighting in Syria today. The

official U.S. policy is that they will provide weapons but only enough

so they cannot win. Those people are being slaughtered. They are being

murdered. They are dying. Some 110,000 have died. I am not sure how

many of them were actual fighters. The official U.S. policy, according

to the Washington Post, is that they want them not to win.

It is hard to motivate people to fight for a cause that we are not

willing to help them win.

The agency has trained fewer than 1,000 rebel fighters this

year, current and former U.S. officials said. By contrast,

U.S. intelligence analysts estimate that more than 20,000

have been trained to fight for government-backed militias by

Assad's ally Iran

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and the Hezbollah militant network it sponsors.

So we have trained 1,000. We are going to do about 100 a week, I

guess, something like that. More than 20,000 have been trained by the

Iranians, who are all in, and we expect them to be able to continue

fighting.

The CIA is ramping up its effort . . . it was clear that

the opposition was losing, and not only losing tactically but

on a more strategic level.

Congressman Mike Rogers, whom I respect a lot, Chairman of the House

Intelligence Committee, said there is a--

. . . high degree of frustration . . . with the Syrian

strategy. The situation in Syria is changing faster than the

administration can keep up. U.S. support for moderate

opposition groups is less than robust and has been hobbled by

inconsistent resource allocation with stated goals.

CIA veterans expressed skepticism that the training and

weapons deliveries will have any meaningful effect. In

Jordan, operatives involved in training and arming rebels

lament that we're being asked to do something with nothing.

I would like to quote some articles:

\\\`\\\`Al-Qaeda expands in Syria via Islamic State.''

A rebranded vision of Iraq's al-Qaeda affiliate is surging

onto the front lines of the war in neighboring Syria,

expanding into territory seized by other rebel groups and

carving out the kind of sanctuaries that the U.S. military

spent more than a decade fighting to prevent in Iraq and

Afghanistan.

We left Iraq. Iraq is now deteriorating. Thousands of people are

being killed literally every month. Now we see Al Qaeda coming from

Iraq in larger and larger numbers.

Finally, I would like to mention the Wall Street Journal article from

some time ago:

\\\`\\\`Iranians Dial Up Presence in Syria. Shiite Militiamen From Across

the Arab World Train at a Base Near Tehran to Do Battle in Syria.''

At a base near Tehran, Iranian forces are training Shiite

militiamen from across the Arab world to do battle in Syria\\--

showing the widening role of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard

Corps in Syria's bloody war.

The busloads of Shiite militiamen from Iraq, Syria and

other Arab states have been arriving at the Iranian base in

recent weeks, under cover of darkness, for instruction in

urban warfare and the teaching of Iran's clerics, according

to Iranian military figures and residents in the area. The

fighters' mission: Fortify the Syrian regime of President

Bashar al-Assad against Sunni rebels, the U.S. and Israel.

So here is what we should take away from all this recent reporting:

Despite the recent agreement on chemical weapons, that agreement does

nothing to address the underlying conflict in Syria, which not only

continues but is getting worse and worse.

So, my friends, as the administration trumpets this deal of chemical

weapons, the fact is that the slaughter goes on. It is clear to these

people whom I have spoken with personally, tragically their morale is

badly damaged. They believe they have been abandoned. The ongoing

tragedy and massacre continues in Syria. The United States will pay a

very heavy price in the future unless we do something rather dramatic.

I yield the floor.

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that after the

quorum call I be recognized.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.

The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.

Mr. CARDIN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the order

for the quorum call be rescinded.

The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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