Do we know for a fact...?

[kentuck]

That the Syrian rebels that we have been arming for a couple of years are not part of the ISIS movement in Iraq?

If they are not, what happened to the "rebels" in Syria?

Has the US government been caught in a big "sting"?

The rebels, under the pretense of fighting to overthrow Assad in Syria, received enough small arms from America to make a military move in Iraq and are now a major part of the ISIS rebels that are creating havoc all over Iraq?

Are some of the leaders of ISIS the same "rebels" that John McCain took his photo with when he slipped in the back door of Syria?

I have a hunch they are one and the same...

[TwilightGardener]

1. I don't know how many we've armed/trained. The CIA isn't going

to say. But our go-to organization there was primarily the Free Syrian Army--some of them may have joined ISIL and al-Nusra (both AQ spinoffs, apparently) and probably a lot of them were simply killed by them or by Assad, or left the fight. Interestingly, I've read that Assad has not really gone after ISIL, preferring to use them to kill or hamper the moderate rebels and discourage the US from intervening.

[arcane1]

2. I sure as hell don't know. But nothing would surprise me.

ISIS is, after all, giving us excuses to go back in. Wasn't there just a coup, too?

Presently, I trust no one in this matter.

[Maedhros]

3. That is the only prudent course. Trust no one in the MIC. [n/t]