In Syria, militias armed by the Pentagon fight those armed by the CIA

Syrian militias armed by different parts of the U.S. war machine have begun to fight each other on the plains between the besieged city of Aleppo and the Turkish border, highlighting how little control U.S. intelligence officers and military planners have over the groups they have financed and trained in the bitter five-year-old civil war .

It’s something of an open secret that the Bitemaster is not very knowledgeable about foreign policy, but then neither is the U.S. government.

Source: In Syria, militias armed by the Pentagon fight those armed by the CIA – LA Times

Sen. Chuck Schumer flails around on the Syrian refugee question

Schumer is widely expected to become leader of Senate Democrats in the next Congress.

On Tuesday, Sen. Schumer said that temporarily rejecting Syrian refugees from entering the United States “may be necessary” in the wake of terrorist attacks in Paris.

On Thursday, after a national security briefing, Schumer said “What they [Executive branch terrorism experts? Left wing pundits? My cousin Vinnie?] showed us is this: There are about 2,000 refugees who have come here from Syria over the last four years. None have been arrested or deported for terrorism. None.”

Like the senator, I’m not sure where I stand on admitting Syrian refugees. But I’m just “some blogger,” not one of the most powerful members of the U.S. Senate.

Source: Top Senate Democrat: Rejecting Syrian Refugees ‘May Be Necessary’ [UPDATED] | ThinkProgress