Pentagon Officials: U.S. Backed Syrian Rebels Are on Their Last Legs

The Syrian city of Aleppo, along with the myriad of factions that have struggled to hold onto the city in recent years, is very close to falling into the hands of government forces. According to two Department of Defense officials that spoke to The Daily Beast, the US backed rebels could crumble “in a matter of weeks,” though other estimates suggest that it could be a couple of months before Aleppo falls.

On top of that, the anonymous officials revealed that there is a schism in the US government over how to deal with the situation. Apparently the Pentagon is wary of lending more support to the rebels in Aleppo, since they are mostly associated with Al-Qaeda. The CIA on the other hand, doesn’t have any scruples, and they’re prepared to work with the fundamentalists. Another anonymous official who supports the CIA’s position explained “It is a strange thing that DoD hall chatter mimics Russian propaganda.”

At the heart of the schism is a disagreement over how to defeat ISIS. While the military is (ostensibly) focused on fighting ISIS, the CIA claims that ISIS cannot be defeated as long as the destabilizing influence of Assad still exists. It’s hard to ignore the CIA’s comical position, given that they’ve been in the business of destabilizing nations for over 50 years.

This isn’t the first time that these two agencies have clashed. In March it was revealed that CIA backed forces were clashing with Pentagon backed forces in Syria. With that kind of divisiveness, it’ll be surprising if any of the rebels survive the Syrian-Russian coalition, much less beat them.