Obama asks Congress for $500 million to train Syria rebels (Not the Onion)

President Obama on Thursday asked Congress for the first time to approve direct U.S. military training for Syrian rebels, but he remains deeply ambivalent about intervening in a deadly conflict that has spilled over into neighboring Iraq, U.S. officials said.

Obama asked for $500 million to "train and equip" opposition fighters in Syria who will be vetted by the U.S. to ensure they have no ties to militant Islamists who now control wide swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq.

But two senior U.S. officials said that the program will not begin until basic questions are resolved, such as whether the Pentagon has legal authority to train Syrian rebels, what types of weapons and other assistance they would receive and who would get the training. Those decisions could take months, the officials said.

"All that is yet to be worked out, assuming Congress passes it," said one of the officials, who asked not to be identified while discussing internal deliberations.

http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-obama-syria-20140627-story.html