The Obama administration's hopes for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step aside and make way for a democratic government in Damascus are being dashed once again -- this time, by evidence that the dictator's strongest ally is joining the fight to keep him in power.
According to multiple reports, Russian troops are on the ground to aid Assad forces battling Islamic State militants.
To make matters worse, the Obama administration's push to train and equip a moderate rebel force has failed to get off the ground. The developments are, in turn, fueling criticism of the U.S. effort to bring peace to the long-running civil war.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov acknowledged at a news conference Thursday that Moscow indeed is sending military equipment, which he said falls under "existing contracts." He said Russia "will continue aiding the Syrian government in equipping the Syrian army with all that is necessary for it to prevent a repetition in Syria of the Libyan scenario and other sad events that have occurred in this region, because of an obsession by some of our western partners with ideas of changing unwanted regimes.''
Asked what the U.S. military planned to do about the Russian buildup, an official said, "nothing."
The development comes as the Obama administration's effort to train and equip a moderate rebel fighting force in Syria falters.
The Pentagon says it has spent nearly $42 million -- out of $500 million allocated by Congress -- to train a total of 54 fighters so far.
But Politico reported Thursday that all those fighters are now either dead, captured or missing. Asked by Fox News how many of the 54 the Pentagon could account for, a Pentagon spokesman did not answer directly, saying only that they've "been candid that the initial phase of this program did not lift off with the kind of efficiency that we'd hoped."
The spokesman added that "supporting these moderate Syrian forces is a critical component in the fight going forward."
