October 5, 2016: The United States has sent hundreds of SOCOM (Special Operations Command) troops into areas like Syria and Libya to support rebels fighting ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant). The problem, according to the U.S. Army Special Forces troops involved, is that a lot of the “rebels” they are ordered to train and support with air support, medical care and so on are Islamic radicals who are likely to eventually join ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) or other similar hyper-violent Islamic terror groups. The Special Forces know what they are talking about because they speak Arabic and have been working with Arab groups for many years. But they are told to keep training the “approved” (by the U.S. State Department and other senior policy makers in the United States and Europe) rebels despite the fact that some of these men will eventually be discovered by the media fighting for some violently and actively anti-West Islamic terrorist groups and boast that they were “trained” by the United States.

Some Special Forces operators report that many of the trainees receive only half-hearted instruction, since the American instructors know for a fact that they are likely to encounter some of these trainees in the future. That has already happened but that sort of thing has not changed American policies. Meanwhile Special Forces operators have to carefully consider which talented trainee to pay extra attention to and help him develop his talent foe, say, hand-to-hand combat, and sniping or battlefield improvisation in general. All these skills could eventually be used to kill the trainers.