US Asks Syria’s Islamic Front to Return Seized Equipment

'We Want Our Stuff Back'

The loss of several Free Syrian Army (FSA) warehouses full of US equipment to the Islamic Front was a big part of the decision by the US to halt direct aid to Syrian rebels.

The FSA has tried to downplay that, insisting the Islamic Front is just “guarding” the warehouses for their now virtually irrelevant fighters. The US undercut that claim today, however, by asking the Islamic Front to return the equipment to the US.

US officials insist they don’t have any specific problems with the Islamic Front, and were open to backing them if they endorsed the Geneva II peace conference and disassociated themselves from al-Qaeda. At the same time, officials say, “we want our stuff back.”

The odds of the Islamic Front agreeing to hand back multiple warehouses of US equipment are virtually nil, however, and that officials even asked is something of a surprise, since it brings yet more attention to just how badly the US “aid for rebels” program has gone.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.