U.S. Congress gives final approval to plan for arming Syrian rebels

PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. Congress gave final approval on Thursday, Sept 18, to President Barack Obama's plan for training and arming moderate Syrian rebels to battle Islamic State, a major part of his military campaign to "degrade and destroy" the militant group, Reuters reported.

The Senate voted 78-22, in a rare bipartisan show of support for one of Obama's high-profile initiatives. With the House of Representatives approving the legislation on Wednesday, the measure now goes to Obama to sign into law.

Ten Senate Democrats and 12 Republicans voted no.

Obama thanked Congress for the speed in which it acted to back the plan, which he announced on Sept. 10, and said the strong bipartisan support showed Americans were united in the fight against Islamic State.

"When you harm our citizens, when you threaten the United States, when you threaten our allies, it doesn't divide us, it unites us," he said at the White House after the vote.

Obama also said that more than 40 countries, including Arab states, had joined the coalition that will battle the militants, and that France would join in air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq.

The plan to arm and train the rebels was written as an amendment to a spending bill that would keep the U.S. government operating on Oct 1, the start of a new fiscal year.

Some lawmakers objected to including a "war vote" in a fiscal measure.

Others worried that getting involved with the rebels would lead to broader involvement inIraq or in Syria's civil war or that any arms given to them might fall into the wrong hands and end up being used against U.S. forces or their allies.

The rebels have been fighting a three-year civil war against Assad, who has held on to power despite the rise of the Islamic State group and a covert U.S. effort backing the moderate fighters.

If Obama signs it into law as expected, the authority to train and arm the rebels would expire on Dec 11.