Obama's U.S. trained rebels are having even more trouble against al-Nusra in Syria. AFP.

Al-Nusra Front fighters in Syria. Yahoo/AFP.

Obama's unit of trained secular rebels are running into even more trouble in Syria, even as Obama vows to send airstrikes in to support them. AFP. The U.S. linked Division 30, 54 members strong at the onset of their deployment, has lost 5 more members to the al-Qaeda affiliate, al-Nusra, who abducted the men. The terrorist group abducted 8 other Division 30 troops just a few days before. Al-Nusra also launched an attack on Division 30's base in Aleppo province, and was only pushed back when U.S. airstrikes came to support the rebels. The airstrikes, while not the first directed against al-Nusra, were the first to come in support of non-Kurdish rebels in Syria. The new airstrikes mark a change in policy as the Pentagon has warned the Syrian regime that they will be subject to airstrikes as well if they attack U.S. trained rebels. Syrian and regional sources downplay the threat due to the unlikely chance that the rebels and the regime would come into conflict. 

My Comment:

The situation in Syria is surreal. It baffles me why we are sending in airstrikes to support a unit that is essentially a platoon. And with casualties and kidnappings they are already at less then full strength. From what I have read it seems like they have lost at least 15 members out of 54. Not that 54 members can accomplish more then 39, but the point still stands, the unit is already weaker then it was when it started. 

The really crazy thing is that these rebels were trained to fight ISIS, but they are spending their time fighting al-Nursa instead. Of course, al-Nusra is pretty terrible in their own right, and we are right to give them a bloody nose if we can, but that is not the mission these rebels are supposed to be doing. They are supposed to be fighting ISIS, but as far as I can tell, they haven't even engaged with them yet at all. Not that they have a choice, al-Nusra has made it very clear that they want to wipe these U.S. trained rebels out. It's fight al-Nusra or die before they even get a chance to fight.

It also seems that the only thing keeping these rebels alive is U.S. airstrikes. The rebels had demanded that the United States provide airstrikes to support them. They also demanded that the airstrikes be directed at Assad loyalists, which the U.S. had balked at. That seems to have changed. The change in policy is a major shift in the way the United States operates in Syria since we have never struck at regime targets before. 

That being said, I doubt that this will actually result in attacks on the regime. For one thing, Division 30 is not engaged with them and given the situation on the ground, they are unlikely to do so. From what I have been able to gather the regime has both ISIS and al-Nusra between them and the U.S. backed rebels. There is little chance of them getting into a battle so the question is mostly academic. 

I think it has a lot more to do with reassuring the rebels then anything else. The rebels were understandably frightened of not having air cover if they came up against the regime, and this should mitigate those fears. It also sends a message to the regime, mess with our guys and you will suffer. The last thing the regime needs is a U.S. lead air campaign. They are on the verge of collapse as it is, and that could push them over the edge. My guess is that Syria will do everything they can to avoid engaging these units. Who knows if Obama would actually follow through though. He has threatened airstrikes against the regime before but has never actually done so. 

Still, Syria is so chaotic right now that it is very hard to predict the future. Right now it's a four way brawl between the regime, ISIS, al-Nusra and the few secular rebels left. Plus the Kurds fighting against ISIS as well. Turkey is the wild card but for now they seem to be focusing on the Kurds, who until recently, were the most effective fighters against ISIS. If the Kurds get their asses kicked by the Turks, it will fall on the U.S. trained rebels to fight off ISIS. As we have seen, they aren't up to the task. Even if they were, there is a good chance that al-Nusra will wipe them all out before they even get a chance to fight ISIS. 

Once again, I have to point out that the training program was never a real attempt to do much of anything in Syria. It was all about appearances. The government wanted to look like it was doing something without actually doing something. Sure it cost an obscene amount of money ($500 million) and has done nothing to actually fight ISIS, but it makes it look like something is happening. Just like threatening the regime with airstrikes, it's a bunch of sound and fury signifying nothing. These rebels won't have much of an effect on the war. Like it or not, they, and by extension we, are sideshows and ISIS, al-Nursa, the regime, and now the Turks, are the main show.