--- title: Obama Will End $500 Million Syrian Training Program description: Officials say training rebels has not been effective in combatting ISIS canonical: https://time.com/4067817/obama-administration-syrian-rebel-training-end/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-09T13:00:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T11:39:52.934Z article:section: Politics og:title: Administration Will End $500 Million Syrian Training Program og:description: Officials say training rebels has not been effective in combatting ISIS og:url: https://time.com/4067817/obama-administration-syrian-rebel-training-end/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2bb46caad10576b1/6988679a2dce0197799e5f2f/pentagon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Administration Will End $500 Million Syrian Training Program twitter:description: Officials say training rebels has not been effective in combatting ISIS twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2bb46caad10576b1/6988679a2dce0197799e5f2f/pentagon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Administration Will End $500 Million Syrian Rebel Training Program > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=d383a4f7-f779-4f49-b1d6-13303c3dfac0&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Oct 9, 2015 1:00 PM UTC  British State Secreatary for Defense Michael Fallon (C-L) and his US counterpart Ashton Carter (C-R) observing an honor guard during their meeting at the Ministry of Defence Main Building in London, Oct. 9, 2015. British State Secreatary for Defense Michael Fallon (C-L) and his US counterpart Ashton Carter (C-R) observing an honor guard during their meeting at the Ministry of Defence Main Building in London, Oct. 9, 2015. Sgt Ross Tilly Raf/Britsih Ministry of Defence—EPA by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Oct 9, 2015 1:00 PM UTC Defense officials say the Obama administration will [end the program](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/10/world/middleeast/pentagon-program-islamic-state-syria.html?smid=tw-bna&%5Fr=0) to train and equip Syrian rebels in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS). The New York _Times_, citing anonymous sources, reports that the program, which cost $500 million, has not been found to be effective in combating the terrorist group. Training in Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will cease, and a smaller operation in Turkey will instead focus on teaching maneuvers to already-existing groups that oppose Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. Training could include learning how to call in airstrikes. The Pentagon is expected to make the announcement on Friday as Defense Secretary Ash Carter’s visit to Michael Fallon, his counterpart in the U.K., comes to an end. Carter said in an earlier news conference with Fallon that he “wasn’t happy with the early efforts” of the program and that new approaches would soon be announced. \[[_NYT_](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/10/world/middleeast/pentagon-program-islamic-state-syria.html?smid=tw-bna&%5Fr=0)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4067817/obama-administration-syrian-rebel-training-end/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4067817/obama-administration-syrian-rebel-training-end/"},"headline":"Obama Administration Will End $500 Million Syrian Rebel Training Program","datePublished":"2015-10-09T13:00:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T11:39:52.934Z","description":"Officials say training rebels has not been effective in combatting ISIS","url":"https://time.com/4067817/obama-administration-syrian-rebel-training-end/","keywords":["Military","Barack Obama","Syria","Pentagon"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2bb46caad10576b1/6988679a2dce0197799e5f2f/pentagon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2bb46caad10576b1/6988679a2dce0197799e5f2f/pentagon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter","caption":"US Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter","creditText":"Sgt Ross Tilly Raf/Britsih Ministry of Defence—EPA","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/military/","name":"Military"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4067817/obama-administration-syrian-rebel-training-end/","name":"Obama Administration Will End $500 Million Syrian Rebel Training Program"}}]}] ```