U.S. training of Syrian rebels set to begin

The Pentagon is poised to begin, as soon as this week, a controversial program to train moderate Syrian rebels at locations in Turkey and Jordan to fight ISIS, according to several U.S. defense officials.

The first of 400 U.S. military trainers have now arrived in both countries. Out of a list of 3,000 rebels who have expressed interest in joining the program, some 400 have passed the initial security screening.

The plan is for them to return to their towns and villages and be able to specifically defend them against ISIS. However, U.S. officials are aware, they say, of the risk that some of the trained fighters could decide to take their weapons and fight the Assad regime which is not the goal of the training.

The Turkish government has already talked about the training efforts, but so far the US doesn't expect Jordan will openly discuss the training due to regional sensitivities.