History shows inevitable rebel-training failure

On Friday, CNN reported that the Pentagon intends to deploy 400 troops and potentially hundreds of additional military personnel to the Middle East to train and equip “moderate Syrian rebels.” This action is being touted as an attempt to counter ISIS forces in the country that are rapidly gaining strength and territory. In terms of historical precedent, such a move by the Pentagon is not unusual. However, attempts by the United States to arm and train troops in places like Guatemala and more recently, Iraq, have failed miserably — often resulting in more violence.

In 1954, during the period of anti-communist fervor, the CIA closely watched the events that were transpiring in Guatemala. Former Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbenz had served as the democratically elected president for three years after winning the election with aid from leftist groups, including the Guatemalan Communist party, and was slowly instituting reforms that were greatly changing the Guatemalan sociopolitical composition Along with fears stirred up by American business interests that were being damaged in the area, the U.S. government and President Dwight Eisenhower felt threatened by Árbenz’s ties to communist nations and communist ideals. Thus, the CIA began arming anti-communist rebels in order to stage a coup d’état. The coup succeeded in installing a brutal military regime and creating popular discontent that resulted in a 36-year civil war riddled with genocide, slaughter and “disappearances” of rebel fighters.

Psychologist Noam Chomsky argued that Guatemala “remains one of the world’s worst horror chambers” as a direct result of U.S. intervention in 1954. But besides the human rights abuses that have plagued Guatemalans since the CIA-assisted coup, the violence in the country has caused foreign policy and immigration crises for the U.S. This summer, a flood of children crossed the U.S.’s southern border fleeing violence, paralyzing the government systems intended to help them and igniting a debate about anti-immigration. In addition, Guatemala receives about $300 million in aid per year to combat rampant poverty, often the result of unchecked violence. In the end, an action intended to prevent threats to American business interests and political ideology was a disaster in terms of human rights, business interests and political security.

For a more recent example, look no further than U.S. involvement in Iraq. Based on dubious claims that former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction, the U.S. invaded and overthrew the government of Iraq. This governmental collapse sparked sectarian violence and civil war and opened the door for Al-Qaeda to gain a foothold in the territory. Despite being racked with violence, Iraq drafted and approved a new constitution, creating a new permanent government and held elections. These actions, however, were tainted by persistent insurgency as sectarian violence escalated. The war escalated, but the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq was killed by American forces, and Hussein was convicted of crimes against humanity and killed. Finally, the U.S. began to prioritize training Iraq’s armed forces and by 2009, the U.S. relinquished security duties to Iraqi forces but remained in the country until 2011 to train troops. These newly trained Iraqi troops immediately faced threats of destabilization due to the Arab Spring, as well as increased violence catalyzed by the Syrian Civil War. In 2014, Iraqi soldiers and police dropped their weapons and fled their posts in Mosul as ISIS militants, a then-nascent extremist group, overran the city. In short, attempts to train troops over the course of two years utterly failed to accomplish the goals of security, stability and counterterrorism in the region.

Now the Pentagon wants to send troops into Syria. The operation might mirror that of Guatemala, in which rebel troops whose true motives are unknown ceaselessly perpetuate violence in an attempt to gain power. The operation might turn out like Iraq in which training troops becomes an indefinite leech on money and time while showing no discernible benefits. Or, if operations go very far afield, arms might end up in the hands of ISIS militants through defeating or capturing the “moderate rebels who are being trained.” History repeats itself — it’s about time the government learns from it.