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U.S. Congress approves arming Syrian rebels, funding government

World News

19-09-2014 | 01:13

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U.S. Congress approves arming Syrian rebels, funding government

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The U.S. Congress gave final approval on Thursday 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.

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 airstrikes 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 in Iraq 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.

REUTERS

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