Syria rebels, once hopeful of U.S. weapons, lament lack of firepower

In the spring, Harakat Hazm, with an estimated 7,000 fighters, became one of the first Syrian opposition militias to receive a shipment of American-made BGM-71 TOW antitank missiles.

But the U.S. weapons shipments proved to be very few. The advanced weaponry they’d hoped for never arrived.

“It was supposed to be a positive sign for additional American aid,” Harakat Hazm commander 1st Lt. Abdullah Awda said. “But as a missile, it is just a missile like what we were already using.”…

“You can’t defeat ISIS with airstrikes only in Iraq; ISIS has a stronger base in Syria and controls large parts of the country,” said Hussam Marie, a spokesman for the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army, referring to Islamic State by a common acronym. He said airstrikes alone in Syria on Islamic State would not be enough to dislodge the group.