A program that was supposed to train 5,000 Syrian rebels by the end of this year at a cost of $500 million is a "total failure," according to Senator Jeff Sessions.  That's because when CENTCOM commander General Lloyd Austin was asked about the status of the program to train rebels, he acknowledged that only "4 or 5" remained from the original 54 U.S.-trained fighters.  The rest have been killed, been taken hostage by ISIS, or simply fled. Worse, only about 200 Syrian rebels are in the training program now – "astoundingly short" of the 5,000 promised by the administration by the end of the year. ABC News: The stunning admission from Austin came as defense officials scrambled separately to respond to allegations that they skewed intelligence assessments to give a rosier picture of conditions on the battlefield. The Obama administration was already struggling to defend its military strategy to "destroy and...(Read Full Post)