Timber Sycamore

Timber Sycamore was a covert program run by the United StatesCentral Intelligence Agency (CIA) with the aim of removing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power, by supplying weapons, money and training to Syrian opposition groups that fought against government forces in the Syrian Civil War. It was supported primarily by the United Kingdom, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. A lot of these weapons ultimately ended up in the hands of extremist groups, most notably ISIS and the Al-Nusra Front.

According to US officials, the program was run by the CIA's Special Activities Division. U.S. President Barack Obama secretly authorized the CIA to begin arming Syrian rebels in 2013. The program became public knowledge in mid-2016.

One consequence of the program was a flood of U.S.-supplied assault rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades into the Middle East's black market. Critics of the program within the Obama administration viewed it as ineffective and expensive, and raised concerns about the seizure of weapons by Islamist groups, and about U.S.-backed rebels fighting alongside Al-Qaeda affiliates.

In July 2017 U.S. officials stated that Timber Sycamore would be phased out, with funds possibly redirected to fighting ISIS, or to offering rebel forces defensive capabilities.