Timber Sycamore

Timber Sycamore
Timber Sycamore
	Seal of the CIA
Operational scope	Weapons sales, training of Syrian rebel forces
Location	Eastern Europe, Jordan, Syria
Planned by	Central Intelligence Agency
Target	Syrian Army
Date	2012–2017
Executed by	Central Intelligence Agency; United States Department of Defense; Jordanian Armed Forces; General Intelligence Directorate (Jordan); Al Mukhabarat Al A'amah (Saudi Arabia); Qatar State Security; Secret Intelligence Service (UK)
Outcome	Thousands of Syrian rebel fighters trained and equipped by US, UK and Arab governments in an effort to overthrow the Syrian government.; Delivery of thousands of tons of weaponry worth billions of US dollars.; Arms diverted to the Middle East black market; many sold to ISIS.; Criticism of Obama administration for insufficient support to rebel groups.; US led- Syria Train and Equip program continues to arm, train, and support the SDF with airstrikes.;

Timber Sycamore was a classified weapons supply and training program run by the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and supported by some Arab intelligence services, including Saudi intelligence. The aim of the programme was to remove Syrian president Bashar al-Assad from power. Launched in 2012 or 2013, it supplied money, weaponry and training to Syrian opposition militias of the Free Syrian Army fighting al-Assad's forces in the Syrian civil war. According to US officials, the program was run by the CIA's Special Activities Division and has trained thousands of rebels. President Barack Obama secretly authorized the CIA to begin arming Syria's embattled rebels in 2013. The program became public knowledge in mid-2016.

One consequence of the program has been a flood of US weapons including 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 seizure of weaponry by Islamist groups and about Timber Sycamore-backed rebels fighting alongside the al-Nusra Front and its allies.

In July 2017, US officials stated that Timber Sycamore would be phased out, with funds possibly redirected to fighting the Islamic State (IS), or to offering rebel forces defensive capabilities.

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