It's been two months since Congress authorized a train-and-equip mission to help Syrian rebels fight ISIS—but the mission is unlikely to happen until spring of next year. In conjunction with air strikes, the American mission to train and equip the Syrian moderate opposition is a central part of the Obama administration's strategy to counter ISIS. Yet this strategy and its execution are deeply flawed, say Congressional lawmakers focused on national security issues—which raises questions about whether the planned training of some 5,000 fighters will ever happen.

Senate Armed Services Committee member Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told reporters this week that Washington should deploy 20,000 US troops to fight the Islamic State. Graham said he would put 10,000 American troops in Iraq and 10,000 in Syria. In a Friday statement, House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Adam Smith, D-Wash., sounded bewildered by such calls.

Last week, eight U.S. lawmakers called for cuts to the planned U.S. security assistance package to Colombia for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 in response to continuing reports of human rights violations, violence and impunity in the country.