While we were in Idlib, a commander’s son revealed that he had attended a US-run training course in Qatar, and that the US government was quietly funneling weapons and vehicles to the SRF through Turkey.

But the SRF’s fighters see the meager supply of equipment as too little, too late.

Earmarked for the campaign against ISIS, the American supply effort will not impact the course of the long and bloody war against the regime, and inspires more cynicism than gratitude from SRF fighters.

They told us, frequently, that they believe America wants to prolong the war as long as possible, to destroy Syria, and leave Assad weak but still in power. “If only you had given us a few weapons from the beginning,” one commander said, “we would have defeated this regime a long time ago.”