The Obama administration has asked the U.S. Congress to authorize the release of 500 million dollars to allow the U.S. military to train and equip Syrian rebels.
According to the Washington Post, if this amount is sanctioned, it could significantly escalate American involvement in the civil war in Syria.
The Obama administration has said repeatedly in recent weeks that it was preparing additional assistance to vetted "moderate" opposition forces fighting both the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and extremists of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), who have now spread their area of control across the Syrian border into Iraq.
If Congress approves the funding, the training of Syrian opposition forces would probably take place in Jordan or Turkey.