US President Barack Obama says America will increase assistance to the Syrian opposition, opening the way for the likely training and possibly equipping of moderate rebels fighting to oust leader Bashar Assad.
In a speech at the US Military Academy at West Point, Obama framed the situation in Syria as a counterterrorism challenge and said it would be the centrepiece of a new focus on battling violent extremism even as Assad's removal is a priority.
"In helping those who fight for the right of all Syrians to choose their own future, we also push back against the growing number of extremists who find safe-haven in the chaos," Obama told the graduating cadets.
"I will work with Congress to ramp up support for those in the Syrian opposition who offer the best alternative to terrorists and a brutal dictator," he said.
His remarks were immediately hailed by the Syrian Opposition Coalition, which said in a statement it "appreciates American support to the Syrian people in their struggle against the Assad regime."
Administration officials said the proposed mission would be aligned with, but not necessarily part of a new $US5 billion ($A5.41 billion) counterterrorism initiative that Obama announced in his speech.
Under the planned initiative, the US would send a limited number of American troops to Jordan to be part of a regional training mission that would instruct carefully screened members of the Free Syrian Army on weapons handling and tactics, officials said.
The US has covert support operations in place for the Syrian opposition and has spent $US287 million ($A310.52 million) so far in nonlethal aid on the civil war, now in its fourth year with a death toll surpassing 160,000, according to estimates.
Rebel commanders for three years have asked the US for lethal assistance as they've seen gains wiped out one after another. The US has been reluctant to move to that kind of aid for fear weapons could end up in the hands of extremist rebels who might then turn on neighbouring Israel or against US interests.
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