As Pro-Assad Syrian forces gain the upper hand against ISIS, U.S. backed rebels are slowly disheartened by America's apparent refusal to ouster Assad. This is after the United States Military apparent shift of attention from helping the rebels regain Syria to defeating ISIS first. At the moment, most of the US. backed forces are tied up in Raqqa as the fight to capture it rages on.

What is the reaction of Syrian rebels of the precedence of defeating ISIS?

Though many of the Syrian rebels have hoped that the United States will start a major move to end Assad's reign, some are slowly casting their doubts.

This is after the United States have seemingly restricted their intervention to places where U.S. personnel are located. Outside of areas like Al-Tanf, U.S. direct intervention is absent, which resulted in the unimpeded offensive of Assad's forces into large portions of ISIS territory in Syria.

According to a spokesperson for the Al-Mutasem brigade under the U.S. backed Syrian rebel forces, Mustafa Serjari, they want real efforts against Assad's regime to unify Syria not increase division. Some rebels are worried that the U.S. has different plans in Syria.

Another comment comes from Muzakhim al-Sallum, manager for Hammurabi's Justice Agency, a news publication tied with the U.S. backed rebel forces.

He said that the United States must step up its effort to protect the Syrian Rebels from Assad and Iran.

What is the United States' response to the issue?

The Pentagon issued a statement in response to the Syrian rebels expectations. The statement said that the U.S. is not in Syria to fight against Assad. Instead, it is training the Kurds and Syrian rebels to fight ISIS.

The Pentagon added that the coalition in Syria is not intended to fight Russian and pro-regime forces and that the strike at incoming Assad forces in Al-Tanf was a special case.

Defeating ISIS is the main goal of the coalition in Syria and not a new nation-building project. However, this statement may prove distasteful for the rebels who are hoping that the United States will help them gain independence from a brutal regime.

This might be the workings of another disenfranchised Middle Eastern group, promised help by the United States and suddenly feeling abandoned. It is not sure what the United States' role will be in Syria after the defeat of ISIS, but it is sure that the Syrian civil war that has claim hundreds of thousands of lives will still be raging then.