In a U.S. Central Command and U.S. Special Forces Command Defense Authorization hearing on March 5, 2013, Senator Lee discussed the possibility that jihadist groups with ties to Al-Queda are gaining influence in the uprising in Syria.  In light of this exchange, Senator Lee has serious concerns about U.S. tax dollars being used to support and arm these rebels.

The exchange can be found below:

LEE:
Thank you Mr. Chairman and thanks to both of you for joining us today. Thank you especially for all you do and have done throughout your distinguished careers to keep us safe. General Mattis I wanted to start out by talking to you a little bit about Syria.

Your written testimony mentions the dire situation in Syria and it also refers to the fact that there is a certain amount of disunity among the opposition groups and there may be some influence from Al Qaida-related groups.

I'd like to get your assessment on Syria and your answers to a couple of questions. First, what can you tell us about the composition and the objectives of the opposition forces in Syria? And in particular, what can you tell me about the extent to which they have a vision for the future of a post-Assad Syria?

MATTIS:
Senator, the opposition is not completely unified as you know. It's becoming more unified day by day. The one thing I think all of them agree on, is that Assad has got to go, on the opposition side. But after that it breaks out pretty broadly to include some, what I would call populist extremist views. As well as the ones that we would find more along the lines of how we would like to see Syria come out of this civil war.

The vision that some of them have is clearly inconsistent with what we would like to see. And these are the Jihadist elements that are there. The extremist elements, the foreign fighters who've come in who simply want to create another chaotic background where they can put in their roots and have a new place to operate from.

LEE:
What's your sense as to where the center of gravity is? I mean, obviously there are some that are like those that you've just described, sort of the Jihadist elements as you put it. Is that where the center of gravity is? Is that where the heartland of the opposition forces are?

MATTIS:
Well sir, I think when you look at the Syrian National Coalition, or what you read as the SNC, and I have to refer to my notes here to keep accurate. And then you've got the Syrian Opposition Council, the SOC. Those are one and the same thing. So where you see them gaining traction and coherence, that's carrying a message to the Assad regime that there is an opposition that's increasingly unified against them. At the same time, there's a military council below that, and that military council is what actually carries out the operations, there inside the country.

LEE:
Okay but you don't, you can't give me a thumbnail sketch as to whether this is a minority faction within, whether it's a fringe faction or a minority faction? A solid plurality or a major faction that is, takes sort of a Jihadist approach?

MATTIS:
I would say that that is a significant minority that takes a Jihadist extremist approach with the idea of, for example, the Al Nusra front, gaining traction, those kinds of organizations.

LEE:
And it's those organizations that are a significant minority, not amounting to a majority, but a significant minority that have either links to Al Qaida or to some other terrorist group or some other group that might be related to or similar to Al Qaida.

MATTIS:
I believe that's correct sir. They do have a powerful propaganda arm, they do use humanitarian efforts in addition to their well-armed, well-trained fighters to try to build a broader reach among the opposition.

LEE:
Okay. And then I assume that the respective visions for a post-Assad Syria would break down according to what's motivating them now. Would that be correct?

MATTIS:
I believe so, yes sir.