McRaven heads the U.S. Special Operations Command, which suggests that congressional and military leaders have contemplated the use of commando units to secure Assad’s nightmare weapons. America’s elite warriors are certainly equal to any task the national command authority would give them, but if the above parameters are accurate—45 storage facilities, five factories, 75,000 interdiction troops, all in the middle of a multi-sided war—it’s a task McRaven’s overworked men should not be given. Consider this: The entire Special Operations Command comprises 63,000 personnel, including shooters and civilians—and some 12,000 of them are already on deployment in any one of 70 countries. Simply put, there may not be enough of them for this mission.
That leads us to conventional ground forces. We certainly have enough, and some regional allies might chip in. But securing Syria’s chemical arsenal with ground forces would be a massive and dangerous undertaking. Such an operation would be all the more dangerous if it were conducted in a “non-permissive environment”—military-speak for a warzone.
Striking Assad’s WMD facilities by air poses less risk to allied personnel, but it presents other challenges. To be sure, the U.S. Air Force is equal to the task. And with NATO ally Turkey on Syria’s northern border and the open waters of the Mediterranean to Syria’s west, U.S. warplanes would have clear routes of attack into Syria. However, Syria’s Russian-supplied air defenses are more formidable than Libya’s, as the Turkish air force learned when one of its reconnaissance planes strayed near Syrian airspace.
In addition, even the most effective airstrikes cannot guarantee that every chemical-tipped shell or SCUD is destroyed. Without boots on the ground to inventory Assad’s arsenal, there remains a possibility that some chemical weapons would survive the airstrikes and be scooped up by hostiles. Moreover, the allies would want to avoid inadvertently dispersing the very weapons they are trying to destroy. But in this regard, it’s important to remember that a) one of the main ways weaponized mustard is destroyed is by incineration and b) during the 1991 Gulf War, coalition airstrikes successfully destroyed Iraqi facilities that produced and stored chemical agents.
These sorts of contingencies may sound scary, but we must keep in mind two realities: First, these and other contingency plans are surely on the books. We know that the U.S. military has planned counter-proliferation strikes against Iran. The Clinton administration ordered the Pentagon to develop plans for “executing preemptive counter-proliferation strikes in 1994” against North Korean nuclear sites. In the early 1990s, the Gulf War was, in effect, a counter-proliferation war. And Reagan and the elder Bush contemplated military strikes against Gadhafi’s chemical-weapons sites.
Second, these contingencies must be weighed against the alternatives. There are no good options in nightmare scenarios like this. That’s why they are called “nightmares.” The challenge is to choose the least bad option. And we may be approaching a juncture where doing nothing is no longer an option.
Of course, the notion that Barack Obama—the anti-Bush—would launch attacks against Syria in order to preempt the use or transfer of WMDs is as unthinkable as, well, what might happen with those WMDs.
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A new surprise of great magnitude will expand everywhere the conflict between Jews, Muslims and Christians.
This scenario, combined with the worsening of the financial crisis and the political assassination of Barack Obama, will lead into the next World War.
As if it were all written.
Now there is a need for an alternative Plan to oppose the very detailed Zionist Plan.
In fact, the Zionists expect the people to react with Instinct to their "surprises" and without a Plan.
For Humankind not to be trapped by the Zionist Plan it will take a leap in our thinking and a new way to view ourselves.
It will also be crucial to turn a new and progressive attention to the Bible which is the Constitution and origin for Jewish, Christian and Muslim Religions, the 3 instruments used by the Zionist Plan.
Shedding new light on the Bible will be difficult.
In fact, the followers of these 3 Religions are in good faith and like knights they charge with drawn swords to defend their Belief.
But, as arduous as it may seem, to eradicate the indoctrination of the Bible is the only alternative to a New World Order.
Therefore, it is now imperative to counterbalance with a new Progressive Science the myths and fantasies of these 3 Religions.
In spite of two findings from Einstein and Planck, one to show the equation between atoms and energy and the other to discover the constant between waves' frequencies and energy, traditional science has not yet closed the circle. Still today, the transformation from waves to atoms is not recognized by this antiquated science.
The repercussions of this transformation, Wavevolution, are huge and overturn many common beliefs. But, due to the limitations of our modern technology, science has not yet experienced the transformation from waves to atoms and, following its bureaucratic protocol, science cannot officially confirm any data unless it has been first experimented even if the evidence is right before our eyes.
The origin of the Universe is revealed even by the spark appearing from the friction of two cutting blades while they are being sharpened. Try to videotape the spark appearing from those two blades, then watch again the same film while is being rewound and in slow motion. You will see the light from the spark entering the blades and becoming part of them. In fact, the photons of light are the "building blocks" of the metal blades. This simple example should also be a clear indication to explain how the whole mass had been formed in the Universe.
In antithesis with the Bible, the Human beings made up of atoms are the ultimate product of a slow process started with transformed waves.
Since 3 billion people, between Jews, Christians and Muslims will soon be instigated in a great War with the most subtle of all Deceptions, a new Awareness is the only Solution.
http://www.wavevolution.org
More pretentious nonsense. The more man uses his reasoning powers to try and deny God the more arrogant he becomes. To those who are willing to lower themselves off the pedestal of Self glorification, there is plenty of evidence that there is a divine eternal Creator. There is in fact a battle between good and evil that has been going on from the beginning and God has told out where things are going and why. We may not always fully understand, but we are told “but the wise shall understand”. Daniel 12:10. The existence of the state of Israel after nearly two thousand years is the greatest sign that we are near or in the last days before the Kingdom of God. This is all foretold for those willing to seek out the information.
What we know for sure about Damascus is what is written in the book of Isaiah chapter 17. "The burden of Damascus" Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins. In the evening you will be a city but in the morning you will be NO more. Read it for yourself. This has not happened yet but was written 3000 yrs ago. The God of Jesus/Yeshua is great and there is none like him.
Well, I see you found the exit mundi website. Well, actually not because if you had you would realise that prophesies of the end of the world are shot-gunned all over the place. You've convinced yourself that is what will happen and while such delusions are relatively harmless for an individual as a policy making decision it's morbidly stupid.
We don't need to make ourselves slave to someone's big sky daddy fantasy we need to actually work to make sure something like this DOESN'T HAPPEN.
Going into Syria is fraught with dangers that this article does not expose. Russia and China unless
secretly giving America a pass may help militarily. The finding of Sadam Husseins WMD would
that be exposed and surely Sadam sent them to Syria, while some Baathist sympathies endured.
Snake pit for America and all involved, saving Syria's population is not going to happen, the
side that loses dies, no winners except Islamists and the growing Caliphate unless the West
puts a stop to it in Syia. This Obama does not want to do and that is his motivation for
helping the so called insurgents no matter how much they hate America or Israel…………William
If Iraqi WMDs are found in Syria, it might defang the left at least temporarily.
But probably not, since they will come up with a new reason why it is all Bush's fault.
The left spins no matter what…………………..William
Already formulating talking points, eh? If ANY WMDs are found in Syria their will be an effort to pin them on Iraq. Of course the neo-cons were right you just didn't have sufficient faith in dear leader.
Then accusing the left of constant spin is hilarious in light of the extreme rights fetish for calling Obama by the wrong name and spinning idiotic legends about some impossible convoluted conspiracy to rationalise it all.
What is found in Syria is at this point unimportant but interesting from a historical perspective.
Did all of the United Nations inspectors lie, did all of America's intelligence services lie,
did the intelligence services of NATO lie, if so then maybe you are on to something. Until
then sit back and watch the show…………………..William
All? No, the Bush admin and those who wanted to start the war lied.
The sources of information were plentiful and were not the only reasons war was
made, go and check the history of the United Nations resolutions. The spurious
and unfounded accusatios against Bush are lame brained. The Iraq issue was
not about the Bush Administraion but what Sadam Hussein was doing In Iraq
and the Middle East and the danger he posed . If there was a problem with
the Bush Administratin it was when Bush the elder did not finish Sadam off
during Desert Storm, that was the mother load of stupidity and History will
judge it so………………………………William
So starting 2 major occupations, losing two cities through incompetence and wrecking the government through mismanagement are okay but expanded a war after achieving that wars aims – ejecting Iraq from Kuwait – and destroying the alliance built was the bad decision?
Bush the elder's blunder was not supporting the Iraqi uprising and allowing Saddam to destroy them. Then again he may have still seen some use value in leaving the regime intact as a bulwark against Iran. In other words he lacked the imagination needed to see beyond long standing policy. Instead he adopted the genocidal policy of starving a whole nation to try and get at the leader. Clinton carried on the same damned policy exposing his own lack of imagination.
THOSE are the real mistakes in this whole damned mess.
mucking foron!
"Unnamed Pentagon officials say 75,000 troops would be required to secure Syria’s vast WMD arsenal."
The last thing we want to see is yet another US-led "occupation", however short-lived. An air strike seems to be the least bad option at this point. As to Syria's air defenses, it was just five years ago when a number of Israeli fighter jets entered Syrian airspace, took out the country's nuclear facility, and left before anyone was the wiser. Israel managed to shut down those defenses, leaving Syria blind to what was happening.
Are any of Syria's WMDs from Iraq, moved there just prior to the invasion by the USA?
If Iraqi WMDs are found in Syria, then Code Stink, Cindy Sheehan & the whole liberal establishment owe us an apology & the honesty to step aside because they really scre wed the country & everyone else.
Code Pink = CP = Commie Party
For over a year Sadam had truck convoys going back and forth to Syria, maybe a hundred
trucks a day and it wasn't for tourism, interesting things may come out……………..William
If that evidence were so strong then why did Bush the lesser resort to curve ball and some children's drawing as his slam dunk evidence.
It will remain a mystery that George did not seem to want to expose all that was done
and I think he did not care to defend himself on anything. The information about Sadam's
convoys to Syria was available but never used to show the connection to the vanishing
WMD, the same were identified by United Nations inspectors and may be in Syria which
I think or buried in Iraq. During the year and a half GWB was threatenig Sadam the
latter knew every thing coming down the pike,all he had to do was check out
American media and Bush's announcements. There were WMD and they were
removed, the evidence was there and in multiple reports, the leftist media lied stating
there were none because none were located, also a lie, many were destroyed by
American troops. ……………………………………William
A huge amount of time, resources and lives were expended looking for the WMDs. Now you're saying that Bush who dragged this country into a sewer of economic and political failure just decided to let all that happen?
The only way that could be true is if he wanted to sabotage his own regime and destroy any and all international support. That makes no sense at all.
Do you have a shred of evidence to support this or are you relying on blind leader worship as support?
Don't be such a boob, the invasion of Iraq was to get rid of Sadam Hussein and his
murdering regime, WMD were a side issue, where were you before the media used
the buildup for political purposes to undermine Bush. The I voted for it before I
voted against it Kerry and all other mouthy Democrats had the same intelligece
reports and all of them, all supported removing Sadam and it was a foregone
conclusion that he was finished. I will not waste my tme arguing over that which
was argued to death and used for political purposes by Democratic deception over
a populace going brain dead due to leftist subversives in higher education.
Proof, it was and is available to those who seek it, it was obvious as the waste of
time your comments are. I have very little use for Iraq, war in Iraq or any other
wasteful passtime killing Americans to change what can not be changed. Getting
rid of Sadam could have been done without making a grand war out of it, he could
have been done in with his entire troup of murderous thugs. Get and education and
stay up with events…………………………….William
The time, resources and lives I was speaking of were related to the fools errand of looking for the non-existent WMD AFTER the invasion. Also, the WMD threat was used as the excuse to invade after all our first warning could be a mushroom cloud right?
Your excuse of providing no support for what you wrote because it's everywhere proves nothing except your inability to provide it. You must be very proud of your ability to have little use for the various wars Bush started. The human race however doesn't share your disregard for the lives and well being of millions who were killed or forced to watch their whole world get torn apart. This whole mess reminds me of an old song lyric: "Oh foreign wars I do proclaim live on blood and a mother's pain."
Based on your comments I'm sure that means nothing to you. Death, misery and slaughter seem to be the sweet music FPMers love above all else.
If you ever feel like joining the human race some day I wish you luck. You'll be needing it.
The WMD you claim were not there and a fools erand, well, wake up and
understand that WMD were found by UN inspectors, American troops
destroyed many of the chemical weapons. Sadam had a year and a half
warning they were going to be sought after, what is so hard to understand
that he would put them where no one was going to get them. Stupid to
telegraph the intentions but this is government we are talking about.
Where the hell do you get any disregard for people loosing their lives in war?
What wars have you fought, how many years in uniform do you have, how
many bodies have your buried and friends funerals attended? Based on
my comments and your vapidly inconsistant response I give you and F,
also it is not my place to educate you, you are on your own and do not
seem to be doing a good job…………………….William
You made a series of claims that could only be explained by blind leader worship. I called you on it and demanded you provide actual proof – you being the one making extraordinary claims – and your evasions have stemmed from that.
Did Iraq have WMD, yes, the US did help them develop them for use against Iran. The post Gulf War inspection regime got rid of the vast majority with deteriorating stocks and destruction of the program itself taking care of the rest.
The Bush regime made fear of WMD the corner stone of their excuse for invasion so it does matter.
As for you whining about me calling you on disregarding human life. Well, I got that from your posts. Go back and read them and you'll see you clearly stated you don't care about the wars in Iraq. That is pretty clear.
As for educating myself. I repeat I called you on your unsupported claims and you hid behind that tired excuse. I'm sure it works with FPMers but it won't work with normal people.
Cheers.
To help you with your obdurate incapacity google 'Sadam Hussein's
convoys to Syria' read all of the articles and check all of the links.
FYI I do not care for the wars in Iraq as they were unnecessary
and not because I am oblivious to the value of human life. How much
you have to read for enlightenment is impossible to assertain but I
suggest you start and consider comments are just that mere comments,
not a Doctoral Thesis……………William
Well, back peddling is as close to an admission of wrongdoing as one can expect on FPM.
Though "google it" is the repetition of your previous evasion. You're also wrongly assuming that wasn't the FIRST thing I did. I found little that was compelling. Just the resurrection of some tired arguments Bush the lesser spewed years ago.
Looks like you are still clinging to leader worship as "evidence".
Do you mean Saddam's WMD that snuck across the border before the feckless UN inspectors got there? Those WMD's?