Commander:
Contingency Plans Under Way for Syria
The Syrian civil war marked an ignominious two-year milestone this week with no sign that President Bashar Assad is close to giving up power. Adm. James Stavridis, commander of U.S. European Command, told a Senate panel that the United States is "looking at a variety of operations."
19
March, 2013
"We
are prepared if called upon to be engaged," Stavridis told the
Senate Armed Services Committee.
Stavridis,
who is retiring soon, also said the option of assisting the
opposition forces in Syria in ways that would break the deadlock are
being actively explored by NATO members. A resolution from the U.N.
Security Council and agreement among the alliance's 28 members would
be required before NATO assumes a military role in Syria, he said.
"The
Syrian situation continues to become worse and worse and worse —
70,000 killed, a million refugees pushed out of the country, probably
2.5 million internally displaced (people)," Stavridis said. "No
end in sight to a vicious civil war."
The
commander said discussions within the NATO member countries have
focused on imposing a no-fly zone, providing lethal support to the
Syrian opposition forces and imposing arms embargoes.
Armed
Services Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., asked whether there is any
consideration of targeting Syria's air defenses. Stavridis simply
said yes.
NATO
has installed Patriot missile defense batteries in southern Turkey
along the border with Syria that are also capable of shooting down
aircraft. During an exchange with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.,
Stavridis said the Patriots could be positioned in such a way as to
shoot down Syrian aircraft and he indicated that doing so would be a
powerful disincentive for pilots to fly in that area.
The
Patriot batteries are on Turkish soil and the country's leaders have
been "very emphatic" that the missiles be used only for
defensive purposes, Stavridis said.
To use the batteries for other
missions, including attacking Syrian military aircraft, would require
consensus among NATO's members.
"And
we're far from that," Stavridis told the committee.
Stavridis
said that his personal opinion is that providing military assistance
to the Syrian opposition "would be helpful in breaking the
deadlock and bringing down the Assad regime."
At
another Capitol Hill hearing on Syria, senior State Department
officials said even if the Assad regime falls, humanitarian aid to
the Syrian people will have to continue.
Anne
Richard, the assistant secretary of State for Population, Refugees,
and Migration, also made clear that the Obama administration does not
foresee a negotiated settlement to the crisis despite diplomatic
efforts.
"It's
hard to imagine a peaceful outcome with Assad in power," Richard
told a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee.
Officials
described a unique humanitarian crisis, with tens of thousands of
Syrian refugees straining the resources of countries such as Jordan
and Lebanon.
Richard said of the 1 million refugees, half have
arrived in neighboring countries in the last two months.
Syrian
refugees now account for 10 percent of the Lebanese population.
The
violent, unending war has prompted some in Congress to offer
legislation and demand greater action by the Obama administration.
But a war-weary American public has been slow to embrace many of the
efforts.
In
the latest proposal, Sens. Bob Casey, D-Pa., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla.,
offered a bipartisan measure that would provide non-lethal aid to
vetted Syrian opposition groups battling the Assad regime.
The
measure would authorize additional humanitarian assistance for the
Syrian people and provide equipment such as body armor and
communications to opposition groups.
Casey
and Rubio said the horrors of the two-year civil war have gone on too
long, and left open the possibility of arming the rebels at a later
date.
"Down
the road we may make another determination," Casey said when
asked about arming the rebels.
New
York Rep. Eliot Engel introduced legislation on Monday that would arm
and train vetted opposition groups.
The
bipartisan Senate measure also would expand sanctions against the
Central Bank of Syria
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