It’s coming: US finalizing plans for military strike on Syria
Published time: August 28, 2013 16:28
The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman is seen at an
undisclosed position in the Mediterranean Sea (Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch)
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Two unnamed White House officials told the Associated Press that the
Obama administration is still deciding on what Syrian targets will be
attacked and to what degree during a military strike that now seems
inevitable.
While the strike itself will be conducted only after the White House
presents the public with what it believes is “undeniable” proof of
chemical weapon use carried out by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad,
intelligence agencies and policy makers are struggling to decide what goals
they hope to achieve by launching an attack.
One of the officials granted anonymity to speak to the AP said, "If
there is action taken, it must be clearly defined what the objective is and
why" and based on "clear facts.” Meanwhile, another
official briefed on a potential strike told the Los Angeles Times that the
White House may opt for an attack "just muscular enough not to get
mocked," but one that wouldn’t be severe enough to warrant a
response from Syrian allies Iran and Russia.
"They are looking at what is just enough to mean something, just
enough to be more than symbolic," the Times quoted the source as
saying.
The US and its allies already have enough resources throughout the
region to strike Syria at any moment. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said
earlier this week that the American military “was in place to be able to
fulfill and comply with whatever option the president wishes to take.”
Once Pres. Obama authorizes a strike, he said, US forces were “ready to
go, like that.”
Leading White House officials have said previously that a strike will
likely be launched with the use of American ships mobilized in the
Mediterranean Sea, but Reuters reported that additional firepower could be
called up from across Europe and Asia.
According to Reuters, the US may be assisted by a French aircraft carrier,
at least one French submarine or ship and at least one British cruise
missile-carrying nuclear submarine ready to deploy in the Mediterranean.
Additionally, the US has F-16 fighter jets ready to fly over Syria and
strike from the sky, and has air-defense Patriot missiles adjacent to both
Syria’s northern and southern borders. NATO maintains Patriot missiles to
the north in Turkey, and the US has an arsenal of their own to the south in
Jordan left behind following a military
exercise there earlier this year.
US Navy shows an F/A-18C Hornet assigned to the Rampagers of Strike
Fighter Squadron (VFA) 83 preparing to launch from the flight deck of the
aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) on June 17, 2013 in the
Mediterranean Sea. (AFP Photo)
Between the US and its European allies, military bases in Bahrain,
Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Cyprus and Turkey could all be utilized as
well for the limited strike once it is officially ordered to occur.
On Tuesday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said his country
would use “all means available” to defend against a US strike.
"We have the means to defend ourselves and we will surprise
everyone," he said Tuesday, according to the AP. "We will
defend ourselves using all means available. I don't want to say more than
that," he added.
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