Egypt partners with Google to promote 'unmatched diversity' tourism campaign    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Taiwan GDP surges on tech demand    World Bank: Global commodity prices to fall 17% by '26    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    UNFPA Egypt, Bayer sign agreement to promote reproductive health    Egypt to boost marine protection with new tech partnership    France's harmonised inflation eases slightly in April    Eygpt's El-Sherbiny directs new cities to brace for adverse weather    CBE governor meets Beijing delegation to discuss economic, financial cooperation    Egypt's investment authority GAFI hosts forum with China to link business, innovation leaders    Cabinet approves establishment of national medical tourism council to boost healthcare sector    Egypt's Gypto Pharma, US Dawa Pharmaceuticals sign strategic alliance    Egypt's Foreign Minister calls new Somali counterpart, reaffirms support    "5,000 Years of Civilizational Dialogue" theme for Korea-Egypt 30th anniversary event    Egypt's Al-Sisi, Angola's Lourenço discuss ties, African security in Cairo talks    Egypt's Al-Mashat urges lower borrowing costs, more debt swaps at UN forum    Two new recycling projects launched in Egypt with EGP 1.7bn investment    Egypt's ambassador to Palestine congratulates Al-Sheikh on new senior state role    Egypt pleads before ICJ over Israel's obligations in occupied Palestine    Sudan conflict, bilateral ties dominate talks between Al-Sisi, Al-Burhan in Cairo    Cairo's Madinaty and Katameya Dunes Golf Courses set to host 2025 Pan Arab Golf Championship from May 7-10    Egypt's Ministry of Health launches trachoma elimination campaign in 7 governorates    EHA explores strategic partnership with Türkiye's Modest Group    Between Women Filmmakers' Caravan opens 5th round of Film Consultancy Programme for Arab filmmakers    Fourth Cairo Photo Week set for May, expanding across 14 Downtown locations    Egypt's PM follows up on Julius Nyerere dam project in Tanzania    Ancient military commander's tomb unearthed in Ismailia    Egypt's FM inspects Julius Nyerere Dam project in Tanzania    Egypt's FM praises ties with Tanzania    Egypt to host global celebration for Grand Egyptian Museum opening on July 3    Ancient Egyptian royal tomb unearthed in Sohag    Egypt hosts World Aquatics Open Water Swimming World Cup in Somabay for 3rd consecutive year    Egyptian Minister praises Nile Basin consultations, voices GERD concerns    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Panetta defends cautious US approach toward Syria
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta discusses military options in Syria, advocates caution in taking any decision to intervene against Assad
Published in Ahram Online on 08 - 03 - 2012

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Wednesday defended US caution in trying to end the violence in Syria, despite biting criticism from lawmakers who questioned how many people would have to die before the Obama administration used force.
Even as Panetta and General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, emphasized the need for international consensus on Syria and the challenge of any military action, they told a Senate panel that very preliminary military planning was under way.
They said that at President Barack Obama's request, the Pentagon had studied US military options in Syria, assessing issues like potential missions and Syria's troop line-up.
Panetta said the Pentagon had discussed the findings with the National Security Council and was working through further ideas related to those options. But the department was "waiting for the direction of the president" before beginning more detailed contingency planning, he said.
Obama has shown no enthusiasm for US participation in an election-year military mission to unseat Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He said on Tuesday it was a mistake to think there was a simple solution to the yearlong crackdown on the Syrian opposition or that the United States could act unilaterally.
Dempsey underscored the basic nature of the planning.
"The commander's estimate process really looks at ... what are the potential missions, what is the enemy order of battle, what are the enemy's capabilities ... what are the troops available and how much time. So mission, enemy, terrain, troops and time. That's a commander's estimate," he told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Panetta and Dempsey told the panel that US intelligence agencies believed it was just a matter of time before Assad was ousted from power.
"Their view is that the state of this insurgency is so deep right now ... that ultimately he will fall one way or another," Panetta said. But some senators questioned if the administration was using that assessment to justify its slow response.
"How many additional civilian lives would have to be lost in order to convince you that the military measures of this kind that we are proposing are necessary to end the killing?" asked Republican Senator John McCain, who has urged air strikes on Syria. "How many more have to die? Ten thousand more? Twenty thousand more?"
Obama has urged Assad to halt the violence against his people and step aside to allow a democratic transition. But efforts to develop an international consensus toward Syria have met resistance.
Russia and China have opposed any intervention similar to the one last year in Libya and last month vetoed a UN Security Council resolution backing an Arab League call for a political transition that would have Assad cede power.
7,500 KILLED
The United Nations estimates 7,500 people have been killed in Syria since unrest swept the Arab world last year and protesters began calling for Assad to step aside and allow free elections. Syria said in December that government opponents had killed some 2,000 member of the security forces.
Panetta told the committee the administration was still trying to forge a consensus on addressing the violence in Syria.
"That makes the most sense. What doesn't make sense is to take unilateral action at this point," Panetta said.
Aram Nerguizian, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said defense officials were justified in taking a cautious approach toward Syria due to its capable military and its political and sectarian divisions.
"The reality is that Syria is just too big and too complex to jump into this without taking a real pulse of who the players are, what the real contingencies are and how this can play out in real-world terms," Nerguizian said.
Some lawmakers pressed for the use of US air power to strike at Syrian tanks and artillery that have been used to besiege opposition cities. Air power was used similarly in Libya last year as well as in Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s.
But Dempsey warned that Syrian air defenses were significantly more advanced than those of Libya or Bosnia.
"They have approximately five times more sophisticated air defense systems than existed in Libya covering one-fifth of the terrain," Dempsey said. "All of their air defenses are arrayed on their western border, which is their population center."
Dempsey expressed reluctance to discuss in a public forum which countries were supplying weapons to Syria. But he acknowledged Iran was sending small-caliber arms, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank weapons to Assad's forces. Other countries with foreign sales agreements with Tehran were providing "upper-tier stuff, including air defenses," he said.
As senators prodded the Obama administration for action toward Damascus, a panel in the US House of Representatives voted on Wednesday for a measure to impose sanctions on Syria's energy sector and for referring Assad to a war crimes tribunal.


Clic here to read the story from its source.