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Panetta: Pentagon reviewing military options for US intervention in Syria
The Pentagon’s top leaders said Wednesday that the U.S. military would be ready for intervention in Syria, while warning that a military campaign would be challenging and should not be done unilaterally.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that the Pentagon is reviewing military options in Syria for an international coalition to intervene if necessary. The Obama administration still supports a diplomatic solution that removes Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power.
“The fundamental issue that is before us is whether or not the United States will go ahead and act unilaterally in that part of the world and engage in another war in the Muslim world,” Panetta said at a Senate Armed Services hearing. “Or whether or not we would work with others in determining what action we will take.”
Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said that military intervention in Syria would be “challenging,” and said that Syria’s air defenses are five times more sophisticated than Libya’s, where a NATO military campaign helped rebels oust Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi from power last year.
Panetta said there is concern that outside intervention could make a civil war in Syria more likely, and that the murky nature of the opposition and the lack of consensus on the United Nations Security Council makes things more difficult.
“We all wish there was a clear and unambiguous way forward to directly influence the events in Syria,” Panetta said. “That, unfortunately, is not the case. That is not an excuse — that is the reality.”
Panetta's argument against unilateral action aligned him with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who supports more aggressive action in Syria than what the administration is currently proposing. But Graham has said he wants an international coalition to intervene there.
An international group called the Friends of Syria has pledged humanitarian aid to Syria and pushed for Assad to relinquish power, but so far has not indicated it will get involved militarily. Stronger action through the U.N. Security Council was vetoed by Russia and China.
President Obama said Tuesday that he remains opposed to getting involved in Syria militarily, and he said that the international pressure against Assad will eventually lead to his downfall.
But Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who called for U.S.-led airstrikes in Syria on Monday, continued his call for more action in Syria. “How many more have to die?” McCain asked, before the United States would intervene. “10,000 more? 20,000 more?”
Panetta said that the concerns McCain expressed are the same concerns of the administration. He said that it will take time to build a multilateral coalition that would be necessary to intervene.
“We’re not divided here, and we are not holding back,” Panetta said of the administration.
Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) acknowledged there still isn’t consensus about the way forward in Syria.
“Just as was the case with Libya, there is a broad consensus among regional leaders and organizations on the preferred outcome in Syria — Assad and his cronies must go,” Levin said. “There is not a consensus, however, about how this goal can be achieved.”
—This story was updated at 1:03 p.m.
