The Pentagon's top uniformed official has given one of the clearest signals yet of the reluctance of the Obama administration to intervene militarily in the Syrian civil war, warning that to do so would cost billions of dollars annually and possibly backfire against US interests.
In a letter to the Senate Armed Committee, General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, set out five options, ranging from training and arming the opposition to establishing buffer zones or or a no-fly zone and direct strikes against regime targets. The pricetag would vary from $500m a year to $1bn a month, as well as thousands of troops.
His warning came as the US and allies including Britain have begun to concede that after his recent successes on the battlefield, President Bashar al-Assad could remain in power for a long while, albeit controlling only a portion of his country. » | Rupert Cornwall | Tuesday, July 23, 2013
