It’s a strange day indeed when I find myself on the same page with U.S. military leadership, yet it seems even US military leaders are not keen on attacking Syria, and appear to share some of my concerns.
Apparently Obama, the Nobel Peace Laureate, is determined to start a war, has no coherent goal, no coherent strategy, and is not listening to his military experts.
Close your eyes, close your mind, man the torpedos and damn the consequences. Full speed ahead to Iraq 2.0.
Unintended consequences…no coherent strategy…
Former and current officers, many with the painful lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan on their minds, said the main reservations concern the potential unintended consequences of launching cruise missiles against Syria.
Some questioned the use of military force as a punitive measure and suggested that the White House lacks a coherent strategy.
From the Director of Operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff prior to the invasion of Iraq:
…retired Lt. Gen. Gregory S. Newbold, who served as director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the run-up to the Iraq war, [noted] that many of his contemporaries are alarmed by the plan.
More unintended consequences…
Marine Lt. Col. Gordon Miller, a fellow at the Center for a New American Security, warned this week of “potentially devastating consequences, including a fresh round of chemical weapons attacks and a military response by Israel.”
“If President [Bashar al-Assad] were to absorb the strikes and use chemical weapons again, this would be a significant blow to the United States’ credibility and it would be compelled to escalate the assault on Syria to achieve the original objectives,” Miller wrote in a commentary for the think tank.
No less than the Chairman of the Joint Chief’s of Staff is warns against attacking Syria…
Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has warned in great detail about the risks and pitfalls of U.S. military intervention in Syria.
“As we weigh our options, we should be able to conclude with some confidence that use of force will move us toward the intended outcome,” Dempsey wrote last month in a letter to the Senate Armed Services Committee. “Once we take action, we should be prepared for what comes next. Deeper involvement is hard to avoid.”
“this is going to be a full-throated, very, very serious war”
The recently retired head of the U.S. Central Command, Gen. James Mattis, said last month at a security conference that the United States has “no moral obligation to do the impossible” in Syria. “If Americans take ownership of this, this is going to be a full-throated, very, very serious war,” said Mattis, who as Centcom chief oversaw planning for a range of U.S. military responses in Syria.
Not only no coherent strategy, it appears there is no coherent goal, and Obama is not listening.
“What is the political end state we’re trying to achieve?” said a retired senior officer involved in Middle East operational planning who said his concerns are widely shared by active-duty military leaders. “I don’t know what it is. We say it’s not regime change. If it’s punishment, there are other ways to punish.” The former senior officer said that those who are expressing alarm at the risks inherent in the plan “are not being heard other than in a pro-forma manner.”
