U.S. military drawing up options should Syria use chemical weapons

By Phil Stewart

 

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford arrives in the Rotunda before the casket of U.S. Senator John McCain lies in state at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., August 31, 2018. Andrew Harnik/Pool via REUTERS/Files

 

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - America's top general on Saturday said he was involved in "routine dialogue" with the White House about military options should Syria ignore U.S. warnings against using chemical weapons in an expected assault on the enclave of Idlib.

 

Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said no decision had been made by the United States to employ military force in response to a future chemical attack in Syria.

 

"But we are in a dialogue, a routine dialogue, with the president to make sure he knows where we are with regard to planning in the event that chemical weapons are used," he told a small group of reporters during a trip to India.

 

Dunford later added: "He expects us to have military options and we have provided updates to him on the development of those military options."

 

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has massed his army and allied forces on the front lines in the northwest, and Russian planes have joined his bombardment of rebels there, in a prelude to a widely expected assault despite objections from Turkey.

 

This week, a top U.S. envoy said there was "lots of evidence" that chemical weapons were being prepared by Syrian government forces in Idlib.

 

The White House has warned that the United States and its allies would respond "swiftly and vigorously" if government forces used chemical weapons in Idlib. President Donald Trump has twice bombed Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons, in April 2017 and April 2018.

 

France's top military official also said last week his forces were prepared to carry out strikes on Syrian targets if chemical weapons were used in Idlib.

 

Dunford declined to comment on U.S. intelligence about the possible Syrian preparations of chemical agents.

 

'DISAPPOINTING'

 

Idlib is the insurgents' only remaining major stronghold and a government offensive could be the last decisive battle in a war that has killed more than half a million people and forced 11 million to flee their homes.

 

The presidents of Turkey, Iran and Russia on Friday failed to agree on a ceasefire that would forestall an offensive.

 

Asked whether there was still a chance the assault on Idlib could be averted, Dunford said: "I don't know if there's anything that can stop it."

 

"It's certainly disappointing but perhaps not (surprising) that the Russians, the Turks and the Iranians weren't able to come up with a solution yesterday," he said.

 

Tehran and Moscow have helped Assad turn the course of the war against an array of opponents ranging from Western-backed rebels to the Islamist militants, while Turkey is a leading opposition supporter and has troops in the country.

 

Turkey says it fears a massacre and Turkey can not accommodate any more refugees flooding over its border.

 

But Russia's Vladimir Putin said on Friday a ceasefire would be pointless as it would not involve Islamist militant groups it deems terrorists.

 

Dunford has warned about the potential for a humanitarian catastrophe in Idlib and instead has recommended more narrowly tailored operations against militants there.

 

"There's a more effective way to do counterterrorism operations than major conventional operations in Idlib," he said.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-09-08

Everything to get control over the pipeline and resource bunch of war criminals.

Conspiracy troll posts have been removed. 

31 minutes ago, Esso49 said:

May well be because perhaps even Martians now that the US has bombed and killed more Innocent civilian than ISIS could ever wish to do. The only difference between the two is that ISIS murder people out of  ideology  whereas the US do it out of the desire to control .

Absolute nonsense-  Ever hear of 9/11 when almost 3,000 Americans and others died in an attack that emanated from the Middle East.  ISIS is an outgrowth of that ideology in which a caliphate will rise and everyone will be  taken to see Allah.  Unfortunately Ms Assad has used the fear of ISIS to extend his reign in Syria.  Russia doesn't care much about ISIS but will kill as many as possible to make sure Assad stays in power so Russia can maintain basing rights and a port in Syria.

 

If the US was smart it would make peace with Iran and use them as a buffer against the Russians by getting out of the Middle East and let Russia do the fighting and dying and spending their Rubles instead of the US spending their dollars.

 

Syria has chemical weapons and Russia knows it.  America will respond in some way if a chemical attack comes but if I was Trump I would let the Iranians go after the Chemical weapons  areas or even encourage the Israelis to do it.

 

And how did the US respond to 9-11?  They promptly attacked a country that had nothing to do with it.

The Head Honcho in the White House is just itching, nay, aching, to press a button. Any button.

Or give a command. Any command.

A lot of players in this quagmire who like dropping things on each other one more wont make much difference ?

4 hours ago, Esso49 said:

Yes your statements are, agreed.   As one minor example of civilians deaths due to the Americans, then During the war in Afghanistan (2001–present), which had nothing to do with 9/11, it is just that the Americans wanted to kill anybody as revenge and to save face, over 31,000 civilian deaths were documented with 29,000 wounded as stated in Wikepedia.  Put together those civilian casualities  elsewhere and the US appear to top the list of responsibility for killing civilians in this century so far.   A proud record,  not.

Oh a delusional American Hater, you having another BAD Day

 

Conspiracy posts removed.  

They can kill hundreds of thousands using conventional weapons every day with no response, but if they use a chlorine barrel bomb we will annihilate them!!! and what would happen if it was actually the Russians that dropped the barrel!!  What is wrong with this picture?  What would happen if it was actually the Russians that dropped the barrel? 

So, Washington is drawing up options should Syria use chemical weapons. Now, who are the rebels in Idlib ??

Okay, here is a link from the Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/syrian-rebels-in-idlib-target-those-who-might-surrender-as-government-assault-looms/2018/09/07/1ba47e00-b07c-11e8-8b53-50116768e499_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8306f66447cd

From the article  "In the northern Syrian town of Harem, militants last week erected a gallows in a public square, saying it was for “frogs,” or traitors."
And also  "The town in Idlib province lies within the final enclave controlled by rebels opposed to ­Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. As government forces mass for what could be a climactic assault there in coming weeks, opposition fighters linked to al-Qaeda are seeking to head off the kind of negotiated surrender that has sealed the fate of other opposition areas."


Okay, the Washington Post is telling us that, some of the opposition fighters are actually linked to Al-Qaeda. From the article, there are guys in a group called HTS, and HTS is linked to Al-Qaeda. HTS is also formally known as Jabhat Al-Nusra. This sounds similar to the Al-Nusra Front, Al-Nusra Front are linked to Al-Qaeda, actually, they are Al-Qaeda's branch in Syria. And Al-Qaeda are the Islamic fundamentalists who carried out the 9/11 attack on New York.


There's people on ThaiVisa who hate anybody who is linked to Al-Qaeda.

Edited September 9, 20187 yr by tonbridgebrit

19 hours ago, rooster59 said:

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - America's top general on Saturday said he was involved in "routine dialogue" with the White House about military options should Syria ignore U.S. warnings against using chemical weapons in an expected assault on the enclave of Idlib.

"On August 20, 2012, then-President Barack Obama told a group of reporters the use of chemical weapons by Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria would cross his “red line.” A year later, almost to the day, Syrian forces killed more than 1,400 people with sarin gas, a particularly horrifying chemical weapon that can cause paralysis, convulsions, or death."

We all know now how that ultimatum panned out, Iran and Russia virtually, have a free hand to do in Syria whatever they like at the invention of the arch tyrant and mass murder Assad,  and the fate of Idlib have been decided it will be bombed, gassed and burned to the ground many dead and many more displaced largely at the hands of the Russian air force, and the world will do nothing of the fear or Russia retaliations...

Off topic trolling posts have been removed. 

14 hours ago, ezzra said:

"On August 20, 2012, then-President Barack Obama told a group of reporters the use of chemical weapons by Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria would cross his “red line.” A year later, almost to the day, Syrian forces killed more than 1,400 people with sarin gas, a particularly horrifying chemical weapon that can cause paralysis, convulsions, or death."

We all know now how that ultimatum panned out, Iran and Russia virtually, have a free hand to do in Syria whatever they like at the invention of the arch tyrant and mass murder Assad,  and the fate of Idlib have been decided it will be bombed, gassed and burned to the ground many dead and many more displaced largely at the hands of the Russian air force, and the world will do nothing of the fear or Russia retaliations...

Mosul and Raqqa suffered a similar fate from American bombs directed at the same enemy. Are you saying those assaults were unjustified?

its the forest that counts, not the trees.

Edited September 9, 20187 yr by Nyezhov