WSJ: Obama Administration Discusses Military, Intelligence Syria Options

Local Editor

For the second day in a row, the Wall Street journal reported that the US administration plans to revisit options ranging from expanding efforts to train and equip armed groups to setting up no-fly zones, according to officials briefed on the deliberations.

According to the US daily, the move means the administration again will consider military, diplomatic and intelligence options that previously were presented to the White House but set aside in favor of pursuing international talks.

"There is a general sense that it's time to take another look," a senior US official said of the military options, adding that high-level discussions at the White House could begin as early as this week.

Seeking to relieve pressure and build support from allies, senior US officials recently told their French and other European counterparts about the decision to take another look at the options, according to European diplomats.
Officials said the White House wasn't "gravitating" toward any one of the options at this point.

"Secretary of State John Kerry has been a leading advocate of re-examining the options, from using long-range missiles to prevent the regime from flying its aircraft and creating humanitarian zones to training the opposition to hold territory outside the regime's control and keep out al Qaeda-linked groups," US officials and European diplomats said.

According to an official close to Petraeus, the daily mentioned that Kerry recently discussed military and intelligence options in Syria in a private meeting with retired Army Gen. David Petraeus, who resigned as director of the Central Intelligence Agency in 2012.
"While CIA director, Petraeus, a former top US commander in Afghanistan and Iraq, was a leading behind-the-scenes advocate of aiding the rebels in Syria," it mentioned.

Officials said it is unclear how serious the White House is about reconsidering the options for the US to influence the course of the three-year-old Syrian war. But officials said the re-evaluation has increasing support within the military and the US intelligence community.

The White House declined to comment on any specific options under reconsideration.
"As the president has made clear, we are constantly looking at what options we can take to resolve the crisis in Syria. We are going to continue to work with all of the parties concerned to try to move forward on a diplomatic solution," said White House National Security Council spokesperson Bernadette Meehan.

Gen Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, presented the White House with military options in meetings in 2012 and 2013, officials say, and has consistently been a leading voice of caution about using them.
Among options under reconsideration is one that would supplement the Central Intelligence Agency's limited, covert arming and training program for armed groups by creating a parallel training mission led by US Special Operations forces.
"A military train-and-equip mission, officials said, could focus on training rebels in ways to counter al Qaeda and hold territory outside the regime's control."
Officials say it would take months to get such a program off the ground and that other options would have a more immediate impact.

As part of the train-and-equip option, military planners have proposed creating a limited no-fly zone inside Syria that would be enforced from Jordanian territory to protect Syrian refugees and rebels who would train there, according to US officials.
Military officials say the Pentagon remains prepared to carry out the options outlined to the White House last year.

"We have forces in the region. We have ships in the Med. Everything we need to carry out a military option is there," a senior military official said.
The military personnel involved in training could operate under CIA authority, officials say, which would give the US the ability to deny its existence and allow the effort to be expanded.

Source: WSJ, Edited by website team