UK Planned to Topple Al-Assad by 100,000 Armed Militants

Local Editor

BBC Newsnight revealed that the UK drew up plans to train and equip a 100,000-strong Syrian armed group aimed to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The secret initiative, put forward two years ago, was the brainchild of the then most senior UK military officer, General Sir David Richards.

It was considered by the PM and the so-called "National Security Council", as well as US officials, but was deemed too risky.

The UK government did not respond to a request for comment.
The idea was considered by David Cameron and Dominic Grieve, the attorney general, and sent to the "National Security Council", Whitehall sources said.

It was also put to senior figures in Washington, including General Martin Dempsey, the US's most senior military officer.

This comes as US President Barack Obama said last week he was seeking $500m funding to train Syrian armed group - an echo of Lord Richards' plan.
Insiders have told BBC Newsnight that Lord Richards, then chief of the military staff but since retired from the military, warned Downing Street there were only two ways to end the Syrian war quickly - to let President Assad win, or to defeat him.

With ministers having pledged not to commit British "boots on the ground", his initiative proposed vetting and training a substantial army of Syria militants at bases in Turkey and Jordan.

Cameron was told the "extract, equip, train" plan would involve an international coalition.
It would take a year, but this would buy time for an alternative Syrian government to be formed in exile, the PM was told.

General Sir David Richards pictured in 2006 in Afghanistan Lord Richards was also once NATO commander in Afghanistan
Once the Syrian force was ready, it would march on Damascus, with the cover of fighter jets from the West and Gulf allies.

The plan envisaged a "shock and awe" campaign, similar to the one that routed Saddam's military in 2003, but spearheaded by Syrians.
However, MPs voted against giving authority for a direct intervention last August.
Professor Michael Clarke, of the Royal United Services Institute think tank, added: "We have missed the opportunity to train an anti-Assad force."

He said it was now too late for the West to get involved.

"Western policymakers in a sense have got to have the courage to do nothing and to work on what comes after the war," he said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team