Military resists calls to intervene in Syria
by Larry Shaughnessy
America is working to remove al-Assad's regime in Syria through diplomatic pressure, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said Wednesday, but he warned against U.S. military intervention.
"For us to act unilaterally would be a mistake," Panetta said in his opening statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Syria. He noted there is no consensus among nations for intervention.
Panetta said military options are being considered, but he asked the senators to “recognize the limitation of military force, especially U.S. boots on the ground."
Sen. John McCain, the highest-ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee continued his impassioned crusade to get the U.S. military to use force to help the opposition fighters trying to overthrow Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. McCain said Wednesday that intervening and pushing out al-Assad would be "a geopolitical success of the first order."
"The United States has a clear national security interest in stopping the slaughter in Syria and forcing Assad to leave power. The end of the Assad regime could sever Hezbollah's lifeline to Iran, eliminate a longstanding threat to Israel, bolster Lebanon's sovereignty and independence, and remove a committed state sponsor of terrorism that has engaged in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," McCain said.
"How many additional civilian lives would have to be lost in order to convince you that the military measures of this kind that we are proposing are necessary," McCain asked Panetta. "How many more have to die? Ten thousand more? Twenty thousand more? How many more?"
Panetta responded that the United States is working to build an international consensus for action.
"What doesn't make sense it is to take unilateral action at this point," he said with equal emotion. "Before I recommend that we put our sons and daughters in uniform in harm's way, I have got to make very sure that we know what the mission is. I've got to make very sure we know whether we can achieve that mission, at what price and whether it will make matters better or worse."
The increase in pressure on the Pentagon to use force in Syria began Monday when McCain, a former Navy fighter pilot, called for the Department of Defense to begin air strikes in Syria.
Wednesday, for the first time, Defense Department leaders spelled out what military options the United States might use should diplomatic and economic pressure fail to end al-Assad's crackdown.
Those options, said Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, "include humanitarian relief, (a) no-fly zone, maritime interdiction,(a) humanitarian corridor and limited aerial strikes, for example."
Dempsey revealed that the White House has asked the military to provide the president with a military plan.
"The president of the United States through the National Security Staff has asked us to begin ... the estimate of the situation," Dempsey said. That estimate, he explained, will include looking at potential missions, the capabilities of the enemy, and U.S. military assets that are available.
The military has discussed those options with the president and his national security staff, Panetta said.
Dempsey said he is confident the United States could carry out military missions in Syria.
"We're extraordinarily capable. And we can do just about anything we're asked to do," he said. But he made clear that Syria will not be a repeat of the recent operations in Libya.
"They have approximately five times more sophisticated air defense systems than existed in Libya covering one-fifth of the terrain," he said. "All of their defenses are arrayed on their western border, which is their population center. So five times the air defense of Libya, covering one-fifth of the terrain."
Dempsey and Panetta raised the concern that U.S. military action could make matters inside Syria and the entire region worse.
"There is every possibility of a civil war, and a direct outside intervention in these conditions not only would not prevent that, but could make it worse," Panetta said.
One problem is Syria's substantial chemical and biological weapons stockpile. Dempsey said the stockpile is on a magnitude of "a hundred times more than we experienced in Libya."
But Panetta returned again to the issue of international support for use of force in Syria.
"There is no simple solution here," he said. "The reasons for the differences between our approach with Libya and the current approach to Syria are clear.
Although there has been widespread support in the Security Council and the Arab League for military intervention in Libya, no such consensus currently exists with regards to Syria. For us to act unilaterally would be a mistake."
That issue got Panetta in a tight spot when he was being questioned by Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama.
"We spend our time," Sessions said, "worrying about the U.N., the Arab League, NATO, and too little time, in my opinion, worrying about the elected representatives of the United States. As you go forward, will you consult with the United States Congress?"
Panetta replied, "You know, again, our goal would be to seek international permission. And we would come to the Congress and inform you and determine how best to approach this."
Sessions latched on to Panetta's use of the word "permission," saying, "Well, I'm troubled by that. I think that it does weaken the ability of the United States to lead."
He went on to say, "I do think, ultimately, you need the legal authority from the United States of America, not from any other extra-territorial group that might assemble."
Sen. Carl Levin, the chairman of the committee, tried to help out Panetta: "If you're seeking international coalition, having that kind of international legal basis will help. I think that's what you're trying to say."
"That's what I am trying to say," Panetta responded.
McCain has made an issue of those who urge caution in Syria because the United States might end up helping opposition groups who are not friendly to the America.
"I reject the argument that we, quote, 'don't know who they are,'" he said. "We spend a lot of money on defense and we spend a lot of money on intelligence.
We should know who these people are. And it would be easy enough to find out."
But Dempsey said it is not that simple, noting there are "approximately 100 groups that we have identified as part of the opposition."
"We are not suggesting that part of al Qaeda that has made its way to Syria, has aligned itself or is in bed with the opposition," the general said. "But they are there to exploit it. And that is a factor that we have to consider."
@natlsecuritycnn on Twitter
I don't mind another war. It's only going to keep me employed. bOOya!
No it's not Gomer...We can't afford another one...And infact if they do go in...They'll just continue to cut personnel in favor
of the new toys from the Defense Contractors...
Dear Mr. Secretary (Panetta)
Stick to your guns sir. The senator's comments from Arizona were inappropriate. He and his kind are still lost in the past believing we the taxpayers enjoy picking up the tab for everyone else's little wars and still believe we can easily afford to do so. You are absolutely correct and right.
Good evening.
You are out of the wack, folk. Pressure must be on the Assd killer. from the law makers to invade them, while the military try to diverse it but the pressure is there. Penetta is maistaking to open his mouth in this way. The better is silent, with no comment, so that the eneemy think that there is a real force to remove him. The US is just a PAPER TIGER now under Obama. I do not want to pay $4.8/ gallons gas because these trouble makers from Syria and Iran.
Since you are so eager for military action to keep your gasoline prices low...How about you being the first one to go in there and help these wonderful people......
For those who support military action: Haven't you heard the saying, "The next world war will start in the Middle East"? Be careful what you wish for!
so they just came right out and said they are trying to remove him? Are these rebels allies with the Muslim Brotherhood? Egypt is a mess. I cry foul.
Exactly. Trust nothing in the middle east. It's all lies. Previously moderate middle east countries are all falling in line
with the Muslim Brotherhood's influence. I hope Israel hurries up and takes care of the Iranian problem.
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable.” John F. Kenndy
What do we stand for? Keeping peoples taxes low while we drive up huge budget deficits. If McCain wants to run into Syria his first question should be 'How are we going to pay for it?' If he doesn't support a tax increase he should keep his mouth closed. No more credit card military operations.
Agree, no more loans from China. If war is what we want, we need to make plans to pay for it!
lets spice up the world alittle bit. lets lob some nukes!
What is really pathetic is that Muslims are slaughtering Muslims, but no Muslim neighbor is sending it's young soldiers into Syria to get it under control.
Why should they? They have oil to use as a bargaining chip, so, they just get the U.S. and Britain, and a boatload of other countries to waste their young men and women doing their police work.
Enough of the rhetoric about spreading democracy and saving poor, innocent civillians. It is all bs to further big business interests and that is all it is. If there are so many Muslim civillians being slaughtered, let Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Afghanastan, or Turkey send in their Muslim troops to save those civillians.
Better yet, fence in the middle east and give everyone there a gun and ten clips of ammo. Last man standing wins.
NO MORE U.S. MILITARY PERSONNEL should be sent into any Islamic country. They have ot take care of their own affairs.
Thankfully we don't have Bush and Chaney in power or we would be at war at least Obama is smart enough to not blunder into another Arab conflict which is none of our business and something we can not afford in terms of more American lives and the borrowed money added to our national debt.
Question, who does the most business with Syria.Is it Russia-china. Who ever has the money power needs to make him stop.With just words.
NO MORE WARS FOR PEOPLE THAT HATE US
I never agreed with Mccain,, but I gotta admit ,, im with him on this,, What do we stand for? we are the beacon Freedom!
Freedom? Don't the Saudi's have human rights issues? Politics, politics and more politics
Syria has been one of the leading countries in harboring terrorists and their organizations for the past 40 years.
The opposition actually has the backing of Al-quaeda. So we're supposed to go in now and save these people.
Haven't we had enough of the middle east and Islamic countries. They hate us and always will. We are the
great satan and infadels and forever their enemy for befriending Israel. You're going to go waste more American
lives to save these people? I think not...Haven't we lost enough in other pointless waste of time wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (Yeah those people really love us for all the thousands of lost American lives and BILLIONS of dollars wasted. Hopefully Obama and Panetta can keep us out of this mess without the beating drums of the Republican Defense contracators getting us in another mess we can't afford.
Agree, agree and agree
I agree 99 percent with TomCom...
AMEN!
Well said. Let Muslim countries to send in their Islamic militaries to save those Musllim civilians. We've wasted enough good men, women and money on them.
I can't imagine an American ever being a roadblock to Assad's evildoing, if they were... it would be deceit to further illusion Syrians to succumb to an overcontrolling dictator (obviously we're doing the right thing by helping Syrians gain political freedom). I believe these people are really willing to die trying at least because they live hard-working lives only to see their product be stolen by Assad to further fund his illegal military gang of baby-killers (that must stomp on any sign of political achievement within the community that might one day demand equality). Syrians understand the Western influence a Presidentially-led government is based upon, and perhaps they demand what's fair from such an institution that who knows what someday after all their sacrifice it may be capable of gloriously producing.
The US should not intervene militarily at all. 1) This is not our fight, and 2) like most of these Arab Spring rebellions, it is most likely led by radical islamists. The military leader of the Libyan uprising fought alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan against the US.
This is pretty inept, don't you think? The idea here is to scare the guy (Assad) into thinking he's about to get his butt kicked (without really having to do it). So Panetta is in publicly announcing that we're not really going to do anything about the situation in Syria unless we get buy-in from this country or that organization. It's not really a matter of whether it's true or not; it's just not a poker face.
This was an official meeting held by our officials. They are made public not by the officials themselves, but rather by our process of government. But yea, I see your point.
These are Obamas brothers and sisters I guess he will do something
You are the reason that your potential presidential candidates are the biggest nutjobs in the country and have no chance of beating Obama. When they pander, it's to you, nice job.
In Libya you had one fool running the show, we got rid of him, now you have a bunch of fools running the show who cant agree on anything. Same thing in Syria
Good one.
like your congress
Hahaha! (USA)
Let's pretend we didn't learn a darn thing from bungling Afghanistan and blundering into Iraq...
Pretty easy to see Republicans want Obama to do something as stupid as Bush-Cheney did...
......or as stupid as Obama did in Libya.
How the hell can you name yourself "reality" when you seem so delusional. No mess was bigger than the lie-based fiasco in search of WMD. Can you count the billions wasted in Iraq, imbecile?
And to add to what Karl said, what was stupid about what Obama did in Libya? It was cheap, it ended the conflict, and it was for the purpose of supporting our allies. You brainiacs preach about supporting Israel this, and supporting Israel that, but when we join a NATO run operation in support of our allies, suddenly it was a blunder? Make sense.
Once again look at the scoreboard: Iraq/Sadaam Hussein- 4500 Coalition lives Libya/Kadafi- 0 Coalition lives
Supporting our allies? Supporting our allies? The Libyan insurgency was led by former Taliban military commanders. The government that eventually winds up in power there will be far more hostile to the US than the previous.
And when did I say the Iraq war wasn't a blunder?
The US shouldn't drop a dime helping Syria. Not when it's big brother, Saudi Arabia is standing by with the largest armed force in the region and too afraid to take action. What kind of Muslims are they, besides being cowards?
Absolutely. However, they use oil as leverage to get our government to send in our brave young men and women instead of their own pack of cowards. Time to stop wasting our resources on that cat's box.
Why isn't intervening in Syria the job of the Arab League? This is not the business of the USA. We cannot afford another war and our military boys have already lost enough lives on that worthless area of the world. If the war monger McCain wants another war, let him go fight it, and take all his relatives and republican war mongers with him. Are the republicans prepared to raise taxes on the 1% to pay for this war? I thought not.
John McCain and the GOP want Pres. Obama to do something as stupid as his predecessor did when he invaded Iraq. And they want him to do it BEFORE the election.
Somebody explain to me the diffidence between Libya and Syria.
about 7500 dead
Oil.
Bingo.
Tom, I cannot believe the responses to your question here – isn't this the age of the internet? Syria is not a banana republic like Libya. As per the Joints Chief of Staff, Syria's army is 5 times stronger and more organized than Libya could ever hope for. The naysayers here want another Vietnam, it seems, where the U.S. will be entrenched in years of fighting and loss of lives, if it intervenes in Syria. There goes our fragile economy!
This is EXACTLY the reason I will never vote Republican. Has anybody thought of the possibility of kickbacks to Republican politicians from military suppliers and contractors? Why aren’t journalists investigating this scenario? As someone very disturbed by the American posturing in other countries, I find it despicable that McCain is trotting out the tired-out foolishness about "leadership". America is neither obliged to provide leadership around the world nor is it welcome in most countries. America has stunk up its name around the world with its arrogant intervention where it doesn’t belong. I am afraid to travel abroad with my American passport. And, it is going to get worse. As the song "Simple Song of Freedom" says, "...we the people here don't want a war". We are not our brother’s keepers. Use those dollars for struggling Americans here at home.
Karl you the man.
Did I miss the part where a Republican president intervened in Libya, giving military assistance to a resistance movement led by a former Taliban leader who fought against the US in Afghanistan? Oh, wait, that was Obama.
Z
Thank god you said it! And to those of you who keep mentioning Republicans and Bush, They are not IN the White House!!!
Yep, We took him out, zero American and Coalition lives lost. Case closed genius!
AJ, you idiot. So what if we took him out! To do so, we gave military support to Ex-Taliban military commanders! Now, like the Taliban themselves did in Afghanistan, the new government will use US supplied weapons against us.
Reality, I am with you when I say "screw" Libya! I lost friends on Pan Am Flight 103. Then they applaud the guy who is dying of cancer on his return home? My point is we did not lose our minds like we did in Iraq and Afghanistan to waste lives. We did it right and got the world involved. I was in Iraq last year when the "No Fly Zone" order came down and it was the last thing we needed to be dealing with because we thought we would be flying missions from Iraq. NATO stepped in and we got the job done. We got idiots already fanning the flames by burning the Koran and urinating on dead Taliban, whom should have been wiped off the planet had we not took our eye off the ball and invaded Iraq over faulty intel!!!
The US should stay out of Syria. Let them wipe each other out. It is not our problem. We should not shed any more blood for Arabs., They are not worth it. Syria is of no interest to us.
Aye, aye. It's like feeding snakes.
i don't they give a dam about arabs or american people. even obama said intervention pays many times over. they are using the diplomatic cover of democracy to intervene in the interests of israel to deny iran a ground to launch attacks against israel via hamas and hezbollah through syria.
Speculation is fun. Here's mine: Assad is an alien and the leaders of the world are scared of him for that reason, that's why they don't intervene.
Bull... You mess with Syria, You get Iran, too! This would be very bad. Russia and China won't like it if we mess with those Countries.
The Syrian people need assistance, but Panetta is right that the US shouldn't militarily intervene until we have broad based support from the Europeans and Arabs as well as their help.
OK you want to go into Syria. Show us the plan, what is going to be done? how is it going to be rebuilt? This administration and the one before has shown how they can break things (The rest of the Middle East) and there never was or is at present a plan to fix it. Don't get me wrong I think we should just let the Middle East burn to the ground and let them all kill each other and call it a day.
This administration?
If we attack either Syria or Iran, I have to wonder: what do we do when our government goes bad? Who will save us from ourselves?
not my problem
"Sen. John McCain, the highest-ranking Republican on the Armed Services Committee." My first question is, why is a former prisoner of war on the dang "Armed Services Committee? Second, why is McCain so eager to take this country into another war? Could it have anything to do with my first question....
I think you're an idiot.
What, are you mouthing McCain's manhood or something?
I think you're an idiot. So, does that make me right or you? And what, are you mouthing McCain's manhood or something? What do you care.
Hey, Tom, tell us why you think he is an idiot. Don't just make statements without supporting them with your reasons. That will make you one, as well. 🙂
Panetta looks like he needs to take a dump, but knows he cannot make it to the nearest restroom.
Screw You MCain! It's stupid beliefs like this that will prevent you from ever becoming President.
President?? LOL He's only a senator because some think he's a so-called 'war hero'! He's only a 'hero' to the vietnamese who's ass he kissed while he was a 'prisoner'! What's taking the agent orange so long to punch his ticket??
Stay classy! Very insightful. Clearly you are an expert on different on voting blocs in Arizona and the Vietcong/ US POW dynamic and relationship.
support for an international consensus for action!!! No US act alone.
do you have any idea how much foreigners hate america?i don't think that even your nato puppets will risk retaliation just to follow your insane adventures.
Assad troll
How many Generals does it take to get John McCain to slow his role? So many, both active and retired, have spoken out against rushing into Syria & Iran.
We're not the friggin' police for the world . . .
Syria has some nuclear bombs that they bought from Russia, and they also have all of Saddam's chemical weapons.
He had me at, "America should not act"
WHY do we have to get involved in yet another conflict? Hello? We are BANKRUPT.
And has anyone else noticed that the Congress has not OFFICIALLY declared a war since 1941? Isn't something WRONG with this picture???
Who's going to pay for this? Who's going to fight (OUR soldiers, many of which have already served numerous tours in Iraq and Afghanistan)?
Tell ya what...when Panetta, Obama, Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney, and the like start sending THEIR family members into a battlefield, THAT will be the day I will support this. In other words, NEVER.
DO OR DO NOT THEY HATE US ANYWAY SO LET IT BE >>
No they don't, liar!
Miami1111, you must be a Muslim, ass***e!
Syria is not in the midst of a civil war, once again Israel is running the US Congress/President, spreading lies, propaganda, disinformation to get the US to due it's bidding and kill more Arabs. Israel is occupying parts of Syria and would like to see the Syrians destroyed.
Zionism = Terrorism
As if one 9/11 wan't enough, the US's continued unquestioning allegiance to Israel will continue to kill Americans, throw the US economy into further turmoil and make every American poor and hated worldwide. All the while Israelis living standards are subsidized by the US government. Israeli's have a higher standard of living, universal health care, free education thanks to the US.
. "All of their defenses are arrayed on their western border, which is their population center. So five times the air defense of Libya, covering one-fifth of the terrain." also just happens to be their border with Israel
In my opinion, the United States should stop being the Global Police. Yes, civilians in Syria are dying, and that's a shame, but in no way is it the United States' responsibility to stop it. If the "leaders" in Washington decide to send U.S soldiers to Syria it will be a brand new Iraq situation. The rebels we help today will then be the leaders and the leaders today will then become the rebels and it will keep going. What's the solution you may wonder? There isn't one. We have more than enough problems with the economy and jobs in the United States, so let's not make it even worse for us and start another war we won't win. On a side note, I'm glad I voted for Obama instead of McCain, he's basically the same as Bush and we don't need any more of his bullshit.
The end of the Assad regime could sever Hezbollah's lifeline to Iran, eliminate a longstanding threat to Israel...
Now we are getting to root causes. This is not about civilians or freedom. This is about achieving strategic objectives related to Israel in particular and the middle east in general. In other words, this is about offensive war. Shame on you all. The US lowers itself to offensive war. Just like the Nazis
uh-oh... someone just told the truth... But then who can you kill Mrs. McCain & right wing trigger hippies?
america IS a fascist country.
America does not need to get into a war with either Syria or Iran. We do not need to get into a war just because it helps greedy, apartheid Israel. Unfortunately, Zionist Jews control the media and bought our Congress. We should completely cut the over $9 Billion foreign aid we give to Israel and let them fend for themselves.
We should cut off all foreign aid and aid the Americans at HOME, period.
As an infidel you will never understand you American whore! We will bomb your cites, and rape your women, and kill your men! You have no idea what we are capable of, so yes please do look only inward. You won't see us coming to shove a bomb up your ass!
"One of the many massive lies our mass media are currently pushing is that there's a civil war going on in Syria.
The USA has spent millions of dollars fomenting rebellion in Syria, resulting in a minority movement to overthrow the government. But, many of the fighters are foreigners brought in to create havoc, not Syrians.
The Syrian government is supported by the majority of its population, in fact. The big problem for the USA, NATO and the ever subservient UN is that the Israeli government is boiling over with hatred for Syria, and currently occupies land that the UN identifies as the "Syrian Golan," known in Israel as the Golan Heights. Syria will not give up its claim to the territory.
But in 1981, Israel passed the Golan Heights Law, extending Israeli law and administration throughout the region, in defiance of condemnation by UN resolution 497, which recognizes the territory as Syrian.
As Israel continues to steal Arab land, hatreds foment, and the US government always takes the side of Israel, blaming Arabs for peace talks which break down, often as Israel builds settlements on Arab land. Our mass media never give objective views on this issue, and they are doing it again in Syria.
Our government has created chaos in Syria and now has doubts itself as to whether to send weapons to those involved in armed attacks on the government, after discovering that many of them are associated with al Qaeda, otherwise depicted in our government and mass media as the enemy."
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/03/06/the-syrian-mirage/
amen.
Israel took the Golan heights during a war remember! Of course they are not going to give it back you retard, why would they, they have done more with the space than Syria ever could or would. To that end the Palestinian people are a fallacy! They were not there before the Israeli's, as a matter of fact they are refuges from just about everywhere, and no other Arab country would take them. They can't even focus hard enough to have a unity government or even take care of their own needs. But then again a generation of idiots has been raised to do terrorist work of others like Hamas, Hezbollah, etc.
Thank God for sanity...THE U N needs to be strengthened to handle these situations....IT works when it is used correctly...
Dear Syrian's Please understand you have to fight yourself..be creative..The U.S. has stood by while 47,500 civilians in Mexico have been gunned down by drug cartels in the last five years..and we have the troops right here and just need to cross a boarder..and will not, our GOP just goes after our AFT department when they try something daring...You See too many of the U.S. top 1% actually make a lot of money off our drug trade...and do not want to stop it...After Reagan declared a war on drugs in the U.S....The drug use actually went up, and so did the prices and the profits...
TSA stole tools out of my checked luggage.
Creeps!
Stole our I Pad...and more...no recourse..
T -ool S- tealing A- ssociation
The TSA stole my DIGNITY, lol!!!!
When they do the cavity search, be sure to moan and push back a little bit. The passengers should not be the only ones to feel violated!
Shoot 'em up Johnny is suddenly going to pretend bombs, planes, soldiers, invasions are free of cost...... and then, of course, would later blame Obama for the excess spending....
thank god McCain didn't win in 08. he is crazy as a loon. americans dont want any more useless wars. the middle east is a powder keg. military action against syria is nuts. sure we can win but at what cost? and for what? the syrian people who hate us because we support isreal. waste of money.
He seems to forget his less-than-fun time in Vietnam.... He, of all people, should be looking for ways to keep soldiers out of harms way.
that's 'cause he 'aint going!
but your brother can die no biggie. Hezbollah will be cryin!
WTF! "soldiers out of harms way" what an oxymoron from a moron....
Sorry..... This is a Syrian civil war; civil wars are bloody. Not one US soldier should be sacrificed for Syria's civil war.
How do you feel about this?
Just more warmongering. Just remember who is calling for war in a place that has nothing to do with America or it's protection or defense. Just remember the cost of war. Just remember how the world postured at Libya, Iraq. America gained no friends from it's wars, and even fewer allies.
So pay attention to the retard leaders in Washington calling for more war. Vote them out.
The word Retarded has been banned by CNN!
But Mary Mr McCain has at least an 82 IQ. Most downs syndrome brains hover in the high 80's. Mr. McCain's intellect is best described as akin to a potato.
thanks to mrmcain you are not speaking russian, please study youre history....
I don't think we should stand by and let people be killed like this. But I also understand that we shouldn't go it alone. I think limited airstrikes should be considered. Assad's forces need a clear message from above that their slaughtering of civilians won't be tolerated any further. We should use unmaned drones to target tanks and other heavy artillery, hopefully giving FSA forces a morale boost and striking fear in Assad's forces. But I think we're damned if we do and damned if we don't. Anti-American forces in Syria will use our use of force as propaganda by saying we want regime change, just as I also think they'll use American refusal to help civilians being killed as propaganda as well. That's why we need to do the right thing 100% of the time so that our motives are never questioned.
I'm comforted by the fact that we would just invade Syria.... to "help" the insurgents. Thanks for clarifying Mrs McCain.
It's funny that the same people that despise "the liberal media" all of sudden believe every propagandist work when they have a chance to kill people.
Propaganda is any viewpoint I disagree with!
Assad is a killer and must be removed but not replaced with fanatics who will harbor terrorists and become the safe heaven for them.
When you can explain how to do what you just said, let us know. If it is really that simple, don't even bother to explain how, just run over there yourself and fit things!
American bloodshed should not be spilled on the sands of these religious fanatics anymore.Hopefully America has finally learned by its mistakes.These religious fanatics have to value for human life.They are animals & like animals they are territorial & will not compromise land & or life for the sake of humanity.
Why should we fight this perpetual war in the Middle East? American lives will not liberate the Muslim world!
How did this spiclet warmonger bast@rd get a job as a defense secretary of the US. Despicable loser!
Did you read the article? Panetta does not want us to be a warmonger.
The warmonger appears to be the senator from Arizona trying to egg the defense secretary into unilateral action.
As to how Panetta became defense secretary ... he was apparently a very effective director of the CIA prior to his appointment.
also participated in our first black presidents administration (which is the husband of current sec if state) so he is recycled liberal......
We want Mr. Panetta back now. Banksters hate Catholics and we don't trust them with him.
I'm sure that made sense to you when you typed it....
From all the Republican senetors only Mccain wants to bomb, I think he wants to bomb everywhere he sees, even he sees bomb in his dream.
MCCain is insane. Even Putin was so bold to point it out. If a Russian can figure out who is nuts in our leadership pretty sure all of Europe and the Middle know McCain is stupidly dangerous.
Very scary this situation. Russia, China, Iran, Syria on the same page. America, Europe, Japan, and I don't know who else on another page. Kinda reminiscent of Nostradamos and others predicting that the "Third World War" would happen in the middle east...kinda creepy. Hope not.
Grandpa McCain is a sclerotic loser. Now he and GOP leaders want to drag us into another freaking mess and increse our national debt by another few trillion $. He does not give a s#t about well being of this country and does not think about future of our kids that will be stuck with the bill. He wants to help al-Qaeda activists to overthrow Assad and have another islamist state on the map.
Those fighters inside Syria are killing innocent People and are putting the blame on Assad, Those fighters who call themselves freedom fighters are trained in the USA and England to make terrorism inside Syria, Those terrorist are the equivalent to the drug cartels in Mexico. 🙁
McCain knows only one thing, BOMB, BOMB.....". Because of lunatics like him the entire world has been destablized and ultimately the fundamentalist muslims will rule those countries as a result of our effort of spreading democracy!. when these politicians will wakeup,
McCain has his brain inside his left cheek 😉 and He seriously needs to be examined if He is mentally stable.
mccain is not bombing his own people. Cnn please stop the Chinese psychic spies from commenting on youre articles....
It's more like the US should't get involved at all.
these people are sick beyond words. evil gruesome men. banksters.
u got that right,sista!
i think we should start a pool of money
and then give out a certain amount of money to a person who kills any banker
why does the 15 trillion debt only matter in domestic spending ? So, mccain wants to start more never ending credit card wars, which is exactly why I did not vore for him.
With current economy, it is not possible for America to undertake major or long war against Iran or Syria. There is a possibility that incase of attack against Iran; Syria will side with Iran which is more difficult to deal unless supported by other EU nations of NATO like in Libya with UNO/UNSC resolutions against both of these countries.
who cares?
bush family got us into 2 needless wars
Iraq and ????
afganistan
Obama should just tell everyone that fighting is good, and it's okay to have differences.
Well, i mean whats one more country going to hurt i guess were going to have to finally flex our muscle on the dam middle east. I mean it sucks because i head over soon but with a brother that was suppose to come home on the 9th of this month that is prob. going to have to stay in Afghanistan because of this i mean let get it over with . Red White Blue
You just go to fight and don't even know if there is a true ideal huh? must be the garbage they feed You in the army.
The key to this is the chemical and biological weapons being a hundred times more than Libya. Well of course since most of it came from Iraq weeks before we had invaded. To those who don't believe that Iraq had this stuff, think in a political sense. If Saddam would have used it, then it would have opened the door for us to use nuclear weapons. Pictures and satellite shots don't lie! We don't want to go in and then have to worry about where that stuff will end up next.
Guys like You worry me a lot, You are totally fucked off Your head!
I can't say what I did in the past, but information is power. Have you seen any of the satellite pics of the nuclear reactor in Iran? Do you not think that we had the same capability 10 years ago? Infrared IR can see even a single vehicle moving in the middle of the night. Think about it since I'm off of my rocker. 🙂
Oh sure guy. Like Assad was such a great buddy of Saddam's he was willing to hide the hot potato of chem/bio weapons that was threatening to get Iraq gutted and risk facing the wrath themselves.
Nope. Syria had been stocking chem/bio weapons since getting whupped by Israel in '67 and losing Golan. Saddam, OTOH, was able to obtain his stockpile courtesy of the USA who funneled them to him when he was still a valued asset for playing proxy in waging war against Iran.
Ok, think about what you had just said. Why wouldn't he give them to Syria? Obviously he wasn't going to send them to Iran, couldn't bring them to Kuwait. So you had said that we had given them to Iraq, yet supposedly there were no signs of them when we got there. So should I believe that he used them on the Kurds and then disposed of the rest? You make a very good argument and I appreciate the insight! All I can say is that I KNOW what I know and had SEEN what I had seen. I had asked the question to someone of authority as to why President Bush wouldn't defend himself in the press about it and it was told to me that it is easier to monitor when they don't know that we know where they are as opposed to it all being dispersed to other locations. Kind of like the nuclear warheads from old Russia.
STOP!!!! No more!! ENOUGH!!!! Let the bloody Arab League deal with this. I am so flipping tired of the US getting involved with everything. Frankly these Syrians could be deemed terrorists or whatever to the Syrian Government and so the regime is protecting themselves. Heck our own DOJ and President have now said it is fine to kill Americans without due process.
SACRIFICE AND TIMES NOW DEMAND IT AS A SACRED RESPONSIBILITY ! THAT TOMORROW MIGHT COME BUT TODAY IS DONE SO SAVE THE DAY HERE IN U.S.A.SYRIA,IRAN FAMILIES AND WHEREVER JUSTICE CAN BE OF FAITH DONE FOR A GOOD PURPOSE,ACTION. HAVE A GOOD DAY ! FAREWELL !
Shut ur self righteous gob, nobody likes you.
Let them rot in Seventh Century splendor.
As a mo other of a son deployed in Afghanistan.for the 3rd time.I applaud the Obama administration for taking all the objectives into consideration,not just with Syria,but with Iran as well. For those that have callously called for war,just for once stop and consider the lives already lost,and the lives that could be lost. We need to be level headed,make sure it is done right,and most of all with the utmost concern for our military.
Agree! Hope your son and those he serves with come home safely again.
I VOTE FOR OUR U.S.A. LEADERS BECOUSE THEY ALLOW US TO SPEAK HERE AND ALLOW US TO VOTE EVEN FROM THE BIGGEST MIDDLE CLASSS PROPERTIES IN U.S.A.SO SACRIFICE AMERICANS.
THERES NO WAY TO BACK DOWN TODAY,,,,,,,,,,ALL GLOBALY THEATS ARE UP SO UPSCALE ATTACKS MUST FOLLOW THAT IS THE RULE OF POWER AND CONTROL AND THERE IS NO CHOICE,,,,,,,,,SO MAYBE AFTER AIRSTRIKES STOP AND CONTINUE NEGOTIATIONS WOULD PREVENT FANANCIAL GLOBAL CAOS BY OIL SUPPLIES AND IRAN WOULD HAVE TO ACT OUT IF ABLE TO CONTROL IS PROMISE TO SECURE COMMUNITIES AFTER ALL AND MOST GLOBAL EXAMPLES AND CLEARLY IS DIVIDED BY ITS GOV.AND PEOPLE AND ITSELF AT DOUBTS SO GO FOT IT DAMN US HERE IN AMERICA AND THE WORLD ! IRAN,SYRIA AMBITIONS HAVE NO LIMIT BUT THE WERTERN AND RUSSIA,CHINA DO HAVE AND UNDERSTAND THEM AND COMPLY THEM TO THE CABINET OF COMMUNITIES INTERNATIONALLY BUT NOT THOSE ROUGUE NATIONS,,,,,,,,,,BESIDES IRAN DID CAUSE SYRIA GONE EVIL AND ONE MAN IN SYRIA DO CAUSE ONE IRAN GLOBALLY DESTRUCTIVE PATH SO STOP IT NOW BEFORE TOMORROW BE NOT POSSIBLE AND AS PROMISE MIGHT COME MOST LIKELY BUT LET GO OF TODAY BY INVADING SYRIA BY ALL ALMIGHTY TO DISABLE IRAN BY ALL MEANS OF EVILNESS DAMN US.GLOBALLY THAT TOMORROW STILL MIGHT COME BUT TODAY WONT WITHOUT ATTACKING THEM ! HAVE A GOOD DAY !
Why are you yelling? Please post without the caps. TY
Hey! You're the guy who wrote all the gibberish on the Dr. Bonner's Peppermint Soap Label.
And people voted for mccain? Hahaha
I cannot believe that our national government is even remotely considering getting involved in this mess. Panetta went from no way, to maybe just a little bit of war........good lord, it now doesn't matter what Mr. Bush would do, it matters what these clowns would and are even considering doing.
KILL AMERICANS ? NO BIG DEAL,BUT MUST OBLIGATE TO ITS RESPONSABILITIES IF U.S.A.DONT BACK DOWN ON IRAN,,,,,,,,,BY ISRAEL SECURITY BEFORE ALL ITS TOO LATE AND ALL ITS TO SENSELESS,,,,DAMN US IN U.S.A.BUT ACT NOW OR ACT LATER IS OF NO CHOICE,IRAN ASK FOR IT AS SYRIA SO GLOBALLY COUNTRIIES ARE TO BE IN ORDER OF PERSUIT DISORDER AS TODAY,,,,,,,,,ALL ITS DOWN AND LATE ON RECOVERY AND AT LEAST WARS SAVDE TOMORROW FOR SURE GOD WILLLING.
Righteo, Pinetta... Since a certain area of the world is inhabited by people who end up hating and killing anyone who helps them, I think we would benefit greatly by getting our worst enemies involved with helping out in Syria. Good luck with that, you old master of defense, you.
Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Funny 🙂
You know..
When you are picking up pieces of your son because someone didn't like your religion or the color of your hair, or because you are from a different state than they are is it ok if I laugh at you? Seriously!
I had to help a father pick up pieces of his baby that was blown apart on bus line five in Tel Aviv. And why, because they were Jewish? Because he was one one and a half. So yes when you are weeping and mopping up what is let of your child I will laugh, and say not my problem...
I'm for military action. As a veteran who has deployed to Iraq 5 times over over zealous leadership and faulty intelligence, I applaud the thoughtful and careful process in which we are evaluating this military action. Follow the "Libya" playbook and let's get the world involved, plus let's make the sanctions work. I respect McCain's concern, but we need to proceed carefully.
I suppose you are also for tax cuts.
I am also a veteran (1st 505th Parachute infantry Regiment 82nd Airborne) – I say this to those for another damned war:
You are an irresponsible bag of trash to call for war after war after damned war and then be a thief and say tax cuts- lets somebody else be indebt for decades as you watch our nation fall into insolvency for no reason other than to make the US military industrial complex even more obscenely rich -so our cowardly bribed congress (lower caps on purpose) can take even more bribes and send everyone elses children off to fight these wars- where even more entire nations of people hate USA. Where they hide beind their gated communities or jet off to somewhere else leaving the average American to pay the bill and eat the soon to be coming terrorist attacks in retaliation for going to the other side of the world and killing the people there because these damned murdering politicians over here- hide behind America as they send our troops to kill and die- just to enrich these dirtbags some more. our country is so upside down. With the cowards who wont serve in charge- how many wars can we get into in ten years? We been in Libya, IraQ, Afghanistan and bombing pakistan, bombing yemen, bombing Somalia all right now!!!
I mean Jesus Christ! We are bombing or fighting in 5 countries todamned day!
What the hell America!
You speak the truth
No soldier wants war. That would be stupid. Only the "leaders" do and for their own selfish benefit. Did I vote for people to lead me? To be a moral example for me? To steal from me? The answer is no to all those questions. You speak the truth.
ATTACK BY U.S.A.IS IMMINENT ! GLOBAL CORPORATIONS RELIED ON U.S.A.BUT NOT COORDINATE WITH U.S.A.SO ATTACK,,,,,,,,THERE IS ONE WAY AND ONE ONLY,,,,,,,WAR TO CHANGE THE WORLD ! AFGANISTAN,PERSINAL GOLF,PAKISTAN CONFLIC U.S.A.LEBANON AND PALESTINE,ALLDONE BY U.S.A.AND ISRAEL,,BUT IRAN AND THE REST MUST OBLIGATE OR WAR MUST COME FIRST,DAMN US
Personally, I want Al Asshat's babykilling head on a stick ASAP.
Sounds like a great way to make more enemies for the U.S. Is your unit scheduled to deploy or is your military experience limited to Xbox 360 games?
Somehow all the republicans want is to meddle in other countries internal affair. Didn't they want democracy in Egypt? Didn't like it too much when the Egyptians elected the Muslim Brotherhood. I bet if Barack is for the invasion of Syria, the republicans will be against it.
FFS, McCain just publicly called for it. He's republican. Get a cup of coffee and try to catch up.
I think Panneta is a pinhead however he is right on this. We should not bear the cost or the pain or the loss alone of another attempt to help people that always seem to stab us in the back afterwards.
"Help" them? Didn't he say he wants to go to hurt Hezbollah and the Iranians, undermine Lebanon and bolster Israel?
Is this about "helping people?!!... gee let's go!
Im a commanding officer of the FSA, & would like all americans to know that with just a little help we shall achieve our goals..
we dont need money or Hardware, we definetly dont need the manpower, what we need of you ohh big brother is to enforce a no flyzone , & then just sit back & watch the fireworks, it will be just a matter of days you will watch assad on youtube. this i guarantee you....
we have always respected americans, a common misconception is that we danced in you darkest hour. I would like to clarify this, as this is not false, yes we danced, let me explain, when theres a gun behind your head , u will dance even if its your fathers funeral.. the same people are now dancing at proassad rallies with assads pictures...U think they support him. not by heart... they know if they act against him, they will be massacred.
Lets close the book on assad & move on with our lives, shall we.....
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants- Jefferson
Macain doesn't know what he is getting into. He should retire and go home and blow stuff up around his Ranch and yell yippee all day.
We sent John Glenn back into space when he was a Senator, at age 77. Go get an old A-4 off a stick in front of some Navy base and send Senator McCain in again, he's only 76!
Sen. McCain should just save time and declare war on EVERYONE!
McCain doesn't seem to realize that attacking syria is probably the easiest step in going to war with Syria. He obviously hasn't considered:
-the cost
-the innocent lives that will be killed
-image of US intefering in yet another country
-image of US launching another war without international support
-lives of our troops
-and many more
Bravo, Panetta.
The question is not how many Syrians must die, McCain.
The question is how many American soldier's lives is it worth. And how likely are we to only make things worse?
Yes let's attack Syria, have Russia come in on the Syrian's side, with Iran...and the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, with the U.S and Israel. It is not very far to fall back to the Megiddo Valley in Israel, and fight our battle of Armageddon...The GOP would love to..
HOw many countries are we going to invade to overthrow their regimes? Enough is enough. We don't have the money and need to fix our issues here in the USA. We give BILLIONS to repair Iraq and Afghanistan's schools, hospitals, and roads. What about our needs here in the USA? BRING OUR TROOPS HOME! PROTECT OUR BORDERS!
the Rothschild central banks have used us for too long. They are not welcome to our country any more.
I'm worried that they will just kill panetta. he's probably not jewish enough. or they are using him as a front to get more out of us.
Enough is enough!! The United States needs to tend to its own people, property, borders, schools, values, morals and decay! With any luck Iran's nuke will go stright up, come down and amen to that.
JOHN MCCAIN IS A PATHETIC LOSER WHO PRETENDS TO CARE ABOUT SYRIAN CIVILIANS.
is it more about rothschild owned central banks? innocent people have been massacred and killed to get central banks into every country? do they threaten to a s s a s s in ate presidents that don't borrow money from them? we don't need any more of this life. if yes, then take them off the planet. we don't need that crap here. they don't belong here.
Men follow because they trust. and they try to be good. but they were used. and they never knew why. They have every right to know why.
Why should we care about this? On a good day they HATE US so why should we care now?
Kill yourself, you ingrate.
it is time for mccain to retire.
Silly screen name and an even sillier post. Grow up.
The U.S. should stop taking out al-Qaeda's few regional enemies.
No, actually by doing NOTHING, the Western powers are helping Al Qaeda gain momentum by recruiting civilians.
As if fighting terrorists in 2 countries is not enough. No way should we help these Muslim "Revolutions". They are trading moderate dictators for Radical leaders...
1 country now...
Intervene in Syria? No. No national interest, no exit strategy, might result in worse folks gaining power. Forget it.
The Problem with McCain's arguments is just this. Our going in would put US head to head with Russia. Russia is determined to prop up the regime. It provides them with a client for arms sales, a valuable military port (Russia has always been crippled by lack of ports) & a buffer state. He can also make political hay out of this. If we went in, for good or bad, the Republicans could twist it to their advantage in the elections.
The US does not be involved in another war. Let them work it out themselves.
John McCain? Impassioned crusade? He aludes to strategic advantage and humanitarian return. In terms of past actions he has championed Iraq comes to mind. A country we handed to an ally of Iran in the form of the shiite government, after participating ( directly or indirectly ) in the slaughter of approximately a quarter of a million people – many of them civilians for sure ( unless one believes in the absurdety that we kill civilians humanely whereas others do not – frankly dead is dead ). So, no reason to believe that in this case his judgement would be any better, and one can conlude he has no real concern for death and mahem as his comfort with the mountain of bodies he left us standing on Iraq is obvious.