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Page added on September 8, 2013
U.S. plans for ’3 days of attack’ on Syria
The Pentagon is readying more intense and longer attacks on Syria than originally planned, set to last three days, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.
War planners now aim to unleash a heavy barrage of missile strikes to be followed swiftly by additional attacks on targets that may have been missed or remain standing after the initial launch, the Times cited officials as saying.
Two US officers told the newspaper that the White House has asked for an expanded target list to include “many more” than the initial list of around 50 targets.
The move is part of an effort to obtain additional firepower to damage Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s dispersed forces.
Pentagon planners are now considering using Air Force bombers, as well as five US missile destroyers currently patrolling the eastern Mediterranean Sea, to launch cruise missiles and air-to-surface missiles from far out of range of Syrian air defenses, according to the report.
The USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group with one cruiser and three destroyers positioned in the Read Sea can also fire cruise missiles at Syria.
“There will be several volleys and an assessment after each volley, but all within 72 hours and a clear indication when we are done,” an officer familiar with the planning told the Times.
The intensified military planning comes as President Barack Obama prepares to personally make his case to the American people and further press reluctant lawmakers on the need for action after Assad allegedly used chemical weapons on his own people last month.
Obama is scheduled to tape interviews on Monday with anchors of the three major broadcast networks, as well as with PBS, CNN and Fox News.
The interviews, to air that night, will precede Obama’s address to the nation on Tuesday ahead of an expected full Senate vote.
The president favors a limited attack with only a reduced number of warplanes to drop bombs over Syria, according to the Times.
Amid doubts that a limited US offensive would sufficiently hamper Assad’s military capabilities, one officer told the newspaper that the planned operation would amount to a “show of force” over several days that would not fundamentally change the situation on the ground.
The planned US strike “will not strategically impact the current situation in the war, which the Syrians have well in hand, though fighting could go on for another two years,” another US officer said.
7 Comments on "U.S. plans for ’3 days of attack’ on Syria"
DC on Sun, 8th Sep 2013 11:57 pm
Let us hope the Syrians possess hypersonic anti-ship missiles that can be launched from land to destroy as many of those murderous cowards offshore in the US Navy. After all, the US is very fond of ‘stand off’ weapons systems to terrorize civilians from hundreds of miles away.
The Syrian forces have to face the US jihadist legions face to face, and street by street while defending their country.
The US, prefers to launch attacks from hundreds of miles away that ‘more or less’ hit there intended targets(once in a while), then they prefer to go watch some absurd ‘football’, drink some chemically laced ‘beer’, then fall asleep in front of a TV.
Its the amerikan way.
Stilgar on Mon, 9th Sep 2013 12:19 am
Those destroyers have a front end mounted phalanx designed to destroy incoming missiles. It receives a signal bouncing the missile and hones in on it, then fires an extremely fast barrage of very large bullets at it until it disintegrates or blows up.
BillT on Mon, 9th Sep 2013 12:40 am
Ah, but the Syrians may just have the missile that can avoid this ‘deterrent’. I hope so. Maybe if several of the Empire’s gun ships are sent to the bottom of the Med, things would change? Or, at least the others might get directly involved, meaning Russia, Iran and China.
Kenjamkov on Mon, 9th Sep 2013 2:47 am
Hope the Nimitz is safe in the “Read Sea”.
Geography is not important when you are talking missiles and bombs apparently.
BillT on Mon, 9th Sep 2013 10:59 am
The Red Sea may be too far for Syrian missiles, but not for Iranian missiles. Nor are Saudi oil facilities…
steveo on Mon, 9th Sep 2013 1:13 pm
The bombing hasn’t even started and they’re already escalating. Anyone care to start a pool for how many days it takes for the “boots on the ground”?
GregT on Mon, 9th Sep 2013 3:54 pm
Anyone want to make a bet that some of the first ‘targets’ are media outlets?
Oh, and how many people will be killed by 3 days of intense bombing. I would bet far more than ‘the chemical attack massacre’. But who’s counting? Is collateral damage really an acceptable way to refer to murder?