Pentagon dilihat dari udara di Washington, DC. (The Pentagon is seen from the air over Washington, DC. (AFP Photo/Saul Loeb – think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)
SitiWanMahani - 3 hari Op: Laporan bahawa Pentagon bertujuan Serangan berat ke Syria. Walaupun pembangkang sengit di rumah dan di luar negara untuk apa-apa penyelesaian tentera kepada krisis senjata kimia Syria, Pentagon sedang bersedia untuk serangan yang lebih luas ke atas Syria daripada yang asalnya yang telah merancang, Los Angeles Times melaporkan.
Pelan disemak memerlukan 3 hari dari peluru berpandu menyerang diikuti dengan gelombang yang serangan ke-2 ke atas sasaran bahawa salvos awal gagal untuk memusnahkan, sumber-sumber tanpa nama memberitahu harian.
2 pegawai Amerika Syarikat juga mendakwa bahawa White House” diminta senarai sasaran berkembang di hari baru-baru ini termasuk lebih banyak daripada 50 atau jadi sasaran dalam senarai awal.”
Perancang Pentagon mempunyai beberapa pilihan sekiranya serangan: mereka memikirkan memanggil pengebom Tentera Udara akan disokong oleh peluru berpandu udara-ke- permukaan daripada 5 kapal perang sekarang rondaan di timur Laut Mediterranean, atau menggunakan pesawat pengangkut kumpulan serangan di Laut Merah, yang termasuk satu cruiser dan 3 pemusnah .
“Terdapat beberapa volleys dan penilaian selepas setiap tembakan, tetapi semua dalam masa 72 jam dan petunjuk yang jelas apabila kita telah selesai,” kata seorang pegawai biasa dengan perancangan.
Artikel ini mengakui, bagaimanapun, bahawa beberapa pegawai tentera yang ragu-ragu bahawa walaupun kempen udara yang lebih kukuh akan melakukan banyak kerosakan berpanjangan kepada kuasa-kuasa Assad. Salah seorang pegawai memberitahu Times bahawa operasi yang dirancang berjumlah banyak daripada sedikit “menunjukkan kekerasan,” sementara tidak cukup untuk mengubah jadual memihak kepada pasukan pemberontak Syria.
Laporan bahawa senarai sasaran Syria diperluaskan pertama kali muncul pada sidang kemuncak G20 di St Petersburgh. Obama menafikan khabar angin pada sidang akhbar itu. Setiausaha Negara Amerika Syarikat John Kerry yang disyorkan pada hari Ahad bahawa Washington mungkin masih membawa isu serangan ke Syria kepada Majlis Keselamatan PBB, tetapi Obama masih menyimpan semua pilihan di atas meja.
“Pada komen Presiden Hollande berkenaan dengan PBB, Presiden [Obama], dan kita semua, sedang mendengar dengan teliti untuk semua rakan-rakan kami,” kata Kerry. “Tiada keputusan dibuat oleh presiden.”
Obama telah enggan menyatakan sama ada beliau akan mengarahkan serangan ke atas Syria jika Kongres undi berbanding tindakan ketenteraan. Walau bagaimanapun, beliau memberikan preview hujah beliau dalam ucapan radio mingguannya pada hari Sabtu.
“Kegagalan untuk bertindak balas kepada serangan ini keterlaluan akan meningkatkan risiko bahawa senjata kimia boleh digunakan lagi, bahawa mereka akan jatuh ke tangan pengganas yang mungkin mereka menggunakan terhadap kami, dan ia akan menghantar isyarat yang dahsyat kepada negara-negara lain yang tidak akan ada kesan untuk kegunaan mereka senjata-senjata ,” katanya.
Pemimpin Amerika Syarikat merancang serangan yang amat berbeza kerana dia bersedia untuk merayu sokongan orang ramai pada hari-hari akan datang pada media di negara ini termasuk ABC, CBS dan NBC, ketiga-tiga rangkaian penyiaran utama, serta CNN, PBS, dan Fox News . Beliau juga akan membuat ucapan khas dari Pejabat Oval pada hari Selasa - sesuatu yang semua saluran akan disiarkan - hari sebelum Senat dijangka untuk menerima atau menolak kebenaran untuk serangan ke atas Syria .
Pendapat di DUNIA masih dibahagikan kepada tindakan Syria. Dalam ucapan terbarunya, EU berkata kerajaan Syria adalah pelaku kemungkinan serangan kimia Damsyik, tetapi ia tidak akan bergegas ke dalam apa-apa tindakan ketenteraan sebelum laporan PBB rasmi dikeluarkan.
Rusia, China dan beberapa negara lain menegaskan bahawa sebarang tindakan yang diambil ke atas Syria perlu diluluskan terlebih dahulu oleh Majlis Keselamatan Amerika Syarikat, dengan Presiden Vladimir Putin memanggil kejadian kimia Ghouta sebuah” provokasi” di pihak pemberontak dan berikrar bantuan ke Syria dalam peristiwa serangan luar.
Three days’ op: Reports that Pentagon aiming at heavier Syria strike. Despite stiff opposition at home and abroad to any military solution to the Syrian chemical weapons crisis, the Pentagon is preparing for a much broader attack on Syria than it originally had planned, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The revised plan calls for three-days of cruise missile attacks followed by a second wave of attacks on targets that the initial salvos failed to destroy, anonymous sources told the daily.
Two US officers also alleged that the White House “requested an expanded target list in recent days to include many more than the 50 or so targets on the initial list.”
Pentagon planners have several options in the event of an attack: they are pondering over calling in Air Force bombers to be backed by air-to-surface cruise missiles from five warships now on patrol in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, or use an aircraft carrier strike group in the Red Sea, which includes one cruiser and three destroyers.
"There will be several volleys and an assessment after each volley, but all within 72 hours and a clear indication when we are done," said one officer familiar with the planning.
The article admitted, however, that some military officers are skeptical that even a more robust air campaign will do much lasting damage to Assad’s forces. One of the officers told the Times that the planned operation amounted to little more than a temporary "show of force," not enough to turn the tables in favor of Syrian rebel forces.
Reports that the Syria target list was to be expanded first appeared during the G20 summit in St Petersburgh. Obama refuted the rumors at the press conference. US Secretary of State John Kerry suggested on Sunday that Washington might still bring the Syria strike issue to the UN Security Council, but that Obama is still keeping all options on the table.
"On President Hollande's comments with respect to the UN, the president [Obama], and all of us, are listening carefully to all of our friends," Kerry said. "No decision has been made by the president."
Obama has declined to say whether he would order an attack on Syria if Congress votes against military action. However, he did give a preview of his argument in his weekly radio address on Saturday.
"Failing to respond to this outrageous attack would increase the risk that chemical weapons could be used again, that they would fall into the hands of terrorists who might use them against us, and it would send a horrible signal to other nations that there would be no consequences for their use of these weapons," he said.
The US leader is planning an attack of a different sort as he prepares to appeal for public support in the coming days on the nation’s media including ABC, CBS and NBC, the three main broadcast networks, as well as CNN, PBS, and Fox News. He will also make a special address from the Oval Office on Tuesday - something all the channels will broadcast - the day before the Senate is expected to grant or reject authorization to a strike on Syria.
The world’s opinion remains divided on the Syrian action. In its latest remarks, the EU said the Syrian government was the likely perpetrator of the Damascus chemical attack, but that it will not be rushed into any military action before an official UN report is released.
Russia, China and several other countries insist that any action taken on Syria should be first approved by the US Security Council, with President Vladimir Putin calling the Ghouta chemical incident a “provocation” on the part of the rebels and pledging help to Syria in the event of a foreign attack.
