U.S.
Marines (Reuters/Muhammad Hamed – think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)
SitiWanMahani - 75,000
tentera diperlukan untuk menjamin senjata kimia jika Damsyik jatuh. Potensi
strategik serangan Amerika Syarikat di Syria telah mencetuskan kebimbangan
senjata kimia Damsyik boleh jatuh ke tangan yang salah jika kerajaan
digulingkan. Satu laporan baru-baru ini berkata, kongres 75,000 tentera akan
diperlukan untuk melindungi WMD cache .
Penyelidikan
Pusat Kongres (CRS) laporan yang dikeluarkan hanya satu hari sebelum 21 Ogos
dikatakan serangan senjata kimia di pinggir bandar Damsyik, telah disusun
dengan tujuan untuk” bertindak balas
kepada senario yang mungkin melibatkan penggunaan, perubahan tangan, atau
kehilangan kawalan senjata kimia Syria.”
Ia
menyatakan bahawa stok simpanan senjata kimia di Syria, yang laporan perisikan
Perancis baru-baru ini dianggarkan lebih 1,000 tan, telah dijamin oleh pasukan
khas Syria.
“Oleh
kerana yang mendesak menghalang akses kepada senjata oleh kumpulan-kumpulan
yang tidak dibenarkan, termasuk pengganas, kerajaan Amerika Syarikat telah
menyediakan untuk senario untuk mendapatkan senjata sekiranya kehilangan rejim
Assad, kawalan,” dokumen itu berbunyi
Memberi
keterangan di hadapan Jawatankuasa Angkatan Bersenjata Senat pada 7 Mac , 2012,
ketika itu Setiausaha Pertahanan Leon Panetta memberi amaran kepada
penyingkiran Assad akan membentangkan senario “100 kali lebih teruk daripada
apa yang kita diperkatakan di Libya.”
Dalam
usaha untuk mendapatkan 50 senjata kimia dan tapak pengeluaran tersebar di
seluruh Syria, sebagai tambahan kepada simpanan dan kemudahan penyelidikan , “The
Pentagon telah dianggarkan bahawa ia akan mengambil masa lebih daripada 75,000
tentera untuk meneutralkan senjata kimia,” dokumen ini berterusan, memetik
Februari 2012 CNN laporan.
Sementara
itu , satu resolusi menyokong penggunaan kekerasan terhadap kerajaan Presiden
Bashar Assad, dibersihkan Senat Jawatankuasa Hubungan Luar Negeri pada undi
10-7 pada Rabu, walaupun seksyen 3 draf kononnya menolak operasi tempur Amerika
Syarikat di atas tanah.
Kata-kata
teks, bagaimanapun, berpotensi membenarkan tentera atas alasan demi operasi
bukan menyinggung perasaan, termasuk mendapatkan stok simpanan senjata kimia
dan kemudahan pengeluaran.
75,000
troops needed to secure chemical weapons
if Damascus falls . . .
The potential of
strategic US strikes in Syria has sparked fears Damascus’ chemical weapons
could fall into the wrong hands if the government is toppled. A recent
congressional report says 75,000 troops would be needed to safeguard the WMD
caches.
The
Congressional Research Center (CRS) report, issued just one day before the
alleged August 21 chemical weapons attack in a Damascus suburb, was compiled with
the aim of “responding to possible scenarios involving the use, change of
hands, or loss of control of Syrian chemical weapons.”
It
states that Syria’s chemical weapon stockpiles, which a French intelligence
report recently estimated at over 1,000 tons, have been secured by Syrian
special forces.
“Due
to the urgency of preventing access to these weapons by unauthorized groups,
including terrorists, the United States government has been preparing for
scenarios to secure the weapons in the event of the Assad regime’s loss of
control,” the document reads
Testifying
before the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 7, 2012, then-Secretary of
Defense Leon Panetta warned the ouster of Assad would present a scenario “100
times worse than what we dealt with in Libya.”
In
order to secure the 50 chemical weapon and production sites spread across
Syria, in addition to storage and research facilities, “The Pentagon has
estimated that it would take over 75,000 troops to neutralize the chemical
weapons,” the document continues, citing a February 2012 CNN report.
Meanwhile,
a resolution backing the use of force against President Bashar Assad's
government cleared the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on a 10-7 vote on
Wednesday, although section 3 of the draft ostensibly ruled out US combat
operations on the ground.
The
wording of the text, however, could potentially allow for troops on the ground
for the sake of non-offensive operations, including securing chemical weapons
stockpiles and production facilities.
Setiausaha
Negara Amerika Syarikat, John Kerry bertindak balas kerana dia menunggu
Setiausaha Pertahanan Amerika Syarikat Chuck Hagel dan General Martin Dempsey,
Pengerusi Ketua Turus Bersama, tiba kerana beliau muncul di Amerika Syarikat
House Jawatankuasa Hal Ehwal Luar pendengaran ke atas Syria di Capitol Hill di
Washington, September 4, 2013. (Reuters/Jason Reed – think IN pictures @1WORLDCommunity)
Walaupun
jawatankuasa Senat pada mulanya memilih untuk menghadkan penglibatan tentera
Amerika Syarikat di negara ini kepada 90 hari dengan tiada potensi operasi
tanah, Republikan Senator John McCain bergabung dengan Demokratik Senator Chris
Coons untuk menambah peruntukan menyeru “perubahan penting kepada baki semasa
tentera kuasa di atas tanah di Syria.”
Vacillations
pentadbiran Obama ke atas Syria yang mungkin terbaik yang ditunjukkan oleh
Setiausaha Negara John Kerry. Bercakap sebelum Senat Jawatankuasa Hubungan Luar
Negeri pada hari Selasa, Kerry mencadangkan ia akan lebih baik untuk memberikan
White House kuasa untuk menghantar tentera darat sekiranya Syria “imploded”
atau jika senjata kimia adalah pada risiko yang diperolehi oleh pelampau.
“Saya
tidak mahu mengambil dari jadual pilihan yang mungkin atau mungkin tidak ada
kepada presiden Amerika Syarikat untuk memastikan negara kita,” katanya kepada
jawatankuasa itu dalam jangka masa sehingga undi.
Selepas
diberitahu oleh Senator Bob Corker - Republikan teratas dalam jawatankuasa -
sentimen beliau mengenai but atas alasan tidak “jawapan yang sangat sesuai,”
Kerry cepat mundur.
“Mari
kita menutup pintu sekarang,” kata Kerry. “Jawapannya ialah, apa jua larangan
menjelaskan kepada Kongres atau rakyat Amerika, tidak akan ada but Amerika di
atas tanah yang berkaitan dengan perang saudara.”
Setelah
jawatankuasa dibersihkan, langkah yang membenarkan kuasa di Syria dijangka
mencapai tingkat Senat minggu depan. Senator Rand Paul, sebuah republik dengan
hubungan yang kuat kepada pergerakan Parti Teh, mengugut penghalang itu.
While
the Senate committee initially opted to limit US military involvement in the
country to 90 days with no potential of ground operations, Republican Senator
John McCain joined forces with Democratic Senator Chris Coons to add a
provision calling for "decisive changes to the present military balance of
power on the ground in Syria."
The
Obama administration’s vacillations on Syria were perhaps best exemplified by
Secretary of State John Kerry. Speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee on Tuesday, Kerry suggested it would be preferable to give the White
House the power to send in ground forces in the event that Syria “imploded” or
if chemical weapons were at risk of being obtained by extremists.
"I
don't want to take off the table an option that might or might not be available
to a president of the United States to secure our country," he told the
committee in the run up to the vote.
After
being told by Senator Bob Corker – the
top Republican on the committee – his
sentiments regarding boots on the ground were not “a very appropriate
response,” Kerry quickly backtracked.
"Let's
shut the door now," Kerry said. "The answer is, whatever prohibition
clarifies it to Congress or the American people, there will not be American
boots on the ground with respect to the civil war."
Having
cleared committee, the measure authorizing force in Syria is expected to reach
the Senate floor next week. Senator Rand Paul, a republican with strong ties to
the Tea Party movement, has threatened a filibuster.
