US Air Force Chief Gen. Mark Welsh says that his forces have been preparing to attack Syria for months now, but that they’re not really “prepared” for the operation, citing the budget sequestration concerns. He also warned that the war would be “more complicated” than the bombing campaign in Libya.
It’s the latest in a long line of comments from top military officials suggesting they aren’t on board with the administration’s plans to start a war with Syria, a fact about which officials have repeatedly expressed annoyance.
Joint Chiefs chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey has repeatedly issued pointed warnings about the war’s potential to grow well beyond its initial scope, and speaking to Congress today insisted that he’s been told to develop options to “degrade” Syria’s capabilities, but not to change the ongoing civil war.
But underscoring his warnings, Dempsey also said it was possible that the US attacks might lead Russia to increase its military support for the Assad government, saying “if we destroy something, they can replace it.“
The Joint Chiefs need to do with Obama and Congress, what they did to Diabolical Dick Cheney when he was insisting that they bomb an Iranian military base. They posed him a question,"When Iran retaliates, how far should we go to all-out war"? That stopped his attempt at war with Iran.
And this is a general officer in the world´s largest military in the history of the world! My God! I´m all against an attack against Syria for humanitarian reasons, but Welshsounds like a kid getting cold feet (chickening out) before a fight, a fight against another one of the poorest countries on the face of the earth. Dempsey sounds like a coward, even though we know he makes such sickening statements in order to obtain more military funding. There are other ways of requesting funding, for Christ sakes! "If we destroy something, they can replace it." Is that warrior talk?
Interesting that in the current debate in Washington, nothing is said about the fact that there is no money to pay for this new war. There has been no allocation, and the debt limit debate is about to start up again.
The war hawks know that once the "authorization" passes, only then will they bring up the cost and the need for a new vote on allocating money for this project.