We include the first few sentences of this in our parade of DEBKAfile bloopers, further up – RB
US Rules Out Hitting Attacking Syrian Chemical Sites
Richard Sisk, Military.com, Sep 6 2013
The Pentagon has ruled out hitting attacking Syrian chemical weapons stockpiles or sending US troops to secure the sites where they are stored after any potential missile strikes attacks, officials said Thursday. Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said Thursday:
We are taking into account in our planning that there could be environmental impacts in large dispersions of chemical stockpiles. This is not going to be a long, protracted drawn-out conflict. We are not contemplating boots on the ground in any way, shape or form.
Little spoke at a Pentagon briefing after concerns were raised in Congress that Obama might order US troops into Syria following airstrikes air attacks, to seize WMDs. Little stressed that any attack on Syria authorized by Congress would be limited and of short duration and would be intended to “degrade and deter” Assad’s ability to use chemical weapons. Adm Jonathan Greenert, the chief of naval operations, pointed to the firepower aboard at least four destroyers on station off the coast of Syria that could be ordered into action by Obama with the approval of Congress. At an AEI conference, Greenert said:
The new Block IV Tomahawk Land Attack Missile aboard the destroyers brings a really good asset to a commander. The new TLAMS can be re-programmed in flight and change targets. You fly it and it can receive changes. It can go up and it can loiter.
Russia has boosted its own naval presence in the Mediterranean to shadow the US ships, but Greenert said the aging Russian fleet was of little immediate concern. Greenert said he considered the presence of the Russian ships to be a “neutral factor” in any US decision to strike Syria. In Moscow, Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Ivanov said the Russian ships sent to the Mediterranean were intended for a possible evacuation of Russian citizens in the event of a US attack, RIA Novosti reported. Several hundred Russians were believed to be in the vicinity of the small Syrian port of Tartus, where Russia maintains what it calls a “logistical” center. In a separate statement, Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said earlier that that the Russian ships were meant to send a message to the US, RIA Novosti reported. Antonov said:
Our warships are a guarantee of regional stability, an attempt to restrain other forces that are ready to launch military operations in the region. Our actions are in strict compliance with international law and the UN Charter.
At Thursday’s Pentagon briefing, Little again tried to clear up confusion left by Sec Def Hagel’s suggestion that Russia had supplied Syria with chemical weapons. In testimony to the House Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, Hagel said:
There’s no secret that the Assad regime has had chemical weapons, significant stockpiles. The Russians supply them, others are supplying them with those chemical weapons. They make some themselves.
The White House and US intelligence have stressed that the Assad regime was solely responsible for the Aug 21 attacks and Little quickly put out a statement saying that Hagel misspoke. Little said:
He was referring to the well-known conventional arms relationship between Syria and Russia. The Syrian regime has a decades-old, largely indigenous chemical weapons program. Some of those conventional arms could be modified or otherwise used to support the chemical weapons program.
On Wednesday, Putin said that Syria could soon be receiving a new conventional weapons system from Moscow that would give a major boost to Syria’s air defenses. In interviews with Russia’s Channel 1 TV and AP, Putin confirmed that Moscow has a signed contract with Damascus to deliver S-300 air defense missile systems to Syria, and he suggested that Russia would go ahead with the delivery if the US attacked. Putin said:
We have a contract to supply S-300 missiles, and we’ve already supplied some parts, but not all of it because we decided to suspend the supplies for a while. But if we see international law being violated, we will reconsider our future actions, including supplies of such sensitive weapons to certain regions of the world.
Niqnaq 