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)
MADAyuMadyan - 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.