Military leaders told a Senate panel today that the use of U.S. military force in Syria is an option.
The Associated Press reports Joint Chief of Staff chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey told the Senate Armed Services Committee that he has counseled President Obama as to what possible military options are available if the U.S. wants to get involved in Syria's civil war.
Joint Chief of Staff vice-chairman, Navy Adm. James Winnefeld, also testified about Syria before the panel. He said of possible U.S. intervention in the Syrian conflict:
"There are a whole range of options that are out there. We are ready to act if we're called on to act."
Senator John McCain wanted to know what the hold-up was to providing military support to Syrian rebels, according to USA Today:
"We wouldn't be starting a war. We would be trying to stop a massacre that's going on."
But Dempsey urged caution, alluding to the United States military's experience in Iraq:
"Senator, would you agree that we have recent experience where until we understood how the country would continue to govern and that institutions of governance wouldn't fail, that actually situations can be made worse by the introduction of military force?"
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