Former US officials and foreign policy experts today signed a bipartisan open letter to President Barack Obama, asking for a decisive military response to alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria by the defiant regime of Bashar al-Assad.
The group of 71 experts has recommended direct military strikes against the pillars of the Assad regime, along with accelerated efforts to vet, train, and arm moderate elements of Syria's internal opposition.
"Left unanswered, the Assad regime's mounting attacks with chemical weapons will show the world that America's red lines are only empty threats," the group warned in the letter.
"It is therefore time for the United States to take meaningful and decisive actions to stem the Assad regime's relentless aggression, and help shape and influence the foundations for the post-Assad Syria that you have said is inevitable," said the group in the letter sent by Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI), a Washington-based think-tank.
Urging Obama to respond decisively by imposing meaningful consequences on the Assad regime, the experts said at a minimum, the US along with willing allies and partners, should use standoff weapons and airpower to target the Syrian regime's military units that were involved in the recent alleged chemical weapons attack.
"US should also provide vetted moderate elements of Syria's armed opposition with the military support required to identify and strike regime units armed with chemical weapons," it said.
The letter added that the objectives should be not only to ensure that Assad's chemical weapons no longer threaten America, its allies in the region or the Syrian people, but also to deter or destroy the regime's airpower and other conventional military means of committing atrocities against civilian non-combatants.
"At the same time, the US should accelerate efforts to vet, train, and arm moderate elements of Syria's armed opposition, with the goal of empowering them to prevail against both the Assad regime and the growing presence of al-Qaeda-affiliated and other extremist rebel factions in the country," the letter said.
Meanwhile, a senior US lawmaker has warned against hasty military action against Syria.
"Military action could have significant consequences and there is no guarantee that it would improve the situation or promote a positive outcome. Any potential use of military force will have long-term costs and will put our troops in harm's way," House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member, Adam Smith said.
"Simply lashing out with military force under the banner of "doing something" will not secure our interests in Syria," he said.
