Thread: Top US General Dempsey: US is Considering the Use of Military Force

Published on Jul 18, 2013
Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Obama administration is deliberating whether or not it should use the brute of the US military in Syria during a Thursday morning Senate hearing.

Gen. Dempsey said the administration was considering using "kinetic strikes" in Syria and said "issue is under deliberation inside of our agencies of government."

Dempsey, 61, is the highest ranking officer in the US military and has been nominated by Pres. Obama to serve a second term in that role. The Senate Armed Services Committee questioned him Thursday morning as part of the nominating process when Dempsey briefly discussed the situation in Syria.

With regards to foreign intervention, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said, "Providing arms to either side would not address this current situation." Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) and his father, former congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) have also cautioned the White House against aiding Syrian rebels.

"You will be funding today the allies of al-Qaeda" by aiding Syrian rebels, Sen. Paul said in May.

Source: CBS News

Watch Sen. McCain bully Chief of Staff General Dempsey. McCain wants war. Is salivating for it. What did they do to him while he was a prisoner of war?

Major General Smedley D. Butler: "WAR IS A RACKET"

1. Is your Country F'n BROKE - If the Answer is Yes "LET THE U.N. & Arab States handle THEIR BUSSINESS"

2. Does your country have a back log of over a MILLION Soldiers with war Injurys and you and your country have yet to take of them - If the Answer is Yes "LET THE U.N. & Arab States handle THEIR BUSSINESS"

3. Does your country have record breaking suicides of active duty / Reserve Soldiers from multiple deployments - If the Answer is Yes "LET THE U.N. & Arab States handle THEIR BUSSINESS"

a. As a side Bar "What in the HELL is John McCain doing aiding and Abetting KNOWN Terrorists

b. How much money has John McCain profited with insider trading information on DoD War Contracts as you and your kids get their limbs blown off

c. If you are not pissed maybe you need to go get your gear on

http://www.alipac.us/f9/whistle-blow...enghaz-279136/

OBAMA IS WADING INTO SYRIA....

The Obama administration is deliberating whether to use military power in Syria, where a civil war entering its third year has killed almost 93,000 people, the nation's top military officer told a Senate panel Thursday. Sen. McCain has stated he will block the nomination of General Dempsey for a 2nd term as JOC Chairman. He should have blocked it the first time!*

Dempsey says US considering use of force in Syria
http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-e...syria-1.230943

MCCAIN TO BLOCK NOMINATION OF GEN. DEMPSEY
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-...f-gen-dempsey/

McCain to block nomination of Gen. Dempsey

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Video at the Page Link: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-...f-gen-dempsey/

CBS News/ July 18, 2013, 3:25 PM
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WASHINGTON

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Thursday he will block Army Gen. Martin Dempsey's nomination for a second term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff due to his dissatisfaction with the officer's responses to questions about the potential use of U.S. military power in Syria.

McCain pressed Dempsey during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee to provide his personal opinion on which approach in Syria carries greater risk for U.S. national security interests: continued limited action on the part of Washington, or more significant steps such as establishment of a no-fly zone and arming rebel forces with the weapons they need to stem the advance of President Bashir Assad's forces.
Dempsey said that he has provided President Barack Obama with options for the use of military force in Syria. But he declined to detail those choices, saying that "it would be inappropriate for me to try to influence the decision with me rendering an opinion in public about what kind of force we should use."

• U.S. considering use of military force in Syria
• Syria refugees "begging" John Kerry for no fly zone

During a testy exchange with McCain, the general added that he would "let this committee know what my recommendations are at the appropriate time."

Dempsey's response, McCain said, contradicted his commitment to provide the committee with his personal views, even if those opinions differ from the administration in power.

McCain told reporters after leaving the hearing room that he planned to put a hold on the nomination, essentially blocking any further Senate action until he gets an adequate response from Dempsey.

"I want to see him answer the question," McCain said. "Hello!"

The situation in Syria, where a civil war entering its third year has killed almost 93,000 people, figured prominently amid an increasing clamor among Assad's opposition for active U.S. involvement.

Senators including Carl Levin, D-Mich., the committee chairman, and McCain have been pressing Obama to take a more forceful approach to defeat Assad's forces. While the administration has authorized lethal aid to rebel forces battling Assad's troops, it isn't trying to enforce a no-fly zone in which Syria's combat aircraft would be barred from flying, or otherwise intervene militarily to halt the war.

"Senator, I am in favor of building a moderate opposition and supporting it," Dempsey told McCain. "The question whether to support it with direct kinetic strikes ... is a decision for our elected officials, not for the senior military leader of the nation."

The use of kinetic strikes, a military term that typically refers to missiles and bombs, "is under deliberation inside of our agencies of government," Dempsey said.

Asked about Dempsey's comments, White House spokesman Jay Carney said Thursday that Obama always asks his military commanders for options "and that is true in an arena like Syria."

He reiterated that the president is constantly reviewing U.S. options in Syria.

"There are a whole range of options that are out there," Navy Adm. James Winnefeld, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said of the planning for military action in Syria. "We are ready to act if we're called on to act."

Dempsey acknowledged in response to a question from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., that Assad's forces have the upper hand in Syria.

"Currently the tide seems to have shifted in his favor," the general said.

The Armed Services Committee is considering Dempsey's and Winnefeld's nominations for second terms in their posts.

To avoid getting drawn deeper into Syria's civil war, administration officials have pointed to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 as an example of what can go wrong when America's military becomes involved in Middle East conflicts.

"We've rushed to war in this region in the past. We're not going to do it here," Obama's chief of staff, Denis McDonough, said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation."

During his exchange with McCain, Dempsey said "situations can be made worse by the introduction of military force" without first understanding how the country would continue to govern and ensuring that government institutions don't fail.

Dempsey's first term as chairman has been a turbulent one with the military drawing down from lengthy wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the same time, he has had to grapple with billions of dollars in budget cuts that have threatened military readiness, the epidemic of sexual assaults in the ranks, the crisis in Syria, and most recently unrest in Egypt.

Dempsey also addressed the emerging picture of serious flaws inside the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command. He called the flaws discouraging and "moving rapidly toward disgraceful."

Dempsey said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called him while traveling this week to make sure he was aware of reports that the MIA accounting effort is plagued by internal conflict and dysfunction. Hagel wants to "get to the bottom" of the problem, he said.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., said the committee needs to hold hearings to investigate.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-...f-gen-dempsey/

Patrick J. Buchanan: AMERICA SAYS ‘NO!’ TO A BELTWAY WAR