The Washington Times, 1 Oct 2013 – The Pentagon is considering working with Middle East and European allies to help build moderate opposition forces in Syria, the nation’s top military officer told reporters traveling with him Tuesday on a visit to South Korea.
Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said he has been in constant contact with Arab defense chiefs in the neighborhood, as well as European defense chiefs in particular on this idea.
“We’ve got incredible experience at building partners and building military and police formations. So we’ve been in discussions about whether we can find a way to collaborate on that issue — the issue of developing a moderate opposition, in particular to stabilize some of the humanitarian issues in northern Jordan and southern Turkey,” Gen. Dempsey said during a media roundtable in Seoul, Korea.
He said such a concept would be valid if Syrian dictator Bashir Assad, after the chemical issue is reconciled, fails to come to multilateral Geneva II peace talks to end the civil war with an intent to seek a political settlement.
“Then I think like-minded nations might have the opportunity to contribute in other ways if asked to do so,” he said, adding that the idea has not yet arisen to the point of being a “plan.”
Another option the Pentagon is considering is providing assistance to regional partners.
“We’re looking, militarily now — and I’m speaking only as the representative of the United States armed forces — but we’re looking at how we can assist the Lebanese armed forces, the Jordanians in particular, our NATO allies in Turkey, and even the Iraqis,” he said.
“We’re trying to help our regional partners, and secondly, through the whole of government, not necessarily the United States military but through the whole of government. We’re trying to apply economic factors, assistance of other kinds, to help what we can identify as a moderate opposition so that as this thing continues to develop, we will have some influence in a positive way in the outcome.”
In the meantime, U.S. warships would continue their presence off the coast of Syria, “because that in my view is certainly among the principle motivators of the Assad regime,” he added, but did not say for how long.
“[The situation] is very complex, it is changing probably even as we’re sitting here, and most importantly, I think we have to see it as a long-term issue,” he said. “The issues that underlie this conflict will not be solved anytime soon. I think we’re looking at a decade of challenges in the region with Syria probably being at the epicenter.”