Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The United States has ruled out any military intervention in Syria.

Officials said the administration of President Barack Obama has told Congress that it would oppose any U.S. military intervention in Syria. The administration said it did not regard Sunni rebels fighting the regime of President Bashar Assad as serving U.S. interests.

“Syria today is not about choosing between two sides but rather about choosing one among many sides,” Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said. “It is my belief that the side we choose must be ready to promote their interests and ours when the balance shifts in their favor. Today, they are not.”

The letter marked the latest correspondence between the administration and Congress regarding U.S. policy toward Syria. In July 2013, Dempsey angered some of the congressional leadership by asserting that the United States would require hundreds of fighter-jets for military intervention in Syria.

In a letter to Rep. Eliot Engel on Aug. 19, Dempsey, who heads U.S.
military policy, said the administration opposes any military intervention
in Syria. The Joint Chiefs chairman, who recommended humanitarian
operations, also ruled out U.S. training of Sunni rebels or establishing
a buffer zone.

“The use of U.S. military force can change the military balance,” Dempsey said. “But it cannot resolve the underlying and historic ethnic, religious and tribal issues that are fueling this conflict.”

Dempsey said the U.S. military could destroy the Syrian Air Force, which
conducts daily strikes on rebel strongholds. But the general said such a
campaign would deepen the involvement of the U.S. military in Syria.

“The loss of Assad’s Air Force would negate his ability to attack
opposition forces from the air, but it would also escalate and potentially
further commit the United States to the conflict,” Dempsey said. “Stated
another way, it would not be militarily decisive, but it would commit us
decisively to the conflict.”

  Administration: Backing Sunni rebels in Syria not in U.S. interest, Bashar Assad, Gen. Martin Dempsey, Rep. Eliot Engel