Special to WorldTribune.com

AMMAN — The West could examine the feasibility of a military
operation against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

A senior member of the U.S. Senate raised the prospect of military
intervention in Syria. Sen. John McCain, ranking Republican on the Senate
Armed Services Committee, called on the U.S. military to prepare to help the
opposition to President Bashar Assad.

“Now that Libya is wrapped up, all options are on the table for Syria,”
McCain told the World Economic Forum in Jordan on Oct. 23. “The Assad regime
should not assume that it can get away with mass murder.”

McCain has been regarded as one of the most influential members of
Congress in the area of defense and foreign policy. The senator from Arizona
was one of the few members of Congress who called for U.S. military
intervention in Libya.

In his address, McCain said Washington was working with the opposition
to plan for a post-Assad Syria. He said the Assad regime was being harmed by
increasing defections from the military.

“We are engaging with the [opposition] Syrian National Council, and we
see growing defections from the Syrian armed forces, as more Syrians take up
arms to resist their government,” McCain said.

It was not clear whether McCain was indicating the forthcoming policy of
the administration of President Barack Obama. But Western diplomats said
Obama has been encouraging Turkey to increase aid to the Syrian opposition.

“Now that military operations in Libya are ending, there will be renewed
focus on what practical military operations might be considered to protect
civilian lives in Syria,” McCain said.

The senator’s call came as the European Union demanded that Assad
resign. Officials said the EU was considering new sanctions against the
Assad regime, blamed for the killing of 3,500 since March.

“President Bashar Al Assad must resign,” British Prime Minister David
Cameron said.

  ‘all options are on the table for Syria’, After Libya, Assad, Sen. John McCain, Syria, U.S. military