Special to WorldTribune.com

WASHINGTON — The administration of President Barack Obama has
ordered the military to draft options to oust the regime of Syrian President
Bashar Assad.

Officials said the National Security Council and State Department were
directing efforts to review a range of military options to topple the Assad
regime in 2012. They said the military, particularly, U.S. Central Command,
would present proposals to the Joint Chiefs of Staff that would immediately
increase pressure on Damascus.

“What’s being worked on are options,” an official said. “This is far
from any presidential decision to attack Syria.”

Officials said the administration was angered by the veto of a United Nations Security Council resolution on Syria by China and Russia. They said the veto of the resolution, which did not call for Assad’s ouster, appeared to mark the end of diplomatic efforts to stop the revolt in Syria as well as increased influence by Beijing and Moscow in the Levant.

“Before we start talking about military options, we very much want to ensure that we have exhausted all the political, economic and diplomatic means at our disposal,” U.S. envoy to the UN, Susan Rice, said.

Officials said Obama, pressed by such Muslim allies as Qatar, Saudi
Arabia and Turkey, wanted to gauge Centcom requirements for intervention in Syria. Other questions included whether Washington could support Turkish military intervention, block military shipments to Syria or arm the
opposition with heavy weapons.

Britain, in a move coordinated with Washington, has already announced
plans to transfer equipment to the opposition. The London government said
the opposition would first receive what was termed “strategic
communications.”

“The Pentagon is closely monitoring developments in Syria,” a senior
official told CNN news channel. “It wouldn’t be doing its job if it didn’t
put some ideas on the table.”

Officials said the drafting of U.S. military options reflected
administration thinking that the revolt in Syria must end within a few
months. They said the U.S. intelligence community has warned that the revolt
could be exploited by Iran, Syria’s leading ally, for expansion into a
regional war.

Congress has become increasingly concerned over the bloody crackdown on
the Syrian opposition, which has killed more than 6,000 people since March
2011. Sen. John McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services
Committee, said the administration can no longer stand along the sidelines
as Syria is threatened by civil war.

“We should start considering all options, including arming the
opposition,” McCain, who lobbied for U.S. military involvement in Libya in
2011, said. “The blood-letting has got to stop.”

  Barack Obama, Bashar Assad, Joint Chiefs of Staff, National Security Council, Obama orders military to draft options for regime change in Syria, Sen. John McCain, Susan Rice, U.S. Central Command, UN Security Council