Ex-US officials warn against Syria strike

Former US officials have warned that an imminent US strike on Syrian government targets would draw the United States deep into the Arab country’s crisis.

“The one thing we should learn is you can’t get a little bit pregnant,” said retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, as reported by The Washington Post on Tuesday.

“If you do a one-and-done and say you’re going to repeat it if unacceptable things happen, you might find these people keep doing unacceptable things. It will suck you in,” added Zinni, who was at the helm of US Central Command when the US launched cruise missiles at suspected terrorist sites in Afghanistan and weapons facilities in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.

As a United Nations inspection team is still investigating an alleged chemical attack carried out last week in Syria, the US has jumped to conclusion announcing that the Syrian government forces are responsible for the attack which have killed hundreds of civilians.

On Tuesday, US Vice President Joe Biden said there is no doubt that the Syrian government is responsible for the use of chemical weapons near Damascus.

Syria has strongly rejected the allegation, saying foreign-backed armed groups, who have been fighting the government forces for the past two and a half years, launched the fatal attack.

The US military is now preparing to strike on targets inside the Syrian territory. In recent days, the Pentagon has moved more warships into place in the eastern Mediterranean Sea and American war planners have updated strike targets that include government and military installations inside Syria.

Former US officials also pointed out that the cruise missile strikes on targets in Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan in the past carried unintended consequences.

“We didn’t really gain anything,” said former US ambassador to Damascus Ryan C. Crocker, referring to the previous strikes on targets in foreign nations.

“The behavior of our adversaries did not change. A couple of cruise missiles are not going to change their way of thinking,” he said.

Meanwhile, a number of lawmakers urged the White House not to launch another war in the Middle East. Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) was among the 20 lawmakers who signed a letter written by Rep. Scott Rigell (R-Va.) arguing that it would be illegal for the Obama administration to authorize an attack on Syria without a congressional sign-off.