Obama plans sending troops, arms to Syria to ‘hasten’ goverment’s ouster

Washington is preparing to deploy troops and ship arms to foreign-backed militant gangs in Syria in a new bid to lead efforts to force the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad amid a growing realization that the US-sponsored opposition lacks popularity in the Arab nation.

Despite voicing caution in responding to what he referred to as the “red line” on Israeli-inspired claims of chemical weapons use in Syria, US President Barack Obama is ready to move ahead with a “broad spectrum” of military options against the Damascus government, ranging from “arming the [foreign-led] opposition to boots on the ground,” The Washington Post reports Wednesday, citing ‘senior administration officials.’

“We’re clearly on an upward trajectory; we’ve moved over to assistance that has a direct military purpose,” the daily adds, quoting a senior Obama administration official that spoke on condition of anonymity.

According to the report, the newly-devised plans by the White House reflect a decision “to assert more aggressive US leadership among allies and partners seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.”

It also cites one top administration official as saying that Obama has “not closed the door to other military actions” in response to demands by “the Syrian opposition” and some US lawmakers for American delivery of weapons to protect against Syrian governments “ballistic missiles and airstrikes.”

Following a widely discounted claim by the Zionist regime last week that Syria has used chemical weapons, several pro-Israeli US lawmakers used the country’s mainstream national television outlets to demand urgent American military intervention in Syria to remove its government and “secure” its chemical weapons.

Meanwhile, a Saturday report by the influential US daily New York Times underlined that the hyped up Israeli publicity about an alleged use of chemical weapons was intended to trigger a response by the Obama administration, based on its description of chemical arms use in the country as its “red line.”

The report further revealed, citing current and former Israeli officials, that the Zionist regime also intended to use the scheme to gauge the willingness of the Obama administration to take military action against Iranian nuclear energy facilities.

Further highlighting Washington’s actual aim of removing President Assad from power in Syria at any cost, the administration’s National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said, “We continue to consider all other possible options that would accomplish our objective of hastening a political transition,” which refers to regime change.

While the US government went along with the widely challenged Israeli allegations about the use of chemical agent sarin in Syria by mimicking Tel Aviv’s claims in the form of an “intelligence assessment … with some degree of varying confidence,” Obama said in a Tuesday news conference that he would not take any action until he has “conclusive” evidence on the case, fearing the repeat of George W. Bush administration’s deliberately falsified “intelligence reports” on Iraq’s possession of chemical arms.

This is while the pro-Israeli Republican lawmakers in the US Congress continue to criticize the Obama administration for raising the bar “so high that it is unlikely he will take action” against Syria, another US daily report.

Highlighting the usual Israeli anti-Iran publicity rhetoric, these American congressmen further argue that “Iran and North Korea will view his response as a signal that US threats can be ignored.”