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UK mil. chief warns against Syria war

rasouli_amir20130429061728060Britain’s military chief has warned Prime Minister David Cameron against any intervention in Syria saying it would risk dragging British forces into an all-out war.

Chief of the British defence staff General Sir David Richards, who is standing down in July, told senior military officials that any move against Syria, under the pretext of chemical weapons use by the government forces, would have to be carried out on a huge scale, which is not advisable, the Sunday Times reported.

“Even to set up a humanitarian safe area would be a major military operation without the co-operation of the Syrians. In Syria, we have to be prepared to go to war,” he warned.

Richards also said that Cameron needs to be extremely cautious and decide whether it is sensible to intervene in Syria even if its government forces did use chemical attacks on anti-government militants.

His warning follows Cameron’s comments on Friday that raised fears of another Iraq-style scenario in Syria.

While confirming they do not have adequate evidence that shows Syrian government forces used chemical weapons against terrorists, Cameron accused Damascus of using such weapons and of “war crimes”.

The British government said earlier this month that soil samples from an area near Damascus, smuggled out of Syria by their spy agency MI6, contains traces of banned sarin chemical agent use.

However, it added that it is not clear whether Syrian terrorists or government forces have used the chemical weapons.

This comes as Syria has rejected western claims that government forces have used chemical agents against terrorists, saying the opposite is true, as a number of army forces have been killed in chemical attacks by anti-government militants.

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