Plans: Next, War on Syria?

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6099353/site/newsweek/

 

Plans: Next, War on Syria?

 

Newsweek

 

Oct. 4 issue - Deep in the Pentagon, admirals and generals are

updating plans for possible U.S. military action in Syria and Iran.

The Defense Department unit responsible for military planning for the

two troublesome countries is " busier than ever, " an administration

official says. Some Bush advisers characterize the work as merely an

effort to revise routine plans the Pentagon maintains for all

contingencies in light of the Iraq war. More skittish bureaucrats say

the updates are accompanied by a revived campaign by administration

conservatives and neocons for more hard-line U.S. policies toward the

countries. (Syria is regarded as a major route for jihadis entering

Iraq, and Iran appears to be actively pursuing nuclear weapons.) Even

hard-liners acknowledge that given the U.S. military commitment in

Iraq, a U.S. attack on either country would be an unlikely last

resort; covert action of some kind is the favored route for Washington

hard-liners who want regime change in Damascus and Tehran.

 

—Mark Hosenball

© 2004 Newsweek, Inc.