Nobel War Prize

'US to announce aerial blockade on Syria'

US readies for possibility of intervention without UN resolution, Asharq Al-Awsat reports, citing US military official; plan to include humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees on Turkey's border

Roi Kais

Published:  02.25.12, 13:21 / Israel News

The Pentagon is readying for the possibility of intervention in Syria, aiming to halt Syrian President Bashsar Assad's violent crackdown on protesters, the newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported Saturday, citing a US military offical.

According to the official, the intervention scenario calls for the establishment of a buffer zone on the Turkish border, in order to receive Syrian refugees. The Red Cross would then provide the civilians humanitarian aid, before NATO crews would arrive from Turkey and join the efforts.

Noted Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Considering Embarking On Unilateral War With Yet Another Sovereign Nation         

—Ace

The difference between Bush and Obama seems to be that Bush never imagined he had the power to go to war on his own authority, whereas President Ladies Tee does.

Although the U.S. focus remains on exerting diplomatic and economic pressure on Syria, the Pentagon and the U.S. Central Command have begun a preliminary internal review of U.S. military capabilities, CNN has learned. The options are being prepared in the event President Barack Obama were to call for them. Two senior administration officials who spoke about the review to CNN emphasized that U.S. policy for now remains the use of non-military options.
The focus on diplomatic options was underscored by the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in an interview with CNN on Tuesday.
"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," Ambassador Susan Rice said on CNN's “Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.”
The president has also said that the U.S. is working on non-military options first.

I think a coblogger tipped me that Britain was reviewing its own options, and then snarked that Obama would do the same two weeks later.

Well, not two weeks, but later.

He leads from behind, you know.
 h/t Ace 
 

World

US drone strike kills 4 in Somalia

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| Associated Press

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Military - US

Suspected US drone crashes in northwest Pakistan

Published February 25, 2012

| Associated Press

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan –  Pakistani intelligence officials and local residents say a suspected U.S. drone has crashed in the country's northwest tribal region.