Key Dem presses Joint Chiefs chairman for more Syria military options

The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee is
the latest lawmaker to express dissatisfaction with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen.
Martin Dempey’s assessment of potential military options in Syria.

Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.) sent a
letter to Dempsey released Monday that asked for a more detailed
analysis of limited strikes to take out Syria’s air defenses.

Engel took issue with Dempsey’s assessment, sent to Senate
Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) last month, where the top U.S.
military official said that limited stand-off strikes would require “hundreds
of aircraft, ships, submarines and other enablers” and that the cost would be in
the billions.

Engel questioned whether a more limited option was
available.

“While I do not profess to be a military expert, it is clear
that this analysis does not fully reflect an even more limited option that some
have advocated, which would involve cruise missile or other stand-off weapon
strikes on regime-controlled air bases,” Engel wrote.

{mosads}“It stands to reason that this even more limited stand-off
strike option would come at lower cost to taxpayers than the options outlined
in your letter, and could be accomplished with fewer military assets. Most importantly, it would not involve
putting any U.S. boots on the ground or in Syrian airspace,” he said.

Engel’s letter follows harsh criticism of Dempsey over Syria
from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who had briefly threatened to hold up the chairman’s confirmation last month.

Dempsey and McCain sparred about U.S. intervention in Syria
during Dempsey’s confirmation hearing, as McCain was angry that the top general wouldn’t give his personal opinion about potential U.S. intervention.

Dempsey’s letter to Levin was sent after the hearing as a
way to address McCain’s concerns. After McCain dropped his threat of a hold —
though not his criticism of Dempsey — the Joint Chiefs chairman was confirmed
for a second two-year term last week.

Eliot has been one of the most vocal Democrats advocating
for the Obama administration to do more in the two-year Syrian civil war. He
introduced a bill in February calling for the administration to
arm the Syrian rebels.