Israel estimates US will attack in Syria [View all]

[Mosby]

Israeli security officials estimated Saturday evening that the US will act militarily in Syria in response to the chemical attack on rebel stronghold near Damascus earlier this week.

A senior army official said IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz discussed the Syrian crisis with US Joint Chiefs of Staff chief General Martin Dempsey during a phone conversation on Friday. The two generals also discussed the recent escalation of violence in Lebanon and the unrest in Egypt, the official said.

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US President Barack Obama met with his national security team on Saturday to consider possible responses to the chemical attack on Damascus' suburbs. The Washington Post reported that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that Obama had asked the Pentagon to prepare military options for Syria. US defense officials told The Associated Press that the Navy had sent a fourth warship armed with ballistic missiles into the eastern Mediterranean Sea but without immediate orders for any missile launch into Syria.

ABC News said potential targets include Syrian military or government command and control facilities as well as delivery systems for Syria’s chemical weapons, namely artillery or missile launchers. Targeting Syrian chemical weapons depots carries the risk of unleashing chemicals into the atmosphere, which makes them less likely targets.

The limited-scope military options would use "standoff" weapons, which would not require the US to send jet fighters over Syrian airspace and risk their getting shot down by Syria's strong air defense system, ABC News reported. The use of sea-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles is seen as the most likely option.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4421645,00.html