The highest ranking military officer in the US, General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned that further involvement in Syria could cost over a billion US dollars a month.
In an open letter to US senators, Dempsey outlined potential for US military involvement in the Syria conflict, assessing the risks and costs of such action.
Dempsey wrote that the 'risks' of training, advising and assisting the opposition included "extremists gaining access to additional capabilities, retaliatory crossborder attacks, and insider attacks or inadvertent association with war crimes due to vetting difficulties."
The General also said that the cost of conducting limited stand-off strikes would be in the billions and posed the threat of "retaliatory attacks" and "a probability for collateral damage impacting civilians and foreigners inside the country."
The costs of establishing a No-Fly Zone could average to a billion dollars a month, Dempsey stated, noting that it "may also fail to reduce the violence or shift the momentum because the regime relies overwhelmingly on surface fires—mortars, artillery, and missiles."
Pointing out that thousands of US ground troops would be needed to establish buffer zones, Dempsey wrote that risks were similar to those of No-Fly Zones with the added threat of "regime surface fires into the zones, killing more refugees due to their concentration" and that "the zones could also become operational bases for extremists."
Dempsey also estimated that controlling chemical weapons could cost well over a billion dollars a month, adding:
In an open letter to US senators, Dempsey outlined potential for US military involvement in the Syria conflict, assessing the risks and costs of such action.
Dempsey wrote that the 'risks' of training, advising and assisting the opposition included "extremists gaining access to additional capabilities, retaliatory crossborder attacks, and insider attacks or inadvertent association with war crimes due to vetting difficulties."
The General also said that the cost of conducting limited stand-off strikes would be in the billions and posed the threat of "retaliatory attacks" and "a probability for collateral damage impacting civilians and foreigners inside the country."
The costs of establishing a No-Fly Zone could average to a billion dollars a month, Dempsey stated, noting that it "may also fail to reduce the violence or shift the momentum because the regime relies overwhelmingly on surface fires—mortars, artillery, and missiles."
Pointing out that thousands of US ground troops would be needed to establish buffer zones, Dempsey wrote that risks were similar to those of No-Fly Zones with the added threat of "regime surface fires into the zones, killing more refugees due to their concentration" and that "the zones could also become operational bases for extremists."
Dempsey also estimated that controlling chemical weapons could cost well over a billion dollars a month, adding:
"We have learned from the past 10 years, however, that it is not enough to simply alter the balance of military power without careful consideration of what is necessary in order to preserve a functioning state. We must anticipate and be prepared for the unintended consequences of our action. Should the regime's institutions collapse in the absence of a viable opposition, we could inadvertently empower extremists or unleash the very chemical weapons we seek to control."
"I know that the decision to use force is not one that any of us takes lightly. It is no less than an act of war. As we weigh our options, we should be able to conclude with some confidence that the use of force will move us toward the intended outcome. We must also understand risk-not just to our forces, but to our other global responsibilities."
