US Weighing Plans to Invade Syria: Source
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Washington has devised plans to attack Syria with the aim of overthrowing President Bashar al-Assad after it failed to conduct a military campaign last year on the pretext of alleged chemical attacks by the Syrian government, media reports said.
Three years after US failure in wielding influence over West Asia, it seems that Washington seeks to find a new pretext for direct interference in Syria, Alwaght news website reported.
Regarding the crisis in Syria, which began in 2011, the US plans to revive a last year's plan for a large-scale operation in Syria to topple President Assad, an unnamed source told Alwaght.
In September 2013, US President Barack Obama had threatened the use of force in response to an August 21 chemical weapons attack in Syria that US officials said had killed more than 1000 people.
Washington blamed President Assad's government for the attack, while Russia and Syria said it was the work of rebel forces.
Obama was first supposed to order military attack against Syria just after the chemical attack. Then, he changed his mind and went to Congress, as polled showed most US people were against military engagement in Syria and his plan hit resistance in Congress. But later, Obama decided to go along with the Russian proposal to place Syrian chemical weapons under international supervision.
Speaking to Alwaght, the informed source, who called for anonymity, said hours before conducting the operation, American officials were informed that elite Special Forces from Iran and Hezbollah have planned to expand clashes from Damascus to the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf, where they could hit US forces heavily. Leakage of this news forced the White House to revise its plan and postpone the operation for some time.
One year after suspending the offensive, the US is now assessing the situation to find another pretext to invade Syria. Washington seems to have found Turkey and Saudi Arabia incapable of ousting Assad; therefore, it seeks to obtain the authorization of the UN Security Council under the guise of fighting the ISIL terrorist group and creating a no-fly zone for helping the Syrian refugees, the website added.
