Syria: How could Assad potentially respond militarily to Cruise Missile strikes?

Donaldio

John Kerry and Chuck Hagel are only two member's of U.S goverment Obama would need a majority vote from a hundred US Senator's which will most likely be put to the vote by them this Monday. The United Nations however have said that they will need at least two more week's to complete there investigation.
Even if Assad was to step down tommrow i dont think it would automaticly bring peace, all the different sides ethnic cultural and religious will just suddenly reconcile with each other ? Even the situation after a war any war can be extremely dangerous !

handlemaster

Is this response from the US more to do with Israel and very little to do with the suffering of the syrian people. The American/Israeli response is more to do with the groups that oppose israel occupation of Palestinien land getting the chemical weapons. I think Assad if an attack happens will freely give the chemical weapons to foreign fighers aiding him presently

Donaldio

Interesting interveiw with the Syrian opposition in London Channel 4 news. Thursday the 5th "Britain's continuing aid to Syria"

http://www.channel4.com/news/catch-up/

Be like Nutella

seems like Obama is going to try and sell a very ltd air strike which IMO will simply say to Assad
'OK if you don't use chem weapons again we won't touch you'
which will make Assad look defiant and then he'll just ratchet up his conventional war methods to slaughter another 100,000 while the world ignores the carnage.

Obama should be hammering Assad's assets and take a real bite out of his abilities if it's possible to do that without killing civilians now that he has the valid chem weapons justification. Nobody really thinks this is a massive set up by the rebels at this point and one big conspiracy theory. The likelihood is that his brother or some general did it without his knowledge and it got out of hand and killed more than was intended... that's the most likely scenario in my opinion.

The air strikes will not hit the chem sites and Assad will still have the chemicals and the ability to use them after any very ltd air strike takes place next week or week after that so if they're not going to hit the chem weapon assets in a way that significantly reduces Assad's ability to use them again then how would a very ltd air strike convince him of anything? He will absorb a small strike and move on with the promise that nobody is coming to the aid of the rebels and he can go about massacring his people on a larger scale in order to survive a few more years.

The only strike that makes sense is a powerful asset depleting strike which significantly degrades the regimes abilities. Otherwise there is no point to any strike. That's where I'm at now.

Sierra Oscar

Be like Nutella wrote: »

The only strike that makes sense is a powerful asset depleting strike which significantly degrades the regimes abilities. Otherwise there is no point to any strike. That's where I'm at now.

There is little appetite for undertaking a strike to completely undermine the regime without knowing what will fill the vacuum. It was never the intention of the US, or any other state, to launch a strike to remove Assad from power.

In anycase it looks like there will be no military intervention at all for now.