PRESS RELEASE
Petraeus Proposes Military Escalation in Syria, Counting on Russia To Back Down
Oct. 29, 2016 (EIRNS)—At this week’s National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations conference, held in Washington, D.C., Gen. David Petraeus used his position as the concluding keynote speaker to outline a set of policy proposals for Syria that could rapidly lead to World War III.
Speaking on Oct. 27, Petraeus—formerly the head of the Central Command, formerly the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency—made a very bold set of proposals that unfortunately dovetailed very precisely with the kinds of things that have been coming out of Hillary Clinton and the Clinton campaign throughout this Presidential election. What General Petraeus called for was both the creation of safe zones inside Syrian sovereign territory, the creation of a no-fly zone over a large portion of Syrian territory, and the U.S. of use both sea-based and air-based cruise missiles to knock out the Syrian air force.
Then he very cavalierly said, that of course this brings on the danger of a war with Russia; but he brushed that aside, saying, Vladimir Putin responds to power, and responds to serious threats to use power. Therefore, in the face of these kinds of actions, Putin will back down.
That conclusion not only flies in the face of reason, but of all competent intelligence.
Right now, American and Russian air assets are engaging in a very limited theater of action, and have so far avoided a major incident that could have led to general war because of a deconfliction agreement that fortunately still remains in force between the U.S.-led coalition on the one side, and Russia on the other. But what’s being proposed here is a complete overturning of that policy.
This is exactly what Hillary Clinton is calling for in her own Presidential campaign speeches. There have been recent studies presented on behalf of the Clinton campaign by the Center for a New American Security and the Center for American Progress, that go almost as extremist as General Petraeus’ statements. Basically, the war danger cannot in the least underestimated; and President Putin has repeatedly made that clear.
