TEHRAN (Basirat)- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford warned Congress that the implementation of a No Fly Zone, a centerpiece of Hillary’s foreign policy strategy, would result in World War III.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford warned Congress that the implementation of a No Fly Zone, a centerpiece of Hillary’s foreign policy strategy, would result in World War III.During testimony before the Senate Committee on Armed Services last
week General Joseph Dunford rang the alarm over a policy shift that is
gaining more traction within the halls of Washington following the
collapse of the ceasefire brokered by the United States and Russia in
Syria saying that it could result in a major international war which he
was not prepared to advocate on behalf of.
Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) asked about Hillary Clinton’s proposal for a
no fly zone in Syria in response to allegations that Russia and Syria
have intensified their aerial bombardment of rebel-held East Aleppo
since the collapse of the ceasefire.
"What about the option of controlling the airspace so that barrel
bombs cannot be dropped? What do you think of that option?" asked
Wicker.
"Right now, Senator, for us to control all of the airspace in Syria
would require us to go to war against Syria and Russia. That is a pretty
fundamental decision that certainly I’m not going to make," said the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff suggesting the policy was too
hawkish even for military leaders
Despite the ramifications of the policy, Hillary Clinton has argued
in favor of a no fly zone throughout her presidency starting in October
2015 just days after Russia began a bombing campaign aimed at
maintaining the stability of the Syrian government.
"I personally would be advocating now for a no fly zone and humanitarian
corridors to try to stop the carnage on the ground and from the air, to
try to provide some way to take stock of what’s happening, to try to
stem the flow of refugees," said Clinton in an interview with NBC’s
Boston affiliate at the time.
The former Secretary of State, who has a well-known hawkish
position towards regime change and matters related to Russia, has
continued to advocate this position which has gained traction in recent
weeks among top US diplomats.
More than 50 US diplomats demanded in June, in a notorious dissent
memo, that the Obama administration employ military options against
Assad, such as the implementation of a no fly zone if not a direct
attack against the Syrian regime.
The argument from the diplomats is that the situation in Syria will
continue to devolve without direct action by the US military, an
argument of dubious legality if undertaken unilaterally without a UN
Security Council resolution but which the US Ambassador to the UN
Samantha Power has been laying the groundwork for under the
controversial "right to protect” theory of international law arguing
that Russia’s opposition to a resolution should be ignored because they
are a party to the conflict.
Russia counters that if the Assad regime falls then terrorist
groups including Daesh (or ISIS) and al-Nusra Front (the Syrian
affiliate of al-Qaeda) will likely fill the resulting power vacuum
descending the country into an even greater harbor for international
terrorism.