ABOARD A U.S. MILITARY AIRCRAFT, (Reuters) – The U.S. military is prepared for any action against Syria that may be necessary, but officials are still focused on more aggressive international pressure to bring about the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said yesterday. Panetta, speaking to reporters en route to Singapore for a security conference, stopped short of advocating U.S. action without the endorsement of the U.N. Security Council, but said the international community needed to act more aggressively to obtain Assad’s ouster while there was time.
“This is an intolerable situation,” Panetta said. “We cannot be satisfied with what is going on. And the international community has got to take further steps to make sure that Assad steps down.”Asked about the possibility of U.S. military action without U.N. endorsement, Panetta said “I cannot envision that,” adding that it was important to have “the kind of support that we need in order to accomplish the mission.”
His remarks came a day after Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, suggested military action without U.N. authorization might be necessary if the U.N. Security Council failed to agree on a course to address the Syrian situation.
Asked if he disagreed with Rice’s assessment, Panetta said the United States maintained all possible options for future action, but it was “very important right now that we continue to work with the international community because we all share the same goals here.”
