Good. Keeps the muslims occupied. But leave the US out of it.**** ** **
B**** ** ** U.S. Intelligence Official Says Syrian War Could Last for Years**** By ERIC SCHMITT and MARK MAZZETTI**** http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/world/middleeast/us-intelligence-official-says-syrian-war-could-last-for-years.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=print **** ** ** ** ** ASPEN, Colo. - A senior American intelligence official on Saturday warned*** * that the Syrian conflict could last "many, many months to multiple years,"** ** and described a situation that would most likely worsen regardless of**** whether the Syrian leader, President Bashar al-Assad, fell.**** ** ** The comments by David R. Shedd, the deputy director of the Defense**** Intelligence Agency, were one of the strongest public warnings about how the **** civil war in Syria has deteriorated, and he seemed to imply that the**** response from the United States and its allies had so far been lacking.**** ** ** Mr. Shedd suggested that in addition to strengthening the more secular**** groups of the fractious Syrian opposition - which the Obama administration** ** has promised to arm with weapons and ammunition - the West would have to**** directly confront more radical Islamist elements. But he did not say how**** that could be accomplished.**** ** ** "The reality is that, left unchecked, they will become bigger," Mr. Shedd*** * told the Aspen Security Forum, an annual meeting on security issues. "Over** ** the last two years they've grown in size, they've grown in capability, and** ** ruthlessly have grown in effectiveness."**** ** ** At the forum, of which The New York Times is a sponsor, Mr. Shedd described* *** two different scenarios for Syria's future, both of which he said portended* *** far more violence and killing.**** ** ** "If Bashar Assad were to succeed, he will be a more ruthless leader who will **** live with a legacy of tens of thousands of his civilians killed under him,"* *** he said. President Obama declared in mid-2011 that Mr. Assad had to leave*** * office.**** ** ** Mr. Shedd outlined an equally grim portrait of a spreading Sunni-Shiite**** sectarian conflict if Mr. Assad's government fell or he was killed.**** ** ** "If he loses and goes to an enclave inside there, I think there will be**** ongoing civil war for years to come," he said, noting that more radical**** elements like the Nusra Front would fight to control parts of the country.** ** "They will fight for that space. They're there for the long haul."**** ** ** Mr. Shedd offered a sobering assessment of America's ability to draw**** distinctions among an opposition that he said numbered about 1,200 groups.** ** ** ** After months of internal debate, the Obama administration in June announced* *** a plan to provide direct military support to the Syrian rebels, but so far** ** no arms have arrived.**** ** ** The effort to support the opposition has also been hampered by the inability **** of the United States and various Arab countries - including Saudi Arabia,*** * Qatar and the United Arab Emirates - to agree on how quickly to act, which** ** opposition groups to support, and which weapons to give them.**** ** ** Mr. Shedd, a 31-year intelligence veteran, seemed to suggest that modest**** interventions were unlikely to make a significant difference at a time when* *** Mr. Assad's army has been reclaiming territory on the battlefield, with the* *** support of Iran, Russia and Hezbollah, and when the opposition is bitterly** ** divided, while among the rebels the Islamists are resurgent.**** ** ** "My concern is that it could go on for a long time," Mr. Shedd said, voicing **** concern that the civilian casualties, refugee flows and internal dislocation **** would increase. "It is in large measure a stalemate."**** ** ** Mr. Shedd said he was particularly concerned that the Syrian revolution,**** unlike the other Arab uprisings, was far more likely to explode than**** implode, and that Jordan and Iraq would be caught in the conflict and**** instability.**** ** ** His publicly expressed concerns about Jordan contrasted with the**** administration's usual, almost ritualized declarations of confidence that*** * King Abdullah II of Jordan could emerge with his country, one of America's** ** strongest allies in the region, intact.**** ** ** Mr. Shedd also played down reported dispute between the Nusra Front and Al** ** Qaeda's arm in Iraq over which one controls the more radical elements in**** Syria. But he expressed concerns that the Qaeda branch would strengthen its* *** position inside Iraq, after having been largely decimated by the American*** * troop surge there in 2007.**** ** ** "Al Qaeda Iraq will emerge stronger as a result of its experience inside of* *** Syria," he said.**** ** ** ==========================================**** (F)AIR USE NOTICE: All original content and/or articles and graphics in this **** message are copyrighted, unless specifically noted otherwise. All rights to* *** these copyrighted items are reserved. Articles and graphics have been placed **** within for educational and discussion purposes only, in compliance with**** "Fair Use" criteria established in Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976. **** The principle of "Fair Use" was established as law by Section 107 of The**** Copyright Act of 1976. "Fair Use" legally eliminates the need to obtain**** permission or pay royalties for the use of previously copyrighted materials* *** if the purposes of display include "criticism, comment, news reporting,**** teaching, scholarship, and research." Section 107 establishes four criteria* *** for determining whether the use of a work in any particular case qualifies** ** as a "fair use". A work used does not necessarily have to satisfy all four** ** criteria to qualify as an instance of "fair use". Rather, "fair use" is**** determined by the overall extent to which the cited work does or does not*** * substantially satisfy the criteria in their totality. If you wish to use**** copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you **** must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: **** http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml **** ** ** THIS DOCUMENT MAY CONTAIN COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL. 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