The House Intelligence Committee warily endorsed the administration’s plan to arm the Syrian rebels; the Senate Intelligence Committee gave its tentative approval last week. Pentagon chief Gen. Dempsey discussed options for a Syrian intervention, noting that a significant campaign against the Assad regime would cost “billions” and involve “thousands” of troops and “hundreds” of aircraft and ships. He warned that a US military intervention could “inadvertently empower extremists or unleash the very chemical weapons we seek to control.”
