US military ready to act on Syria immediately, West to strike soon

Syria's opposition expects a Western military intervention against President Bashar al-Assad's regime within days and has been consulted over targets, one of its officials said Tuesday. "There is no precise timing ... but one can speak of an imminent international intervention against the regime. It's a question of days and not weeks," said Ahmad Ramadan, a Syrian National Coalition political committee member. "There have been meetings between the Coalition, the (rebel) Free Syrian Army and allied countries during which possible targets have been discussed," the official said. Ramadan said they included airports, military bases and arms depots. The targets cover "airports used by planes equipped with missiles and explosive barrels, command centres used by regime officers, (Iranian) Revolutionary Guards and by (Lebanese Shiite militant group) Hezbollah," he said. Ramadan also said bases used to fire missiles and Scuds, especially the army's Brigade 155 near Damascus, were targets for Western punitive strikes following alleged chemical weapons attacks last week. Meanwhile National Coalition's envoy in Paris also said they have been informed of a possible military strike on Syria. "We have been informed of a strike by the world powers to punish the Syrian regime but we do not have the details," Monzer Makhous, the National Coalition's envoy in Paris, said. "This is being left for the world powers to decide." He adds: "We will support any move to punish such a regime, which has been killing its own people to remain in power at any expense." Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_08_27/US-military-ready-to-act-on-Syria-immediately-if-asked-Hagel-7295/