Despite the Pentagon official’s insistence that the scale of the operation
remains the same, Martin reports that adding targets, the possibility of using an aircraft to strike these new locations comes into play and raises the stakes of U.S. involvement. “Aircraft carry bigger weapons than [are] carried on cruise missiles,” Martin said.
“Once you add aircraft, you vastly increase the complexity of this operation. You put pilots up in the air and that means you need aerial refueling … you need search and rescue and all the other things that support a manned mission, as opposed to firing an unmanned cruise missile in Syria.”
Under the current plan, the list of military assets that will be needed to carry out the U.S. operation involve only ships in the Eastern Mediterranean. However, Martin reports that a strike on Syria is likely to be a week away and new tactics, involving possible air strikes, could emerge as part of the U.S. strategy in the meantime.
Article Appeared @http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57601652/u.s-broadens-target-list-for-syria-strike/