Press TV report:

The possibility of “a direct military attack” on Syria is increasing with the US deploying its “naval assets” in the eastern Mediterranean, says Rick Rozoff of Stop NATO International.

“All the pieces are coming into place for what could be not only increased military threats against Syria but the possibility of a direct military attack on Syria,” Rozoff told Press TV on Tuesday.

The chance for an attack is “being complemented with the heightened deployment of US naval assets into the east of Mediterranean.”

“There are no fewer than four what are called Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers the United States has currently deployed in the east of Mediterranean,” he noted.

There are also “reports of, one for certain and possibly two, US submarines, each of which are equipped with 150 Tomahawk cruise missiles”, he added.

“So that’s a total 300 missiles there, 70 missiles apiece on the guided missile destroyers, so the total of almost 600 missiles are in the area plus aircraft carriers on each side of the Suez Canal attached to the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean and the Fifth Fleet in the Indian Ocean.”

A day after US Secretary of State John Kerry claimed there was “undeniable” evidence of a chemical attack in Syria, another senior US official, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Washington was ready to attack the country if President Barack Obama issues an order.

“We have moved assets in place to be able to fulfill and comply with whatever option the president wishes to take,” Hagel told the BBC on Tuesday.

Some unnamed senior American officials sounded more bellicose as they told NBC News that the US has planned to launch missile strikes against Syria “as early as Thursday”.

Also on Monday, Israeli newspaper Haaretz said the US and its Western allies may launch a military strike against Syria.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey was in Jordan on Monday to discuss Syria options with his Jordanian counterpart and other regional defense chiefs.

AT/HJ