From John Vandiver, Stars and Stripes:  Adm. James Stavridis, NATO’s top military commander and head of U.S. European Command, told lawmakers Monday that a more aggressive posture by the U.S. and its allies could help break a stalemate in war-torn Syria.

“My personal opinion is that would be helpful in breaking the deadlock and bringing down the regime,” Stavridis said during testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

So far, the U.S. and NATO has refrained from providing lethal support to Syrian opposition forces, who have been engaged in a bloody two-year battle with the regime of Bashar Assad. . . .

In the event of the regime’s collapse, Stavridis painted a grim picture of a post-Assad Syria, which he likened to the Balkans of the 1990s.

“There is a great deal of danger in the endgame scenario,” said Stavridis, who cautioned that competing ethnic groups could set the stage for more violence. “I think there is a great deal of potential for revenge killing.”   (photo: Miguel Angel Alvarez/Notimex/Newscom)

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