In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee yesterday, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, reiterated President Obama’s August 2011 demand that Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad step down. However, neither explained how this might be accomplished in the aftermath of the collapse of the plan for a Syrian ceasefire and transition advocated by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Indeed, the Assad regime—Iran’s closest Arab ally—appears committed to preserving power by slaughtering Syrian civilians and the anti-regime opposition. As Senators John McCain (R-Ariz.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), and Lieberman (ID-Conn.) bluntly stated in a joint statement: