Air cover for al-Qaeda.

Via The Hill:

Establishing a no-fly zone near Syria could be an option for the Pentagon and White House to end the civil war in Syria, but it could come at significant cost to American forces.

The creation of a no-fly zone, either along the Turkish or Jordanian border with Syria, is a “possibility” for the Obama administration, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told lawmakers.

Certainly … as the [Syrian] opposition gains control of sufficient geography on the ground, then that’s a possibility,” Clapper told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.

Clapper’s comments come days after Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel “had a long conversation with the president” on U.S. options in Syria at the White House, committee chairman Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said Wednesday.

That same day, Hagel announced plans to deploy an Army headquarters unit to neighboring Jordan, to help that country’s military defend its shared border with Syria.