Syria much tougher military problem than Libya was: Analyst

(CBS News) Former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Richard Myers (Ret.) says the possible use of force in Syria would be "a lot more complex" than it was Libya.

Myers, a CBS News senior military security analyst, stressed the need to assess the opposition forces on the ground in Syria.

"Unlike in Libya, where we had a sense of that, I don't know that we have that sense in Syria," Myers said Friday on "CBS This Morning." "That would be critical to what our objectives would be."

Activists: Gunmen execute 11 state workers in Syria

Thursday, Syria claimed up to 800 rebel fighters carried out the Houla massacre last week in which more than 100 people, most of them women and children, were killed.

The uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March with largely peaceful protests. The government crackdown has transformed the conflict into an insurgency

Strategically, Myers said, Syria's capabilities include an industrial-aged army and good air defenses. Myers said Syria has "chemical weapons for sure, possibly biologic weapons ... and population centers that are pretty concentrated."

"It's a much more difficult military problem," Myers said. "How would you do it? And what would your objective be and how would you get it done?"

In March, the U.N. said more than 9,000 people have been killed during the crisis. Activists put the number far higher.