Reuters reports that “the U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed Army General Martin Dempsey to a second term as President Barack Obama’s chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

“The action came a week after Republican Senator John McCain dropped his hold on the nomination when Dempsey, at McCain’s request, spelled out possible U.S. military options in Syria.”

“Dempsey wrote that U.S. forces could undertake a range of missions to help Syrian rebels, from training to establishing no-fly zones and conducting limited attacks on military targets.”