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Dozens of U.S. diplomats have urged bombings of President Bashar Assad's forces in Syria in order to make him more likely to step down. The memo, sent to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, was not necessarily intended to be public, and was sent through a "dissent channel":
More than 50 U.S. State Department officials have signed an internal memo calling for a change in the way the United States approaches Syria — specifically, advocating military pressure on Bashar Assad's regime to push him toward the negotiating table.
The diplomats expressed their opposition to the current U.S. policy through a cable on the State Department's dissent channel — which exists for just that reason. But NPR's Michele Kelemen reports that it's unusual for so many officials to sign on to such a cable. "Secretary of State John Kerry says he respects the process and will study their views," Michele tells our Newscast unit.
"The cable reportedly calls for targeted military strikes against the Assad regime, something the Obama administration has been reluctant to do," she reports. "Such action would also put the U.S. on a collision course with Russia at a time that Moscow is backing the Assad regime — and working with Secretary Kerry on a cease-fire and a diplomatic path that has faltered."
The New York Times , which has seen a copy of the memo, reports that the diplomats say they aren't advocating a confrontation with Russia. But a credible military threat against Assad is necessary to pressure him to negotiate, the officials argue. "The moral rationale for taking steps to end the deaths and suffering in Syria, after five years of brutal war, is evident and unquestionable. ... The status quo in Syria will continue to present increasingly dire, if not disastrous, humanitarian, diplomatic and terrorism-related challenges," the cable says, according to the Times.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by bradley13 on Saturday June 18 2016, @03:47PM
US intervention in the Middle East has already made things soooo much better. What would the world do without American "help"?
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Dr John on Saturday June 18 2016, @04:32PM
Face it, the war dept. really wants the cold war with Russia back in case the terrorism bogeyman starts to wear thin. Plus, it is hard to argue that we need a trillion dollar upgrade to our nuclear arsenal to go after ISIS or whichever terror group is in fashion in Washington. This is a gift to Hillary, who desperately wants to show she can be tougher on Putin than Obama. The US has completely lost its way, and now is nothing more than the world bully, using our oversized military to push a neoliberal/neoconservative agenda of regime change and intimidation. I wonder when the lack of jobs, crumbling infrastructure, failing schools, and the extreme waste, fraud and corruption in military spending is finally going to make working Americans revolt and say no more. The Trump and Sanders campaigns indicate that the pitchforks are starting to be brandished at both ends of the political spectrum, at least by people who are paying attention.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 18 2016, @05:52PM
I wonder when the lack of jobs, crumbling infrastructure, failing schools, and the extreme waste, fraud and corruption in military spending is finally going to make working Americans revolt and say no more.
The Occupy Movement was five years ago. It consisted entirely of young Americans complaining loudly that their phone bills were too high. Where's your Occupy Movement now? They must have gotten those Obama Phones they wanted so badly.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 18 2016, @07:17PM
This is doubling down on the dumb after what we saw in Iraq and Libya.