State Department officials shook up America’s generally obedient diplomatic establishment this week with an internal memo urging USA military action against Syria’s government with the goal of pressing President Bashar Assad to accept a cease-fire and gaining the upper hand on him in future talks on a political transition.
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The “dissent channel cable” was signed by 51 mostly mid-level department officials who deal with U.S. policy in Syria, officials who have seen the document, tell the AP.
US President Barack Obama has been very reluctant to take direct action – only once threatening and then rolling back from airstrikes over Syria’s use of chemical weapons.
Sources familiar with the memo said the officials had been discussing sending it for some time, but they finally chose to move forward because negotiations with Russian Federation over a political transition in Syria have all but collapsed and the fragile ceasefire continues to disintegrate.
The incident underscored tensions with Russian Federation and came as a leaked, internal State Department memo illustrated frustration within the USA government about America’s handling of the war in Syria.
Furthermore, it is unlikely that the US “Syrian adventure” would receive high praise from Netanyahu’s government in Tel Aviv: Israel could be subjected to attacks from both Syrian armed groups and Hezbollah militias as a result of chaos in the region.
The so-called “dissent channel” cable urges attacks against Bashar al-Assad’s regime for its persistent violations of a shaky ceasefire aimed at bringing an end to the five-year conflict. “We are reviewing the cable now, which came up very recently”, he said.
The Times adds the letter was filed to the State Department’s “dissent” channel, which was set up in the wake of the Vietnam War so, in the words of the newspaper, “employees who had disagreements with policies [could] … register their protest with the secretary of state and other top officials, without fear of reprisal”.
Much of the thrust of the document has been advocated inside the administration by Secretary of State John F. Kerry for much of his time in office. No Russia or Russian-backed Syrian ground forces were in the area at the time.
American forces do not confront Assad’s Russian and Iranian-backed troops in Syria, but are engaged in assisting local militias to fight Islamic State.
The cable was sent via an internal network called the “dissent channel” which allows State Department employees to flag up concerns.
Commenting on Washington’s claims that Russian aviation allegedly delivers air strikes at the positions of the Syrian opposition supported by USA military, the Kremlin spokesman said “this question should be addressed to the Defense Ministry”.
But the administration s alternative policy – to work with Russian Federation to secure a ceasefire in Syria s five-year civil war and talks on a political transition – has made little headway.
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“Russia needs to understand that our patience is not infinite”, Kerry said on Wednesday at the Oslo Forum. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said that the calls for a military action against Assad “can’t but worry any reasonable person”.
