Diplomats’ Dissent on Syria Is a Signal to Clinton -- Russia Too

Diplomats’ Dissent on Syria Is a Signal to Clinton -- Russia Too

June 17, 2016 — 3:58 PM EDT

A "dissent memo” signed by dozens of State Department officials urging U.S. airstrikes on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s forces is a message to their former boss Hillary Clinton -- and a warning to Assad and the Russians -- that career diplomats want President Barack Obama’s successor to take a harder line against the dictator.

The memo calls for limited U.S. airstrikes on Assad’s forces in response to the collapse of a tentative cease-fire in Syria’s five-year civil war, according to a person who has been briefed on the letter. Assad said this month that he would take back "every inch" of Syria from opposition forces. The 51 officials who signed the document argue that U.S. military action would force Assad and his ally, Russia, to make concessions in negotiations to resolve the conflict.

Clinton, the former secretary of state who’s now the Democrats’ presumptive nominee for president, already has signaled a preference for a more aggressive course in Syria than Obama, including enforcement of a no-fly zone to protect Syrian civilians. Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump has said he would order more aggressive military action against Islamic State but not Assad.

Former diplomats and Syria policy analysts said the memo is unlikely to force a change in Obama’s strategy toward Assad. A White House spokeswoman, Jen Friedman, on Friday acknowledged dissenting views on Obama’s Syria policy and said the administration is "always open to new or different ideas." She didn’t know if Obama had seen the dissent memo.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-06-17/diplomats-dissent-on-syria-is-a-signal-to-clinton-russia-too