51 U.S. Diplomats Urge Strikes Against Assad in Syria
In The New York Times, Mark Landler writes, “More than 50 State Department diplomats have signed an internal memo sharply critical of the Obama administration’s policy in Syria, urging the United States to carry out military strikes against the government of President Bashar al-Assad to stop its persistent violations of a cease-fire in the country’s five-year-old civil war.” Although memos of dissent within the State Department are not uncommon, Landler writes that the document’s 51 signatures are “extremely large, if not unprecedented.” Landler writes, “In this case, the memo mainly confirms what has been clear for some time: The State Department’s rank and file have chafed at the White House’s refusal to be drawn into the conflict in Syria.”