Unhappy with the Obama administration’s path in Syria, 51 U.S. diplomats have signed an internal memo urging military attacks against the forces of President Bashir al-Assad because of his government’s continued breaking of ceasefire agreements in the nation’s five-year civil war.
The signers are said to be mid-level officials with experience in Syria policy since that war began in March 2011. The memo concludes: “It is time that the United States, guided by our strategic interests and moral convictions, lead a global effort to put an end to this conflict once and for all.”
Which is a version of the kind of come-on we’ve heard for more war all too often in the past.
Mark Landler at The New York Times reports the diplomats submitted the memo through a “dissent channel” at the State Department that was created half a century ago to protect employees against retaliation for making their objections to the Vietnam War known. Landler noted such memos are common, but it is extraordinary for so many people to sign one:
The memo, a draft of which was provided to The New York Times by a State Department official, says American policy has been “overwhelmed” by the unrelenting violence in Syria. It calls for “a judicious use of stand-off and air weapons, which would undergird and drive a more focused and hard-nosed U.S.-led diplomatic process.”
Such a step would represent a radical shift in the administration’s approach to the civil war in Syria, and there is little evidence that President Obama has plans to change course. Mr. Obama has emphasized the military campaign against the Islamic State over efforts to dislodge Mr. Assad. Diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, led by Secretary of State John Kerry, have all but collapsed. [...]
“The moral rationale for taking steps to end the deaths and suffering in Syria, after five years of brutal war, is evident and unquestionable,” it said. “The status quo in Syria will continue to present increasingly dire, if not disastrous, humanitarian, diplomatic and terrorism-related challenges.”
The memo also says that the United States should develop a strong relationship with moderate rebels to fight against both ISIS and the Assad government.
With negotiations between the U.S., Russia, and the Assad government going nowhere, about the only operative part of American tactics in Syria is airstrikes against ISIS, and what the Pentagon says are “advise and assist” operations by U.S. Special Operations Forces. Two months ago, Obama upped the number of SOF troops in Syria to 300.
The U.S. has been pounding ISIS in Iraq and Syria with attacks from fighters, bombers, and drones. For instance, according to a press release from United States Central Command, the U.S. on June 15 carried out seven airstrikes against ISIS oil well heads and tactical units as part of what the government labels Operation Inherent Resolve. Two days earlier, it carried out 13 strikes. While destroyed objects, including vehicles, were catalogued in the releases, there was no mention of fatalities on the ground of ISIS fighters or civilians.
The United States has accused Russian forces in the country of working to keep Assad in power. That effort includes extensive bombing and other air attacks, which Washington and other critics have said is killing many civilians.
A U.S. spokesman said that Russian planes had bombed U.S.-backed rebels fighting ISIS in southern Syria on Thursday:
"Russia needs to understand that our patience is not infinite. In fact it is very limited with whether or not [Bashar] al-Assad is going to be held accountable," Kerry said Wednesday following a meeting with Iranian officials.
The Russians last year made airstrikes against the rebels the CIA is closest to, and has armed them with advanced weapons.
The American diplomats, whose frustration over policy is said to have been growing for several years, conceded in their memo that risks accompany their proposed “judicious” airstrikes. But they stated they are not “advocating for a slippery slope that ends in a military confrontation with Russia.”
Hillary Clinton, who in seven months could replace Obama at the White House, has long had a more hawkish stance toward Assad than the president, which likely would make her more amenable to the proposal in the dissident diplomats’ memo. Clinton has repeatedly called for a “no-fly zone” in Syria, for example.
Since the war began, the U.N. estimates 250,000 Syrians have been killed and more than a million have been injured. In exile outside the country and internally displaced are 11.3 million Syrians. An estimated 13.5 million Syrians, six million of them children, need humanitarian aid, the U.N. says.