http://www.weeklystandard.com/print/amid-dissent-at-state-obama-stays-the-bloody-course-on-syria/article/2002971Amid Dissent at State, Obama Stays the Bloody Course on Syria
It's all part of the plan.
8:00 AM, Jun 23, 2016 | By Lee Smith
Last week, an internal State Department memo criticizing the administration's Syria policy was leaked to the press. Fifty-one American officials variously involved with Middle East policy signed a letter calling for military action against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. "A judicious use of stand-off and air weapons," reads the document, to "undergird and drive a more focused and hard-nosed U.S.-led diplomatic process."
The point of military action is not to topple Assad militarily, but rather to earn the United States a better negotiating position at the table with Assad's patrons, Iran and Russia. In other words, the State Department signatories understand that without a show of force, they have a weak hand vis-à-vis Moscow and Tehran, which back their client with money as well as arms and their own troops. In effect, they're petitioning for the same policy John Kerry has routinely advised since he became Secretary of State—it is only by showing a willingness to take military action that the United States can earn a strong bargaining position. Obama told Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic magazine that he has shot down Kerry's proposals repeatedly, and thus it was no surprise that in the wake of last week's State Department letter, the White House immediately rejected the possibility of any change in Syria policy.
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