An internal cable signed by more than 50 State Department officials objecting to the Obama administration’s policy on Syria is particularly worrisome, according to experts, given Hillary Clinton’s hawkish foreign policy positions and her stated plan to escalate President Barack Obama’s war in Syria if elected.The cable itself was leaked to major news outlets, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, both of which carried frontpage stories on its implications Friday morning.
“Nobody is challenging Hillary Clinton on what her discussion of a no-fly means vis-a-vis Russia. Does she think that [former] Secretary of Defense Gates was wrong when he said creating a no-fly zone starts with going to war? Or does she think going to war against Russia is just fine?”
—Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies
The memo, sent through an official “dissent channel” within the State Department, includes repeated calls for “targeted military strikes” against the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad and expressions of frustration that Obama has resisted deeper military engagement amid peace talk efforts that have produced little progress over recent months.