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In reply to the discussion: U.S. State Department Officials Call for Strikes Against Syria’s Assad [View all]bemildred
(90,061 posts)Current and former State Department officials fear that the diplomats who authored an internal memo leaked Thursday that criticizes the Obama administrations Syria policy and calls for strikes against the government of Bashar al-Assad are putting their careers in the department at risk, according to Reuters U.S. foreign policy correspondent.
At the State Department daily press briefing on Friday, Arshad Mohammad brought up the potential backlash that 51 current diplomats could face for signing a letter sent through the departments dissent channel urging President Obama to judiciously use military strikes against the Assad regime as part of a more focused and hard-nosed U.S.-led diplomatic process to end the five-year-long Syrian civil war.
The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal both reported the story on Thursday night, the day that the confidential document was leaked to the press.
Mohammad first described to State Department spokesman John Kirby how the Foreign Affairs Manual prohibits any retaliation against employees who use the dissent channel to make their disagreements with U.S. policy known.
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/reporter-state-dept-people-fear-authors-critical-syria-memo-risking-careers/