Kerry meets with US State Department officials critical of US Syria policy

US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday met with a group of US diplomats who signed an internal memo deeply critical of the Obama administration’s Syria policy, Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The meeting, held in Kerry’s office, lasted for about half an hour, during which Kerry outlined his thoughts and summarized his work on Syria, engaging in a back-and-forth with the authors, US State Department spokesman John Kirby said. 

He added Kerry took the participants’ views seriously, although the cable isn’t expected to prompt any major shift in the administration’s Syria policy.

There were approximately 10 officials in the meeting with Kerry, but they weren’t identified and couldn’t be reached for comment. Those who met with Kerry were based in Washington, Kirby said.

“The secretary was largely in listening mode. The purpose was to hear them out,” Kirby said. On Monday, Kerry said the cable was “very good.”

The US continues to believe “there’s no military solution to the conflict in Syria,” Kirby said Tuesday, but added that the US has been and will continue to look at other policy options.

“The secretary is very committed to trying to work on…getting a transitional governing process in place, getting the political talks back on track, getting the cessation of hostilities in force nationwide in an enduring way and getting humanitarian assistance to the still millions of Syrians in need,”Kirby said.

Kerry has long been frustrated with the situation in Syria and has privately advocated for a more robust US response, officials have said.

The State Department usually receives four or five cables through the dissent channel per year. The cable transmitted last week was notable because of the number of diplomats involved and the fact that it was leaked to the media.

The State Department’s office of policy planning is expected to soon issue a formal response, Kirby said.

Source: MENA