WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On Wednesday, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry might review an internal State Department "dissent" cable urging the United States to intervene militarily in Syria.
"I’m guessing that they [State Department dissenters] are mainly preoccupied with sending him [Assad] real messages backed up for the first time with real and effective military strikes… to at least change the calculus for Assad," Schneider said.
"Any direct military engagement with Assad’s forces would need to be part of a political-diplomatic strategy that induces his government to serious negotiations… with the end result, agreed upon with Russia, that his regime would segue to another," Schneider suggested.
The US military, Schneider cautioned, must take great care to preclude and avoid any direct confrontation or accidental clashes with Russian warplanes in the area.
A draft of the memo, signed by 51 diplomats, was obtained by The New York Times from a State Department official on Thursday.
State Department spokesperson John Kirby told reporters last week that the United States remains committed to pursuing a political solution in Syria.
Russia recognizes Assad as the legitimate authority in Syria, and has repeatedly stated the Syrian people should be free to choose their leadership without outside intervention. The United States and some of its allies have been supporting elements of the opposition, which is often tied to Daesh, and have urged Assad to resign.
