In a move that adds to the pressure on President Obama to shift the Syria War strategy, Secretary of State John Kerry has come out in favor of the “dissent memo” signed by unnamed State Department officials demanding a change, saying he believes it to be a “well-crafted argument.”
State Department spokesman John Kirby said Kerry’s comments were somewhat short of a “full-throated endorsement” of the plan, but it is unsurprising to hear he supports the idea of shifting to a war of regime change, as he was the primary architect of the failed attempt to start such a war in 2013.
Kerry had previously only addressed the memo by saying he believed the process of dissent memos is an important one, and that he would meet with some of the authors. Kirby suggested Kerry is now eager to talk to the authors to flush out the idea, and suggested Kerry was open to endorsing the policy change.
The memo argues the US should abandon the war on ISIS in Syria for the time being in favor of imposing regime change. The White House has indicated that they have no plans to change policy based on the memo.
