Posted on 09/28/2016 6:53:26 PM PDT by Mariner
Obama administration officials have begun considering tougher responses to the Russian-backed Syrian government assault on Aleppo, including military options, as rising tensions with Moscow diminish hopes for diplomatic solutions from the Middle East to Ukraine and cyberspace, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
The new discussions were being held at "staff level," and have yet to produce any recommendations to President Barack Obama, who has resisted ordering military action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's multisided civil war.
But the deliberations coincide with Secretary of State John Kerry threatening to halt diplomacy with Russia on Syria and holding Moscow responsible for dropping incendiary bombs on rebel areas of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city. It was the stiffest U.S. warning to the Russians since the Sept. 19 collapse of a truce they jointly brokered.
Even administration advocates of a more muscular U.S. response said on Wednesday that it was not clear what, if anything, the president would do, and that his options "begin at tougher talk," as one official put it.
One official said that before any action could be taken, Washington would first have "follow through on Kerry’s threat and break off talks with the Russians" on Syria.
But the heavy use of Russian airpower in Syria has compounded U.S. distrust of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s geopolitical intentions, not only in the 5-1/2 year civil war, but also in the Ukraine conflict and in what U.S. officials say are Russian-backed cyber attacks on U.S. political targets.
The U.S. officials said the failure of diplomacy in Syria has left the Obama administration no choice but to consider alternatives, most of which involve some use of force and have been examined before but held in abeyance.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
This is going to be a disaster of epic proportions.
Russia is right on Syria. The USA is wrong.
The commie Dems are going to give us a world war as a going away president. It is not possible for me to loath John Kerry or Barack Obama more.
The commie Dems are going to give us a world war as a going away president. It is not possible for me to loath John Kerry or Barack Obama more.
My exact feelings.
“It was the stiffest U.S. warning to the Russians since the Sept. 19 collapse of a truce they jointly brokered.”
That the same truce we said didn’t apply to US when we bombed and killed dozens of Syrian Army soldiers?
I really need to go get me some SPF 5 million sunscreen. There are some lunatics in our government who have convinced themselves a conventional war with Russia is possible and no big deal.
All for a bunch of Sunnis.
Tougher response...? What is Obama going to do? Write a strongly worded letter? Do they really believe Putin is going to blink?
Does Kerry have orders to start a shooting war with Russia before the election?
He’s sure acting that way.
For Saudi Arabia and ISIS.
....another line in the sand.
Yes.
They are considering MILITARY options.
Shiites killing Sunnis (or the other way around). Is it worth one American life?
Why doesn’t Aleppo just surrender?
The commie Dems are going to give us a world war as a going away president. It is not possible for me to loath John Kerry or Barack Obama more.
Never in a million years. Dems bomb aspirin factories and hide under their desks when Putin rattles his saber.
Can’t let the Russians cause Peace to break out ,then Obama can’t move more Muslims
I’ve heard several NATO positioned US Generals like Breedlove, discussing a conventional war with Russia like it was no big deal at all, no risk of nuclear.
I’m convinced we have a senior officer and governmental group who is waiting for a chance to pull the trigger.
They quite literally think if they shoot down Russian bombers in Syria that they will slink back home and bend to our will.
Besides, Hillary said she would shoot at them in a debate, as did Christy, Rubio, Fiorina, Jeb, And many others. As did all of those who stated they would establish a no fly zone in Syria and shoot Russians who flew into it.
It’s getting crazy. Hope Trump fires a bunch of them.
“All for a bunch of Sunnis.”
I wonder if Saudi Arabia were reduced to molten glass if any of this would still be an issue. Probably so, as Russia is the salient bastion in the world for the human normative concept of the state. It is almost Russia versus neo-Babel.
Yet Hillary keeps telling us that Trump is the danger here.
Every time the Democrats are up to something, they always accuse the Republicans of doing or planning to do the exact same thing the Democrats have planned. A war with Russia looks to be one of these things. It looks like the Democrats are making a tactical mistake, however, in not waiting until after the election to precipitate a war. By trying to get one started before the election, it becomes that much more difficult to blame Republicans for it.
It could happen, but I'm not sure anyone should bet 100 million lives on it.
Especially over Syria.
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