The "dissent channel cable" was signed by 51 mid- to high-level State Department officers involved with advising on Syria policy. Military strikes against the Assad government would represent a major change in the Obama administration's longstanding policy of not taking sides in the Syrian civil war. "We are aware of a dissent channel cable written by a group of State Department employees regarding the situation in Syria," State Department spokesman John Kirby said in an email. The cable discussed the possibility of air strikes but made no mention of adding U.S. ground troops to Syria. Kirby said the "Dissent Channel" was an official forum that allows State Department employees to express alternative views.

Source: Huffington Post June 17, 2016 03:11 UTC