Carter hits Russia for attacking US-backed Syrian rebels

Not so in the United States, where the state department set up what is called the “Dissent Channel” during the Vietnam War for officials who had disagreements with government policy to register their protest without fear of reprisal.

The Syrian opposition could be offered seats in the Syrian Cabinet as part of efforts to encourage a dialogue that can lead to new elections being held in the country, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said Friday.

An animation shows Russian jets bombing U.S.-backed rebel forces in Syria.

A U.S.- and Russian- brokered cease-fire that began on February 27 has helped reduce hostilities, but fierce fighting has continued in many areas.

One group even handed over ammunition and other gear to a local Al-Qaeda affiliate known as the Al-Nusra Front.

“Russian aircraft have not been active in this area of Southern Syria for some time, and there were no Syrian regime or Russian ground forces in the vicinity”, the official said.

Russian Federation and the USA have traded mutual accusations over the truce.

“If this indeed was a Russian airstrike, that they’re targeting forces that are trying to get rid of ISIL, and we think that would be a mistake”, he said, using another acronym for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

“… That’s problematic … because if you go back … the Russians initially said that they were coming in to fight ISIL”. But the administration’s alternative policy – to work with Russian Federation to secure a ceasefire in Syria’s civil war and talks on a political transition – has made little headway.

An internal document, signed by 51 State Department officials involved with advising on Syria policy, called for targeted strikes against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. He said that this goal can be achieved only through drafting a new constitution and holding new elections.

The cable blames Obama personally for implementing incompetent policies that have largely failed in stemming the tide of genocide in Syria and that have left Assad in power as the Obama administration’s tenure winds down.

“The moral rationale for taking steps to end the deaths and suffering in Syria, after five years of brutal war, is evident and unquestionable”, the Times quoted the document as saying.

The Defense Ministry said that Shoigu discussed the current operations with the top Russian military commander in Syria, Col. Gen. Alexander Dvornikov. “We are reviewing the cable now, which came up very recently, and I am not going to comment on the contents”, he said.

Shoigu also inspected the S-400 air defense missile systems protecting the base in the coastal province of Lattakia.

At least four civilians were killed in the fresh violence, three on the eastern side of Aleppo and one in the west, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.