--- title: Obama's Syria Policy Slammed by Diplomats in Internal Memo description: The memo calls for military action against Syrian President Bashar Assad canonical: https://time.com/4372813/us-diplomats-memo-obama-syria-policy-assad/ author: Rishi Iyengar article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-17T09:00:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T22:40:37.314Z article:section: Politics og:title: U.S. Diplomats Call For Strikes Against President Assad og:description: 51 diplomats signed the memo which slammed President Obama's strategy in Syria og:url: https://time.com/4372813/us-diplomats-memo-obama-syria-policy-assad/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt759b1ceb3f28b1f4/698898608e060178024665a6/gettyimages-539538490.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Syrian army airstrikes hit a bazaar in Idlib og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: U.S. Diplomats Call For Strikes Against President Assad twitter:description: 51 diplomats signed the memo which slammed President Obama's strategy in Syria twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt759b1ceb3f28b1f4/698898608e060178024665a6/gettyimages-539538490.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # U.S. Diplomats Call for Strikes Against Syrian President Assad by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Jun 17, 2016 9:00 AM UTC  Firefighters try to extinguish fire that broke out after the Syrian army carried out air strikes over a bazaar in Idlib, Syria, on June 12, 2016 Firefighters try to extinguish fire that broke out after the Syrian army carried out air strikes over a bazaar in Idlib, Syria, on June 12, 2016Abdurrahman Sayid—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Jun 17, 2016 9:00 AM UTC Dozens of U.S. diplomats have signed an [internal memo](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/world/middleeast/syria-assad-obama-airstrikes-diplomats-memo.html?%5Fr=0) lambasting President Barack Obama’s strategy in Syria, demanding stronger military action and targeted air strikes on the country’s leader Bashar Assad. The memo has been endorsed by 51 members of the State Department and slams Assad’s repeated violation of a cease-fire agreement amid his country’s five-year civil war, the New York _Times_ reports. It also says American policy has been “overwhelmed” in Syria and advocates “a judicious use of stand-off and air weapons” to bolster U.S. diplomatic efforts. Obama’s military focus in the Middle Eastern nation thus far has been about eradicating the Islamic State (ISIS) extremist group while attempting to win over Assad through dialogue, but the memo argues that Assad’s bombing of his own citizens is the “root cause of the instability that continues to grip Syria and the broader region.” \[[_NYT_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/17/world/middleeast/syria-assad-obama-airstrikes-diplomats-memo.html?%5Fr=0)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4372813/us-diplomats-memo-obama-syria-policy-assad/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4372813/us-diplomats-memo-obama-syria-policy-assad/"},"headline":"U.S. Diplomats Call for Strikes Against Syrian President Assad","datePublished":"2016-06-17T09:00:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T22:40:37.314Z","description":"The memo states American policy has been \"overwhelmed\" in Syria","url":"https://time.com/4372813/us-diplomats-memo-obama-syria-policy-assad/","keywords":["Foreign Policy","Syria","Obama","ISIS","Bashar al-Assad","State Department","airstrikes","Know Right Now"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt759b1ceb3f28b1f4/698898608e060178024665a6/gettyimages-539538490.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt759b1ceb3f28b1f4/698898608e060178024665a6/gettyimages-539538490.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Syrian army airstrikes hit a bazaar in Idlib","caption":"Syrian army airstrikes hit a bazaar in Idlib","creditText":"Abdurrahman Sayid—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/foreign-policy/","name":"Foreign Policy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4372813/us-diplomats-memo-obama-syria-policy-assad/","name":"U.S. Diplomats Call for Strikes Against Syrian President Assad"}}]}] ```