White House spokesman Jay Carney says that the administration “absolutely” stands behind its current Syrian policy, despite talk of growing internal dissent and the plain fact that it’s been a complete disaster.

 

According to hawkish Senators John McCain (R – AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R – SC), Secretary of State John Kerry conceded at a closed-door session that the current Syria policy is “failing,” and called for further military intervention, including “forming a coalition against al-Qaeda.”

White House and State Department officials have downplayed the differences on policy, saying Kerry’s comments had been misconstrued and that the US remains committed to their present course.

Who said what is really only part of the story though, as US policy has been to openly back increasingly irrelevant rebel factions, keeping the civil war stalemated in the hope that they can eventually impose a negotiated settlement favorable to the West. That’s still clearly the plan, but not only does it show no signs of working, it is exacerbating a civil war in which al-Qaeda is gaining ground at an alarming pace.