A Hillary Clinton presidency could end up letting Isis and al-Qaeda off the hook, Patrick Cockburn, Independent

Hillary Clinton’s expected choice as Defence Secretary has just published a report on Syria which which makes for worrying reading. Its tactics would increase the likelihood of attacks like the one in Nice this week…

But Hillary Clinton’s expected choice as Defence Secretary, Michèle Flournoy, has just co-authored a report by the Centre for a New American Security (CNAS) in Washington that recommends that the destruction of Isis should no longer be the overriding objective of the US in Syria, but that equal priority should be given to taking military action against President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian Army. A new pro-US armed opposition would be built up to fight Assad, Isis, al-Nusra and other al-Qaeda clones, a process that the report admits could take years – and “during that time the dangers posed by Isis will remain”. This is not a marginal opinion among hawks in Washington, as a recently leaked memo from 51 serving State Department officials argued very much the same thing.   Läs artikel