Dozens of US diplomats think America should launch military strikes against the Syrian government, according to a State Department document, breaking ranks with President Barack Obama's policy on the bloody civil war. The so-called "dissent channel" cable urges attacks against Bashir al-Assad's regime for its persistent violations of a shaky ceasefire aimed at bringing an end to the five-year conflict. It emerged as Russian forces bombed US-backed militia in Syria, highlighting the tangle of alliances in a war where Moscow is working to prop up its chief regional partner.
