Skip to main content

Are the US and Turkey diverging over Syria policy?

Seymour Hersh’s recent article implying Turkish support for Jabhat al-Nusra, if nothing else, poses some relevant questions.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) escorts Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan after a joint news conference in the White House Rose Garden in Washington, May 16, 2013.     REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES  - Tags: POLITICS)   - RTXZPJC
US President Barack Obama (R) escorts Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan after a joint news conference in the White House, May 16, 2013. — REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

“An acclaimed American journalist has come under fire over his report suggesting Turkey was behind an August 21 chemical weapons attack in Syria that brought the United States to the brink of military action against Damascus.” Thus reads the lead of an April 9 Radio Free Europe/RadioLiberty (RFE/RL) report about “The Red Line and the Rat Line,” Seymour Hersh’s recent article in the London Review of Books, about which I have previously written in Al-Monitor.

It also states, “Analysts, meanwhile, have criticized the reliability of key sources and individuals in Hersh's story published recently in the 'London Review of Books,' while accusing him of ignoring evidence they say corroborates the U.S. position of the Assad regime's culpability.”

Subscribe for unlimited access

All news, events, memos, reports, and analysis, and access all 10 of our newsletters. Learn more

$14 monthly or $100 annually ($8.33/month)
OR

Continue reading this article for free

All news, events, memos, reports, and analysis, and access all 10 of our newsletters. Learn more.

By signing up, you agree to Al-Monitor’s Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. Already have an account? Log in