WASHINGTON
Multiple U.S. agencies are trying to devise new ways to bring an end to Syria’s bloodshed, according to senior administration officials.
“There's an interest in coming up with other options moving forward in Syria -- again, from an interagency perspective," Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters Friday. He did not elaborate on which options the U.S. military is currently might be considering.
"We continue to have a naval and air presence in the Mediterranean," Kirby said. "And those options remain available to the president. I'm not speculating on this. I'm not trying to signal that -- you know, that there's some sort of imminence here, but those options have remained available to the president, should he need them."
Kirby’s comments follow remarks by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Beijing Friday in which he said that U.S. President Barack Obama has asked aides to brainstorm alternatives to current policy.
"He has asked all of us to think about various options that may or may not exist," said Kerry. He added that no new options have yet been presented to the president.
The State Department downplayed the significance of Kerry’s statements.
"I think people are maybe overplaying what he said a little bit to say that there's a specific policy review underway and everyone's going to present three policies, and then we're going to make a decision," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf said Friday. "That process is constant, and it's been constantly ongoing."
The White House, too, said the review was simply a matter of continued policy.
"The president as a starting principle on these issues always tasks his teams, both on foreign policy and domestic, to not be complacent about, you know, the path forward," said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney. "This is not a new perspective that the president's bringing to this."
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