The Russians don't want the USA's help in Syria. I would think that is evident by now.

I think people in public can have personal opinions that are not part of their public domain. The one problem that comes to mind is the stance on abortion by Secretary Kerry when it was running for President. 

Secretary Kerry is Roman Catholic and practices those values in his personal life, but, recognized his responsibility in the public rhelm would be different. He is correct and Hillary Clinton today is correct. Most of those that work in government separate their personal beliefs from that of their jobs. 

The Iraq War:

...There is no evidence (click here) that we could find, however, that he spoke against the war before it started, although we did find he expressed early concerns about the cost and direction of the war a few months after it started....

Post mortem of a war is not insight.