Debunking Obama’s Do-Nothing Stance On Syria (TWEET)

Apparently, there is a rumor going around that former President Barack Obama did nothing in Syria.

Syria’s brutal civil war has claimed almost half a million lives and left the country in ruins, and many people have taken to blaming Obama for somehow either causing the crisis or not doing anything about it. They believe he “drew a line in the sand” and then “backed off of that line.”

Then, they praise current President Donald Trump of launching 59 missiles at the country in the hopes of doing any good.

So, let’s get this narrative straight once and for all.

The “line in the sand” thing is a bastardized translation of a quote given by Obama when he was talking about monitoring the Syrian situation while he was president. In his quote, he was talking about a “red line” that would get his attention and require immediate intervention. Here is the quote below:

We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus. That would change my equation.”

Then, on August 21, 2013, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ordered a chemical attack utilizing sarin gas, the same gas used to prompt Trump’s missile launch, in Ghouta, Syria. It took nearly 2,000 lives and injured over 3,600 people.

But, instead of utilizing Trump’s overbearing tactic, he went ahead and made sure Syria could not use chemical weapons for nearly four years.

At the time, many were actually calling for Obama to not take action. Among those, such as former half-term Governor, Sarah Palin (R-Alaska.) and former Representative Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), was this guy:

Who knew he would end up firing them without congressional approval just a few years later?

So, Obama listened to the people and the polls that overwhelmingly told him to not take action in Syria.

However, congressional approval was given to him anyway, and that is when Assad took Obama at his word and caved on his end which allowed his chemical weapons stockpile to be destroyed in an agreement that happened between Russia and the United States.

Obama, as history has shown us, opted to work with governments to come to conclusions while carrying a big stick, just in case.

Barack Obama not only had more impact on Syria, who wouldn’t utilize a chemical weapon again until he was out of office, but he did it without firing one ounce of military action that was given to him by our Congress.

It looks as if Obama’s tactics worked better than Trump’s.

 

Featured image courtesy of Pixabay/Public Domain.