"The President Blinked": Why Obama Changed Course on Syria | FRONTLINE
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- čas přidán 24. 05. 2015
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President Obama said in 2012 that if the Assad regime in Syria carried out a chemical weapons attack, it would be a "red line" whose crossing would bring "enormous consequences."
So when Assad appeared to cross that line in August of 2013, Obama ordered the U.S. military to get ready.
But as FRONTLINE details in this excerpt from "Obama at War," the president had second thoughts.
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"to rescue Syrians" What!? they said that in Libya, Iraq, Sudan, Afghan, and Pakistan. Look what happen. Sick
+WhatUwant? journalist seymour hersh said that obama didnt invade with american military because there was evidence the chemical attacks were done by the terrorists, not assad. either way the "syrian people were looking up in the skies hoping that the US air force would come to the rescue" is as disgusting and wrong as the "we'll be greeted as liberators" like GWB said
Sudan? you support the genocidal regime of Omar Bashir?
Be honest guys- if Obama launched the strike these comments wouldn't be anything but "Only in US are War Crimes proudly displayed on tape like this", "unspeakable that's 2 million dead you just saw decided by imperialist americans" and of course here not doing so gives you "what a failure to lead", "coward", "wow going with the public such bravery". Foreign policy is the most incredibly difficult minefield of decisions anybody could ever have, especially for American presidents. Imagine inheriting two massive wars like Afghanistan and Iraq, successfully winding the latter of the two down to bring the troops home just like promised as the public claimed to always be desperate for except suddenly ISIS takes over half the country afterwards and the public decides its the worst decision made yet.
Not to mention being faced with either even another massive surge troop deployments to Afghanistan (thus lots of American lives lost) in order to finish off Al Qaeda or utilise new drone technology for the same jobs and having it work like planned with more accuracy, less cost, and much less troop+civilian casualties than using ground forces but no the concept of drones scares the public into a panic and you become known as some 'drone abuser' (I concede he should've sided with Biden much more over his generals for afghanistan, the 'last days in Vietnam' scenario Joe always warned them about pretty much came true despite me thinking Biden was paranoid at the time).
Personally I thought Obama should never have took Assad/Putin at their words as history showed that stockpile wasn't a complete picture, so he should have launched a devastating blow not only to the chemical/WMD facilities but the whole air force infrastructure to genuinely shake up the complacent Shi'a coalition and left it at that, but the U.S. public disagreed so the result was fine.
The fact is, the Iran nuke deal came onto the table and that changed everything...
and that that most important things they don;t tell you
@@kangroo1184 Can you explain further what happened? Iran offered to do the nuclear deal in exchange for not bombing Syria?
they talk about obama like he achieved some sort of philosophical enlightenment in deciding to listen to public opinion and NOT invade syria
+lisa lorraine indeed they are. What a dumbass.
He shouldn’t have run his mouth off knowing he was unwilling to back up his big talk. Russia pwned the matter and has since.
This was the day America lost its standing as the sole superpower of the world imo
@@zccau2316 no, the Iraq war was the day the U.S. lost it's standing as world hegemon.
How does that guy know what Syrians want if he is in turkey?
He is one of the leaders of Syrian opposition. Of course he was talking to he guys on the ground who were looking for American air support.
The issue of whether or not to intervene isn't relevant here. It's that he issued a threat and didn't back it up. Because of his indecision, we instantly lost all credibility and became a joke in global politics. If Obama knew full well that he wasn't going to do anything at all, he should have just said so publicly and stayed out of the way.
ladistar If Obama wanted to stay out of Iraq...which he abandoned to the Shias in 2011, he should have stayed out. instead when the Sunnis fight back, he decides to begin bombing them. Obama is openly anti Sunni.
This was the day America lost its standing as the sole superpower of the world imo
Obama was sending ships to Syria but the Republicans in Congress said you can't do that without our authorization and he said do it. But they never okayed the action (they just didn't want him to have a 'win') The administration got the United Nations to strike a deal with Putin to get them out (he had sold them to them) and then they verified that. They were gotten out without striking. This took a few months or a year, and in the meantime a lot of people were jumping up and declaring that Obama didn't act. Typical Fox News line.
What people fail to realize is how complicated the issue is. On one side (He should have done something earlier,) or (he didn't make the right decisions). And on the other side (Why is he doing anything att all), or maybe ( he shouldn't do anything without congress). No matter what he does (and it's not all on his back alone), we will be aiding an enemy,, and hurting innocent people, as well as pushing against a threat. Maybe even aiding the very threat that he intended to diminish. STOP TALKING AS IF YOU KNOW SOMETHING THAT WOULD "SOLVE" THE PROBLEM.
The biggest problem is that US arms were used against the Assad Regime. The US goverment did not like Assad, he needed to go for whatever reason, hence they supported Rebels / terrorists (depending on your point of view). For me FSA, ISIS or whatever, these are all bad people. They kill, rape and take pleasure in other peoples suffering. FSA was eating harts and livers of the people they killed. What monsters are these people. This is who the US wants in power. Really?? Who is the US to judge anyway?
The US needs to stop being the cop of the world and just go home and stay home. All the hatred against the US is grown over time due to their own bad foreign policy. All these wars for no good reasons at all, all the lies and secrets. Enough is enough. The US is not welcome!! Have respect and compassion for others. Stop preaching democracy and liberty and bring more dictators and even more misery. Practice what you preach!!
+guido1981 Sounds like Al Nusra. I don't think all of the FSA or even most of them were like that in the beginning but I am not sure. I do know that Al Nusra today is one of the biggest partners of the FSA and they do end up doing things like that.
the only thing these Neanderthals understand or respect is the iron fist !
Full documentary now!!!!
Obama drew the red line dared them to cross it, then didn't have the guts to back up his play when they did, in other words he blinked. He said he would rather get Congress to take the blame, but I think Congress didn't want any part of it, especially after he drew the red line.
This was the day America lost its standing as the sole superpower of the world imo
Yea we watched this also
He was forcing Congress to have a moral backbone....he knew if he made this move without their support it would tear apart the country since we all are so ignorantly polarized and can't seem to work together. If the military plan was put into action Americans would have lost lives, plus the end result was Syria turning over their chemical weapons something that wouldn't have happen with the original military plan. This was a HUGE success. Assad would have used them again and many souls would have suffered a inhuman death. America we need to become more united, their is real evil out there ready to kill and gain more power. United we stand, divided we fall. I pray for America everyday.
Wait a minute. Where is Russia in this. BS BS BS what about Libya, what about Syria now. Congress still isn't involved. What kind of crap is this. Oh yeah MSM, almost forgot.
indecisive
Good for him. I dont know what he would've accomplished had he bombed Assad and his regime other than strengten ISIL and Al Quaeda's hand in that country. Civil war in Syria is sad but its not a National Security concern to the US.
+Elie Hegbe if he had interevened militarily, syria would end up like libya. weak resistance and overrun with alqaeda/isis. usa would just go in kill assad, the moment that's achieved, they wont care anymore about the people left there and go back home, but not before they bomb a hospital or two for fun
Veronika Mars I agree. I do also believe it is not US responsibility to nation build every unstable country.
hmm, it's just their responsibility to destroy nations
No I didnt say that either. Its America's responsibility to defend itself and its interests using every tool mainly hard nose diplomacy. War should always be the very last option. But it isnt the America tax payer job to spend trillion of dollars building countries they will never set foot in.
+Elie Hegbe especially not if they've been the driving force in creating that instability, right?
Came to the rescue are you kidding me since when Americans armed rescue you go there to kill for your own interests not seve my friend
Wu tang clan ain't nutin to fukk with!
It would have been another Iraq war.
And it was the right decision. But you won't hear anyone say that.
+stylz1 Now with the dead in Paris and Mali you'll probably want to go ahead and revise that opinion.
Mbutta7
Oh you foolish, foolish child.
"Many Syrians died because of the delay and that was the point of this entire video."
So go to war with Syria's Assad to save lives... like we did in Iraq? And killed half a million people in the process? Do you even know how war works? Here's a hint, people die no matter who is on which side.
So we should have took down Assad? In the process empowering ISIS to take over the whole country? Because ISIS is humane and won't kill anyone?
Here's a hint for you. America doesn't give a shit about deaths in a civil war. Neither do you. Here's a shocker, Russia doesn't give a shit about Syrians either.
So please, stop spreading around your kindergarten level understanding of the Syrian conflict . It makes you look foolish.
Maybe just stick to commenting on makeup tutorial and cat videos.
+George Presley Don't disagree with everything he says or does because he is black. I can name things he is flat out wrong on. Can you name somethings he was right on? Go ahead give it a try. Reverse project much?
*****
1) See, fell for that trap way too easily. Now we know where you're coming from.
2)"Don't just agree with everything he says because he's black."
Your words. You're as stupid as your avatar looks. No surprise there.
+George Presley These are the kinds of dumb Americans who vote for Trump
So General Dempsey are you sad that we did not go to war????
Ojoi..:)
Ajai..:)
Is it me or is General Martin Dempsey is one of those rare Generals in recent years who did not have a Ranger Tab? Every other 4 Star General has that tab...
martin dempsey is jeff sessions.... i shit you not.
look at Libya after USA freedom. USA the ROBOCOP can do right
you can t have a heart in Politics.....I get it! Heavy is the head that wears the crown!
He wanted an out since he didn’t want to create another mess like Iraq 🇮🇶
I may not have supported president Obama very much but the fact he didn't go into Syria to overthrow Assad's government as one of his smartest decisions, despite his continued involvement in the war.
Elected an orator as a commander in chief. What do u think is going to happen
He has no balls at all.
He’s got a chip on his shoulder against whites
Finally, some genuine criticism of what Obama did. So happy...you defending Obama, you're just saying so out of trauma, making excuses for bad behavior, just like you criticized Rightwingers in the runup to the Iraq invasion. What a pack of hypocrites.
He changed because he was afraid. He was and is a coward.
This was the day America lost its standing as the sole superpower of the world imo
i
He was a weak president after all, i think. USA, like it or not, is the polic of the world and should behave like that. You can not show weakness. During the Trump era, everyone feared the USA, and there was peace...
Obama did the right thing. This video was trying to make me question him, but it has failed. I respect Obama even more now.
+Troublesome2008 the video's purpose is to make you like him more for his "wise decision", regarding his foreign affairs, he deserves no respect
+Veronika Mars
The people in this video sound awfully salty. They are not happy Obama asked congress for permission. They wanted Obama to drop bombs and he didn't do it, especially after the British refused to join. Good for him. If he had dropped bombs on Asad, he would have helped ISIS.
+Veronika Mars hint: shill
Smart move Obama. Had he went in in Syria they would have been mess up like Libya 🇱🇾 today. Not to say Asad haven’t mess it up already
The Alawites, other Shia, and the christian population in Syria support Bashar Al-Asad apparently. I guess Bashar Al-Asad's army is protecting Christians living along side Bashar Al-Asad's fellow Alawites in the Latakia and Tartus.
Asking for the congress for authority for going to a war is exactly what constitution requires. But for political and military expediency, every president is tempted to bypass that.
Weakness. Pure and simple weakness on top of indecision
Thank God he "Blinked". That blink saved potentially hundreds of thousands of Syrian lives. How can people have such short memories. Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan.....
+MrFlyingflipflop I'm sure your view on Obama has returned to it's usual color of PINK
What a coward
he should of never took us into libya and syria
So Obama chickened out. Thank God that Trump showed him few years later how it is done.