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> Obama’s commitment to bombing Syria if they used chemical weapons was the worst policy ever from opposition

Mostly because Assad did use chemical weapons and Obama didn't bomb them. Arguably the fact that Obama backed down set the tone for the invasion of Crimea and the Donbas.



It took a while to confirm they’d used them and Obama made the mistake of asking Congress for authorisation to take out their chemical sites. Mitch McConnell blocked that, which is where Republican opposition to bombing Syria for having or using chemical weapons started.

Until they were in power of course, and Assad mistakenly assumed the Republican position on this was coherent and actually used chemical weapons again.


> Obama made the mistake of asking Congress for authorisation

Obama certainly didn't bother with as much when offing Al-Awlaki [1]. (An American who took up arms against the United States.)

This was Obama's fuck-up. He was the chief executive and commander in chief. If he couldn't hold the line, he shouldn't have drawn it.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Abdulrahman_al-Awla...




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