Obama rejected Kerry requests for Syria missile attacks: Report
US President Barack Obama has repeatedly turned down Secretary of State John Kerry’s requests to conduct missile attacks against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a new report claims.
Published in the Atlantic magazine’s new April issue, The Obama Doctrine is the title of a report by Jeffery Goldberg that delves into Obama’s policies throughout his years as the 44th US president and his handling of various situations.
According to the report, over the past year, as the Syrian conflict neared its peak, Kerry frequently asked Obama to authorize limited missile attacks against Assad’s forces, arguing that it would “send a message” with the goal of bringing him to the negotiating table to broker a peace deal.
Obama, however, grew frustrated with the requests. “Oh, another proposal?” he told Kerry recently, after he laid down a new outline of ways to pressure Assad.
Many inside the Obama administration are irritated by his cautious Syria approach and want to see Washington take a tougher line with Assad. Obama has long advocated an “Assad must go” policy but has ruled out military intervention to achieve that goal.
Obama’s approach drew more criticism after Russia launched its own military campaign in Syria, targeting Daesh positions upon a request from Damascus.
But even that did not prompt Obama to change his policies and he opted for downplaying the Russian efforts instead.
“They are overextended. They’re bleeding,” Obama told Goldberg, referring to the Russians. “And their economy has contracted for three years in a row, drastically.”
US Vice President Joe Biden has also become frustrated with Kerry, according to Goldberg, at one point telling the secretary of state, “John, remember Vietnam? Remember how that started?”
The comments come at a time when a fragile cessation of hostilities, brokered by the US and Russia, has been in place in Syria since last month.
The temporary lapse in fighting is intended to pave the way for a broader peace deal to end the five-year crisis that has killed at least 270,000 Syrians, but those efforts have failed because of Washington’s anti-Assad rhetoric and its backing of extremism in the Arab country.
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