Posted on 12/25/2016 10:03:46 PM PST by Mariner
The fall of the rebel-held Syrian city of Aleppo to Russian- and Iranian-backed forces loyal to President Bashar Assad sounds the death knell for the outgoing Obama administration’s hands-off counterterrorism doctrine, analysts say.
The final batches of anti-Assad fighters vacated formerly rebel-held areas of eastern Aleppo on Friday, officially bringing the city — which was Syria’s economic and cultural hub before the war — under the regime’s control.
The fall of Aleppo was the biggest victory for government forces and their Russian and Iranian supporters since moderate rebel groups, emboldened by regional uprisings tied to the 2011 Arab Spring, attempted to overthrow the Assad regime and ignited the war six years ago.
But the fall was also a pivotal moment for the Obama administration, whose initial intractable stance against the Assad regime was translated into an indecisive policy aimed at defeating or sidelining America’s adversaries from a distance.
“There is no doubt [President Obama] will be hammered in historical terms. The question will be why he didn’t do more,” Aaron David Miller, a former presidential adviser on Middle East affairs, told Reuters.
Mr. Obama’s infamous “red line” warning in 2012 against Syria’s use of chemical weapons against rebel forces pushed Washington and Damascus onto a collision course, with U.S. warships anchored off of the Syrian coast ready to launch missiles on government targets.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
It's a good thing they no longer have any influence on conservatives, and most certainly not on this incoming administration.
I thought, hindsight being 20-20, that people had come to understand that we should have done *nothing* to topple Assad.
There’s a video on facebook of Syrian Christians in Aleppo celebrating Christmas for the first time in 5 years.
The question is, why did he side with jihadi "rebels" (including ISIS by default) against the relatively secular Assad regime? Answer: because he's a Moslem Bro-hoodie jihadi to the core.
Syrian Republic on Saturday
#Aleppo celebrating Christmas for the first time in 5 years.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C0kko1YWgAAZPUq.jpg
We'll be paying for the idiocy of the Arab Spring for decades to come. Europe is paying now. Remind me again, who was Secretary of State for this series of debacles in Libya, Egypt, Yemen, and Syria? Oh, yeah - the "most experienced Presidential candidate in history."
Trying again:
Syrian Republic on Saturday
#Aleppo celebrating Christmas for the first time in 5 years.
https://www.facebook.com/United.Syrian.Republic/?pnref=story
.
Obama is a terrorist in every sense of the word.
His pals were the weathermen, the lowest of the low.
And soon Washington DC will fall to the Trump forces. Total fail of the Obama doctrine, legacy and deception. He should seriously consider going into exile while he still has the chance.
The gormless obama has never had a ‘doctrine’ unless its considered the fawning concession to moslems and the promotion of world terrorism.
"We" should have done nothing to topple:
The Shaw of Iran, Sodom Hussein, Kadoffy, and Hosni Mubarack.
But I wouldn't have shed a tear, had we blown up the "Sowdies". I think the Sows still can afford to house a few million "refugees" in their vast worthless expanses of sand.
(but we can still blow them up)
It should all work out. Just submit to the present government and go to work. We’ve had to do that here for years.
Just a few weeks and Obama will be behind us.
What a senseless waste of life. And for what? Just to have ultimately the status quo return.
We got damn lucky with Egypt.
But the Russians left 14 Russian tanks for ISIS at Palmyra.
ISIS = Russia.
USAF destroyed those tanks.
Because Israel wants Assad gone.
“And for what? Just to have ultimately the status quo return.”
It occurs to me to wonder if Obunghole’s real objective wasn’t to incite the refugee crisis in Europe by destabilizing one country after another.
Wrong answer, Ethan. Israel would far rather have secular strongman Assad in power than lunatic jihadists. And you’re beyond naive if you think any other options are possible. Far preferable the devil they know than demons they can only imagine if Assad is overthrown and the caliphate types move into the vacuum.
And your suggestion that Obama is does Israel’s bidding shows that your grip on reality is tenuous, at best.
That Obama would willingly do anything to assist Israel is unlikely.
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