Hey, remember that red line Obama threatened Bashar al-assad with? Then Syria crossed the so called ‘red line’ and Obama went golfing. Then Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel was set to bomb Damascus after the red line was crossed. What did Hagel get from Obama? A stand down order, and Assad went on his merry way killing his citizens.
| Obama killed plan to bomb Damascus |
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Former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel revealed in an extensive interview published Friday that he had approved plans to strike Damascus with Tomahawk cruise missiles after Syria’s Bashar al-Assad crossed the “red line” by using chemical weapons – but President Obama told him to stand down.
The interview with Foreign Policy comes nearly a year after his acrimonious exit from the Obama administration. Still smarting from the circumstances of his departure, Hagel told Foreign Policy that the White House tried to “destroy” him even after he resigned.
The interview explored the tensions between Hagel and others on Obama’s team, but offered particularly revealing details about the backstory to the president’s decision backing off his “red line” with Assad.
The former Pentagon chief said that decision in 2013 dealt a big blow to U.S. credibility.