White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Thursday that he disagrees with the notion President Obama could have done more in Syria.
A new report that the Bashar al Assad regime used chemical weapons against its own people after claiming to have destroyed them, along with the ongoing refugee crisis from the devastating civil war there, has led to criticism that Obama's actions there have been insufficient.
Obama faced sharp criticism in 2013 when he decided against military action after Assad had crossed his "red line" about using chemical weapons.
"I would vigorously disagree with the suggestion that there is somehow a case that should be made or can legitimately be made that the president didn't do anything in Syria," Earnest said.
Earnest then added that Obama built an international coalition of 65 members focused on eroding the threat from the Islamic State and other extremist groups, which the White House believes poses a direct threat to the United States and the west.
A reporter interjected, "But not against the regime and that clearly is the distinction."
Earnest responded by referencing the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and saying that attacking the regime does not always address the concerns.
"We've got a test case just over the border in Iraq about what the consequences are for the United States implementing a regime change policy and trying to impose a military solution on the situation. That didn't play out well for American interests and that's what the president has been mindful of throughout this particular situation," Earnest said.
Earnest said that the Obama administration hadn't seen any alternative solutions put forward and that very few people had been willing to come forward about what they should be doing instead in Syria. For those that believed that the United States should invade Syria, Earnest said Obama disagrees and that it wouldn't be in America's best interests.
Earnest admitted that the condition in Syria is "terrible" but that critics haven't put forth a proposal for what Obama could have done instead.