For the past several years, President Obama said there was "no military solution" to the conflict in Syria. It was a talking point that his administration would use during speeches, press briefings, and interviews.
In the early days of the Syrian conflict, Obama drew the now infamous "red line" when he stated that the United States would intervene if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons on his own people.
"We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. That would change my calculus. That would change my equation," Obama said at press conference in 2012.
The president did not act when the United Nations reported in 2013 that the Syrian president did use chemical weapons on civilians.
Instead, the Obama administration supported a Russian-led initiative that led Assad to purportedly give up his chemical weapons arsenal so the arms could be destroyed. Assad gave up all of his declared chemical weapons stockpile, which was destroyed. Obama applauded this development in a statement in 2014.
Destroying the chemical weapons "advances our collective goal to ensure that the Assad regime cannot use its chemical arsenal against the Syrian people and sends a clear message that the use of these abhorrent weapons has consequences and will not be tolerated by the international community," Obama said at the time.
The celebration was premature. In May 2015, Bloomberg reported that Syrian government forces were caught using chemical weapons on their own people, a violation of Obama's red line. When asked about news of the Syrian government using chemical weapons, Obama said Assad gave up his chemical weapons and that was a fact.
"Assad gave up his chemical weapons. And that's not speculation on our part. That, in fact, has been confirmed by the organization internationally, that is charged with eliminating chemical weapons," Obama said.
In August 2016, however, the White House released a statement that condemned Syria's use of chemical weapons.
Over the course of the Syrian conflict, Russia and Iran intervened on behalf of Assad. At first, Obama welcomed Russia's involvement in the Syria crisis when the United States was negotiating a deal to relieve Assad of his chemical weapons. But when Russia intervened militarily in 2015, Obama said the Kremlin's strategy was "doomed to fail."
Recent reports from Syria show that Assad is about to take control of the city of Aleppo with the aid of Russian and Iranian forces. There have also been reports of pro-Assad forces killing innocent men, women, and children as they retake the city.
The Obama administration continues to argue that there is no military solution to the conflict in Syria.