The Pentagon’s press secretary made a crack about President Obama’s compromised red line policy against Syrian chemical-weapons use on Monday.
Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook was asked whether there was any red line Russian troops could cross inside Syria that would elicit a response from the Pentagon.
"I’m not going to talk about red lines from this podium," Cook said.
The Obama administration folded on its red line against Syrian chemical weapons use after the Ghouta gas attack in 2013.
After condemning the Assad regime in no uncertain terms, the U.S. agreed not to enforce its red line if the regime forfeited its chemical weapons stockpile. The agreement was coordinated by Russia, one of Syria’s most important allies.
After the agreement was reached, weapons inspectors revealed that Assad did not give up his entire stockpile. The Assad regime continued to wage war, using chemical agents like chlorine.
Russia has long protected the Assad regime from the forces arrayed against it, prolonging the country’s civil war. Administration officials revealed Friday that Russia was ramping up its military presence in Syria.
U.S. intelligence officials said Russia is building a military base in the coastal city of Latakia. Russia maintains a naval base in the nearby city of Tartus.
Russia’s protection of Assad flies in the face of U.S. opposition to Assad, though since 2013 the Obama administration has been unwilling to put pressure on the regime, saying that change in Syria must occur through political or diplomatic means.