John Kerry Made the Most Foolish Syria Claim Ever
It may be well over a year since Barack Obama left office, but his policy failures are still haunting the world.
Over the weekend, disturbing reports began to emerge from Syria. A deadly chemical weapons attack has reportedly killed at least 40 people near the town of Douma, according to The Associated Press.
Frighting images of children and adults alike being overcome by the chemical attack have circulated online, and the U.S. State Department confirmed that it is investigating the incident.
It looks likely, though it hasn’t been completely confirmed, that the Assad regime in Syria is behind the murderous chemical strike … but if you ask former Secretary of State John Kerry, that’s supposed to be impossible.
During the Obama administration, the one-time Democrat presidential candidate made a bold claim about Syria: “We struck a deal where we got 100 percent of the chemical weapons out.”
One-hundred percent of the chemical weapons out. Those were Kerry’s exact words during a “Meet The Press” appearance in July 2014.
Current “Meet The Press” host Chuck Todd helpfully reminded Americans of Kerry’s words in a tweet posted Sunday, amid news of the death happening in Syria.
Referring to deal Obama Admin struck with Russia, @JohnKerry on @MeetThePress July 20, 2014: "We struck a deal where we got 100% of the chemical weapons out" of #Syria #MTP
— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) April 8, 2018
As Twitter pundit AG_Conservative pointed out, liberals let Kerry get away with that sweeping and clearly false statement when it was made.
“This was obviously nonsense at the time, but it went mostly unchallenged,” the commenter wrote. “Thousands of innocent Syrians have died from chemical attacks since this statement.”
This was obviously nonsense at the time, but it went mostly unchallenged. Thousands of innocent Syrians have died from chemical attacks since this statement. https://t.co/WkSSR3B98F
— AG (@AGHamilton29) April 8, 2018
That Twitter user is not wrong. Since 2014, a shocking number of civilians have been killed in those types of attacks, most involving chlorine gas. Arms Control Association records show that deaths from gas attacks have continued almost unimpeded over the last 4 years. So much for Obama’s non-existent “red line.”
Not only did the left and the mainstream media allow Kerry to make his vapid statement in 2014, they for years cheered on the Obama administration’s weak policies, which are now costing lives in Syria.
“I can’t believe the White House’s strategy on Syria is working out this well,” gushed left-leaning Vox founder Ezra Klein more than 4 years ago.
He was being serious, not ironic. Nothing says “Obama success story” quite like chlorine-choked Syrian children.
There seems to be a theme from the Obama years, especially under Kerry: Sign an empty and meaningless agreement, boast about it to the world, and then sweep the consequences under the rug when the “solution” turns out to be utter malarkey.
“Kerry was also the chief negotiator and salesman for the Iran nuclear deal,” AG_Conservative continued on Twitter. “The previous admin was the worst foreign policy administration in recent history, and it’s not particularly close. We will be paying the price for their deals for decades to come.”
It isn’t just conservatives on Twitter who are calling out Obama and Kerry for their deep failures in the region. The Atlantic, a magazine that endorsed Hillary Clinton, had harsh words for the administration’s folly in a recent article titled “The Terrible Cost of Obama’s Failure in Syria.”
When even liberal news magazines have given up trying to defend the Obama team, you know the excrement has hit the propeller. There may be no easy answer on Syria, but it’s now painfully clear that smugness and empty promises are not a valid foreign policy.
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