Syria - Obama Presidency Oral History Back Syria Index / Locations Transcripts Susan Rice ...objective. I want to shift to the Syria case and I actually—one of the thing... ...thought about its options in Syria . And I note that the opposition t... ...elements to the Libya—excuse me, the Syria challenge. One is, what do we do abou... ...about ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ] ? They are quite distinct, and ... ...way some were suggesting we should in Syria . So I don't think it was a predominan... ...to seek congressional authorization for Syria , then of course we would have sough... ...had—the day I started my job, it wasn't Syria . That was kind enough to wait for ... ...And against that backdrop then came Syria and the chemical weapons thing. Obama'... ...approach. But to a large extent, both Syria and other Middle East relate... ...room. But really, we were deep between Syria , Egypt, and especially Snowden. W... ...Ukraine, and we had the rise of ISIS in Syria and Iraq, and the resumption of ou... ...engagement in Iraq and subsequently Syria . And then we had the Ebola epidemic... Show more... Chuck Hagel ...because ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ] hadn't risen its ugly head ye... ...components to the Asia Rebalance to Syria . In this case in Afghanistan, is thi... ...within there that we could talk about. Syria seems to loom really large in my min... ...Bashar al-Assad and the civil war in Syria . I want to get to that decision poin... ...at all to change the calculus in Syria ? We had debates inside the Pentago... ...White House's strategy for dealing with Syria before the chemical weapons attack i... ...options he has to respond to Assad and Syria ? The military came up with a numbe... ...precursors of chemical weapons out of Syria . It was a passing comment, nobody too... ...realized that they could walk into Syria with no penalty because essentially th... ...it, and that we had walked away from Syria . And I think that's the message th... ...that, the Russians got big time into Syria . They had been out of the Middle Eas... ...on the Mediterranean [Sea] at Tartus [ Syria ] . So they took that as a wink-wink... ...in another country in the Middle East, Syria , that could well open another front.... ...we had Special Forces in and out of Syria and so on, but this was different. An... ...on him as well at the time of the Syria decision. I'm fast forwarding ... ...and how it was going to achieve it—in Syria . So, there's a lot of time in betwee... ...you apply it to what was going on in Syria —I remember very clearly in thos... ...“I want no boots on the ground in Syria ,” and so on. After we got th... ...weapons out, we never got back to Syria . We just always kind of let i... ...of course, ISIS was building up in Syria . Of course, that all explodes in th... ...of those towns. And had a good part of Syria under their control, as well as othe... ...the United States going to do about Syria and the Middle East? Where are yo... ...memo—”We've got to come to grips with Syria . We don't have a policy on Syria. ... ...with Syria. We don't have a policy on Syria . I know it's a regional policy. It ha... ...we ought to do something about Syria .' That's not the way it works. We nee... ...where, particularly in the context of Syria , you emphasized there was a lack o... ...it, talk about things. It wasn't just Syria , about everything, and they'd say... ...been curious about. In an issue like Syria , or maybe it was another issue, whe... ...not an easy job, I get that. But on Syria , I just thought we had evaded it. An... ...explanation of what our strategy was in Syria . If we were going to leave it alone o... ...That's what made people jumpy about Syria and the Middle East, and what's goin... Show more... Hadi Pir ...and eighties, some Yazidis who went to Syria , who escaped war, and escaped th... ...that ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ] really became something tangible wa... ...because I knew about what's going on in Syria , what they did in Mosul, and nobod... ...This is Kurdistan region. This is Syria . This is the south, so the south is ... ...But on the other side is very close to Syria . There's the YPG [Yekîneyên Parastin... ...sure that Russia will veto it because Syria will be involved, what's going on i... ...will be involved, what's going on in Syria .” They said there is almost no hope i... Show more... William Taylor ...later in the spring, then Libya, then Syria . And here I was at the Institute o... ...supporting Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and Syria —the Arab Spring countries. And o... ...Libya, Tunisia? And we can talk about Syria too. Then I wonder, in giving tha... ...are the two big ones, by the way. Now, Syria started to take its own story and ow... ...it followed into Egypt, less so on Syria , less so on Libya. I'd like to, a... ...can make sure to talk about Libya and Syria to the extent that you think it'... ...nourish. Let's talk about Libya and Syria , which you mentioned are two ver... ...only got there once. I never went to Syria . We're going to talk about Syria, bu... ...to Syria. We're going to talk about Syria , but only late in the game did ou... ...for the assistance going into Syria , because that was a whole differen... ...the Tunisian one. Let's talk about Syria , then. How did your office end up wit... ...office end up with responsibility for Syria ? I should say, what strikes me a... ...say, what strikes me as different about Syria is that there wasn't an obviou... ...'13—somewhere along the line, we had Syria . Because I remember there was a bi... ...something called a START team, Syria Transition and Reconstruction Team ... ...the assistance going into the heart of Syria that was right there across the border... ...representative for the US government on Syria , and he operated in Beth's office. S... ...did some work there, but never inside Syria , so we didn't get a feel for th... ...deliveries across the border into Syria . The START team itself didn't go over... ...of an effect in Libya, or my office in Syria —didn't do that much. And we didn'... ...with or be part of the Russians or Syria , then fine, but we can't help wit... Show more... Michael Posner ...that are springing up at this time in Syria and Libya and Bahrain, for example... Jake Sullivan ...then in Egypt, then in Libya, then in Syria , then in Yemen, then in Bahrain, etc.... ...that came out of it in Libya and Syria , which I really want to talk about i... ...in Libya and then a little bit later in Syria . So I wanted to start with Libya, i... ...was protests against Bashar al-Assad in Syria . I've always been curious: To wha... ...we've done Libya; we're not doing Syria . We can't do another one.” But tha... ...him to respond to the circumstances in Syria with a similar authorization to use an... ...a similar time period. The violence in Syria began in 2011 as we were engaged in th... ...in 2012 a major military move in Syria , because it just, after Libya, was no... ...option among the options to respond in Syria . I want to come back to your stor... ...of the Libyan intervention, issues like Syria , Bahrain in the Middle East, wha... ...Arab Spring, and what was happening in Syria and other places, and how the Unite... ...on during this time is the civil war in Syria , Assad's use of chemical weapons, th... ...authorization for the use of force in Syria . You also mentioned Biden's interes... ...authorization to use military force in Syria unfolded. What struck me as mos... ...rise of ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ] and the sense that things wer... ...not out in the middle of the desert in Syria or Iraq. But I think what Secretar... Show more... Avril Haines ...an analysis of what's happening in Syria , or you ask the Defense Department t... ...like ISIS [Islamic State in Iraq and Syria ], the Ebola crisis. Could you say ... Thant Myint-U ...saw what was happening in Egypt, in Syria , in Tunisia, elsewhere, and I thin... ...away of ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ] atrocities in Syria and Iraq. The... ...State of Iraq and Syria] atrocities in Syria and Iraq. They saw pictures o... Load more Transcripts Related Topics go to the Elections and Campaigns Elections and Campaigns go to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Nuclear Nonproliferation go to the Transparency and Media Transparency and Media go to the Immigration Immigration go to the Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa