Syria - Obama Presidency Oral History Back Syria Index / Locations Transcripts Martin Dempsey ...important. I'd love to ask about Syria , which strikes me as a rea... ...from a global military perspective was Syria . And that's a reflection of a coupl... ...'14 is when ISIS came rumbling out of Syria and into northern Iraq and almost mad... ...issue of what are you going to do about Syria came up, it wasn't in the context of... ...was very bellicose in those times. So, Syria , though a humanitarian disaster, an... ...that we had trained went back into Syria to do the things we were hoping the... ...over. But that's what happened with Syria . Yes, and I think that does justic... ...team about the wisdom of intervening in Syria —and to maybe tie that together wit... ...the debate over a military option in Syria —again, with regard to the civil war... ...and then the other forces in eastern Syria can bring a sense of stability t... ...bring a sense of stability to eastern Syria .” Frankly, I wasn't persuaded by tha... ...scoff at this idea, but they had— Syria had a pretty credible air defens... ...And we had dozens of meetings about Syria , because—well, I'll come back to th... ...anyway, that happened a lot, where— Syria was one of those issues, maybe the onl... ...authorization for the use of force on Syria . A number of people have spoken abou... ...because there were Russian advisors in Syria . So we had picked the time, picked th... ...still some hiding out there.” It's Syria . I wouldn't be shocked to find tha... ...issue. But she—I think it was on Syria —she talks about his sense of optimism... ...which they moved through Iraq and into Syria , or considering what options the U... ...Mosul. Initially, when they came out of Syria , they seized Sinjar Mountain. You ma... ...and ISIS collapsed back into northern Syria . Then, we went through a period—thi... ...We didn't have that partner in Syria . There wasn't—and the Syrian Army wa... ...the most reliable partner in northern Syria . And we began empowering them, much t... Show more... Kenneth Roth ...in the Middle East were the wars in Syria and Yemen. And there again, there wer... ...stop that slaughter of civilians. In Syria , that was the infamous red line—th... ...during this period. Thinking about Syria specifically, this was a... ...to use the military response in Syria , but that wasn't the only option. The... ...on Libya and voted for referral on Syria , but it didn't happen because of th... Terry Szuplat ...rise of ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ]; and you had Fort Hood in 2009, th... ...established its territory in Iraq and Syria , launching these terrorist attacks. W... Ben Rhodes ...Obviously this becomes most acute in Syria , but with Libya and—basically, at som... ...would be a bigger crisis than even Syria . His point was both that there'... ...was the ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ] beheadings. It felt like [laughs] th... ...ended up intervening in Libya and not Syria , read the Nobel speech. If you want t... ...these cases were, including what became Syria . [Unclear] in Egypt, we propped tha... ...in other places, unlike in Egypt or Syria . But then he just keeps going. And a... ...I mean, we haven't talked about Syria yet— Yes. —but of course, Syria i... ...Syria yet— Yes. —but of course, Syria is ongoing at the time, then becomes ... ...are supporting [Bashar al-] Assad in Syria ,” is the most obvious one. So yo... ...Then you also have the ongoing war in Syria , you have Ebola, and you have th... ...civil war for some time in eastern Syria , in Raqqa. Obviously they were on ou... ...to be an extremist group in eastern Syria , that would have been bad, but I don'... ...us, off the back of the mountain into Syria . Then we had to work with thes... ...Foley beheading, which then led us into Syria . With regard to terrorist act... ...circulation of foreign fighters into Syria , and some back into Europe, and yo... ...that that are happening in Iraq and Syria , every day doesn't even begin t... Show more... Jeremy Bash ...rise of ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ]. And in hindsight, who knows? Woul... John Kerry ... You mentioned both Afghanistan and Syria . I thought maybe we could dive in... ...to hold as a policy. You mentioned Syria as well. I did want to ask about it... ...of engagement you were involved in with Syria in 2009? First of all, I do believ... ...diplomatic malpractice. In the case of Syria , in particular, did you have an... ...in the Oval Office was, “I can't do the Syria thing. Can't do that, can't do that... ...trying to find a political solution to Syria , Putin said, “Let me tell yo... ...[Issa al-Ayyat] and the revolution, and Syria and the war and ISIS [Islamic State o... ...war and ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ]. There were a lot of cyber challenge... ...already defined about how you deal with Syria . Marty [Martin E.] Dempsey, th... ...our second session we could dive into Syria and Iran. But that traditiona... ...time. Lavrov chaired the International Syria Support Group with me—and we can ge... ...that ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ], ISIL—a name I don't like to cal... ...religious military way across through Syria , down in towards Iraq. Kurds wer... ...there was enough still around Raqqa [ Syria ] and parts of Syria, et cetera, t... ...still around Raqqa [Syria] and parts of Syria , et cetera, to finish the job, whic... Show more... Load more Transcripts Related Topics go to the Women and Girls Women and Girls go to the Climate, Environment, and Energy Climate, Environment, and Energy go to the Criminal Justice Criminal Justice go to the Immigration Immigration go to the Western Hemisphere Western Hemisphere