Bashar al-Assad - Obama Presidency Oral History Back Bashar al-Assad Index / People Transcripts Rick Jordan ...hands, we're in trouble—or [Bashar al-] Assad , if as a last-stitch effort, decide... ...they said, “Look, don't bomb our friend Assad .” This is my understanding. “We wil... ...This is my understanding. “We will get Assad to sign the convention, the Chemica... ...and said, “Okay, look. I'll let Assad off the hook, but he's going to hav... ...that stopped the communications. And Assad had no more pressure on him. And s... ...know, three or four years later, 2017, Assad —there was another chemical attack i... ...were able to push the Russian—because Assad , they always blame, “Well, this is th... ...needed to speak strong at the time too. Assad needed to know, “You can't do this... Show more... Wendy Sherman ...in Syria was less about [Bashar al-] Assad , and more about counterterrorism. An... Frank Rose ...in Belarus. They've got [Bashar al-] Assad in Syria. But other than that, the... Charles Kupchan ...ground to the point where [Bashar al-] Assad may have eventually had to leave, o... Victoria Nuland ...role in influencing [Bashar al-] Assad ? These kinds of things. So there wer... ...part of the negotiating process with Assad , I was part of that, first a... ...surprised when we changed course when Assad started using chemical weapons—of U... ...putting their thumb on the scale on Assad 's side, but they're not going to g... ...actor in a solution that'll get Assad out. The president was going to se... ...and whatever—says, “Wait a minute. Assad , we don't like him, but he's ... ...that they would do more work to get Assad to hold an election, or something. We... ...idea here was that that would pressure Assad to negotiate, that would preven... ...of a diplomatic framework to work on Assad as well, because everybody's mad a... Show more... Related Topics go to the Transition Transition go to the Elections and Campaigns Elections and Campaigns go to the Arts and Humanities Arts and Humanities go to the Immigration Immigration go to the Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa