How President Barack Obama and his administration navigated the conflict in Syria and the battle against ISIS. (Aired 2015)
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In “Obama at War,†Martin Smith and Linda Hirsch investigated the Obama administration’s complicated struggle to deal with the deadly Syrian conflict and explored how the rise of ISIS raised the stakes. Drawing on interviews with key American military and diplomatic leaders as well as members of the Syrian opposition, this 2015 documentary offered an incisive look at President Obama’s choices involving Syria and the consequences.
Tracing Obama’s Syria policy from the Arab Spring in 2011 onward, “Obama at War†examined the heated debates within the Obama administration about when, if and how to get involved in Syria against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The documentary revealed an administration struggling to identify reliable partners on the ground, mindful of the American public’s war-weariness, and divided over whether to provide military aid to moderate rebels. The documentary also explored how a spiraling humanitarian catastrophe under Assad allowed ISIS to flourish.
Explore additional reporting related to “Obama at War” on our website:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/obama-at-war/
“Obama at War†was a FRONTLINE production with Rain Media. The writer, producer and correspondent was Martin Smith. The co-producer was Linda Hirsch. The deputy executive producer of FRONTLINE was Raney Aronson-Rath. The executive producer of FRONTLINE was David Fanning.
#Documentary #BarackObama #Syria
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FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; Park Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen.
CHAPTERS:
Prologue – 00:00
No ‘Easy Options’: The Obama Administration and the War in Syria – 1:04
Assad, Chemical Weapons and Obama’s ‘Red Line’ in Syria – 19:05
The Rise of ISIS in Iraq and Syria – 36:41
Credits – 51:56
US armed al qaeda during the Russian Afghan war
everything was ok till the shah of Iran left in 1979
when he left, peace disappeared from the middle east
Never forget how easy it is for one slip of the tongue to impact countless thousands of people. That’s the power of the presidency. Not anyone can handle it.
I find it very intriguing….an amerikkkan pseudo-Black president…had a Syrian war policy — when in ancient times — Syrians were LITERAL COUSINS to ancient Egyptians. They visibly possessed more Afrikanity, than they now display. I'll have to research at what point in the last epoch, did they embark on ethnic cleansing. It's THERE…somewhere in their history. Explicitly. They are ridiculously pale in complexsion.
Power
If us intervened they would create a mess and risk destabilizing the country. If they don’t intervene, the create a sense of betrayal and fragmented politics leading to the creation of ISIS and their likes. What does Obama to do. The poor man. He was screwed either way
When the US should clearly intervene they don’t and when they should not they do. Iraq was a no, this was a yes. They should have intervened and arrested the Assad regime. They could have nipped it in the bud early
Politics is a cluster fuck one cannot avoid. Yet the responsibility is both unavoidable and difficult to bear
My god man. The stress and struggle involved in being a president. I’m happy to not have the responsibility
He is destroying his own capital and city. What and who is he going to rule over?
Is it a crime to for once help us instead of always bombarding another country then building it up? Help us FIRST. Leave them alone to keep killing themselves! Stay out of other country's business!
Assad was an Ass Hole! He bombed his own people then instead of helping the United States under Obama stop Daesh, Russia helped Assad and later hid him, and his family. Don't understand why!
We need leaders around the world with compassion and love for everyone not just based on your religion or sexuality or skin color. The world is horrible enough!
An educated and mature president looking at the big picture on what's best for all people NOT some immature, selfish, self centered child making everything about himself. Like Obama's decisions or not his intentions had integrity. The U.S. has 100% lost these qualities.
Those poor babies
Sadam used chemical weapons to win years before he lost. Assad used chemical weapons soon after he lost.
Obama should be in prison for his traitorous acts before the 2016 elections. And apparently after President Trump was elected. Knowing that the Russian collusion story was a hoax but fixated on questioning Trump's election alongside CIA,FBI,NSA…all traitors. Prison sentences please.
Obama ..nothing but a war criminal.
A lot of frontline bots in here creaming in their pants.
Obama didn't have a strategy in Syria. Trump cleaned up that mess in 2016, and Americans were no longer inundated with news stories about ISIS atrocities.
And all of this will be coming to a city near you in Europe and America…. Because we invited the enemy the one that was trying to break in centuries ago into our countries.. don’t vote liberal anymore. I don’t.