Will The Syrian War Blemish President Obama's Legacy?

US President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks to the media on the situation in Iraq on the South Lawn of the White House, before his departure for vacation at Martha's Vineyard, in Washington August 9, 2014. — Reuters

Reuters: Syria’s civil war to mar Obama legacy

The fall of the last rebel-held areas in the Syrian city of Aleppo could seal the fate of the "Obama Doctrine," deepening the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in decades and staining U.S. President Barack Obama's legacy.

With the U.S.-aligned rebels facing defeat by government forces backed by Russia and Iran, Obama’s light-footprint approach to the Syrian conflict will suffer a serious blow weeks before he hands power to President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20.

The rebel loss would underscore the failure of U.S. efforts to stem the carnage from Syria’s nearly six-year-old civil war, leading some critics to predict that Obama’s record will be tarnished just as President Bill Clinton’s was by his refusal to intervene to halt the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

“There is no doubt he will be hammered in historical terms,” said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East adviser to Republican and Democratic administrations. “The question will be why he didn’t do more.”

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WNU Editor: President Obama's options on Syria were limited at best. Since the Arab Spring the Middle East has become a battle zone for Shiite and Sunni interests .... with Syria being the country worst hit. Religious wars and the hatred that it generates takes a long time to dissipate .... sending a few hundred thousand U.S. soldiers and a commitment that would probably last for years while spending trillions to pacify both sides was a bridge that President Obama had no interest to cross .... and thank God that he did not. But sending in a few thousand U.S. specialists .... and supporting regional allies with arms, intelligence, and training has also not work .... hence the bloodshed and the chaos that we have been witnessing for the past few years. As for President Obama's legacy .... Syria will not be the only blemish on his legacy.