tomorrow would be close to day - dreaming ... The collapse of trust has been really dramatic , " said Mladenov . ( Writing by Luke Baker ; Editing by Gareth Jones )
In 2013 , Obama said that if Assad used chemical weapons , the U.S. would take military action . But when Assad used chemicals to horrifying effect , Obama did nothing . Instead , the Obama administration allowed Russia to negotiatecontact.discussion.correspondencethe handover of “ all ” Syria ’s chemical weapons for destruction . Obviously , Assad was n’t completely forthright . Obama ’s reluctance to back up diplomacy with force has furthered the continued Syrian civil war — a humanitarian disaster in which nearly half a million people have died so far — as well as the massive refugee crisis that ’s overwhelming Europe and Middle Eastern states like Jordan .
The head of the center and several others were badly injured . KERRY 'S GAMBLE The week - old attempt at a ceasefire , negotiated by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov , could be the final attempt by U.S. President Barack Obama to negotiatecontact.discussion.correspondencean end to Syria 's civil war . Kerry called on Moscow to halt Syrian government airstrikes , including on aid convoys , and indicated that the United States had not received official word from Russia that the ceasefire deal was dead . " The Russians made the agreement .
Robert S. Ford , a former ambassador to Syria , said , “ Many people working on Syria for the State Department have long urged a tougher policy with the Assad government as a means of facilitating arrival at a negotiated political deal to set up a new Syrian government . ” Mr. Ford , who is now a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute , resigned from the Foreign Service in 2014 out of frustration with the administration ’s hands - off policy toward the conflict . In the memo , the State Department officials wrote that the Assad government ’s continuing violations of the partial cease - fire , known as a cessation of hostilities , will doom efforts to broker a political settlement because Mr. Assad will feel no pressure to negotiatecontact.discussion.correspondencewith the moderate opposition or other factions fighting him . The government ’s barrel bombing of civilians , it said , is the “ root cause of the instability that continues to grip Syria and the broader region . ” “ The moral rationale for taking steps to end the deaths and suffering in Syria , after five years of brutal war , is evident and unquestionable , ” it said .