Ben Rhodes criticized after taking veiled shot at President Donald Trump and defending his former boss, former President Barack Obama. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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Obama adviser Ben Rhodes takes a beating when he tries to defend Obama's inaction in Syria
April 08, 2017
Ben Rhodes, a senior adviser to former President Barack Obama, took to Twitter early Saturday to defend his former boss and take a veiled shot at President Donald Trump.
Following news that the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad used the air base that Trump just struck to launch new airstrikes, Rhodes said: "So Obama was excoriated in DC for years for not taking a strike that disabled an airfield for a few hours."
Obama was criticized for years for failing to follow through on his "red line" policy in Syria. Obama's failure to take military action like he promised weakened the U.S. and emboldened the Syrian regime and Islamic terrorists in the region, critics argued.
But Trump followed through on those failed promises Thursday night when he ordered nearly 60 tomahawk missiles be sent to the air base that launched the recent chemical attacks on the Syrian people.
The strikes weren't meant to cripple Assad's air force. Instead they were meant to send a message to Assad and the world that chemical weapon attacks will not be tolerated and Trump isn't afraid to take military action.
That point must have fell mute on Rhodes and conservatives were quick to call him out. According to many, Obama wasn't "excoriated" because he didn't strike an airfield. He was "excoriated" because he failed to follow through on promises — inaction that led to the world's greatest refugee crisis since World War II and ultimately strengthened the Islamic State.
@brhodes No he was excoriated b/c his weakness is responsible for the murder 1/2 a million Syrians and the mass migration that wrecked Europe!
— Deplorable Jim Keith (@jimkeith1) April 8, 2017
@brhodes No, he declared a red line and did not back it up, Plus Benghazi, Russian Reset, The Iran deal & Doing the wave with the Cuban Dictator
— Glenn Amurgis (@gamurgis) April 8, 2017
@brhodes Apparently Obama admin was too busy surveilling Americans to properly surveil chemical weapons in Syria....#anotherObamalie
— NeuroscientistPhD (@neuroscientist1) April 8, 2017
@brhodes Why would he even need to make a strike if #syria turned over all their chemical weapons...oh wait!
— Political Parrot (@bvparrot) April 8, 2017
He even caught flak from an Obama supporter:
No video?
@brhodes why didn't you find a video to blame?
— Dmac (@conserv_voice) April 8, 2017
And one person had some advice for Rhodes:
@brhodes Have you considered deleting your account yet?
— JWF (@JammieWF) April 8, 2017
Ouch.
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Staff Writer
Chris Enloe is a staff writer for Blaze News
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