Krauthammer: Aleppo is Obama's legacy

Conservative author and commentator Charles Krauthammer says President Barack Obama's legacy is the utter chaos and destruction that is in Aleppo, Syria, as the result of a years-long civil war between Syrian dictator Bashar Assad and rebel forces trying to overtake the government.

"Obama imagines that the Obama [Iran] deal is his legacy. It is not. Aleppo is his legacy," Krauthammer said on Fox News Thursday.

"History will remember this as kind of the symbolism of the whole policy of retreat and the inevitable outcome," he added.

The outspoken Obama administration critic made the point that the Syrian civil war would have happened regardless of what the U.S. did. But, he added, how the U.S. handled the situation left much to be desired.

"The civil war was in a sense in equilibrium a year and a half ago when the Russians decided that their side, Assad, was losing. The rebels were actually on the advance in Aleppo and elsewhere. He stepped in to rescue Assad, then he saw that there was no response on the part of the West, no penalties whatsoever, even economic, coming from the United States and he decided to drive the advantage," Krauthammer explained.

The result of the administration's decision not to more aggressively intervene in the region, Krauthammer argued, was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power "pleading" with the Iranians, Russians and Syrian dictator to stop the killing.

"Are you truly incapable of shame? Is there literally nothing that can shame you? Is there no act of barbarism against civilians, no execution of a child that gets under your skin?" Power said Tuesday.

Krauthammer responded to Power's comments on Thursday, saying, "The answer is obvious they have none."

"The only thing that could have stopped this, ultimately, would have been some kind of deterrent from the United States, warning from the United States. We didn't, and now we have what we have," Krauthammer concluded.

(H/T: Right Scoop)