A red line already crossed in Syria

WASHINGTON, D.C.: President Donald Trump’s decision to strike the Syrian regime in retaliation for a chemical attack comes four years after his predecessor Barack Obama faced a similar challenge from Damascus—and chose to back down.

There was no doubt among the international community on August 21, 2013: Obama’s “red line” had just been crossed in Syria with a chemical weapons attack outside Damascus that was almost certainly the work of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.