Former US President Barack Obama says his decision not to “bomb Syria” after it was blamed for chemical weapons use needed “the most political courage.”
“I actually think that the issue that required the most political courage was the decision not to bomb Syria after the chemical weapons use had been publicized and rather to negotiate them removing chemical weapons from Syria,” he told online publishing platform Medium during an interview released Monday.
“Now, we know subsequently that some remained, so it was an imperfect solution. But what we also know is that 99 percent of huge chemical weapons stockpiled were removed without having to fire a shot,” the former president claimed.
The Syrian government turned over its entire chemical stockpile under a deal negotiated by Russia and the United States back in 2013.
The country’s stockpile of chemical weapons was surrendered in a joint mission comprising representatives of the UN and…