Obama always fighting a losing battle in Syria

The US president has been condemned for not intervening early and removing the Assad regime, but such military action was disastrous in Iraq and Libya, says Christopher R Hill     

AS US President Barack Obama’s eight-year term winds down, he has been facing intensifying criticism for failing to stop the carnage in Syria. Many commentators call it his “worst mistake.” But the alternatives would have been just as problematic.

Obama’s detractors condemn his decision not to launch a forceful military intervention, early in the conflict, to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. They say the US could have backed more moderate forces that were supposedly in play.