President Barack Obama defended his refusal to use military force to end Syria's brutal civil war Wednesday, as diplomatic efforts faltered and a humanitarian crisis of historic proportions
unfolded in Aleppo.
unfolded in Aleppo.
With just months left in office, the besiegement and bombardment of Syria's second city have put Obama's policies back under the spotlight and exposed deep unease within his administration.
"There hasn't been probably a week that's gone by in which I haven't reexamined some of the underlying premises around how we're dealing with the situation in Syria," Obama told a CNN town hall debate.
"I'll sit in the situation room with my Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, we'll bring in outside experts - I will bring in critics of my policy to find out, OK, you don't think this is the right way to go."
But, Obama insisted, "in Syria, there is not a scenario in which, absent us deploying large numbers of troops, we can stop a civil war in which both sides are deeply dug in."
"There are going to be some bad things that happen around the world, and we have to be judicious." READ MORE