from wapo in october:
from the AP today:
Finally, on Aug. 18, then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said, “The transition to democracy in Syria has begun and it’s time for Assad to get out of the way.” Obama simply issued a statement: “For the sake of the Syrian people,” he said, “the time has come for President Assad to step aside.”
The route Obama took to that declaration says a lot about where he is today. The president’s insistence that Assad must go has been his only true red line in the Syrian conflict. The red line he drew, and then withdrew, about repercussions of Syria’s use of chemical weapons didn’t happen for more than a year. But Obama’s determination to topple Assad remains one of the main points of friction between the United States and Russia in Syria.
from the AP today:
"The United States and our partners are not seeking so-called regime change," Kerry told reporters in the Russian capital after meeting President Vladimir Putin. A major international conference on Syria would take place later this week in New York, Kerry announced.
<snip>
President Barack Obama first called on Assad to leave power in the summer of 2011, with "Assad must go," being a consistent rallying cry. Later, American officials allowed that he wouldn't have to resign on "Day One" of a transition. Now, Assad's stay could be indefinite.
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