想想奥巴马要求阿萨德“下台”的缺乏实际行动支持的空洞呼吁，以及可以追溯到2012年初期的反复承诺为叙利亚反对派提供非致命性援助 — — 直到去年下半年奥巴马的承诺才终于兑现，但也只是兑现了一段时间而已。
Consider Obama’s call, backed by no action, for Assad to “step aside,” and his repeated promises, dating to early 2012, to provide non-lethal aid to the Syrian opposition – promises that were finally fulfilled late last year, and then only temporarily.