Sec. Kerry in 2014: In Syria, ‘We Struck a Deal Where We Got 100 Percent of the Chemical Weapons Out’
This weekend's reported chemical attack in Syria claimed 49 lives in Douma and is being blamed on the Assad regime.
The attack is also recalling previous assurances from the Obama Administration that they had successfully rid the Assad regime of its chemical weapons stockpile.
In 2014, then Secretary of State John Kerry said the Obama Administration had gotten "100 percent of the chemical weapons out" of Syria.
The claim came during an interview on Meet the Press, when the chief diplomat was asked about Obama's "uncertain" foreign policy record. Kerry, defending the president, cited the progress he believed they had made in China (with respect to North Korea), Syria, and Iraq.
Here's a transcript of the exchange:
GREGORY: “Mr. Secretary, before I let you go, I want you to answer critics who accuse this president of an uncertain course in his foreign policy. And it harkens back to something the president wrote in his own book Audacity of Hope. He wrote this, critical of the Bush years, “Without a well-articulated strategy that the public supports and the world understands, America will lack the legitimacy and, ultimately, the power it needs to make the world safer than it is today.” Is that the problem—“
KERRY: “David, let me—“
GREGORY: “—President Obama faces?”
KERRY: “No. Let me tell you. What he faces maybe is a problem with a bunch of critics who want to jump to conclusions without looking at the facts. But the facts could not be more clear. The United States of America has never been more engaged in helping to lead in more places than we are now. I just came back from China, where we are engaged with the Chinese in dealing with North Korea. And you will notice, since the visit last year, North Korea has been quieter. We haven’t done what we want to do yet with respect to the de-nuclearization. But we are working on that and moving forward. With respect to Syria, we struck a deal where we got 100% of the chemical weapons out. With respect the Iraq, we are deeply involved now in the process of government formation, helping the Iraqis to be able to choose a government of unity that can reunite it. They’ve elected a speaker. They’re about to elect a president. We believe that’s moving forward."
