Feb. 2009 - Obama announces an 18-month withdrawal window for combat forces from Iraq.

Oct. 2009 - Obama receives Nobel Peace Prize. The Chairman of the Committee was Thorbjørn Jagland, former Norwegian Labor Party prime minister. Jagland said “We have not given the prize for what may happen in the future. We are awarding Obama for what he has done in the past year. And we are hoping this may contribute a little bit for what he is trying to do,” noting that he hoped the award would assist Obama’s foreign policy efforts. Involvement in which can now be proven as early as March 2009. Jagland said the committee was influenced by a speech Obama gave about Islam in Cairo in June 2009, the president’s efforts to prevent nuclear proliferation and climate change, and Obama’s support for using established international bodies such as the United Nations to pursue foreign policy goals. Obama states he does not feel he deserved the award.


Aug. 2010 - American combat operations in Iraq end as its last combat brigade departs for Kuwait.

Spring 2011 – Unrest in Syria begins along with other Arab Spring protests.

Mar. 2012 - “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”

May 2012 – “ […]I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married.”


Aug. 2012 - “We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized.”

Apr. 2013 - Having expanded into Syria, ISI adopted the name “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” (ISIL), also known as “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria” or “Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS).”


Aug. 2013 - A rebel-held suburb of Damascus was attacked with sarin gas. Obama decided to seek airstrike authorization from a Congress he knew to be opposed rather than proceed with his initial plan. “He was describing it as seeking strong political support for this decisive move. He had all the rhetoric of action,” David Ignatius of The Washington Post tells FRONTLINE. “But in truth, it was stepping back from the imminent attack that was ahead … it was all in motion, and at the last minute, the president blinked.”

Mar. 2014 - Bashar Al Assad supporter Russia annexes Crimea.

Jun. 2014 - ISIS takes over Mosul, after destroying ancient city of Nimrod earlier in the year.




Jul. 2014 - ISIS now controls a third of Syria’s territory and most of its oil and gas production.

Oct. 2014 – The New York Times reports that Saddam Hussein’s regime was in possession of chemical weapons and used them on American soldiers up to 2011.


Jul. 2015 - Obama legitimizes Bashar Al Assad ally Iran’s nuclear program from the U.S. perspective.

Aug. 2015 - The Syrian Observatory announced that ISIS destroyed the temple of Bel in Palmyra, Syria.


Aug. 2015 - 4.5 million so far have fled Syria.

Mark Sperry

9/4/2015

