As word spread of Syria’s alleged used of chemical weapons on its own civilians, conservatives and political commentators were quick to point out that former President Obama had several opportunities to intervene and potentially save countless lives from poisonous gas attacks in the Middle East country. Tommy Vietor, National Security Council spokesperson during the Obama administration, tried to beat back claims that President Obama was unsuccessful in deterring Bashar al-Assad’s regime from killing his own people. But in doing so, Vietor ended up admitting that his old boss did not exactly leave Syria better off than when he found it.

It all started when commentators found an tweet of Vietor’s published on October 31, 2013. It praised the progress towards eliminating Syria’s chemical weapons as “remarkable.” The tweet linked to a New York Times article titled, “Syria Destroys Chemical Sites, Inspectors Say.” The article wrote, “Syria’s ability to produce chemical weapons has been destroyed and its remaining toxic armaments secured”….” President Bashar al-Assad has offered unexpectedly robust cooperation, at least so far, with a Russian United States accord to dismantle arsenal.”

Republicans and a very dumb columnist are resurfacing this tweet like it’s a gotcha. Shipping out 1300 metric tons of weapons-grade chemicals was a major development. Obviously they didn’t get it all. Chlorine wasn’t covered. Trump was handed a mess but also hasn’t deterred Assad — Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) April 8, 2018

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