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Hillary Clinton notes distance from Obama on Syria rebels | Reuters

Potential Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton pointed out her differences with President Barack Obama on Tuesday over his decision not to arm moderate Syrian rebels, as neighboring Iraq struggles to cope with extremist spillover from Syria.

"We pushed very hard. But as I say in my book, I believe that Harry Truman was right, the buck stops with the president," Clinton said in a CNN interview.

The former secretary of state said she, along with the then heads of the Pentagon and CIA tried but failed to persuade Obama to arm the rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but that the White House resisted.

Clinton said it was not clear whether arming moderates in Syria would have prevented the rise of the al Qaeda splinter group, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which has swept toward Baghdad aiming to build a Muslim caliphate across the Iraqi-Syrian border.

"It's very difficult, in retrospect, to say that would have prevented this," she said. She said it is too soon to tell whether American policy in Syria was a failure.

The former secretary of state, senator and first lady has been offering views that differ from Obama's on foreign policy in recent months, including on issues such as Iran's nuclear program and dealings with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

オバマ大統領がシリア反体制派への武器支援拒否、ヒラリー氏述懐 | Reuters

２０１６年米大統領選に出馬するかどうかが注目されているヒラリー・クリントン前国務長官は１７日、シリア反体制派に武器供与しなかったオバマ大統領と意見の相違があったと語った。隣国イラクでは、シリアから越境したイスラム過激派が攻勢を強めている。

クリントン氏はＣＮＮとのインタビューで、「（オバマ大統領に）かなり激しくプッシュした。でも、著書で述べたように、ハリー・トルーマン（元大統領）は正しかった。最後は大統領の責任だ」と説明。

当時、国防長官や中央情報局（ＣＩＡ）長官と共に、アサド大統領側と内戦を続ける反体制派に武器を供与するようオバマ大統領の説得を試みたが、受け入れられなかったという。

クリントン氏は、シリアの穏健派に武器を提供することが、現在イラクの首都バグダッドへ進軍するアルカイダ系の過激派組織「イラク・レバントのイスラム国（ＩＳＩＬ）」の拡大阻止につながったかどうかは定かではないとも指摘。また、米国の対シリア政策についての成否を判断するのは時期尚早だと述べた。