The credibility of the United States was damaged when President Barack Obama failed to back up the his threat over a "red line" over Syria's use of chemical weapons, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Katie Couric in an interview with Yahoo News.
According to the interview, Panetta said that the threat to use military force to stop Syrian president Bashar al-Assad from using chemical weapons on Syrians was the right move for the president, but when he failed to follow through, the United States was looked down upon on the international stage.
"...it was important for us to stand by our word and go in and do what a commander in chief should do," Panetta said