Assad must go. Three short words — one protracted policy debate.

Back in the summer of 2011, those words, or their equivalent, became known among makers of U.S. Middle East policy as “the magic words” — words that President Obama, cautious about the consequences, had not yet decided to utter about Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.

For five months there was mounting domestic political pressure on Obama to do so, as the Arab Spring protests demanding greater freedom and an end to corruption spread, triggering a harsh crackdown.

Finally, on Aug. 18, then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said, “The transition to democracy in Syria has begun and it’s time for Assad to get out of the way.” Obama simply issued a statement: “For the sake of the Syrian people,” he said, “the time has come for President Assad to step aside.”

Read the article “‘Assad Must Go’ Rhetoric is a Huge Obstacle for Obama on Syria” on washingtonpost.com.