“We failed,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said of the Barack Obama administration’s approach to Syria. “Not for want of trying, but we failed.”

A slew of Obama veterans who now fill the ranks of President Joe Biden’s foreign policy team say they got it wrong in Syria, where a decade of fighting has killed hundreds of thousands of people, spawned a new generation of extremist groups and caused the biggest displacement crisis since World War II. In the years since Obama’s “red line” debacle, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has only tightened his two-decade grip on power, clawing back much of the country using a mix of barrel bombs, chemical weapons and siege warfare with the help of his foreign sponsors, Iran and Russia.

Nearly two months into Biden’s tenure, it remains to be seen where the ruinous civil war that confounded his predecessors and still haunts his trusted aides — and on Monday marked its 10th anniversary — fits among his foreign policy priorities.

Early indications suggest the Middle East country is on the back burner, with the civil war in Yemen, the US mission in Afghanistan and nuclear diplomacy with Iran diverting attention. In his first foreign policy speech since taking office, Biden made no mention of Syria. Nor did Blinken.