Former defense secretary Leon Panetta reveals his differences with President Barack Obama over some key military decisions on Syria in a new memoir scheduled for release next week.

Panetta said that the president sent the world a "wrong message" when in August 2012 he suggested he would reconsider U.S. involvement in the Syrian civil war if sufficient evidence of chemical or biological weapons use by President Bashar Assad's regime is found.

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"That's a red line for us," the Huffington Post quoted Obama as saying.

By mid-2013, after Assad-sponsored biological and chemical weapons attack left hundreds of Syrian civilians dead, airstrikes against Assad remained at a standstill.

The Congress failed to pass a resolution that will send American forces to temper the conflict in the Middle East after Obama submitted the matter to the lawmakers.

According to Panetta, when the commander in chief draws a red line, it is critical that he takes action when the line is crossed.

Assad's use of chemical weapons was an open defiance against the president's warning and Obama's failure to enforce his own "red line" cost the U.S. its credibility, Panetta claimed.

In an interview with NBC News, Panetta said Obama's inaction in the Syrian civil war and his decision to pull out Iraqi troops have led to the rise of the Islamic State in the region.

The former defense secretary's harsh criticisms coincide with next week's release of his new book "Worthy Fights", in which he details his disagreements with Obama, including the president's indecisiveness in arming rebel troops fighting Assad's regime.

Earlier this year, two of Obama's former top foreign policy officials, Hillary Clinton and Robert M. Gates, wrote memoirs outlining their criticisms of the administration's lapses on key issues concerning the Middle East.

TagsLeon Panetta, War Conflict, politics, Assad family