last week when it turned about and said there was no role for bashar al assad in the future of syria. now they re beginning to take a softer tone. but this comes in the critical week, the most important meeting that the trump administration has had with a foreign official and that s with the russians. this was a government with which they talked about bettering relations, resetting relations and getting together particularly on the issue of syria. now they are deeply divided. i think tillerson was trying to indicate we want to find kmn ground, some way to end the fighting. i think he softened his language a little over last week. i think the administration is now taking a very tough line and know its can t flip flop yet again and go back to accepting offset as part of a political transition. nikki haley also warning more could be done and probably will be done suggesting more military action. is that realistic? i think it s very realistic. at this point we ve already seen the russi
involved in a raging civil war halfway around the world? how long will we be there? what are our goals and who are we supporting? did the president do the right thing ordering the launching of those tomahawk cruise missiles? i don t know because i don t know what the purpose of that strike was. the base was up and running a day after those cruise missiles landed. we also don t know if they re trying to take out assad or they re okay with having him in power. we don t know the long-term strategy. keep in mind we have u.s. ground forces there trying to take out isis. those ground forces had to reduce their operations because they don t know if assad is now going to attack them. so we have a lot of strategic ini out of the white house. the administration and the president, those tomahawk cruise missiles were launched, 59 of them, because of the bashar al assad regime used chemical
i think if you lock at who is not with us, that s a pretty small group. president trump has spoken out, tensively about bashar al assad and syria. does the president consider a war criminal and does he believe assad should appear before the icc. i think right now the focus is two-fold. one is defeating isis and second is creating a political environment for the syrian people to have a new leadership there. i don t think there s i can t imagine a stable and peaceful syria where bashar al assad is in power. we all recognize that that happens and there can be a multipronged approach and isis is contained and there s a
qaeda, defense secretary jim mattis warned not to ignore iran. at the time when i spoke about iran, i was the commander of u.s. central command and that was the primary exporter of terrorism, frankly. it was primary state sponsor of terrorism and it continues that kind of behavior today. reporter: last week the u.s. says george h.w. bush arrived in the persian gulf to begin air strikes against isis and to keep an eye on iran. on capitol hill the head of u.s. central command said iran represents the greatest threat to the region, operating in a gray zone just short of open conflict. i think we need to look at opportunities where we can disrupt through military means or other means their activities. general votel says iran s behavior has gotten worse when a nuclear deal was reached during the obama administration. test-fired more ballistic missiles iran and russia continue to work together in syria to keep president bashar al assad in power.
qaeda, defense secretary jim mattis warned not to ignore iran. at the time when i spoke about iran, i was the commander of u.s. central command and that was the primary exporter of terrorism, frankly. it was primary state sponsor of terrorism and it continues that kind of behavior today. reporter: last week the u.s. says george h.w. bush arrived in the persian gulf to begin air strikes against isis and to keep an eye on iran. on capitol hill the head of u.s. central command said iran represents the greatest threat to the region, operating in a gray zone just short of open conflict. i think we need to look at opportunities where we can disrupt through military means or other means their activities. general votel says iran s behavior has gotten worse when a nuclear deal was reached during the obama administration. test-fired more ballistic missiles iran and russia continue to work together in syria to keep president bashar al assad in power.