ryan crocker said, and i quote: >> what is your response. do you agree with them? >> these are options that are lying before. the obama administration refused to show leadership. there's two ugly and i think untenable choices. the assad regime or al qaeda. >> are you suggesting we missed the opportunity. the moderates at the beginning, there were foreign fighters from al qaeda joining their side. >> some of them joined the side. there was a moderate alternative. particularly the civil society, and the moderate elements within the military uprising that could have been strengthened and would not a radicalized with this. ryan crocker's op-ed represents a cynical and short-term untenable foreign policy. we are at this point because of the failure of obama's policy on syria. >> ryan crocker is talking about the realistic situation, and the reality is that yes, the opposition is infected with al qaeda, and should we get rid of assad, we are handing power to al qaeda. >> well, i mean that presupposes these are the only two options. i think that's third. rewarding someone

then you seeing ryan crocker saying maybe we should reengage with assad himself. >> counterterrorism and the rest. we are engaging. first of all, some of the rebels , some of the moderates are earning to extremist because you kill over 100,000 people in a war, and you have millions of refugees, you're going to create over a few years, a lot of extremist. the ground is shifting. syria is a classic situation where the enemy of our enemy is our enemy. that is not the way we're supposed to work. it is the way it works right now. i think although it is incredibly and artfully done, the u.s. lost a lot of leadership perception from its allies around the world and going to congress, and except in the putin deal, the fact is that of whereme of what -- the u.s. is right now, doing -- tively little >> they are destroying chemical weapons, are they not? >> i think they are. if you ask with a right to be killed by chemical weapons or conventional means, it is not clear to me. the country is not a country. the state has fallen apart. >> that is scary. >> of course it is scary. if he asked me whet

. >> people like ryan crocker are saying maybe we have to rethink our relationship with assad, because of diplomacy, because of the strength. >> this is an incredibly complex problem. there are lots of ideas. i think the best way is this is going to have to be a multinational solution. >> and does what russia and the united states offer the potential? >> that would be the best solution. let's take a look at this. what is happening to the region. that is politically, some discussion. what i worry about, we could find ourselves in a mess. the president has been clear. for him, the priorities are weapons of mass destruction, making sure they stay secure. and terrorism. all three of those could end up playing out in this scenario. even though the united states is working on energy independence, there is many of our allies that are so affected by the oil issue, it creates instability. >> that would lead to an interruption of energy sources and therefore a huge impact on power balance. >> and you know that terrorism goes to ungoverned regions. as more regions become ungoverned by this uncert

now you have former ambassador ryan crocker. maybe the better alternative. what is the self-evident way forward. there's no good guys in this fight. >> getting tangled up in the red line is not the greatest place to be. no one in the u.s. wants to be part of. >> they didn't cover themselves in glory in that sense. >> angered some allies, including israel and saudi arabia. >> one of the less discussed stories is the drift between the u.s. and saudi. this is the long-standing ally in the region, at least arab ally in the region, on syria, and iran. saudis are not happy right now. >> let's talk about iran. you know, it's hard to come to a firstly conclusion on whether this was a first deal. it's a temporary deal. 2014 will be the real make it or break it. the fact that united states reached a deal with iran, how much credited does iran get for that. >> huge. viewed against a long objective, some kind of final deal. the deal may seem prem stur. given down-right non-existent relations, now we this contact with american officials. big progress. the initiative may

. >> with respect, ryan crocker, a great diplomat, on the ground, believes the assad regime is getting stronger and it is important for the united states, his words, to reengage. >> what we will have to see is a geneva conference. yet all the parties, including the government of syria, at the table if possible, to talk about ways to resolve the violence and start a political process. it will be hard given the divisions in the opposition and the mistrust that comes out of such a violent, horrible couple of years now of violence. i think that is the next step. the next step is to attempt to sit down and see if a political process can be fleshed out. the view of the united states has been that the opposition should sit down with the government. our view has not been that the entire -- we would want to see the collapse of the institutions of the state. it is clear at the end of the day that assad cannot rule syria and cannot be ultimately part of a solution. >> meaning what? meaning the alawites who support him can be part of the solution, but he cannot be? ask it is a minority of a signif

>> rose: you have ryan crocker now saying-- former ambassador of iraq and syria-- reengage with assad. even though we said, you know he should leave, you don't necessarily have to withdraw that. you have to reengage. circumstances are different. and the nature of the opposition is different. >> i think it's very good advice and goes back to no victor no vanquish. we end to want to -- look, what assad has done is not just bad, it's despicable, okay? the people he's killed, his own country, the way he's destroyed it. but, you know, in this neighborhood it's hama rules. you know, they're -- >> rose: explain what hama rules are. >> well, it goes back to the city of hama, back in 1982 when i just arrived in beirut. he faced a challenge then from the equivalent of the al nusra front, islamic fundamentalists who tried to launch a revote out of the town of hama, the fourth largest in syria. he crushed it by leveling the town. i'm not speaking metaphorically here. i mean blowing up the buildings and steam rolling them. and that -- those are the local rules hachlt ma rules are no rules at all.

. >> but with respect, ryan crocker, a great dip blow malt on the ground believes that obviously the assad regime is getting stronger and that it's important for the united states, his words, reengage. >> well, i think what we'll have to see here is a geneva conference, right, and get all the parties, including the government of syria to the table if it's at all possible to talk about ways to reduce the violence and perhaps reach a cease-fire and start a political process. it's going to be very hard to do given the divisions in the opposition and mistrust that comes out of such a violent, horrible couple of years here now of violence. so but i think that's the next step, charlie. the next step is to attempt and secretary kerry is leading this effort, attempt to sit down and see if a political process can be launched. now the view of the united states has been obviously that the opposition should mx%it down with the government. and our view hasn't been that the entire, we want to see the collapse of the institutions of the state. but still it's very clear at the end of the day here th