i'm nowjoined from princeton by ryan crocker, the former us ambassador to syria.n the studio is ruth citrin, director of the middle east and north africa programme at the european council of foreign relations. she spent 15 years in the white house, most recently as director for syria and lebanon at the national security council. it's great to have you both here tonight. rught, do you accept that assad has been all but named won this war? thank you. let me start with some truth in advertising. i was 15 years, more than 15 years with the us department of state. i served as director for the national security council. but doing 15 years in the white house would have me crossing multiple administrations, so i am a long—time civil servant. the point about russia and the strikes that we currently see is, in essence, that you have multiple conflicts still ongoing inside syria. those strikes against hospitals are really the regime going after what it terms "terrorists", in areas that are essentially in de—escalation zones agreed upon by the russians, turks, and iranians, w

maliki was not the easiest individuals to work with but by god we did together and ryan crocker and others. so again a very, very important achievement here and he gets elected. he's the president sadly for only a few years. >> e. diaz in a plane accident tragically. >> by the way the aircraft is being piloted by the chief of staff of the air force as i recall the guy who knew fighters really well. of course we talked about pat kelly and what transpired there. how does he end up over in vietnam? >> he have this single success in the philippines where he in fact basically masterminded the hook rebellion. he was all this with the flavor of the month and eisenhower demonstrations and became allen dulles the cia director and ron who masterminded the election. then in 1954 you have the situation where the french were being seated. there is a geneva conference with the north under communist control and the question was how would you have a viable non-communist state in south vietnam and basically the consensus within the eisenhower demonstrations was okay we don't want to send of a lot of americ

and i'll just cite ryan crocker who is one of my great teachers on the matter of iraq. it's just a fact of life and there is the religious tourism, there's a lot. but there's also a legacy of a bitter war, there's the arab/persian divide. we need to be a little more sophisticated about our understanding of the iran/iraq relationship. and, you know, historically the u.s. role in the region has either inflamed or made use of that kind of tension in the counterweight issue. my only real add crowe video casey is that the u.s. not turn its back, walk away from iraq and seed the playing field to iran. that would not serve the u.s. interests and we're in danger of that as we turn our attention to other challenges around the world. >> mike there are was a direct question to you and then of course chime in on some of the other issues. >> the interesting thing about your last comment, that's exactly what the fattah party is asking for is for the u.s. to get out. not to turn its back but to exit and that's an issue. so let's go back to your question were nine months from now abadi

and i what you site ryan crocker who is one of my great teachers on the matter of iraq. it's just a fact of life and there is a religious tourism. there's also the legacy of the bitter war. there's the air of persian divide. we need to be a little more sophisticated about our understanding of the iran-iraq relationship. and historically the u.s. role in the region as either inflamed or made use of that kind attention in a counterweight issue. my only real advocacy is that the u.s. not turn its back come walk away from iraq and see the playing field entirely to iran. that would not serve u.s. national security interests, and were frankly and very much in danger of that as we turn our attention to other challenges around the world. >> mike, there was a question to you and then of course chiming on the other issues. >> your last comment, that's exactly what the party was asking for is for the use to get out, not to turn its back but to exit and then that's an issue. let's go back to your question, general. nine months from now a body wins. i would just say -- i thought you

>> read the interview with ambassador ryan crocker and others about the rivalry between iran and saudiullah, in particular, felt that we were actively working against saudi national security interests. >> to destabilize the onighborhood... >> connect to the ine community on facebook and twitter, and if stories like this matter to you, then sign up for our newsletter at pbs.org/frontline. >> frontline is made possible by contributions to your pbsio stfrom viewers like you. thank you. major support is provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to buildina more just, verdant and peaceful world. additional support is provided by the ford foundation: working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. the park foundation, ded to heightening public awareness of critical issu. the john and helen glessner family trust. supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. and by the froline journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. major support for frontline and for "bitter rivals" was provided by the corporation f