Page 28 - Colonel Jack News Today

And dead at this point. >> pete williams keeping us honest for us. well come back to you in just a minute. colonel jack jacobs is standing by for me for msnbc military analyst and medal of honor recipient as well. colonel jack, you are quite familiar with washington, d.c. and also somewhat familiar with the navy yard as well. i was talking to a woman on the plane ride down here and her question probably the same question a lot of folks have when you talk about military installations, especially ...

Theyre going to be -- theyre not going to be ready later on whether its a week from now or two months from now. you can argue about whether or not its a good idea. you can argue about the way in which this whole thing is evolved. the military is ready to do what it needs to do. >> all right. patrick, on friday, secretary kerry made the case for immediate action against syria and of course yesterday the president called for congress to debate the issue. how does this affect secretary kerry? >> i ...

>> good point. colonel jack jacobs, jim miklaszews miklaszewski, thank you both so much. that does it for this special coverage this hour. craig melvin is up next with more on the presidents statement today with the session regard syria. thank you very much. yep, everybody knows that. well, did you know some owls arent that wise? dont forget im having brunch with meghan tomorrow. who? meghan, my coworker. who? seriously? youve met her like three times. who? (sighs) geico. fifteen minutes could s...

We are prepared to strike whenever we choose. moreover, the chairman has indicated to me that our capacity to execute this mission is not time sensitive. it will be effective tomorrow, or next week, or one month from now. and im prepared to give that order. >> joining us now, nbc news pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski and msnbc analyst colonel jack jacobs. i know that martin dempsey does not want to go, and is probably relieved at this delay. but you have five warships and the rest of what...

Involved. to israel, turkey, jordan, saudis that have been financing the operation over and over, and their agenda is different from us. they are supporting us, but their agenda is to have an islamist country, sunni majority. our agenda is democracy and more inclusiveness in syria. in a post assad era. >> colonel, how do you think the president should go about trying to gain support for military action over the next week or two? >> i think hes probably going to get it. there will be a lot of bac...

We cannot lead alone. if our strategy is to hit-and-run away, it doesnt work. >> if part of the strategy is to essentially punish bashir al assad for violating international norms, how can we not act? >> look, you can punish assad. but the end game for syria, we need to think in the long run. we cannot punish assad here and there and not think about what will happen to this country in the aftermath of assad. because you know what? you will leave affiliated with al qaeda that will take over, and ...

So its likely that we could see a temporary decrease in the number of five guided missile destroyers in the eastern med now, down to what had been a long-term two destroyer patrol for some time there in the vicinity of syria. and as far as general dempsey goes, he was unaware of the presidents decision until he showed up at the white house today. and as you mentioned, he is probably very relieved because, you know, he has all sorts of reservations about military action in syria. and now military...

Andrea. >> and i wanted to play a little of john kerry yesterday where he talks about the credibility of the u.s. being on the line. lets watch. >> it is directly related to credibility and whether countries still believe the united states when it says something. they are watching to see if syria can get away with it, because then maybe they too can put the world at greater risk. >> colonel jack, was the red line that the president laid out more than a year ago a mistake? was it a mistake to dia...

His words yesterday juxtaposed against the presidents today. colonel jack jacobs. medal of honor recipient. and our msnbc contributor and journalist. jack, let me start with you. there you had john kerry making that compelling, impassioned case, moral case, if you will, for war. and then you have the president today essentially saying, ok, lets wait on that. did the president hang john kerry out to dry at all? >> i think so. the whole sequence of events was astonishing, even surreal. that was pr...

Thing to do, you know, thats a vote i will have to take. you know, its a difficult decision, obviously. and i want to support the president if possible. but i also have to make the decisions that i think are in the best interest of my constituents and the country. >> congressman, finally, if you decide to vote against it, and if it loses, should the president then do it without congressional approval, which white house officials have told us tonight he would do? >> thats possible. that would mak...