Overlooking Syria News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Catalyst to get the political -- a political solution started again. a search for political -- and they're not mutually exclusive. we've seen it many, many times before. there was the old fight, talk strategy the north vietnamese, which worked tremendously well for them. they managed to take over vietnam as a result of it. in the best of circumstances, that's the result. but, of course, there's always danger that the result is going to be exactly the opposite. >> in the middle east, the united states is damned if it does, damned if it doesn't in almost every circumstance. you're right the to i...

Reports from our colleagues in damascus that they are moving some of their most precious equipment out of key locations and spreading it to, one would assume to be, hidden places. although there are many satellites now, u.s. and others, overlooking syria, so moving large amounts of equipment and personnel would be quite difficult. but the syrians, civilians, and the people, and the military are both getting ready, as is the region. the turks are also on alert. they've sent some extra troops to their border. the israelis are on alert. everyone is watching to see, not necessarily if the strikes ...

Attacks, which we can do. the real threat, one of the real threats, is that even if assad does not counterattack, use more chemical weapons, kill more civilians, in bigger and bigger numbers and all the rest of that stuff, if we have no positive effect on the long-term outcome in syria, despite what the president and secretary of state have said about the limited nature of the attacks, i think there's -- what credibility we do establish by making this attack, i think, gets eroded over time. >> but it felt to me that part of what the president said, initially, when he came to power was, no unil...

Compunction about using them again, against his neighbors and against his own people. >> it is that reminder soft bush administration's false claim of wmds in iraq that led this country into a decade of war that is front and center in american's minds right now when we hear this administration make its case against syria. and it's a sentiment that the secretary of state, john kerry, and his boss are both very well aware of. >> our intelligence community has carefully reviewed and re-reviewed information regarding this attack. and i will tell you, it has done so more than mindful of the iraq ex...

Casualties in this next period. so we really don't know how this is going to play out. either bashar al assad will turn himself into a turtle, he'll go down into the bunkers, he'll ride this out, or he'll use this as an opportunity to launch a major counteroffensive against the rebels who want to use this time to gain momentum. >> thank you to richard engel for joining us from near the turkish border with syria. greatly appreciate your time this morning. and here in the studio, to help us sort through many of the complexities of action in syria are colonel jack jacobson, msnbc military analyst...