I want to ask you...
CLINTON: But let me just...
AMANPOUR: -- should you have tried harder...
 (LAUGHTER)
AMANPOUR: -- you were surrounded by the top national security people...
CLINTON: Right. Right.
AMANPOUR: -- on a mission to stop terrorism.
CLINTON: Right.
AMANPOUR: Should you have pushed harder?
CLINTON: We pushed very hard. But as I say in my book, I believe that Harry Truman was right, the buck stops with the president. And the president had very legitimate concerns. And, you know, Robert Ford, as I mentioned earlier, was an exemplary ambassador. He did just an extraordinary job until we had to pull him out because of the danger. And I think in some of his interviews even with you, he said the State Department was pushing, pushing...
AMANPOUR: The State Department, correct.
CLINTON: -- pushing...
AMANPOUR: -- but he said nobody else...
CLINTON: That's right.
AMANPOUR: -- was listening. He said the White House wasn't listening.
CLINTON: Well, we -- we did, as I said, create a -- a proposal that both the CIA and the Department of Defense supported.
But I want to hasten to add...
AMANPOUR: Would you do that...
CLINTON: -- the reason...

AMANPOUR: -- would you do it in the future?
CLINTON: Of course. I would always...
AMANPOUR: Go back again?
CLINTON: -- speak out. I would always...
AMANPOUR: No, no, no.
CLINTON: -- speak out...

AMANPOUR: Go back again and, you know, arm and train?
CLINTON: Well, I said we should have done it, you know, two plus years ago. But I want to be very clear, these are difficult, hard choices if it was so self-evident that everybody should have done this, we wouldn't be sitting here talking about what we didn't do, but we might be talking about the consequences of what we did do.
So you have people making these choices with imperfect information, trying to figure out what they hope will happen, what might happen, how to guard against contingencies. So, clearly...
AMANPOUR: To be fair, though -- to be fair, your own husband, President Clinton, said a couple of years ago, the longer you leave it, the more space for the bad actors. And to be fair, many of your own officials who we've just talked about, plus U.N. officials, have been warning about this backlash for a long, long time.
CLINTON: Um-hmm. Yes.
AMANPOUR: And most people believed that this is precisely what would happen. If terrorism and stopping terrorism is America's fundamental national security prerogative...
CLINTON: Right.

AMANPOUR: -- was this a failure?
CLINTON: Well, I think it's too soon to tell. But let me just quickly add that originally, this was a rebellion by Syrians themselves. And it was clearly Assad's goal to turn it into a battle with terrorists. There weren't terrorists initially. And what has happened, partly because of the brutality of the Assad regime, and also the conflict -- the proxy conflict between Iran and others in the region, you had, unfortunately, money and equipment going to extremists. And so this problem was made much worse.

Now, if we had gone in earlier and tried to help the so-called moderates...
AMANPOUR: Right.
CLINTON: -- I'm not sure that it would have turned the tide. But I believed then that it was important for us to make clear that we were going to try to support them against Assad and also fill the vacuum that would be created in that territory.
AMANPOUR: Which we're witnessing right now.
CLINTON: Well, and we are...
AMANPOUR: I'm going to move forward...
CLINTON: -- we are witnessing right now, yes.

Amanpour didn't pop the question about Obama's red line and the gas attack in Ghouta, would Ms Clinton have bombed the Assad military assets and thus help the extremists to a victory in Syria?

U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford was to be appointed to Egypt, but this nation refused to accept this troubled ambassador.

Hariri Assassination,  Robert S. Ford as counsel to CPA in Baghdad  under John Negroponte - 2005

Free Syrian Army Defeated, US Entices Saudi Led Terror Group

Out of the main media, I repeatedly read that Free Syrian Army general Idriss has withdrawn to the Syrian-Turkish border. Searching for more news, it appears the FSA has lost the civil war, not defeated by Assad's Army but by terror groups funded by Saudi Arabia under command of Zahran Alloush. According to several jihadist commanders, "Zahran Alloush receives his orders directly from the Saudi Intelligence Chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan" and Liwaa al-Islam is Saudi Arabia's private army in Syria.

That the Obama administration is divided on Syria policy is clear, now more so as the Geneva II conference is planned for January 22 and there is no agreement as to the opposition delegation. I understand Ambassador Ford is talking to terrorist Zahran Alloush as to his conditions to participate in name of the opposition force in Geneva talks. How completely void of sound thinking by whoever send this envoy to negotiate with this enemy commander.

Rice and Kerry: War Inside the White House