Crocker, whose residence was besieged by a mob when he was ambassador to Syria in the late 1990s, suggested that the US lacks sufficient information about the opposition even after a conference in Qatar brought together various factions to form a new group, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces.
“You have to be on the ground as we were in Libya, influencing and analyzing” the rebel forces, he said. “I’m not sure we have a clear address to pursue a policy of coordinated … assistance.”
“I would like to find more ways to get [US] diplomats into Syria,” Crocker said.
Crocker defended the two US military officers with whom he worked closely in Iraq and Afghanistan, respectively – David Petraeus, who stepped down last week as CIA director, and Gen. John Allen, commander of allied forces in Afghanistan. Both are embroiled in a scandal over emails to women and in Petraeus’s case, a secret affair with his biographer.
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“You have to be on the ground as we were in Libya, influencing and analyzing” the rebel forces, he said. “I’m not sure we have a clear address to pursue a policy of coordinated … assistance.”
“I would like to find more ways to get [US] diplomats into Syria,” Crocker said.
Crocker defended the two US military officers with whom he worked closely in Iraq and Afghanistan, respectively – David Petraeus, who stepped down last week as CIA director, and Gen. John Allen, commander of allied forces in Afghanistan. Both are embroiled in a scandal over emails to women and in Petraeus’s case, a secret affair with his biographer.
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