“The Syria plan has been confusing at best over the last two years,” he said. “Last week it was more confusing to the American people and more confusing to members of Congress about our national security interests. The president couldn’t quite close that deal, so that indecisiveness gave the diplomatic advantage to the Russians. They saw it, they stepped in. This is a Russian plan for Russian interests.”

Crowley interrupted there.

“Who cares? If it has a chance to get rid of chemical weapons, do we really care that Russia got the diplomatic edge?” she asked.

“If it were just that, that’s true,” Rogers said. ‘But if the president believes, like I do, that a credible military force helps you get a diplomat solution, they gave that away in this deal. I’m really concerned about that.”