Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Wednesday said she agrees with President Donald Trump's descriptions of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syria, but also said she is concerned there is "no strategy" to deal with last weekend's suspected chemical attack on a rebel-held Damascus suburb.
"Well, I have to say I agree with him in his description of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin," Albright told CNN's "New Day" co-host Chris Cuomo.
"There is no question that he has been culpable in this. But the thing that I'm concerned about is as far as I can tell, there is no strategy. It is one thing to take action on this particular really egregious issue on the chemical attack. But I think we need a strategy of some kind."
The United States is facing a "very serious situation," she added, "but at least the president has recognized that Putin is not a friend. He is somebody that has very different plans for the Middle East and generally in terms of what he's doing in undermining democracy in various parts of the world."
In a pair of early morning tweets Wednesday, Trump warned Russia to "get ready" after Moscow vowed to shoot down any and all missiles filed at Syria.
However, Albright took Trump to task as well, saying she agrees with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the president "emboldened" Syrian President Bashar Assad to target rebels, including women and children, in a chemical weapons attack that killed dozens.
"He showed his hand last week when he said we were pulling out," said Albright, who served under President Bill Clinton.
"I agree with Sen. John McCain who said that [he] emboldened what Assad was doing. He did show his hand on saying that we were pulling out."
Later in the morning, Albright complained to MSNBC's "Morning Joe" about Trump's use of his Twitter account to address Syria.
"I do think that it is very important to understand what the Russians are doing in Syria," she told MSNBC. "I do think that there needs to be some kind of a plan, not kind of one offs. You do not have tweets about something that is this serious. And that is what worries me.
"There have been crises before. They were dealt with by resolve and worked on by diplomats that knew what they were doing and not just tweeting. We cannot afford this. This is a dangerous situation."
She also noted on CNN that there are attempts to take action for the attacks through the United Nations, but she warned that there is "nobody better at understanding the resolutions of the United States than Sergey Lavrov, the foreign minister."
Albright also said she hopes the Trump administration is looking at something other than an United Nations action, "because something has to be done."
She also said she regrets that former President Barack Obama did not take further action after his "red line" on chemical weapons was crossed, but he "was trying to stay within the law and went to congress to get support."
The United States must also find countries it can work with to answer the chemical attack, as "Russia has given cover to Assad for doing illegal things," Albright said. "Assad has committed an international crime by killing his own people."
Albright also discussed the current situation with the State Department, telling Cuomo she is "very depressed about it."
"I loved being the head of it and our diplomats are the most remarkable people who are loyal Americans, hardworking public servants," Albright said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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