US remains opposed to military intervention in Syria

>>> u.s. in an act of unified outrage over a weekend massacre in syria . the top human rights body will hold a special session on friday to address the deaths. russia and china have voiced opposition to military action .

>> we do not believe that militarization to the situation in syria is the right course of action. we believe it would lead to greater chaos.

>> joining me now is correspondent mick. what type of military intervention could we see?

>> you know that's really a tough one. it's impossible to say today what kind of military actions would be needed. because what would the conditions be on the ground at the time? what would the president be asking of the military? would it be assisting humanitarian relief or war. unlike libya where you have france and british clamoring to invade libya . you are not hearing any of that from our allies in the persian gulf region or middle east or europe. it is just not on the table. a few months ago when the white house asks for an assessment. if we were to launch a military operation what would it look like? the chairman of the chief of staff said there are no good military options in syria right now. so the president stopped short of asking for any military planning or military options. again, it's just not on the table for now.

>> mick, thanks so much. we want to bring in ambassador mark ensburg and current advisor. right out of the gate what do you think in your estimation would be the tipping point to get something done with what is going on in syria so there are no more innocent lives lost.

>> thomas, it is not going to be military boots on the ground . i think the administration has clearly ruled it out. i wrote a long piece today that lays out a nine-point program to turn the screws further against the syrian government by the united states . that includes kwablack listing companies that are air lifting from russia . as long as russia continues to provide arms to the syrian government the killings are going to continue and shaming the russians out of doing so while they claim to be supporting the peace plan should be our diplomacy effort right now.

>> mitt romney has criticized the president for not taking a leadership role in syria .

>> the world looks to america to lead. and we have been sitting in the back burner hoping things would become arrangeled in a way that was attractive to the world. what is happening in syria is unacceptable. i think they continue with a posture of leading from behind.

>> the white house did expel syrian diplomats. is it fair to say the obama administration is headitasitant to take a leadership role?

>> you are not going to get me to agree with mitt romney on his foreign policy . it has been pulling back when the turks and arab league wanted to take a more active role because the administration feared it would be pulled into a turkish arab league . the bottom line is the administration should give the green light to the turks and arab league to proceed. if americans are reluctant to do so so be it. sitting from the sidelines and sending shots at the president alone isn't going to solve the problem.

>> we look at libya as an example. we intervened there. how is this different in.

>> there was a much more organized opposition in libya . there wasn't the fear that libya would explode across the whole region the whole it is possibly in syria . and number three, it's one thing when you had a u.n. security council resolution. you just don't have that. again, thomas, we really could be doing more to provide covert legal assistance to the syrian army at this point.

>> nice to see you this morning. thanks for your insights.