Clinton backs Clinton on Syria, defends Obama

Former president Bill Clinton — Democratic predecessor of President Obama and husband of potential 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton — seems to be seeking a fine political line on the Syria question.

The former president says he supported ex-secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she backed the arming of Syrian rebels two years ago, but also understands why President Obama held off.

"I agree with her and I would have taken the chance," Bill Clinton said on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS. "I also agree with her when she said we can't know whether it would have worked or not."

He added: "And that's why you have to be careful when you make these commitments, because you can't know."

Obviously, Clinton is going to support his wife as she ponders a 2016 race for the presidency. He also has little interest in a public breach with Obama, the Democratic incumbent president.

Both Clintons and Obama are scheduled to get together Tuesday in New York City, as the president speaks at a meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative.

In the CNN interview, Clinton noted that, in addition to Hillary Clinton, then-Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and then-CIA Director David Petraeus also supported arming Syrian rebels.

The former president then pointed out Obama's concern that U.S. weapons could fall into the wrong hands.

Obama's new counterterrorism strategy does call for training and arming Syria rebels in the battle against the Islamic State, which has taken over parts of that country and neighboring Iraq.

Long-time Obama adviser David Axelrod, speaking Monday on MSNBC's Morning Joe, pointed out that Bill Clinton has no choice but to back Hillary Clinton's views. Otherwise, Axelrod said, the story would be that the ex-president disagreed with his wife, and "he's not going to do that."

Bill Clinton told CNN that, when she was at the State Department, Hillary Clinton lost the Syria argument.

"She admitted then and acknowledged in her book that she can't know that if her recommendation had been followed, it would have worked," said Bill Clinton. "That's one of those things you can't know ... that's why all of these decisions are hard."