MSNBC "The Ed Show" - Transcript: Iraq and Syria

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SCHULTZ: Joining us tonight here on the Ed Show Congressman John Garamendi of Californian who sits on the House Armed Services Committee. Congressman, your reaction to the president`s comment yesterday about not having a strategy or plan for Syria.

REP. JOHN GARAMENDI, (D) CALIFORNIA: Well, the Syria situation is developing, and if we need to make sure that we have allies working with us. The president will be meeting with NATO next week. We know that Kerry is headed to the Middle East to try to rally support there.

We have to have other nations in place, and when that comes together with the military which is now assessing the various options that they have available to them, then there will be a strategy. And the president was being honest that at this point, the strategy is being developed, it is not yet in place. And there`s one other factor that`s really important, and that is that the War Powers Act is operating, and congress is going to have to deal with this issue, yes or no.

And so the president needs to makes sure that whatever the international diplomatic program is, together with the military program, coincides with a congressional authorization. So, yes it is a strategy in development, it is not yet in place. The president is being honest which is what we ought to have from a president.

SCHULTZ: So, you`re not troubled at all by the president`s wording or phrasing of the situation right now and you don`t think that that damages his position on foreign policy at all?

GARAMENDI: Well, if one word -- to really understand what is actually happening, what the White House, what the Pentagon, what the secretary of state, all of those people are doing, we are in the process of developing a strategy. We know that we cannot do this alone. We know that we don`t want American boots on the ground which means there`s going to have to be somebody else`s boots, and that is Iraq, quite possibly Turkey is going to get involve, and certainly we know the Kurds are involved.

So, that`s the process that`s underway. Yeah, I put my foot in my mouth many times and the president probably wishes he`d have that word back too. But the reality is quite different that what other people want to make of it. And as I`ve said before, if the president would have Cheerios in the morning he`d be condemn for not having Wheaties.

SCHULTZ: Yeah. Well, the president, some are thinking that he is overly cautious on this issue, maybe even not prepared. But your thoughts, I mean, are we being too cautious here? I mean, there are public executions that are taking place with ISIS. Obviously, the air strikes have been intensified, but when he says he doesn`t have a strategy yet, it sounds like he`s winging it.

And I don`t know -- you`re the -- seriously, Congressman you`re the first Democrat that I`ve heard come out in some sorts defend the president for the way he`s positioned this and explaining that there`s a lot of players at this table.

GARAMENDI: Well, I think it`s easy enough to take shots at anybody. And certainly the president being the highest on the pinnacle, people could shoots at him, but that`s not going to solve this problem. This is a very complex situation, certainly a political situation. He is going to have to come to congress with a strategy, with a plan for Iraq, quite possibly for Syria.

That takes a lot of time and effort to understand the politics of congress, and you need to make sure that your military can carry it out. We are in the process, it`s been said we`re in the process of determining through our intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance assets, what is on the ground in Syria, where is ISIS, what are their assets? All of those things need to be known, Ed. And we need the diplomatic piece of it.

This other weekend, last week, and I was with an old rancher up in a ranch, and he was saying, "You got to be careful, John. You know you want a -- got a rattle snake out there. You sure as heck don`t want to step it`s his tail. He`ll come around and bite you." You got to be sure you can get at the head of this snake, and that`s what the president`s in the process is doing.

Sure, he should have used a different word, but the reality is quite, quite different here. We do know that the air strikes have contained and have slowed ISIS quite possibly, not possibly, clearly pushed ISIS back to Mosul Dam, and from (inaudible) and dealt with those folks that are on the mountain. So, there has been actual action taken, a strategy in place to give the Iraqi government time to reform, time to get a new Prime Minister in place. That was a strategic...

SCHULTZ: OK.

GARAMENDI: ... implementation of a program that has stabilized the situation. And now we need to take the next step. Thank you, Ed, but we can make progress here.

SCHULTZ: All right. OK. Congressman John Garamendi of California with us tonight, I appreciate your time, John. Thanks so much.

GARAMENDI: Sure.

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