CHRIS WALLACE (HOST): Bill, you heard General McMaster, the national security advisor at the top of the show, are you satisfied that this administration as a clear strategy for going forward in Syria? And particularly, the question I asked, which was is this just about chemical weapons, or is the president prepared to act if there's just by a conventional means, the slaughter of civilians?

BILL KRISTOL: I think they've at least done what they had to have done to lay the predicate for having a clear strategy. They haven’t worked it all out, but if he had not acted now, we would be in even worse shape than after President Obama didn't enforce his red line, with such a visible violation of international norms, and of what Syria had committed to when it allegedly got rid of all these chemical weapons. So, let them work out the strategy, I have a lot of confidence in H. R. McMaster. I do think when historians -- if the Trump administration ends up nondisastrously,  the replacement --

WALLACE: Nondisastrously?

KRISTOL: That's my standard for the Trump, yes.

[…]

KRISTOL: I'm hopeful it does, don't get me wrong. I'm hopeful it does. The replacement of Mike Flynn by H. R. McMaster as national security advisor can really be an important moment. Because from looking at it from the outside, what struck me, and I think you noted this too Chris, during the week, it seemed like this was a crisis and they handled it competently. You can agree or disagree, do they have a long-term strategy, who knows? But in terms of just the execution of this 72 hours: meetings, diplomacy and military stuff coordinated, keeping it secret, that was impressive. So that reassures you if you think the Trump White House so far has been a little bit of a chaotic place, you feel like H. R. McMaster has the national security side of it under control.

Previously:

Where Are The Media's Iraq War Boosters 10 Years Later?

Iraq War Architect Bill Kristol: Knowing What We Know Now, “We Were Right To Fight In Iraq”

Iraq War Architect Bill Kristol Urges Obama To Use Unilateral Military Action Against Islamic State