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Former CIA deputy director: I want to scare Bashar al-Assad

Morell on Syria
Morell: We need to make Iran, Russia "pay a price" in Syria 00:53

Michael Morell, former deputy director of the CIA, suggested on Monday that the United States should support more aggressive action by Syrian rebels in the civil war.

"When we were in Iraq, the Iranians were giving weapons to the Shi'a militia, who were killing American soldiers," Morell told "CBS This Morning" co-host Charlie Rose.

Leon Panetta talks Syria and the next U.S. president 05:26

"The Iranians were making us pay a price. We need to make the Iranians pay a price in Syria. We need to make the Russians pay a price."

He went on to explain making them "pay the price" would mean killing Russians and Iranians, and said he wants to make Syrian president Bashar al-Assad uncomfortable.

"I want to go after those things that Assad sees as his personal power base. I want to scare Assad."

See the rest of Rose's interview with Morell Monday night on the "Charlie Rose Show" on PBS.

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