Former President Bill Clinton told CNN he agrees with President Barack Obama 's decision to authorize airstrikes against the terrorist group ISIS and arm Syrian rebels working to defeat them . During a panel hosted by CNN 's Erin Burnett at the Clinton Global Initiative on Wednesday , the former president unequivocally said , `` I support what they ( the Obama administration ) are doing . '' `` I personally believe the way they have thought this through and planned it and limited our involvement , avoids ISIS achieving their objective of suckering us into their fight , '' Clinton said of the airstrikes . `` We should give support for people who are fighting for their lives . '' On arming Syrian rebels , the former president said the administration has `` reached the judgment that it is ... worth the gamble , I think , to try to make it work . '' Join the conversation with Bing Pulse . Clinton and his wife , former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , have not always been as supportive of the Obama administration 's policy regarding Syria . As America 's top diplomat , Hillary Clinton urged the president to arm Syrian rebels and made clear that she disagreed with Obama 's decision not to arm them in her much-talked-about memoir . Earlier this week , Bill Clinton echoed his wife . `` I agree with her , and I would have taken the chance , '' the former president told CNN 's Fareed Zakaria on Sunday . But on Wednesday , the former president was supportive of Obama 's new position on Syria . `` Any time you do anything , it might not work . We do n't have 100 percent control , '' Clinton said . `` You just make a judgment over whether it is more likely than not to work . The President has made that judgment to arm the Syrians who want an inclusive Syria . '' Hillary Clinton , too , was supportive of Obama 's decision Wednesday . `` The situation now is demanding a response and we are seeing a very robust response , '' Hillary Clinton said during a panel with CNN 's Dr. Sanjay Gupta . `` It is something that I think the president is right to bring the world attention to and say . '' The United States and a coalition of member countries conducted their second day of airstrikes in Syria and Iraq overnight on Tuesday . While the strikes , which were authorized by Obama last week , are targeting ISIS members in both countries , they are not limited to the terrorist group that has risen to prominence in the last year . Bill Clinton : America has 'bought the NRA 's theory ' Also targeted were members of the Khorasan group , a new terrorist organization that the United States government says is a collection of al Qaeda members who have moved into Syria . Bill Clinton told Burnett that although the group is made up of core al Qaeda members , the United States is not fighting the same terrorists they fought after the terrorist attacks of September 11 , 2001 . `` Some of them survived , '' Clinton said . `` Nobody said we had a 100 percent kill rate on that . '' Bill Clinton 's full interview with Burnett aired Wednesday night at 9 p.m . ET on CNN . Bill Clinton expects 'an extended involvement ' in Syria , but no land war .
The former president says he supports the Obama administration 's actions in Syria . Clinton has not always been as supportive of the administration 's policy regarding Syria . Hillary Clinton , too , was supportive of Obama 's decision on Wednesday .