Former President Barack Obama's first national security adviser ripped the Obama administration for making "a colossal mistake" in drawing a red line in Syria and then not following up on it.

"The failure to enforce the red line back in the previous administration was

a colossal mistake from a strategic standpoint," retired Gen. Jim Jones told CNN's "State of the Union."

The move ruined confidence in the U.S. in a very important part of the world, even if he doesn't "blame" Obama, Jones added.

"It was a mistake to draw a red line on a certain issue and then fail to follow up on it in any meaningful way, and that caused a lot of loss of confidence in the will of the United States in this very important part of the world," Jones told fill-in host Jim Sciutto. "I know of no part of the world that's more important from a security standpoint to us and to our friends in Europe and indirectly to the NATO alliance."

Jones suggested the Obama administration should have penalized Syrian President Bashar al Assad for crossing the line by forcing the set up of safe zones for refugees.

"At the very least, the penalty for Bashar al Assad for having used chemical weapons on his own people should have been the forfeit of a piece of his territory where refugees could have been handled and might have prevented the flow of refugees into Europe," Jones said.

Jones, who had been among those rumored to be considered to replace Gen. Michael Flynn, President Donald Trump's ousted national security adviser, said he has had his "tour in the barrel" and has "not had any contact with the administration."

"But I'd be very happy to offer any advice to anybody who — to the person that — does take the job, because it's so very important," he added.

". . . It's got to be someone who is a strategic thinker, got to be someone who understands that the coordination, the strategic coordination of the inner agency, is very important. And, above all, someone that can cause and resist the NSC [National Security Council] to get involved in the tactical operations around the world."