about the exit ramp from american involvement in syria, talking about our eagerness to get out, opens the door to this kind of activity. president trump has learned, as barack obama learned, withdrawing from syria, withdrawing from commitments in the middle east is not so easy. others immediately take advantage in brutal ways and trump now confronts this reality. and i think if he s smart, he will understand he needs to stay in these eastern areas of syria that we control with our allies, the syrian kurds for longer than he may have thought. ambassador ford, this is the same president who criticized barack obama for signaling his exit strategy from iraq and afghanistan, particularly iraq. so has he learned that lesson? and do you agree with john mccain and others, as david was just saying, that assad was