be some thinking at the top that this is not the way to go at a moment when this regime, the leader of this regime seems to be tottering. >> ben mentioned the military. i think part of the interesting aspect of all of this is when you look forward to -- we should say when this regime falls. it's the military that holds the cards, so they are going to be playing a political role. that's what the world is going to have to deal with. i mean, the military is going to be involved in the political leadership of this country going forward. it seems unavoidable at this stage, at least in the shorter term. >> what are the big questions you need answered in the next few hours to kind of get a sense of where things are going? >> i think we need to see if today is the day for us that will be a repeat or even worse