is a place where we can defeat iran, this is effectively much less important than iran's nuclear weapons program. and i'll tell you something right now. if the president doesn't act with massive force in syria, if it is just a slap on the wrist to the assad regime, which many are predicting, i think the lesson iran draws from that we better get our nuclear weapons capability immediately because then we will be immune to an american slap on the wrist. on the other hand, if the president does use massive force to change the balance of forces within syria itself, it could well result in the opposition taking power, which i don't think is in america's interest either. that's why i stress i don't think the president knows his own mind. i don't think he knows what his strategy is. i think that's what all of the agonizing is about. >> very interesting. you paint such different scenarios there. and i'll change topics just slightly because i want to ask your opinion about this.