execute. >> hillary, hang on. i want to get heather in here. i raised it a minute ago. given how difficult and complex this situation is and given how limited the operation would be if the operation takes place, what happens if it really doesn't change the equation at all, if it doesn't change assad's thinking? what happens then? >> we've been pretty explicit that it's not going to change the situation in the near term. in another way, it already has changed the equation. for example, assad isn't using the phone to talk to his generals anymore. the whole way they were conducting themselves, they now know we can hear. so the day-to-day operations have changed. the last week they've been spending time moving prisoners around, moving equipment around, moving weapons around. assad's comfort level with how he can behave in his own country will never be the same. at one level, we have already changed things on the ground. second, and i think the american people need to know this and it needs to be an important part of the conversation, because syria is so difficult, because the