>> so david, i'll let you take it to bret. i think people sometimes really can't make sense of the fact we might try and keep parts of syria's government in tact or keep isad there. >> we want to make sure that the principal is in tact. they met in saudi arabia last week and agreed we need to keep the institutions in tact. there's no future for syria and ending the war in syria unless they lead to the end of isad. they're trying to work on what a consensus of what it would look like. we deescalate the conflict between the opposition and regime in order to free up