government -- the government's not the only player in this region. you have different parties, you have different factions, you have different ideology. you have everything in it, you have to expect that. >> we'd like to know more, the american people would like to know if there's an attack, you know, what might be the repercussions and who might be engaged in those repercussions. >> before the event of september, in my discussions with the united states and our congress, i used to say that don't deal with the terrorists and playing games. a different story. we're going to pay the price if you're not wise. >> let's bring in cnn pentagon correspondent chris lawrence. jason johnson, our political analyst, said that sure sounds like a threat. like bashar al assad is taunting president obama and the united states. >> reporter: it wasn't exactly subtle, carol. you know, alluding to the fact that chemical weapons may be