in other words, if assad goes, the entire place falls apart like leeb yeah. >> yes, and that's a threat. if al assad goes, what follows him? we're looking at the battle not of damascus. we're looking for a battle for damascus. it will ignite even more of a civil war that's there now. right now, damascus has been fairly peaceful, but all bets are off if bashar is forced out of power. notice where russians are putting that air base. it's in the northwestern corner of syria where his family is from. so it's quite clear that the russians are backing him right now. but i don't know how long that's going to last. >> yeah. there's some speculation that it that could essentially be a hiding place or safe haven for assad to go to. while he maybe could still be in power without actually yielding power? >> yeah. that's a good point. this area up there is probably -- is easily defended because it's surrounded by a mountain range.