in defense of the national security council and the process, it was circumvented in the bush administration. there were not these kinds of robust debates where the president was making very significant decisions. i think the fact that there was a robust debate agreement and disagreement within the national security council, that serves the president as you would expect him to, and obviously they have had difficulty managing the coherence of the narrative surrounding that narrow process. >> two questions, generally action to the president's comments, and then what do you see as the most likely outcome of any u.s. strike on syria and to syria? >> first of all, i think that we have to respect the president's decision to go to the representatives of the people to get authorization for the strike, which is something that the syrian people -- this is the very thing they have been fighting for.