and as you mentioned in the intro there's really no end. we don't really know how much bigger this is going to get. a defense official who we spoke with today said this first 50 is going to go in and they're going to gauge what's possible. so thaj what that mea so imagine what naenz they're going to go in and say there's these groups and there's these groups. they're going to be looking initially at syrian kurds, syrian arabs and syrian turkmen to see which groups there will be the most likely capable partners for the u.s. that the u.s. will be able to support, whether it be with ammunition, logistics, tactics, even weapons that they can support them and that they would be able to go take the fight to isis. so when you consider it that way, this has almost limitless possibility for how big the u.s. role could get in an advising and assisting role in syria. >> nbc news national security producer courtney kube. courtney, thank you. i appreciate that very much. >> thank you. >> i will also say the white house, obviously they let josh