russia, a dominant position. great power game is back in the middle east, and it is telling the assad government, which we were against before we were for them, that they now can stay in power forever, even though they used chemical weapons on their own people and have engaged in massive human rights abuses. so i think it's a bad policy. i think most republicans and democrats think it's a bad policy. you forgot to mention brett mcgurk, who he has been the isis negotiator, very capable in the middle east since 2015, appointed by obama but very highly regarded under trump, resigned early. he was planning to leave in a couple months, just as mattis resigned. i just don't get it. and last point, there's an election going on in israel, and benjamin netanyahu i think found it important to stand next to our national security adviser bolton the other day to get a different answer. i think that's important to our