now the question becomes what are the syrian regime's military capabilities right now and what does the united states have to consider in making a decision about whether to launch a strike? joining me now are james "spider" marks, and christopher harmer. general, let's start with you. we know a lot about what the u.s. has in terms of capabilities, five destroyers in the mediterranean, other assets in the regime. what do we know about assad's capabilities at this point? >> assad's military is still very capable. the syrian army has a very short track record in terms of military successes. they have not been successful for years in terms of their application of force in the region. clearly since the insurgency has been in place, they've achieved a good deal of success. we thought assad was losing momentum and thought he was a dead man walking. he has since gained some incredible strength.