it is a necessary struggle. we can not permit northern mali to become a safe haven. people say to me all the time, aqim hasn t attacked the united states. well before 9/11, 2001, we hadn t been attacked on our homeland since i guess the war of 1812 and pearl harbor. so you can t say because they haven t done something they re not going to do it. this is not only a terrorist syndicate, it is a criminal enterprise. so make no mistake about it, we ve got to have a better strategy. and i would hope we would have not only a strategy that understands, you know, making it possible for these governments to defend themselves better, for to understand and agree with us that these terrorists are not in any way representative of their values but that we can bolster democracy and try to give these arab revolution as real chance to succeed. thank you.