whims and keep people in check that way. i spoke to one analyst who said if you re anyone in damascus today and you heard that speech you would probably think twice before getting out on the streets to demonstrate because the security services have a brutal history of cracking down really hard. the syrians know the reality on the ground. and it can be dire consequences. it sounds so much like what happened in egypt. it s eerie. how worried should the united states be about syria, though? reporter: you know, for the u.s., this is really important. syria is in the middle of the middle east so that means anything that happens in syria is going to have a significant and important impact on the rest of the region. the u.s. cares about that because it has very crucial security interests, as well as energy, oil interests. syria a big buddy of iran and if the syrian regime were to go down, it would affect their best friend iran. so the u.s. would probably be okay with that. the other impor
conflict. the u.s. has concerns in the middle east when it comes to energy and oil. a lot is at stake for the u.s. syria is a big buddy of iran. the u.s. has been trying to break that team of syria and iran. they failed in doing so. if the syrian regime went down, iran would lose. the u.s. cares because syria sponsors hezbollah. hezbollah is a territory group. key things for the u.s. to look out for with syria. zain verjee, many thanks. we are listening to a couple of important hearings on capitol hill. the defense budget hearing had gotten under way a couple of minutes ago. they are also talking about nuclear safety. they are asking questions to the