al asad s brother-in-law, his defense minister and security adviser. that kind of blow is this? it not only speaks to those individuals. we should cry no tears for their departure. assad now has to look around 360 degrees and try to determine where his weak points are. he s probably going to see that it is very, very weak in a number of places. so my suggestion is, and it s not based on any intelligence right now. but if you re looking if past is prologue, we can see assad to get out of the country. probably looking for some way to depart. maybe russia is facilitating that maybe through proxies so assad and his family can disappear. then what you ll really see on the ground in damascus is complete chaos in terms of revenge killings. old and new animosities coming out, opposition forces that are galvanized for the departure of assad but have not come together in terms of what they want syria to look like coming forward. so it will be an incredibly chaotic scene as assad