the question is what are the syrian regime s military capabilities and what does the united states have to consider in making the decision whether to make a strike. joining me now is james spider marks and the institute for the study of war. we know what the u.s. has in terms of capabilities, five destroyers in the mediterranean, what are assad s military capable of. the syrian army has a short track record with terms of military successes. they have not been successful for years in terms of application l force in the region. clearly, since the insurgeon see has been in place they have a great deal of success. assad we thought was a dead man walking a year ago. he gained incredible strength. so assad has capability ies and
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.
continue to hit the theme of economic inequality that he laid out last night in his third state of the union address. yesterday s speech was aimed at drawing a sharp contrast to republicans on everything from clean energy to tax policy. perhaps the night s most memorable moment was the bipartisan salute to outgoing congresswoman gabby giffords. she was welcomed with a standing ovation as she steps down from congress to focus on her recovery from last year s assassination attempt, just over a year ago. president obama joined the chamber in welcoming giffords. great moment there. much of the president s 65-minute speech was dedicated to the economy, he also reflectioned on key military successes, in fact, he began with it, on his watch. for the first time in nine years, there are no americans