official, said president assad was to leave from behind. don t think that s a good style. the problem is not his team. the old team is good. the new team will be good. these are excellent able patr t patriotic men, including the secretary of state, women, who the president s very lucky to have helping him and he s wise to have appointed people with this kind of ability. but the problem is not them, it s him. david, two points that are critical points that jim is making. one on the policy. it is now easier to be an evout enemy of the united states if you re syria or iran than supposedly a friend, certainly the case in mubarak. is jim right about that? second, is there, in fact, a problem with the president s leadership and decisionmaking style when it comes to foreign policy? well, jim s view is widely echoed in much of the middle east, especially among the gulf states, saudi arabia, the uae, bahrain, there s a lot of feeling this administration has