his choices. by default he is not stepping in to do more. the secretary of the united states has not gone further and said he has to go. they said mubarak had to go. they said gadhafi must go. explain why any u.s. administration would be reluctant, there's the israel complication, the chess in the region, but when you see these pictures why can't the united states of america say enough? the line has been crossed? >> well, john, i think they are now in a near impossible situation. they've tried this sort of minimalist approach. first sanctions. now you've seen secretary clinton come out and make the strongest statement yet, a very strong statement by the administration expressing concern over the torture of this young boy. look, they have been reluctant to go further. i think you mentioned the complication with israel. but really the big worry here is syria is a base for hezbollah, the shiite terrorist group. they are to the shiites what al qaeda is to sunni extremism and they are the most militarily