[marron]

There is money to be made, of course, but there is always money to be made.

If it were just about money we could have made our peace with Saddam long ago, and made our peace with Khaddafi way back. Some firms have indeed continued to do business with him, I've met people who worked in Libya during the embargo, there is always money to be made if money is your object.

The point now is to prevent the Arab world from becoming a hegemenous anti-west block. The point is to confront countries that feed terrorism and get them to either lay down their arms, or face consequences. We now have two examples for those who are paying attention. Khaddafi, who has forsworn violence and has made restitution, and still sits on his throne, and has a son still living, versus Saddam who sits in a cell and has no known son to follow him into power.

These two examples can help to clarify the choices facing Bashir Assad as he considers his future and the future of his family.