I do truly want to save our skins, and that is not something I will ever hesitate on.

[ He's quiet for a moment after that, digesting everything else. ]

It is true that I likely do not have the breadth of experience you've had, but such a thing seems obvious to me. If we cannot be trusted to try to save ourselves, why should anyone else reach their hands out to us to attempt to do so? We would be undermining their efforts every step of the way.

So we must, at least to an extent, care about our own fate first.