am del walters. again we continue to watch the developments in washington, we arweare a a awaiting word from president obama concerning the worsening crisis in iraq, when the president speaks we'll bring those comments to you live. >> it's a universal language. >> the latest album debuted at number 1 on world charts. eve is inspired by the suffering she has seen on her continent in darur's refugee camps. >> i had the voice in nigh hea . artist is dedicated to improving lives of girls in africa. the only thing i know as an african person that can education.

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i'm antonio mora. welcome to "consider this." here's more on what's ahead. >> president obama met with congressional leaders today to discuss the crisis in iraq. assistance. >> it is our duty to count erdz counter-i.s.i.l. everywhere we see them. >> i believe he should be prosecuted in federal court. >> gitmo is a great place to hold them. >> we've created this mess. so please. don't tell me we can't clean this up. together. >> we begin with iraq. the country continued to

unravel, as i.s.i.l. forces, bagi facility north of iraq. government of prime minister nouri al-maliki insisted the fight was still going on. president obama spent an hour with congressional leaders, on ongoing consultations with iraq. the president told congress he did not need congressional authority for further action in iraq. pushing the maliki government to set aside sectarian agendas. general martin dempsey confirmed reports the maliki government had requestmore military aid. >> we have -- had requested more military aid. >> it is in our interest to counter i.s.i.l. whenever we find

them. >> i'm joined by omar al sala. omar, good to see you. the bagi facility, an iraqi spokesman is denying all of that. what have you learned? >> we spoke to sources at the refinery, a person who works at the refinery through his relative. and he said that the rebels did control the refinery and all the staffers were asked to leave. so now we understand that the refinery's under the control of the rebels. another source says that 75% of the refinery is under control of the i.s.i.l. fighters. now, the government is refuting all of this. they say they managed to repel the attack and kill between 50 to 60 fighters and they say they

are in control of that refinery. now, conflicting reports as to what has happened but previous reports during the last we we -- last week we understand around the refinery is located. >> what would mean a takeover for that matter i.s.i.l. to control a big refinery like that >> absolutely. it will be another blow to the government's efforts. the refinery is the biggest in the country. it will not affect exports because most of iraq's oil exports go from the south, from basra. however, it will affect the local consumption of gas and fuel, and it again will boost the morale of the

rebels who are advancing in other parts of iraq. the government is trying to retake different towns and cities, including the refinery. the government is making statements, rapid and quite a lot of statements trying to reaffirm, but in other parts of iraq as well. >> the white house has urged maliki to reach out to iraqi sunnies and kurds in order for him to be able to get more u.s. aid. the prime minister prime minister has apparently done the opposite. accused the terrorists of hatching a regional plot to tear the government apart. and has asked formally for american air strikes to combat i.s.i.l. >> i don't think so, the american president, president

barack obama did mention clearly that he wants iraqi leaders to be more open and to try and bring in all the opponents, the political opponents in this political process. remember, the prime minister, 94 nouri maliki has problems with his own wide are shia coalition. so he needs to reach out. now in termination of what he has done, there is nothing -- in terms of what he has done, there is nothing concrete yet. he was part of a meeting where different leaders were gathering. it was hailed as a good step but came out as saying iraqis agreed to unite against this terrorist wave across the country. but there were no concreate concrete steps to bridge this gap. >> if the i.s.i.l. insurgents

follow through on threats on sliens in samala and nejef, could iraqi sunnies and kurds accept iranians coming in or do worse? >> it will make things worse and i think the sunnis, most of the sunnis, some of the kurds not all of the kurds will not accept iranian presence. the irony of this, when you speak to ordinary iranians, well involved since the occupation of country, this is something not really new. now they accuse iran of meddling into iraqi politics. not only nouri al maliki but the

performer prime minister. iraq has always refuted the fact that there are involvement of iranian forces in this country. and they say we are only allies, however, iraq has its own sovereignty, and the regional countries need to respect that. >> well, the u.n. has declared iraq a level 3 humanitarian crisis, 1.5 million people displaced. so it's a terrible situation there in iraq and always al jazeera, omar al sala, appreciate you joining us. thank you. i'm joined by retired air force colonel samuel gardner. we're also joined by aaron david miller, vice president for new initiatives and distinguished scholar at the woodrow wilson center, author of the end of greatness, why america can't

have and doesn't want another great president. gentlemen, welcome. president obama met for less than an hour with congressional leaders on wednesday. what sort of options are realistically available? >> well, the options that they keep talking about are first, increased intelligence. both for ourselves and to provide the iraqi government. they're talking about option he of putting special -- options of putting special forces into iraq. then there's the special operation which is the one that seems to be getting the most attention and finally there is the idea of do we pull more people out of the embassy as an example to russ our vulnerability. >> what do done? >> there are no good options. its a little bit about like the crisis we've been in for syria and over the ukraine.

the military options have very little possibility of achieving a success. it is just not in the cards to leverage military force at this point. >> aaron you agree, you have written that the obama administration would likely succumb to pressure to do something in iraq but you don't think it should. >> iraq has been dealt a pretty bad hand, in terms of where and when. unless you can figure out a way to create a sustainable equitable and reasonable confessional balance, in which these three groups, sunni, shia and kurd, participate equally, iraq is going to be vulnerable both for iranian aspirations, and in syria, the sunni jihadi

groups. the fact that five to 8,000 guys with light weapons could essentially take over iraq's second harnlg -- largest city and large swaths of the city and including the oil refinery in less than a week, suggests to me that the iraqi state is an empty shell. i agree with your guest that our military option he s are pretty constant. you can use reaper and predator drones but you can't hold the country together, no matter how good the intelligence is, with reaper and predator drones. >> chair martin dempsey told the congress, isn't we take some action under these circumstances? >> well, i -- if you pay very close attention to what he said, he said to counter i.s.i.l,

wherever we find them. he didn't say, to counter i.s.i.l. in iraq. i think that the notion that we are supplying and going to increase supplies for moderate forces in syria is in part an attempt to counter i.s.i.l. but the thing about iraq is there isn't anyplace to provide military force that is going to do any leverage. i mean it's a flufd battle field where you -- fluid battlefield where you can't tell where good guys and bad guys are. starting, by the way, with the perimeter, and making sure that is not overrun. that's a good investment for us to make. but that does not

foreshadow a larger commitment of troops. that would not be effective. >> do you wish you had left a reside you force. >> that wasn't a decision made by me, that was a decision made by the iraqi government. we offered a modest residual force, to help continue to train and advise iraqi security forces. we have a core requirement which we require in any situation where we have u.s. troops overseas and that is that they are provided immunity. in the sense that they are being invited by the sovereign government there, so that if, for example, they end up acting in self-defense, if they are attacked and find themselves in a tough situation.

that they are not somehow hauled before a foreign court. that's a core requirement for u.s. troop presence anywhere. the iraqi government, and prime memberster mallky, declined to provide us that immunity. and so i think it is important though, to recognize, that despite that decision, that we have continued to provide them with very intensive, advice and support. and have continued throughout this process over the last five years. to not only off them our assistance, but we have also continued to urge the kinds of political compromises that we think are ultimately necessary in order for them to have a functioning multisectarian democracy

up side the country. julia. >> the quite has been -- and directly to the steering operation. to the expansion of the war, into iraq, change your mind about the type of weapons and training you are now living to give the opposition, is that what causes them, we are augmented our assistance, in a significant way, oen what you doing now. you know, that assessment about the dangers of what was happening in syria, existed since we -- since the very beginning of the syrian civil war. the question has never been whether we thought this was a serious problem. the question has always been, is there the capacity of moderate opposition on the ground, to absorb and counter act extremists that might have been pouring in as

well as an asaad regime supported by iran and russia. that outmanned them and was ruthless. so we have consistently provided that opposition with support. often times the challenge is if you have former farmers or teachers, or pharmacists who now are taking up opposition against a battle hardened regime, would support from external actors in have a lot at stake, how quickly can you get them trained. how effective are you able to mobilize them. and that continues to be a chang. even before going into iraq, we had already

tried to maximize what we could do to support a moderate opposition. that not only can counter act the brutality of asaad but also can make sure that in the minds of sunnies they don't think the only alternative is mr. asaad or extremist groups. i think the key to both syria and iraq, is going to be a combination of what happens inside the country, working with moderate syrian opposition working with an iraqi government that is inclusive. and us laying down a more effective counter tore ofism platform that gets all the countries in the region pulling in the

same direction. and i alluded to this in the west point speech. i talked about it today with respect to the counter tore ofism partnership fund. there's going to be a long term problem in this region. in which we have to build and partner with countries that are committed to our interests, our values. and at the same time, we have immediate problems with terrorists organizations that may be advancing. and rather than try to play wac amole, whenever they may pop up, what we have tod iso is be able to build effective partnerships. make sure that they are capacity. some of the assets that have been devoted seoully

to afghanistan, we have to shift to make sure that we have coverage in the middle east and north africa. you look at a country like yemen, a very impoofierishes country, and one that has its own ethnic divisions, there's -- we do have a committed partner. and we have developed their capacities without putting large troops on the ground. at the same time, we have enough counter terrorism capabilities that we are able to go after folks that may try to hit our embassy, or may be trying to export terrorism into europe, or the united states. looking at how we can

create those will be part of the solution. but in order to do that, we still need to have governments on the ground that we can partner with. and that we have some confidence are going to pursue the political policies. in yemen, for example, a wide ranging national dialog that took a long time, but helped to give people a sense that there is a legitimate outlet for grievances. going back to where you see prime minister amallky playing a role, you said that it is a time to rise above differences that there's a need for more inclusive government, is he a unifier? how much clout does the united states ultimately have with any of the leadership really? we still provide them significant assistance. unlike some other players

we don't have territorial ambitions. in their country. we are not looking to control their assets or their none. question want to make sure we are vindicates the effort made by our troops in order to build an inclusive society that can prosper and deliver for the basic needs and aspirations of the iraqi people. and at the same time, they are a sovereign country, they have their own politics. we try to give the best advice. now that we are in crisis, we are indicating to them that there's not

going to be a simple military solution to this issue. if you start seeing the various growns inside of iraq, simply go to the respective corners, then it is almost certain that baghdad, in the central government, will not be able to control huge chunks of their own country. the only way to do that is if there is credible sewn leaders. both at the national level, and local level, who have confidence that a shiite majority, that curds that all those folks are committed to a fair and just government. right now, that doesn't exist. there's too much suspicion and mission instruction.

and the good news is, that an election took place in which despite all this misinstruction. despite all this frustration. despite all this anger. we still have millions of iraqis turn out. in some cases in very dangerous circumstances. you now have a court that has certified those elections. and you have a constitutional process to advance government formation. so far at least the one bit of encouraging news, is that all the parties have said they continue to be committed to choosing a leadership and a government through the existing constitutional order. what you are seeing as the prospects of civil war heighten. many iraqi leaders stepping back and saying

let's not plunge back into the abyss. let's see if we can resolve this. but they don't have a lot of time. and you have a group like i.s.i.l. that plunges it back into chaos. also for the speaker of the house, and the other leadership inside of iraq get going on this government. and make it a lot easier for them to shape. >> the minister -- i think the test is before him. and other iraqi leaders as we speak. right now they can make a

series of decisions. regardless of what has happened in the past, right now is a moment where the fate of iraq hangs in the balance. and the tests for all of them is going to be whether they can overcome the mistrust, the teak deep sectarian divisions. in some places just tunism, and say this is bigger than any one of us and we have to make sure that we do what is right for the iraqi people. is that's a challenge, that's not something that the united states can do for them. that's not something that the united states arm forced can do for them. we can provide them the space and the tools, in the meantime, my job is to make sure that american personnel there are safe. that we are consulting

with the iraqi security forces that we are getting a better assessment of what is on the ground. and we are developing the kinds of comprehensive counter terrorism strategies with ewill need to deal with this issue. and that's going to involve some short term responses to make sure that isil is not obtaining capacity to engager us directly. our allies and partners but also will require some long term strategies as well. part of what we have seen, is a broader trend that i talked about at west point. a rather nan a single network, a discreet

network of terrorists. this fluid combination of hardened terrorists, diseffected local leadership, and from there's vacuums they are filling it and creating a potential for serious danger for all concerned. thank you very much. >> any words on what you are willing to do -- >> with respect -- >> our view is that iran can play a constructive role, if it is helping to send the same message to the iraqi government that we are sending. which is that iraqi only holds together if it is inclusive. and that if the interests of sunni shiite kurds are all respected. if iran is coming in

solely as an armed force on behalf of the shiite, and if it is framed in that fashion, then that probably worsens the situation, and the prospects for government formation that would actually be constructive over the long terming. i think iran has heard from us. we have indicated that it is important for them to avoided steps that might encouraging the splits that might lead to civil war. and the one thing that i think has to be emphasized we have deep differences with iran. with a host of