after 35 years i found the most capable force to be it's

soundness and accuracy. it has all the ranges covered that can lead to the national targets. in the long-term, i expect they will invest some of the money into improving the rest of their military capabilities. what is the long-term? >> in other words, how many years is long-term? five years, ten years? secondly, what should be our response, and i believe it has to be a robust and strong response, to that increase in longer-term military capabilities that threaten our allies and friends in the region, most particularly israel, with terrorism and other conventional military capabilities as well as the counter incentives that we can provide. >> that long-term, as far as

five years, we've artie seen an agreement between iran and the russian 300 air defense system. we are seeing them demonstrate tremendous capabilities as they have done their out of air deployment into syria. there's lots of weapons technology being displayed and i suspect within the next two to five years we can expect to see them invest in some of that military weaponry that's being displayed on the syrian battlefield. >> what should be our response? >> i will put him back to the policymakers on how iran arms and how they might use this weapons capability. >> you would agree we should respond robustly and strongly question what. >> i agree we should have a policy to be prepared to respond appropriately. >> thank you. thank you general, thank you director. >> we think both of you for your service. dir. clapper, thank you for your decades of service to the country. that is something we all respect and value. general stewart, x appreciate

seeing you again. you been in the battlefield and you've seen it from both sides and know the importance of intelligence. director clapper, it seems to me that we are about to see a tremendous expansion of players ration of the numbers of weapons and those who possess nuclear weapons. that's something that the world is united behind, trying to stop, the un and nato has sought to maintain a limited number of nations with nuclear weapons and we have been particularly concerned about nuclear weapons in the middle east. where do we stand on that on a strategic position? your best judgment, the risk we now face?

>> of course we worry about north korea in this respect. i think in the mideast, i think the agreement the jc poa which does prevent, if complied with, the nuclear capability in iran, at least in the foreseeable future. that should serve as a tempering factor for the likes for other countries that may feel threatened if in fact iran proceeded on with its nuclear weapon program. >> so we have india and pakistan, jerry kissinger testified here a year ago, in which he said we could see multiple nations in the middle east moved toward nuclear weapons. we do know that north korea will

sell weapon technology, do we not? and they have done so in the past. >> that is true. they are a proliferator. that is one of the potential ways they attempt to generate revenue is through proliferation. i worry frankly about more mundane things like man pads that north korea produce and distribute and as a threat to aviation. we must be as vigilant as possible as we can and report when proliferates spread. it is a great concern, particularly in the mid- east.

>> thank you, that is a serious subject. mr. stewart, tell tell us where we stand in iraq. do you serve there and argue with the sunnis? you saw them flip and become turned against al qaeda. can we replicate that now and what are the prospects for the sunnis once again turning against the terrorists? >> i think of the sunnis believe they have a real prospect, even for involvement with the iraqi government or some other confederation construct with their views and interests are represented, i think they will likely turn against i asked il. i don't think that message has been communicated yet. i think a body would like a more

inclusive government but i am not clear if he has all of the members of his ruling body behind such inclusivity. until that occurs, the sunni tribes are very likely to remain either on the fence or choose the least worst option which is to not and tag and eyes and maybe even support isis in the western part of iraq. >> that would be the decisive action that needs to occur and the decisive action would be if the sunnis would turn against isis as they turned against al qaeda. >> i think that would absolutely be decisive, but i think they will be very cautious to ensure we will not leave them hanging out there after they have turned against isis. this is or pragmatism. if were not successful or

supportive of the sunni tribe, they will die. al qaeda or isis will be brutal, they will be ruthless. if were going to support them we will try to convince them to turn and fight against isis that we have to have a true commitment of the government of iraq and all of the parties that encourage them to fight against isis because this is purely about survival for those tribes. >> that effort to push back against isil would be an and extremely important development. >> yes sir, i believe it would be. >> what about the city of a million that would not have the heritage of isil and that kind of extremism. what are the prospects of turning the situation around in mole so and freeing bozo from isis? >> i think there is lots of work to be done there in the western part. i don't believe that the ramani is completely secure so they

have to secure that area. they have to secure the quarter in order to have some opportunity to fully bring all the forces against them. it will be a complex operation and i'm not as optimistic. as you say, it's a large city. i'm not as optimistic that we will be able to turn that in the near term, in my opinion. certainly not this year. we may be able to begin the campaign with some operations around the city. securing or taking that city is not something i see in the next year. >> thank you very much, general stewart stewart. >> thank you mr. chair. welcome back director clapper. thank you for that briefing. director clapper, i've always believed that the ground war against isis must be won by our air partners rather than american ground forces.

it was therefore, pretty encouraging to hear saudi arabia and the uae voice some openness to putting ground forces in syria. what is the intelligent community assessment of the capability of saudi and uae ground forces. how realistic do you think this proposal is? do you assess they have the political will to potentially do that? >> let me start with uae witches very capable military although they are small. there forces in yemen have been quite impressive. i think you can appreciate the value in the saudi willingness to engage in the ground. i think that will be a challenge. it would be a challenge for them if they were to try to take that

on. >> i fully concur with the uae forces. whether they have the capacity to do both yemen and something in iraq or syria is questionable for me. i think they're doing extremely well in yemen but the capacity to do more is pretty limited. >> thank you both. director clapper, one of the things we've been been struggling with, obviously, is trying to crack down on isis financing. they have multiple sources of revenue that include oil sales, taxation, taxation, extortion of the local population, looting of banks, personal property, and to a lesser extent kidnapping for ransom, foreign donation and more. i'm pleased to see some progress has been made where we have escalated tactics by targeting road tankers.

these efforts have helped cut isis by up to 50%. what additionally do you believe we can do to further restrict their financial resources? >> sir, you have outlined pretty much the sources of revenue for isis. they have a very elaborate bureaucracy for managing their money. i think the important thing is to sustain that pressure on multiple dimensions. they will include going after the oil infrastructure. isil has displayed great ingenuity by setting up thousands of these mom and pop refineries. >> yes. >> we just have to stay at it. as well the recent binding of the financial institution in mosul had a big impact on