of course, the key security policy now abadi is trying to push and even some shia partners are hesitant about is this idea of the national guard. it's one of the key demands of the sunni arabs and abadi is serious about establishing and standing up these armies. it's clear that the sunni arabs will no longer tolerate central government forces, especially sectarian iraqi soldiers who man checkpoints and control security, so the proposed bill of the national guard would not just draw up soldiers to protect the provinces, but the key aspect is that the commanders of these forces will be local commanders. now, of course, this is, i believe, a short-term solution, a necessary one to empower sunnis to push back against isis, but it could very well be a serious problem in the future, especially if there are cross provincial security incidents as we've seen over the last years.

what to you think about haider al-abadi, the prime minister. is he making the changes that nation you and others want to be part of a unit iraq. >> i think he's doing his best. he will succeed inside his party. the kurds are doing their best to support him to succeed and bring peace and stability and sort out problems. >> they have inherited a huge bj of problems. the question is all other groups, they will hep haider al-abadi or in the war against i.s. >> a lot of questions. still to be answered there. >> so far there is good signs. he's doing his best. we hope that he can and i thing the key to that will be judicial systems in the country. >> sorry, we are running out of time. >> it's a question. he will win. >> the former minister with the kurdistan regional government. thanks for your thoughts. voters in tunisia are choosing a president for the first time. some see large queues of voters, more than 5 million are eligible to vote. there are 22 candidates, two emerged as frontrunners, the 87-year-old is the favourite. he is head of the secula

iraqi government led by shia prime minister haidar al abadi to reach out to sunni triepz who at this point remain fairly weary. but when we're talking about isis's long-term defeat there is the realization this cannot be achieved by military means alone, there has to be a significant political effort alongside it. arwa damon, cnn, turkey. >>> tensions are rising in jerusalem yet again. amid reports that israeli police shot and killed a palestinian man who they say attacked them with a knife. cnn's senior international correspondent nic robertson is there. >> reporter: well, this incident doesn't appear linked to the recent rise in tension over access to temple mount. the police say they're investigating this incident. they say the young palestinian man who was shot and killed attacked them with a knife. you can see the policeman gets out, points his weapon, fires. the man drops to the ground.

i also just want to mention abadi is very different to maliki in terms of his leadership style, about you that doesn't necessarily mean he's going to be successful. so friends of abadi who have worked for decades with him say he's the exact opposite of maliki though he comes from the same context, the same party, the same islamist sort of conspiratorial, paranoid background. he's much more open than maliki and this could be his downfall as well. where maliki was stubborn, refused to listen to even his closest advisers, abadi is seen to be too open. he listens too much. he wants everybody's opinion around the table, and is seen even by some of his friends as indecisive. maybe the office of the prime ministership is going to force him to react, but this is definitely something to watch out for. i also want to say it's interesting that abadi is the first iraqi prime minister who isn't the preferred candidate of iran. iran up until the last minute lobbied very aggressively to keep maliki in power for a third term, and it wasn't actually the americans or the shia arrivals or the sunnis or

the president of turkey saying al abadi was welcome to visit turkey on an official visit with be that both countries need to work together. they mentioned business, agriculture, tourism, but really there are two things on the agenda for both the iraq's and turks, security and energy concerns. iraq and turkey share a border. isil have been a threat on that border. that they are looking for enhanced cooperation there. close to turkey is mosul, still under isil occupation. that's a big problem for both countries, as well. also taking a look at the relationship between the turks and the kurds, the city of mosul is about a thousand kilometers away from the kurdish capitol erbil, so clearly of concern to all of them, so security's a really big issue. the second issue is security. turkey doesn't have any domestic capacity. it has to export everything. one key thing it's been doing is exporting from the kurdish region to turkey. that's angered the federal government here in baghdad over the last year saying effectively they were stealing revenue back door trading oil from -- without getting t

and that prime minister shawki al-badani -- prime minister haider al-abadi wanted to send a message, that the bad old days of sectarianism had disappeared, that this was about bringing in it wases from all of iraq society, and making sure this was an iraqi national army. we have been told that the allegations of corruption levelled against some of the officers were a concern to the prime minister and wanted to clean house. a lot of officers were loyal to the prime minister, prime minister nouri al-maliki. 10 have been given early retirement, and 26 removed from their post, awaiting reassignment. prime minister haider al-abadi's office has been briefing journalists saying that this was not about apportioning blame or assigning blame for the failings of the iraqi army, when islamabad swept through parts of its territory, but more about putting the right officers in the right places to be effective in the fight against i.s.i.l. >>> there has been intense fighting in aleppo between government fighters and the rebels. this photo appears to show the aftermath of an attack. rebels warn they

what really drove this was prime minister abadi saying i need this extra help. i welcome this help inside my country. >> that's really what drove this was a request from the government of rabble and general austin's assessment that this would be beneficial to the over arching goals inside iraq. >> so it was not --? >> there was no political angle to the timing here it was really driven by a request from the government of iraq and general austis assessment about having -- this being the right thing to do. i would add that was an assessment supported by not only chairman dempsey but the secretary who formally made this recommendation to the president, that this was not only the right thing to do, but it was the rhyme time to do it based upon where we are in the campaign. again, jen, you don't have to go very far back in time to chairman dempsey alluded to a press conference in this room a couple of weeks ago. this was something that had been brewing for several weeks. >> what exactly does the secretary think? >> i couldn't give you an exact day, helene. his recomm

according to a statement by al abadi's office, the two spoke of progress being made so far by the iraqes. general dempsey also then traveled on to rebuild the capital of the autonomous region of kyrgyzstan meeting with the prime minister there as well. part of this next phase of the u.s.-led mission and coalition is to focus on training up security forces. 12 units. part of the initial effort. nine of them iraqi army, three of them kyshmyrga. general dempsey is very aware of the situation on the ground having been the commander of the first armored division in the initial years of the war. and then moving on to head up america's effort to train and equip the iraqi security forces. this assessment is vital because part of the reason why isis was able to take over such great territory in iraq is because of the u.s.' underestimation of their capabilities but also overestimation of the capacity and cohesiveness of the iraqi security forces that america left behind. and that is not a mistake that the u.s. or the region can afford to see happen once again. arwa damon, cnn, turkey. >>> thank

minister of defense told us who was very close to the negotiations is that prime minute officer al-abadi wanted to sends a message to those fight on this front line that this was a fight against isil that was about iraqi unity. about keeping the country together. that the bad old days of sectarianism under nouri al-maliki had disappeared and this was about bringing in officers from all of iraq's society and making sure that this was a iraqi national unity army. also what we have been told, is that the allegations of corruption leveled against some of the officers were a concern to the prime minister and he wanted to clean house. a lot of these officers were very loyal to the previous prime minister nouri al-maliki, 10 of them have been given early retirement. and another 26 have been removed from their post and are now waiting reassignment. also prime minister al bad i's office has been briefing journalists saying it wasn't about apportioning blame aura signing blame for 30 failings of the iraqi army when isil swept through parts of its territory in june, but more about putting the right

abadi was installed in baghdad. have you made any assessment of how he's getting on? what are the prospect of him having a more inclusive government? >> first, chairman, i can thank you for the opportunity to appear in front of you and thank you for the work that you are doing in taking an interest in not just the region, the country, but the middle east as well. it helps my work, our work, the government's work, that british parliament is engaging and trying to understand these issues in furthering british influence. i'm very grateful. i understand you've had a very interesting visit yourself. pleased to be here. you asked an important question. it is a short amount of time that he's been in place, but if we look back in june of this year of where things stood with isil moving down the tigris and y eufhrates river, bad dad was under threat and we look today and see maliki is no longer there. al baddy, as you say, is in place. abadi is in place, he has a more inclusive government than anybody expected to produce. the length of time it took for the cabinet members to b

iraq's prime minister, haider al-abadi. >> the airplane doesn't come here to this area. >> the kurdish fighters are not getting the support they need. they even accuse the u.s. having a certain tolerance to i.s.i.l.'s advance. >> this area is near the border of iran. it might be in the interest of the coalition forces, the reason the coalition forces did not attack i.s.i.l. here. >> it now says it's planning to spend millions of dollars arming sunni tribes with ak 47s mortar rounds. in a pending document to congress it says it will do it with by and through iraq's government but iraq's prime minister is hesitant. >> the government is in doubt about the weapons given to the tribes. it is feared that thieves weapons will reach the hands of i.s.i.l. fighters. >> the u.s. and the coalition are constantly reassessing their options but the u.s. has long maintained the only way to beat i.s.i.l. fighters is by arming the sunni tribes. however, the sunni tribes have been here before. in 2006, 2007 and 2008, they were armed and they did defeat. however they were then abandoned by the americans w

iraq's prime minister haider al-abadi has called for more support.but further east in peshmerga is province. >> the airplane doesn't come here to bomb. >> the battle there is fierce and kurdish commanders are saying they don't get the support they need. they even accuse the u.s. of having a certainly tolerance toward i.s.i.l. advance. >> it might be the preference for the coalition and american forces, why they did not attack i.s.i.l. here. >> but the u.s. wants to expand its influence in the battle against i.s.i.l. ak 47s rocket propelled grenades and rounds. with by and through iraq's government but some suggest iraq's prime minister is hesitant. >> translator: the government code in baghdad is in doubt about the weapons to be given to tribes. it fears these weapons might reach the hands of i.s.i.l. fighters as said by a lot of politician he from the national coalition. >> the u.s. and the coalition are constantly reassessing their options but the u.s. has long maintained that the only way to beat i.s.i.l. fighters in anbar province in particular i

prime minister abadi has just appointed a new minister of defense, which we have not had a for four years. it is a sunni minister of defense who i have been talking with. there are good signs that they are moving at the right direction and we will help them, our coalition partners will support them. but they have to do this themselves. then i think the airstrikes against the iso-forces to assist -- isil forces to assist the government's -- >> have they turned the tide? >> this is a long-term project. there is good news everywhere. iraqi security forces are now joining with the peshmerga round oil refineries. there will be setbacks and the progress. overall we are seeing good progress. we are not where we need to be that this is a longer-term, difficult, challenging mission. >> you have 1400 advisers there now? in special forces. there is a call for 1500 more. when one ago? -- when will a day ago? >> over the next few weeks. they are going, as you know, to provide the training and the assistance and the equipping of 12 of iraqi security force brigades, including a three peshmerga gauge. --

. >> what nearly drove this was th prime minister al abadi saying i request this help, and general austin's assessment that this would be beneficial for the overarching goals inside, and inside iraq so a number of concerns being risen, not so much the money as the lame duck session comes in to session in congress, but also this concern about mission creek now roughly doubling the number of u.s. advisers within iraq. >> earlier today the president met with congressional leaders from both sides o parties of the white house. some are speaking out. what are they saying? >> it's now become a fight that has come out. those faces are in a new role, princecally the majority level going public. mitch mcconnell was there despite immigration reform its shaping up to be ugly. the president said and it's repeated again today that he will take unilateral executive action on immigration reform, do what he can in the perimeters defined by the white house to stop the number of deportion. this is what boehner said would poison the well, and in the family dining room in the residents of the white house there

. >> haider al-abadi sacked three men seen as corrupt cronies of the former prime minister nouri al-maliki. >> men and women will not fight if they don't have confidence in their leader. >> dempsey says it will take 80,000 troops, to help capture mosul, and the rest of the territory lost to i.s.i.l., and warned of setbacks. >> i described to this way, three is it steps forward, and two steps back, and at every step, we'll debate the size of the step. >> both ruled out combat roles for u.s. troops, which outgoing republican committee chairman called a minimalist strategy. >> how can you successfully execute the mission you are given to degrade and destroy i.s.i.l. when some of the best options are off the taftenl -- table. >> the pentagon strategy is iraq first, then syria. it would result in the removal of power of bashar al-assad, all while training and arming a moderate opposition, something the pentagon admitted is almost a year away. >> i.s.i.l. has been raising huge amounts of cash to pay for its campaigns in iraq and syria, and a look inside the organization. al jazeera cropped found

people and the ramie government, and they are working in close coordination with prime minister doctor abadi. >> translator: we would like to continue to strengthen our separation with the u.s. we discussed issues of common interests. firstly, we focused on developments in syria and iraq and, also, the threat posed by isil. we held comprehensive discussions on this subject. we have seen isil emerge from mosul and go to syria and growing stronger there and coming back to iraq. we have had detailed discussions until now and we'll continue to do so. >> a u.s. vice president biden is the highest ranking american to visit turkey since erdowan was elected president in august. bernard smith is in istanbul and sent this report. >> reporter: despite almost four hours of talks between the u.s. vice president joe biden and the turkish president erdowan, the u.s. seems to have made little headway in attempts to persuade the turkish government to take a more active role in the fight against isil. there is still, again, no indication that the turkish thoughts would allow the us to use air basis in turkey

that helped the new prime minister al al abadi get the top job. >> build. >> he needs the sunnies in order to win the battle against isil, particularly in anbar province. there are those who want justice for two dead shoulders and reaching a compromise would be tricky. >> in ramadi the fighting continues as the government thinks about his next move. the al wani's death sentence is being appealed, which should buy them more time. al jazeera, baghdad. >> now it's being reported that 15 iraqi soldiers and the council gunmen have been killed in ramadi. the city is the capsule of the western province of anbar, and they're believed to have died during battles against the isil group. isil launched a large-scale offensive against the city five days ago. now seizing the city would give them a stronger grip on the anbar province. let's take you now to cleveland, ohio, where a press conference is being held right now. officials are outlining the latest after the killing of an is it-year-ol is 12-year-old black youth. >> the family decided not to review it. they relied on feedback from their rep

iraq's prime minister haider al-abadi called for more air support. further east kurdish peshawar forces are critical of the strategies. >> the airplane doesn't come here to bombard. >> the battle is fierce, and kurdish commanders are not getting the support, accusing the u.s. of having a certain tolerance towards i.s.i.l.'s advance. >> translation: this area is near the border with iran. it may be the preference of coalition forces and americans to create a problem for iran. this may be the reason why the coalition and americans did not attack i.s.i.l. here. >> the u.s. wants to expand it influence in the battle against i.s.i.l., and is planning to spend millions arming tribes with ak-47s. in a pentagon document addressed to congress it says it will do so with, by and through the iraq government. some suggest the prime minister is hesitant. the government in baghdad is in doubt about weapons given to tribes. >> reporter: the u.s. and coalition are constantly reassessing their options. the u.s. maintains that the only way to beat the fighters is to ar

and the appointment of the defense minister, abadi, a sunni himself, and the speaker in the parliament as well, engaging with senior representatives is so important. we have to remember and you i'm sure will witness this on your visit of how disenfranchised that the sunnis were in the maliki regime. and this is why it's so important, that we engage not just in anbar province, but the whole of the northwest of iraq. they have been -- by recent events of the sunni community, there isn't a single sunni voice that represents everybody in the northwest of iraq and that i think is the challenge of bringing people back to the table, recognizing that the baghdad government represents them all. and looks to the future. >> there's a lot of talk about -- is that how you see it? >> that is, i think, a little sensationalist to say, there's no doubt that there is the frustration that we saw under maliki, you had sunni dm demonstrate fors coming out wanting a better life and it was the sunni government that attacked them. so there's massive distress, there's no doubt about it. and there's the complic

dempsey spoke a day after iraqi prime minister haider al-abadi fired 26 iraqi military commanders for incompetence and corruption. president obama is reportedly considering executive action that would protect up to five million undocumented immigrants from deportation. according to news reports citing unnamed sources said obama could announce the plan as soon as next week. a key component could prevent the deportation of parents whose children are u.s. citizens. the report comes as a majority of house democrats have sent a letter to obama calling for him to take action on immigration. republican house speaker john boehner has vowed to fight any such action "to and nail." an immigrant advocacy group meanwhile has filed a lawsuit against the department of homeland security over obama's record deportations. the national day laborer organizing network says the obama administration has violated the law by failing to respond to a rulemaking petition the group filed earlier this year seeking relief for millions of undocumented immigrants. house lawmakers are expected to pass legislation toda

obviously iran is very close to the new shia government of prime minister abadi as it was to prime minister al maliki. a lot of concerns that iran has a great hand in iraq and that's been part of the problem, that the shia majority has really heard the situation. >> with isis you have a common enemy between the u.s. and iran but you look across the border in syria which is in effect the same war, you have a different situation. iran is a principle backer of bashar al assad which the u.s. has sworn to remove from power and at the same time you have a lot of sunni partners that are comfortable with sunni iran. how does the u.s. diplomatic team, secretary of state john kerry battle with all of those competing interests? >> it's difficult. they have to make sure that isis doesn't completely take over but not share objectives. the u.s. says for years it has wanted them out and these gulf partners are very upset, i'm being told, that the u.s. did not talk to their partners about -- in this coalition about this letter. it's not the first time, if you remember, a few years back the u.s. had secret

where maliki was stubborn, refused to listen to even his closest advisers, abadi seems to be too open, listens too much. he wants everybody's opinion around the table, and seen even by some of his friends as indecisive. maybe the office of the prime minister is going to force him to react, but this is definitely something to watch out for. i also want to say, it's interesting that he's the first iraqi prime minister since alawi who isn't the preferred candidate of iran. up to the last minute lobbied very aggressively to keep maliki in power for a third term, and it wasn't actually the iranian -- sorry, the americans or the shia rivals or sunnis or kurds. it was the religious establishment in niger which effectively blocked iranian dreams of a third term. we talked about influence in iraq, but it's not a one-way street. i would just nuance that, saying whatever leverage iran lost because of that decision, they have more than made up due to the reliance of the iraqi government on ideologically driven shia militias. these are the militias holding the line, holding the lines of the outski

we've gone from prime minister maliki to prime minister abadi, he's made promises in terms of inclusive governance and now he has to deliver. there is the potential to see a repeat of the an bar awakening as we saw in 2007/2008, but that's up to the iraqi government. >> what do you think would happen, i have just reported according to the united nations they have weapons which would should our aircraft out of the sky, what if they shot down a couple of our choppers and beheaded a few of our servicemen, what do you think might happen then? >> well, as the president said, our -- notwithstanding our air force's, our ground troops are not in a combat role at the present time, but what you said is very important. having sophisticated weaponry is one thing. knowing how to use it is quite another. i have confidence that air force has taken into account the weaponry and whatever the islamic state has shown in terms of capability and put that into their operational preparations for these missions. >> all of this is -- none of this will work according to all those involved including your analysis

>> well, wolf, if we look at what the new prime minister abadi has done over the last 24 hours, it would at the very least seem on paper that his intentions are in the right place. he sacked 26 of the country's top generals, another 10 are retiring and when i say top generals i mean people as senior as his chief of staff. a lot of these generals had been in power for years. they were viewed as being former prime minister nuri al maliki's lackeys. of course his policies have been divisive. some of these generals viewed quite simply as being corrupt or ineffective. he most certainly is trying on that front at the least to try to shake things up and really put the iraqi security forces back into order, at least as best he can at this stage. he has begun the process of arming the sunni tribes in al anbar province. this is going to be critical if iraq is to have any hope at trying to defeat isis, convincing those sunnis that they can rely on the shia led government in baghdad. and the iraqis did manage to retake the critical city of baji but they did not do that on their own. they had coaliti

have suggested that iran is already assisting the shia dominated iraqi government of prime minister abadi, and the united states has 600 military advisers of its own on the ground, but the secret letter suggests any cooperation would depend on iran making progress on a deal to curb its nuclear program. earlier this week, president obama was asked about the prospects for a nuclear deal. >> we have presented to them a framework that would allow them to meet their peaceful energy needs, and if in fact what their leadership says, that they don't want to develop a nuclear weapon, if that is, in fact, true, then they've got an avenue to provide that assurance to the world. >> reporter: an interim duel deal with iran is due to expire on november 24th. this weekend, the u.s. secretary of state john kerry is set to hold talks with his iranian counterpart. but with congress now firmly in the hands of the republicans, any deal that leads to a relaxation of sanctions will be hard to push through. gary o'donahue, bbc news. >> for more on this story, i'm joined now from teheran by the professor of nort

and prime minister abadi will continue training with the tribes.ged the iraqi security force leadership to continue that outreach. while i can't put a fine point on exactly what all that cooperation will look like we -- as i said, expect there will be a role for sunni tribes in this effort. >> admiral, can you tell us when the iraqi government made this request for this additional deployment of troops? >> i don't have an exact time and date on that. >> that was rear admiral john kirby speak about the authorization to deploy up to 1500 more noncombat troops to iraq. brian, this request comes with some stipulations about iraq and what they are doing in terms of combatting isis. we were talking about the saudis being a huge part of actually routing isis in a sort of definitive way. the saudis are actually getting closer to being okay with the united states coordinating with iran on the sumgt of isil do. you think that is accurate reporting? >> i think it is hard to cast judgment in that way. the middle east is opaque especially the saudis. it's hard t

it also demonstrates, perhaps, that abadi has more strength and influence we would give him credit for coming out of the shadow of it malaki who is still there as a vice president. i think the stronger he becomes, the better it is for everyone because he has an opportunity to break away from the rather poor reputation of prime minister malkey. >> from fredricks burg virg, virginia, randy, republican line. caller: yes. i just don't really see how we can have snuksz iraq basically because the people there, they put their religion before freedom and the values that we value. if they are not willing to fight for their own freedom, i think all we do is create a dependency, you know. we were over there 10 years and you couldn't build an army in 10 years and then, you know, as soon as we leave, they fall. so, i mean i just don't blame president obama for not wanting to get back involved over there. so that's all i want to say. >> guest: randy, i think i share a lot of those concerns but maybe you are not giving the iraqis enough credit. i know a lot of iraqis and some are my friends who riske

you'll recall when the prime minister hader al abadi was in new york in september he claimed there was an isis terrorist plot against the new york subway. that was fairly quakely debunked after that. i think we're going to have to wait and see. the americans don't have very good intelligence on the location of the top isis leader. so i think quite doubtful that the iraqis would. >> this type of info referred to as rumor intelligence? is that -- >> yeah. and it may just be stuff that they've seen posted on twitter, local reports that somebody's been killed. just the rumor mill, basically. >> let's talk about what one expert says here. one expert says that baghdadi as khalif ibrahim to maintain his religious foundation needs to be a whole body. if he loses a limb in his injuries, his credibility suffers. would he still be able to lead this organization if he's not whole, if he's not intact, if he's injured? >> i think if he's still alive, he's still got his mind intact, he can still lead this organization. i don't think it matters if he loses an arm or a finger or something like that. >>

abadi was installed in baghdad. have you made any assessment of how he's getting on? what are the prospect of him having a more

out in the anbar province, the sunni tribes are going to have to overflow these people and the al abadie minister, is going to have to make the critical changes within the infrastructure so they have confidence in the leaders and all the way up. >> appreciate your intelligence, as always. >> my pleasure, julie. >>> meet the new faces of terror. young western women being radicalized and making their way to syria to join the force of isis and they are more than isis wi wives. they are taking on isis roles. >> reporter: this young woman left her home in bristol, england. this one from glasgow. these girls disappeared from vienna and this one from her home in the south of france. they are among women believed to have snuck off to join isis. many are radicalized online from their own homes. some families get calls from syria and others wait for news. >> please come back. please. >> reporter: this uk counter extremism expert say that while most are going to be jihadist brides, many have violent ambitions and are security de g dangerous blind spot. >> these women will be returning back home an

has prime minister abadi said sunniese andto arm can you tell me specifically what these trainers will be doing? how will it be different from the training we saw in 2011? are we going back to basics or something more specific? >> on your first question, nancy, i don't know. i don't know if the prime specificallysaid if he's willing to arm them. demonstrated is his willingness to reach out to them. that there will likely be a role for sunni this training effort. we've got more work to do in that regard. to bet they're going trained to do, it's going to be helping them with command and control. i'm not talking about the advising. there's also an advising role for that too, but helping to train them in command and in battlefield leadership, in tactical maneuver, in in in intelligence matters. i mean, it will be training as much across the board as we can. going to be focusing it on what the needs are too. until we get the brigades identified and in, there has to be a little flexibility. not every iraqi brigade is going to need the same thing as the one. but basically just trying to impro

but i believe prime minister abadi and others understand the seriousness of this. it's imperfect.ey have to do it. we'll help them do it, but they have to do it. >> chairman recognizes the speaker from massachusetts. >> i, like my colleagues, remain greatly concerned with recent developments in both iraq and syria. but given the long-term consequences of u.s. operations in the region, i think we have to be sure that the administrations overarching strategy and objectives are fully discussed and robustly debated here in congress. this is especially important given the lessons of the last decade, when despite seven years of conflict in iraq, 4500 american lives lost and more than $1.5 trillion spent. our military effort did not resolve is conflict we are now confronted with. given these harsh lessons and because a full debate has not occurred, i voted against a short-term authorization to train and equip the moderate syrian forces. before we move forward, we need to be clear on what we are asking and will ask of our brave service men and women, what the costs might be, how we are go

this includes prime minister abadi's plan with the national guard units i mentioned earlier. coalition partners are playing a role in efforts by providing advisors and trainers to regenerate iraqi brigades. together we are also providing more arms and equipment to iraqi security forces. this year the united states alone has shipped more than $685 million in critical equipment and supplies to iraq, ranging from grenades and small arms to tank ammunication and hellfire missiles, hundreds of which will be arriving this month. u.s. and coalition partners together have delivered million of pounds of supplies including ammunition to peshmerga forces. mr. chairman, in syria our actions against isil are focused on shaping dynamic in iraq which remains the priority of our counter isil strategy. but we are sober about the challenges we face as isil exploits the complicated long-running syrian conflict. because we do not have a partner government to work with in syria or regular military partners to work with as we do in iraq, in the near term, our military aims in syria are limited to

the answer is the baghdad government, the al-abadi government has to bring in the sunnied and kurds legitimatelyt and give them some power and share some of that oil revenue. and they don't, there aren't american, nato or allied forces that can change the complexion on the ground. bill: they're saying we killed a key bombmaker in syria, and bob baer, former cia guy on another network last night, says this guy wasn't key. he says the guy you need to get was in yemen. he was just one of many. what do you know about this? >> well, the thing is if you look at how he was taken out, he was taken out by a reaper, probably with a hellfire missile driving in a single vehicle with a driver up in northern syria. now, if this guy was a nobody, man, somebody put a lot of attention into figuring out how to get that warhead on his forehead. and you don't do that for no reason at all. so he was important to somebody. bill: baer also said they've got the technology now to put bombs on planes. that can get by our security that we've implemented. is he right? >> well, i think what they're going to do is they're go

>> prime minister abadi is moving the government in a very healthy direction. the challenges he faces. that said, he's made some important initial decisions. he has revamped the leadership of the iraqi security forces and continues to do that. he's assigned the first iraqi defense minister in five years, and that defense minister has already been out visiting the troops and pledged two goals, one to go on the offense against isil. and the second is to reform the iraqi army. but it's just beginning and we understand that. but the signs are going the right way, and i think we are confident that if we can get the authorization, the funding and resources to do this, this will be a significant enhancement to iraqi security forces and their ability to go against this enemy. i also want to stress that they already are going on the offense. it's not like it's a completely delappidated army. but they are fighting north of baghdad and they're having some success. it's slow and unsteady, but they are having some success. >> admiral, stand by for just a moment. because we'

in the wake of years of leadership, iraqi prime minister abadi is leaning forward by engaging all ofiraqi's diverse communities. he's appointed a sunni defense minister, after that post was fourvacant for more than years. and he is moving to create an whichnational guard, would empower local forces, tribal areas sunni in the anbar province. you may have noticed that yesterday it was announced that he replaced 36 of his most commanders, integrating the iraqi security forces with leaders.or sunni this is essential to the iraqiing not only security forces but strengthening a central in iraqnt, a government and in fact can build trust confidence of the iraqi people. thanks to intensive diplomacy, supporting this effort alone. we built a global coalition to local forces in both iraq and syria. 60 nations of over that are contributing assistance toging from air support training to humanitarian assistance. testified here, 16 nations have joined the military campaign against isil. the first coalition air strikes bahrain, saudied emirates. united coalition partners have carried isil30 air str

ministerieve prime abadi and others understand the seriousness of this. it's imperfect. they have to do it. we'll help them do it, but they it. to do >> chairman recognizes the massachusetts. >> i, like my colleagues, remain greatly concerned with recent in both iraq and syria. but given the long-term consequences of u.s. operations region, i think we have to be sure that the overarchingons strategy and objectives are fully discussed and robustly debated here in congress. this is especially important given the lessons of the last despite seven years of conflict in iraq, 4500 morecan lives lost and than $1.5 trillion spent. our military effort did not resolve is conflict we are now confronted with. harsh lessons and because a full debate has not acurred, i voted against short-term authorization to train and equip the moderate syrian forces. before we move forward, we need to be clear on what we are and will ask of our brave service men and women, what the goingmight be, how we are to pay for any operations against isil, what the exit is, what we are asking of our regional

this wassal abadi sending a message that there will be no more cronyism, no more corruption. that this was an iraqi army ready to take the fight against isil. this has been welcomed. may not have been surprised by it. it's a very bold move but across the spectrum it has been well received. >> what is the latest in the battle for the oil refinery town of beiji? >> what we're hearing is key government buildings have been taken over. the iraqi army say they have about 60% of the talk about and they're just waiting for reinforcements to come in from other battalions before they take the arrest of the town. curiously what i'm hearing from isil sources is that they are bringing in reinforcements, as well. don't forget that isil still have the border crossing, they are still able to bring in troops from syria into iraq, so this by no means is a fight that will be over quickly. it goes to show you that the iraq army are now willing to get out of their bases and go on the offensive in places like beiji. however that's not the case in the rest of the country where isil still have the u

but i believe prime minister abadi and others understand that. it's imperfect, but they have to do it. we'll help them do it, but they have to do it. >> thank you. >> the chair recognizes miss tsongas from massachusetts for four minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you both for being here. i, like my colleague, remain greatly concerned with recent developments in both iraq and syria. but given the long-term consequences of u.s. operations in the region, i think we have to be sure that the administration's overarching strategy and objectives are fully discussed and robustly debated here in congress. this is especially important given the lessons of the last decade, when, despite seven years of conflict in iraq, 4,500 american lives lost, and more than $1.5 trillion spent, our military effort did not resolve the sectarian conflict we are now continue fronted with. given these harsh lessons and because a full debate has not occurred, i have voted against the short-term authorization to train and equip the moderate syrian forces. before we

but i believe prime minister abadi and others understand that. it's imperfect, but they have to do it. we'll help them do it, but they have to do it. >> thank you. >> the chair recognizes miss tsongas from massachusetts for four minutes. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you both for being here. i, like my colleague, remain greatly concerned with recent developments in both iraq and syria. but given the long-term consequences of u.s. operations in the region, i think we have to be sure that the administration's overarching strategy and objectives are fully discussed and robustly debated here in congress. this is especially important given the lessons of the last decade, when, despite seven years of conflict in iraq, 4,500 american lives lost, and more than $1.5 trillion spent, our military effort did not resolve the sectarian conflict we are now continue fronted with. given these harsh lessons and because a full debate has not occurred, i have voted against the short-term authorization to train and equip the moderate syrian forces. before we

it also demonstrates, perhaps, that abadi has more strength and influence we would give him credit forcoming out of the shadow of it malaki who is still there as a vice president. i think the stronger he becomes, the better it is for everyone because he has an opportunity to break away from the rather poor reputation of prime minister malkey. >> from fredricks burg virg, virginia, randy, republican line. caller: yes. i just don't really see how we can have snuksz iraq basically because the people there, they put their religion before freedom and the values that we value. if they are not willing to fight for their own freedom, i think all we do is create a dependency, you know. we were over there 10 years and you couldn't build an army in 10 years and then, you know, as soon as we leave, they fall. so, i mean i just don't blame president obama for not wanting to get back involved over there. so that's all i want to say. >> guest: randy, i think i share a lot of those concerns but maybe you are not giving the iraqis enough credit. i know a lot of iraqis and some are my friends who risked

al-abadi. as we just saw in some of the film.and it looked like he was shaking hands with the previous defense minister. but he's also going to meet the new defense minister. he is going to talk to the military command erpers not onle air commander but as well there is now a division headquarters there. the first infantry there commanded by major general paul funk whom he knows well. he a going to be talking a lot of the iraqi parliament. and a lot of the new iraqi generals. as you know they just swept clean a group of old generals. and i think dempsey knows all of these people. he served over four years in iraq. so he is going to meet with some of the new people and just look at their battle plans. and see what they are trying to co-and what they are going to do next. >> and you know general dempsey. you know him personally. formally a neighbor of yours even. from what you know about him, what do you suppose his thinking might be or how he calculates when or how anymore u.s. troops would be involved in iraq. >> well i do know jo