andrew exum, sit your idea this is going to happen just because to have the kind of war that is?i thinoften they have not cad out what russia or iran would like them to be so i think that was very wise. i would also say that where we are in the military campaign against the islamic state means that u.s. and other coalition forces are going to be this closer proximity to syrian regime forces. now, you know, the legal and policy assumptions that underpin the u.s. and coalition war against the islamic state was that the syrian regime couldn't exert any type of sovereignty east where the islamic state has been. that's beginning to change, and the coalition is starting to spread out as well. unfortunately, you're seeing the forces in greater proximity and i expect you will see more of these incidents in the future. >> woodruff: is that your expectation that this is just getting more complicated by the day, practically? >> i think we're getting closer to our primary objectives towards i.s.i.s. is to take a certain amount of core territory in eastern syria and the raqqa province. so, ye

andrew exum, let me start with you. how significant is the raqqa offense hitch? what are the stakes here? >> i think it's significant, although we shouldn't overstate the degree to which this will really herald the end of the islamic state. if you rewind to two years ago when the islamic state was spreading across syria and iraq and threatening our allies in turkey and jordan, we claim up with a plan to try to squeeze the islamic state from multiple different directions. parted of what we've been trying to do is apply simultaneous pressure. the idea was to eventually get to a duel capitals of the islamic state in raqqa and mosul. obviously the fight for mosul began last year. we weren't able to git to raqqa by the time that president obama left office, in part because we were still waiting on some pretty big policy decisions, including arming the syrian kurds, who have born the brunt of the fight in syria. but we now appear to be knocking on the doors of raqqa. the fight should last several months. it's going to be extremely difficult. but once this is over, it h

andrew exum was the top middle east policy official at the pentagon at the end of the obama administrationlived in lebanon for several years. >> the services that hezbollah provides to its constituency are services that quite frankly the lebanese government has failed to provide historically. and so, you can't blame lebanon's shia constituency for accepting the services provided by hezbollah. on the other hand, it creates a real dilemma for them when they, if they were to think about ever moving away from hezbollah. >> reporter: hezbollah is estimated to have lost over 1,300 fighters in the war, more than they ever lost fighting israel. most of these women have male loved-ones fighting in syria. this woman lost a son. as the mother of a man seen as a martyr, her emotions are complicated. >> ( translated ): the feeling of my son being martyred is powerful. he will attain a high position in heaven for what he did for us and for our dignity even though it is difficult because he is my child; it is difficult. >> reporter: to followers of hezbollah, this sacrifice is not made for politics. it i