baquba. there's the scene of the worrying developments of the crisis. this is an hour drive from the baghdad capital. the scene is fighting between isis and iraqi military. the group has seized control of several key cities including mosul and fallujah now encroaching the capital. president obama has announced u.s. will deploy almost 300 troops to defend the embassy in baghdad. american and iranian officials have been discussing the crisis. now diplomatic relations with iran, british government is starting to reopen its embassy there. >> november 2011 and the model iranian protestors attack the embassy in iran. offices and private quarters were ransacked. there was a small fire. the embassy was closed as was the iranian embassy in london. britain says the time is right to put the relationship on a new footing. in a statement the foreign secretary said there are a range of practical issues we will need to resolve first. however it is our intention to reopen the embassy in teheran with a small initial presence as soon as these practical arrangements have

. >> ooises forces and sunni militants continued their advance to baghdad, attacking the city of baquba. the push to baquba is another troubling sign for prime minister maliki who has seen his military unable to stop the militants advances. hundreds of thousands of iraqis are fleeing the fighting. on this road, entire families took whatever possessions they could, even livestock. maliki and shia clerics have called for people to take up arms and fight. cnn cannot independently verify the video. on a baghdad treat, we met one young man selling shoes, he says he has already signed up to fight. on god's will, iraq will be stabilized. we will be victorious, we don't need any u.s. occupation or iran. we don't need any arab country. but with the fighting concerns sectarian divide is deepening. new signs of possible sectarian killings. days after videos up loaded by isis claimed to show mass killings of shia, nearly four dozen prisoners were killed as militants seiged the city. they were shot to death at close range. allegations they were killed by iraqi police were denied by authorities which

militants are battling to take control of baquba about 50 kilometers north of the capital. they fired mortars at a police station on the outskirts of the city. sunni extremists have advanced in areas where many sunnis live, but baquba has large numbers of shia residents who support the government of prime minister nuri al maliki. government soldiers are using land and air attacks to try and reclaim the region. >>> u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon has condemned mass killings by the militants. >> there's a real risk of further sectarian violence on a massive scale within iraq and beyond its borders. >> ban called for unity and is urging political and religious leaders to cooperate. u.n. officials suspect in the last few days, several hundred iraqis were executed. they believe many of the dead are civilians and government forces will surrender. >>> for a look at how these developments are affecting markets, ron madison joins me now. ron? >> in particular the rising tension in iraq is really pushing up oil prices here in tokyo. in fact, crude oil futures on wednesday reached

they took the town of baquba late saturday after the army flew from there, taking their weapons with them. baquba is so important because it's only a 45-minute drive from and it's now just taking them as prisoners as we have seen but apparently leading them to their executions. they are dressed in civilian clothes and they laid them down in the dirt and then approached them. it is horrific material to see and it's a horrific reality of what isis is doing in its advance towards baghdad. it fueled the whole sectarian emotions. they are now pulling weight and potentially it's a much more bloody clash than what we are going to see in the coming days. fredricka? >> nic, there was a car bomb that went off in baghdad today. is it related to isis? >> reporter: they haven't claimed responsibility for it but it's entirely possible that it is. it's certainly believed that in baghdad there are places that they can hide out in. this was a suicide bomber that detonated explosives inside a crowded cafe that was full of shia workers. early in the morning, 17 people were killed and 40 people wounded.

they are now around the town of baquba.spread across the country encroaching on the capital, president obama has announced he's sending 300 troops to protect the american embassy and staff in baghdad. the british government has set out plans to reopen its embassy in iran. a short while ago i spoke to the spokesman for the iraqi prime minister maliki. he explained by sunni militants have managed to seize a number of towns and cities in the past week. >> these people have been able to get a grip because they are supported by former saddam militants. getting backing and support and arms from regional countries with the west turning a blind eye and leaving them a vacuum in syria to work from, they have been able to take over these areas. also they have been working on this secretly for some time undermining army generals in that area who were former saddam army generals brought back under the plan of reconciliation. corrupt leaders of that area as well in order to give instructions to the iraqi army in that area to dispand. the

ago the closest they come so far to the capital though was on monday in an attack on the city of baquba just sixty kilometers from baghdad however soldiers managed to repel that offensive. output if you can see now is recent video from the northern city of baiji where insurgents tried to seize iraq's biggest oil refinery but government forces fought them off there as well and in between taking one major city after a. another isis's put together a glowing report outlining the group's achievements i'll teach you go to school report. fifteen thousand fighters ten thousand operations in iraq one thousand assassinations and all last year alone the state of iraq and syria now known more notoriously as isis has been slicing through iraq moving closer and closer to baghdad and they're running a slick modern p.r. campaign to even publishing an official report of their activities using computer generated graphics it paints a clear picture of the terror organization including the types in amounts of weapons they use their strategy details of operations and targets and former intelligence officers

the islamic state of iraq and syria have attacked and briefly took control of parts of the city of baquba, less than 40 miles from bagdad. the obama administration is reportedly weighing other options in iraq, including possible drone strikes and the deployment of special forces to train iraqi troops. the united states and iran have spoken briefly about the crisis, but state department spokesperson jen psaki ruled out any joint military action. >> i would remind you that we have had similar conversations regardingt with iran afghanistan. these consultations would be a long those lines. we are not talking about board meeting any military action in iraq with iran. we would encourage iran to push the iraqis to act to address problems in a nonsectarian way. >> we will have more on iraq after headlines. israeli forces have rounded up scores of palestinians as part of a hunt for three missing teenagers, bringing the total number arrested to more than 200. israel has accused hamas of kidnapping the three young men, and has launched a massive crackdown on the group, although it has yet to provide

baquba, if it falls, the implications are dire for the iraqi capital.o we get any sense there's going to be an imminent decision any time soon if the u.s. is going to do anything? >> we've been told since the beginning the president is going to act, he's going to decide and act with urgency, but he and his team want to make sure that whatever they do has an actual impact on the ground and limits the costs as well. i'm told from the military side they have discussed specific options with the president but they haven't prepared or finished a final target list for potential air strikes so that's something -- a step that still needs to be completed. but there's another issue here as well. the administration clearly believes and i've been told the same thing by intelligence officials that baghdad will hold. as quickly as isis has made gains in the north and the west, baghdad, because it's a shiite city, because of that, they believe that baghdad will hold and in reality that gives them some time. it's a dire thought to imagine that only a third of the countr

fighters and other sunni armed groups have allegedly attacked the city of baquba before being pushedut. we start our coverage. >> east of baghdad, a strategically vital battle is .eing fought these are kurdish forces. they are trying to help the iraqi army stop them from marching on the capital. this is the next town that is in the hands of them. they are backed by about 600 sunni tribal fighters. base, the general bags a sunni to change sides. he asked him to abandon them, to avoid the bloodshed that is surely coming. it does not work. the kurds know they have to stop them here, and they will go into the nearby town. the iraqi army is making a desperate stand there. it is the last big town before the capital. the kurds send reinforcements to the front lines. , and the townnd is secure, they say. they spot movement. three or four gunman. >> come with me, come with me, come with me! down here, down here, down here. >> it seems to be coming from three or four directions, snipers, they say. they thought they had secured this place. they had just been told there were 75 vehicles of the f

we know there are some 35 to 40 miles, the closest city they're in and fighting for is baquba. still, that battle's been going on for more than a day now. that's about as close as we know that they are in large numbers on the outskirts. obviously, there are insurgents, there are terrorist groups operating inside baghdad itself. we've seen a number of suicide blasts, roadside bombs, of car bombs and the like over the last several days. dozen of wounded. more than a dozen killed just yesterday. yesterday alone. so you know, it's a big question about whether or not they can actually come to the gates of the city. these are more shia-dominated areas. the shia fighters here that make up the iraqi military, a lot of these volunteers who have signed up to fight as well, they're highly motivated to protect shia areas, less so to protect sunni areas, which an area like mosul, we all know what happened there. but don, you know, the fight that's going on up in baji, up in the north for the oil refinery, the largest oil refinery in iraq, one of three oil refineries in this country, that ba

meanwhile, iraqi forces held back an attack by sunni rebels in the city of baquba last night, a strategic area 37 miles north of baghdad. this comes as president obama rules out an immediate air strike against sunni extremists. he will instead provide intelligence to the iraqi military and seek support from the allies in the region. >>> the iranian president says he is ready to act. now, speaking on iranian tv state television, rouhani said he will not hesitate to protect holy shrines in iraq. he added they're ready to go to iraq for the terrorists in their place. brunt crude is probably the most vulnerable to the geopolitics emanating from the middle east region right now. 113.53 is where we are standing in consolidation around that level. light crude, wti, the u.s. futures contract, 106.83. now, julia, it's going to be headline driven, very volatile trade for at least the next couple of weeks as the market tries to come to terms with what exactly is going on in iraq. interesting that brent has broken out of the ranges. the most important thing is what happens to the terminals in the sou

was another city of baquba just sixty kilometers from over soldiers managed to repel the offensive in seeing recent footage from the northern city of biology where insurgents tried to seize iraq's biggest oil refinery but government forces fought them off there as well in between taking one major city after another os is. the group's achievements artes you can offer ports no. fighters ten thousand operations in iraq one thousand assassinations and all last year alone the state of iraq and syria now known more notoriously as through iraq moving closer and closer to baghdad and. routed graphics it paints a clearer picture of the terror organization including the types in amounts of weapons they use their strategy details of operations and targets former intelligence officers claim that the. mission. for extreme. asked for help u.s. defense officials are reportedly lucky getting involved in iraq again would be a major blow to america's federal budget of already ended up in isis hands or at least a lot of weapons have so then you have the other thing is it could be a drone campaign or it

in a prison near baquba, northeast of baghdad, sunnis were found dead. the military gave a different account, saying they were killed by insurgent mortar fire. dark yearsf iraq's following the u.s. invasion. when the sectarian death toll rein in the thousands. minority sunnis put the blame on the shiite government. >> what is happening in iraq is the revolutionary -- the oppression and repression of the sunnis under the leadership of different governments since 2005. , thousands of shiites are joining the fight against sunni insurgents. >> in addition to the sunnis and the shiites, the kurds are the third ethnic group and iraq. the soldiers of the armed forces of iraqi kurdistan are called "those who face death. peshmerga spread out across several disputed territories. adam has more. >> next to the river, and banknotes have been corrected. peshmerga's defense line west of kirkuk. in the distance, smoke. >> this is our line of defense. there is fighting here. to your right, they are fighting in the village. >> on the other side of the bridge, the peshmerg

closest they've come so far though to the capital was on monday that was in an attack on the city of baquba that we've marked here for you it's very close to sixty kilometers in fact away from baghdad however soldiers managed to repel that particular offensive and what you can see coming up now will be recent footage from the northern city of by sea where insurgents tried to seize iraq's biggest all refinery however government forces fought them off there as well and in between taking major city after another isis is put together a glowing report outlining the group's achievements but if you go to school off explain. fifteen thousand fighters ten thousand operations in iraq one thousand assassinations and all last year alone these state of iraq and syria and now normally more notoriously as isis has been slicing through iraq or being closer and closer to baghdad and they're running a slick modern p.r. campaign. to even publishing an official report of their activities using computer generated graphics it paints a clear picture of the terror organization including the types and amounts of we

were killed in clashes between the army and insurgents just sixty kilometers from the capital in baquba political analyst edmund ghareeb sees that the ploy meant of u.s. troops there means america is determined to prevent the government from falling i think part of this is also. to protect u.s. facilities that you see but also to send a clear signal the united states could play a role in helping the iraqi government but the kind of help that we have been hearing about there is a little bit different this would be for you us unilaterally uses or they are forced to attack the forces of islamic state in syria and iraq also uses the drones to attack these forces and opposition opponents of the iraqi government and i think to a large extent you have to go back to the two thousand and three war and i said an assertion that run iraq for governments that were put in charge i think have to bear huge responsibility for the disaster that we have seen in iraq since that time . just before i launched its offensive and iraq's northern released a propaganda video aiming to lure in new recruits the vid

baghdad earlier today at least forty four people were killed just sixty kilometers from the capital in baquba and a car blasts in baghdad killed twelve others international relations expert dr oz hassan says iraq could be heading for a much wider sectarian war. you need to recognize that it's not just ice it licenses it's the whole say coat. is the extremists in it in iraq you've also got eighty of the sunni arab troll i made up of the military council of tribes of iraq is a much wider variety of actors whose interests of all annoying together and they are now working with with ice to an extremist whereas because previously they actually helped protect the big the rocky government in that sense one of the first steps needs to be to get those forces who have joined up with isis back on side with the iraqi government there needs to be a much wider regional approach and much more nuanced approach that if this problem is going to be dealt with you've got a set of scenarios where it is very possible that the amount of government could fall and iraq would break out into a much wider sectarian confl

america overnight clashes with shiite militia men in baquba iraq leave forty four dead and much of the city in the hands of sunni militants from the islamic state in iraq and syria or better known as isis president obama has already deployed two hundred seventy five armed forces to iraq to provide support and security for u.s. personnel at the embassy in baghdad officials within the administration say that the u.s. is also considering air strikes on areas now controlled by the insurgents along with sending one hundred troops to further train the iraqi forces as the clashes in book quba continue government forces are focused on regaining control of the strategic city it's the latest it's the last city between isis insurgents and the capital of baghdad as the sunni al qaeda offshoot push the shiite government further south with fewer and fewer government strongholds in the country. but just who is this group who is isis we're hearing so much chatter about this organization but how powerful are they joining me now from beirut is lina khateeb director of the carnegie middle east center tha

members of the al-qaeda splinter faction "isis" moved into the city of baquba yesterday, and are fighting with police, less than 40 miles from baghdad. so far, the city hasn't fallen. an american aircraft carrier and five other warships are deployed in the persian gulf, awaiting orders for possible airstrikes against the attackers. a soldier from mokena was remembered yesterday at a memorial service in afghanistan. aaron toppen was one of five troops who died in a "friendly fire" incident earlier this month. they called for air support during an ambush by the taliban... but the coalition planes mistakenly targeted the americans. taking a look at the *other top stories this morning. a shooting in the north lawndale neighborhood left a 14 year old boy critically injured. he was walking in the 14- hundred block of south drake avenue when he was hit in the lower back yesterday night. earlier that evening, a shooting in the west garfield park neighborhood left a 30- year-old man dead. he suffered a gunshot wound to the head. chicago police are warning residents of a pair of home invasions on t

are reports of clashes between iraqi forces and gunmen believed to be with isis near the city of baquba0 miles from baghdad. isis wants to get near the airport and northern suburbs. >>> a two-star army general has been appointed to investigate how and why sergeant bowe bergdahl left his base in afghanistan. bergdahl was freed two weeks ago after being held nearly five years by the taliban. a senior defense official declined to name the general before a formal announcement is made but said he would begin working on the case this week. >>> and lots of people stood in line. i mean, big lines to meet hillary clinton during a book signing at a costco in northern virginia. and one of the folks in the crowd just happened to be u.s. supreme court justice sonia sotomayor. she was just shopping at costco when she found out that clinton was there signing her new book "hard choices." >>> more pivotal shifts in politics this week. on thursday, house republicans will choose their next majority leader. the winner will replace eric cantor who was defeated in a stunning upset in the primary seventh dist

gun fights break out between the islamic state of iraq and the levant fighters and iraqi troops in baquba. the i.s.i.l. offensive continues on the border. taking a check post, leaving the government empty. refugees within their own country continue to flee the northwestern town of mosul in control of the rebels. this time iraqi air force strikes have sparked the exodus. >> we've been here for seven days but those who came today said they were being bombed from the air. especially today it was very heavy with exploding gas cylinders. they're throwing these gas cylinders or families. >> already opposition politician he say the u.s. invasion of iraq that led to the events of today pointing out that before they arrived groups like i.s.i.l. and al qaeda didn't have a presence in the country. imran khan, al jazeera baghdad. >>> in the last couple of weeks, hundreds of thousands of people have been leaving their homes, fearing they will be are targeted by rally fighters. >> first fled are the mosul area. children and grandchildren desperately worried about his future. >> translator: where can i

fights breaking out between the islamic state of iraq and the levant fighters and iraqi troops in baquba. the i.s.i.l. offensive also continues on the border, take a checkpoint on the way to jordan. and the government denied they lost control of it. iraqis displaced, continuing to flee the northwestern town of mosul in the control of the rebels. this time the rebel fighters spark the exodus. >> we have been here for seven days but those who came said they were bombed from the air. especially today it was very heavy with exploded gas cylinders. i haven't seen it myself. they are throwing these gation gas cylinders or families. >> politician he say it was the u.s. invasion of iraq that led to this point today. groups like i.s.i.l. and al qaeda didn't have a presence in the country. imran khan, al jazeera, baghdad. >>> a week away july 1st, rick brennan is a career army officer, senior analyst with the rand corporation now. he worked in iraq over the last decade so you're quite familiar with all the players around this. and we were talking about as we heard the voices today, a little differ

the militants in baquba? is that right? that's a short drive from baghdad. >> reporter: 45-minute drive from baghdad, michael. iraqi army forces were told to evacuate the big base in baqubah on saturday. they were told to take their weapons with them. they did that. within an hour, we're told, that isis fighters had entered the base. this is very strategically important for them, bringing them closer to baghdad and isis taken another town in the north of the country not far from mosul, like a mopping up operation to keep the momentum going southwards. they raced past the town to get to mosul and then telafar apparently put up some fight. and what's interesting about this is the prime minister drew a line in the sand in samarrah and said isis won't get south than this. they went around and took a town an hour's drive south of there, michael. >> you said they took a bit of a detour around there and left it alone. that, of course, the place of serious religious significance with the shrine there in samarrah. nic, what are the

in the sand about two hours north of here overnight the government asked the army to pull out in baquba. it's much closer to baghdad an soumau sumara. isis moved in within the hour. isis is still on the add dance coming towards baghdad, from what we under in intelligence sources and sunni tribesman fighting alongside isis. i talked to one of them two days ago, this plan that they are following through right thousand, is the plan that they had all along. to move swiftly through the country, to get to baghdad, to encircle baghdad to put pressure on maliki to resign, or normal government of national unit and take baghdad's international airport and the latest, we hear there's an intention to shell the northern outskirts of baghdad to put pressure on it. the sunni tribesman said we don't want casualties, we want to avoid that. there's different factions fighting towards the city. it's unclear which one will have the upper hand when they arrive. fareed. >> nic, the iraqi government on paper has 800,000 troops between the internal security forces and the actual army. what are they doing? what

the iraqi army was told to pull out of the massi ivive baquba b last night and within an hour isis moved in. they're around the diyala province. it's just north of baghdad. we've seen this group isis advance very quickly through the country. one of the reasons is because they're sunnis and these are sunni areas and the people there support them. that's why they have done it. diyala is different with a greater mix. sunni, shia, kurdish. and the fighting is slowing down. but nevertheless, that's where isis right now. we don't know where these images of the executed iraqi soldiers were taken. definitely appears to be iraq. very brutal as these pictures are, they're going to really stoke up the sectarian tensions and anger at the moment when people here in baghdad, cheers here in the city, see what's happened. see what the sunni militants have done and make them very angry. people here say they just want peace and say there's no difference between sunni and shia but the reality is there are extremists out there on both sides and they look like they're about to get into a really big fight rig

we talked about baquba. they are fighting there today. the city is not totally in isis hands. forces are fighting back. you are going to see more of that. >> what is the goal other than territory and power and momentum? is it to get down here to the oil fields? do they care about that? >> they obviously care about that. there is oil fields up here as well. they know they have to go up against the kurds so they have to be careful not to overextend themselves. these victories have been shocking to us and a bit surprising to isis itself as it analyzes just how popular are we. remember something, all the graphic horrible pictures we saw of executions, they were the same pictures taken during the iraqi awakening when the sunni tribes turned on al qaeda in iraq and executed all the foreign fighters. exactly. i watched it. same scenario. they have to be mindful of that as well. will the sunnis in iraq turn against them. >> jim clancy, thank you. >>> coming up, just in to cnn, new details about bowe bergdahl, who as you know, back in the u.s. recovering after those five years in capti

and their sunni supporters are said to be some 35 to 40 miles outside the city, and in the town of baqubahere there has been fighting. it's a predominantly shia city, tens of thousands of volunteers. the feeling is that if forces were to get closer to baghdad, they would start to engage with more motivated forces. highly motivated forces. shia forces within the military who are in charge of protection of this city. and also a lot of these volunteers. you've got to remember, there are thousands of voluntary shia fighters, civilians, who have been fighting in syria for the last two years in support of the government of bashir al assad against isis forces and others there. they have heeded the call to return to iraq, to bolster the iraqi army here. so there's not a sense of panic in this city, because the feeling is, even though isis forces may be not too far off, what stands between them, where they are now and the gates of baghdad are a lot more motivated troops than what we have seen in some of these sunni areas. >> anderson cooper, we'll be watching tonight. 8:00 herein here on cnn, "ac

they are also battling for control of baquba, that's 37 miles to the north.ve looted the police station there. the government insists the insurgents are not in control of the town. let's get some serious analysis. i'm joined by tara mallor of the new america foundation and cnn's chief national security correspondent, jim sciutto. is it really possible, i asked the former u.s. ambassador to baghdad, is it really possible these guys could take baghdad? >> it's not very likely for a few reasons. one, it's the capital. big concentration of iraqi forces there who want to defend it. two, you have had a call to arms for shiites, from shiite clerics who are coming in. there is a run on iraqi military uniforms, you hear, because people want to volunteer for the fight. three, also because baghdad is very much a shiite city. the sunni population down to 15% after clashes going back to 2008 and the isis has advantages in the areas where it is a sunni majority population. that's been the case so far in the northern part of the country. very different when you get to baghd

officials tell cnn unlike all these other cities be an towns that you see in red, baquba has not slippedfrom government control. president obama has notified congress he's deployed approximately 275 troops to deal with this growing threat. 170 are defending america's largest embassy compound there. another 100 are outside of iraq. we're told nearby and tasked with, quote, airfield management security and logistics support. that's in addition to more than 500 marines and hundreds more sailors and pilots on ships in the persian gulf who are awaiting further orders if those orders come in. for more on all of this and what may happen next, i want to bring in senior international correspondent nic robertson who's live in baghdad. joining us from paris is retired u.s. army journgeneral mark kim. from irvine, california, cnn national security analyst and former cia operative bob bair. it's almost daily we ask the question what's the latest on the isis advance. give us the situation on the ground, best you know it. >> well, another terrorist attack in the central baghdad today. three people kill

wave of sectarian killings has already begun last night in a government controlled police station in baquba. the bodies of 44 prisoners were found. all of them had gunshots to their chest or head. >> clarissa ward, thank you. please be careful. >>> u.s. intelligence are questioning a man accused of plotting the attack on the american consulate in libya. he's the first person arrested in connection with the assault 21 years ago. >> the suspect will be bruit to this country and put on public trial. bob orr is in washington where officials say the arrest was in the works for a year. bob, good morning. >> good morning. well, right after the benghazi attacks in september 2012, ahmed abu khatalla openly met with reporters saying if i'm a suspect, come and get me. well, sunday night, u.s. special operations forces did just that. u.s. officials believe this is a photo of ahmed abu khatalla, one who officials say helped orchestrate the attack on the consulate in benghazi. after the fbi agents silently converge odden the home and quickly captured khatalla without firing a shot. no one was hurt. >> it

obtained, that has also matched up to information obtained by amnesty international, taking place in baquba, but also in telefarr and mosul. one witness we spoke to described how iraqi guards entered his cell where he was staying with 36 other people, opened fire with a machine gun. he says that he was amongst one of the only survivors. and with these mounting atrocities on both sides, this is only contributing to the hatred and the sectarian divisions, as we are watching iraq unravel. >> we're getting some news right now that iraqi air force carried out air strikes on various isis locations within the city of mosul. that's just coming down to us. and we also know that the top shiite cleric in iraq, he is urging an expeditious formation of the government there, thinking that this is what's going to help really solidify this country and thwart everything that's going on. arwa, how quickly might that actually happen and how likely is it that al maliki, the current prime minister, will still be in charge? >> reporter: well, this is iraq at the end of the day. if we look back to the last govern

the militants now moving south nearing baquba becoming a bigger threat to baghdad. house correspondent jim acosta with the latest from the white house. what are we hearing, jim? >> brianna, senior administration official said the president has not yet made any decisions yet on whether to strike in iraq, but a separate senior administration official is indicating that a decision could come as early as this weekend on how to proceed including the possibility the u.s. could conduct air strikes. with the makings of an iraqi civil war now a full blown foreign policy crisis president obama huddled with his national security team to talk options. what was once unthinkable for this anti-iraq war president is on the table. >> i don't rule out anything because we do have a state of making sure that these jihadists are not getting a permanent foothold in either iraq or syria, for that matter. >> reporter: to prevent isis from taking baghdad, white house officials say the president is now considering drone or air strikes on the sunni-backed fighters but no boots on the ground.