. >> let's bring in douglas olivant. how significant is this, if i.s.i.l. has indeed gotten its hands on mustard gas and is using it as a weapon? >> it could make some minor tactical gains, i think in the big picture, just as the assad regime has found out that while you can have a minor tactical effect the larger scale use of chemical weapons really doesn't buy you much. i think the islamic state will find out the same thing. this is truly a heinous weapon that the civilized world has rejected, that i.s.i.l. has reportedly picked up or we have reports they picked up. but it isn't changing the calculus because it took erbil. >> out old iraqi stock piles perhaps even making it themselves how significant is that detail? >> i don't think too terribly significant. the likelihood is exactly in the order you gave them. the preponderance of likelihood would be that they are from syria, from assad's stock piles. there is a smaller chance these could be really old left over iraqi weapons from the saddam baath era. almost certainly they are from syria if they have th

. >> joining us now to help unscramble some of this very complicated picture is douglas olivant, future of war senior fellow at the new american foundation, also the director of the iraq services at the national security council at both the bush and obama administrations. george w. bush and president obama. the revolutionary people's liberation party claim responsibility for the attack on the consulate. exactly who are they and what could possibly be their motivation? >> well this is an old line marxist group. i think it formerly formed this group in 1994 but has deep roots in the marxist period of the '60s and '70 pps we can think of this as the turkish cousin of the red brigade, similar marxist groups. very, very opposed to turkish membership in nato. >> and in league with their turkish brothers and sisters? >> yes and no. actually, as your piece pointed out, the pkk has deep marxist roots and these two groups have cooperated in the past. it is always very complicated. in fact we are hearing one report that one of these women who fired on the american consulate named an attack earlier

joining us now is douglas ol olivant, who served in iraq and afghanistan, was the architect of the iraqi. as i mentioned you were one of the searkts of th architects of the surge, one of the reasons given for the need of iraq and syria, colin powell said you broke it you own it. so be part of the solution in iraq and syria. it is a police. united states is the superpower, help. >> it is a mess and the united states needs to help where it can but it needs to help with a hippocratic oath. first do no harm. as we've learned -- >> too late for that. >> more harm can always be done. as we've learned the hard way, in syria in iraq in libya all over the world things can always get worse and for the united states to intervene with the heavy hand can have all kinds of political consequences. the outcome of which we can't foresee. we certainly didn't think al qaeda of iraq was going to be an outcome of our 2003 invasion. we didn't see that. we didn't see the original al qaeda coming from you're support of the afghan rebels against russia. we need to be cautious and supportive of the aid we give. b