commander in iraq. he had already done two long tours of duty in country.e around, almost four years after the war started, was disturbing and different. >> the first day -- full day in command was traveling around baghdad to see the situation there, which, frankly, was really, really quite horrifying. i had known these neighborhoods as thriving, bustling, prosperous areas. in some cases, you know, completely blown up, people had moved out. in one case, it was almost metaphorical. there was literally tumbleweed blowing down this empty road. >> the president had decided iraq needed an influx of american troops to secure the peace. petraeus had a plan to do just that. >> do you mind if i ask what you do for a living? >> and it started with this. >> the only way to secure the people, the only way to ensure security is to live with them, to be in the neighborhood 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. >> the general says this tactic was the exact opposite of what the united states had been doing in the prior months, pulling out of the cities and towns and neighborhoods

>> first of all from much experience in my three years in iraq and in other assignments we're not good at going into the retail level down at the villages and trying to change basic sociological core institutions. what we can do is help the central government make key decisions on reconciliation, with ethnic groups, be they the pashtun or sunni arabs in iraq, and to make smart moves with respect to their economy and forces, and diplomacy rather than stupid moves. how do we show that influence by saying we've got skin in the game and standing by them. >> given what we know about iraq and afghanistan, what should we be doing in syria? the american government, the official line continues to be, that we need regime change although i've seen that soften in the last week with the administration talking about a transition to a new government. what should the american experience tell them about what to do in syria? >> well, let me be clear it's not the american government in and of itself. it is 70 to 80% of the syrian people who have taken up arms against assad. it is turkey and most of the a

another edition of 360, "long road to hell, america in iraq" hosted by fareed zakaria starts now. >>> in baghdad today, bombs go off on average every 12 hours. the awful routine that follows each bomb looks hauntingly familiar to americans who watch the iraq war play out on television. familiar except for this. after many bombings, he plays his cello. he's the conductor of the iraqi orchestra. sometimes he plays the iraqi national anthem. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> my homeland they sing. life and hope are in your air. >> i george walker bush do solemnly swear. >> george w. bush had a dream. a vision where saddam would fall, the people would rejoice, and iraq would become a stable democracy, a beacon of hope breaking the endless cycle of extreme extreme is m in the middle east. if you think this is just history, it isn't. many politicians want to send more troops back into iraq and syria, as well. it's the only way to defeat isis they say, but will another american intervention be more successful than the last one? this time it's crucial that we understand how the iraq war went so terribly wrong. go b

hallie jackson, nbc news, miami >>> we know the idea of the american soldier killed in iraq this week. first to fall in battle there in four years an the first ever to be killed in direct combat with isis. our correspondent richard engel has more on the loss of an american life and concerns there may be more casualties to come. >> reporter: the pentagon today identified master sergeant joshua wheeler of oklahoma as the american commando killed in the raid that rescued 70 hostages in iraq this week. wheeler, 39, served 14 tours of duty in iraq and afghanistan. he enlisted 20 years ago, straight out of high school. at that school today, he was remembered with a moment of silence. secretary of defense carter said wheeler acted heroically. >> when a fire fight ensued, this american did what i'm very proud that americans do in this situation and he ran to the sound of the guns and stood up. >> and he acnonled to jim miklaszewski that u.s. troops are in combat in iraq. >> are you impressed by what happened? >> i am. and that is on the basis of the reports i've gotten so i want to be careful

in a big way. the administration, i don't iraq. i'm afraid all the problems will be handed over to the next administration to deal with, and the region in the middle east will continue to burn, and refugees fleeing the fighting. people of mosul, iraq's second-largest city will suffer under i.s.i.s. occupation and torture, and i.s.i.s. will continue to grow for a care organization, holding more territory that any groups have in the history of man. >> john, a retired army lieutenant colonel, the headmaster. on target tomorrow - the other still burning issue in the middle east. the prospects between israelis and palestinian peace. mahmoud abbas says israel has not lived up to its end of the bargain in negotiating a final 2-stage solution. binyamin netanyahu says israel will negotiate without preconditions. >> the americans need to comment the israelis, and i think binyamin netanyahu's resigned himself to the fact that the agreement is reality. that's number one. number two is the problem of iraq in syria right now. and russian - russia

forces in iraq. talked about the change in the train and equip program which i would like to elaborate more on that. in that statement that we got this morning, secretary carter, you said, quote, to be clear, we are not cooperating with russia and we are not letting russia impact the pace and scope of our campaign against isil in iraq and syria. last week -- some time ago we had dr. kissinger in as a witness. but then last week we had five professors that were there in one of our good hearings we had wednesday or thursday. we quoted dr. kissinger when he said, quote, syria is the latest symptom of a disintegration of the american role in stabilizing the middle east order, end quote. now, do you think that's inconsistent with the statements that you have made, secretary carter? >> i think that the middle east is certainly a very tumultuous -- but once again i come back to our role is to protect american interests in that circumstance. >> but our -- >> whether it be the fight against isil, our alliance

troops were in combat in iraq this week. isis claim this is footage it posts online shows what is left of its prison, the battlefield where joshua wheeler lost his life. was launched from here in northern iraq. u.s. special operations forces have a large presence here and what sounds like a new mission. a green light from the pentagon to go into battle against isis in iraq. lester. >> richard engel. >>> now a major update on a story we've been following for more than a year. citing a series of nbc news reports in the potential health risk of crumb rubber in artificial turf. congress is now demanding answers. it is putting the epa on the hot seat after they refused to respond to vital questions we posed about the safety of the fields our children play on all across the country. nbc's stephanie gosk has been reporting on this story and she has the latest. >> reporter: coach amy griffin started asking questions about crumb rubber turf two years ago. she worried the surface made from recycled car and truck tires may be causing ca

don't forget my documentary "long road to hell: america in iraq" airs tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. eastern. thanks to all of you for being part of my program this week. i will see you next week. >>> happening now in the "newsroom." >> the car hit me as i was stopping and then i rolled over some strollers. >> a time of celebration shattered. >> never think someone could hurt people like this. >> the homecoming parade at oklahoma state university, a scene of terror when a driver crashes through the crowd. four killed, dozens injured, and a woman behind bars. today the community wants to know why. >>> plus, dramatic new video purportedly showing that u.s. raid to save hostages in iraq. one american soldier killed in that daring rescue. we'll take a closer look at what these new pictures show. >>> and a revealing interview with tony blair about the war in iraq. >> was the decision to enter iraq and topple this regime and the state? >> you know, whenever i'm asked this i can say that i apologize for the fact that the intelligence we received was wrong. >> "newsroom" starts now. >>> hello

news right now on the latest announcement from the white house on an increase in troop levels not in iraqbut in syria this time. this is a live picture from the white house, briefing room, and we are expecting in 15 minutes to get a live update on the brand new announcement, and this new shift in american strategy with regard to putting boots on the ground. all with beit, about 50, and they are in an advise and assist capacity, and not so much in a combat role, but as barbara starr aptly reported a moment ago, it could easily turn to comb combat, because they have a right to defend themselves, and it is similar to the mission announced in iraq, and the advise and assist boots on the ground that have been coordinating the ground attack, and advising and assisting the local kurds and forces in iraq and i want to bring back our military correspondent clarissa ward and also our military expert general mark hertling. i want to go out the knee ma, and you are getting some of the first reaction on the ground from the kurds who is haring that the assistance is on the way there on the ground in ir

, as trump likes to say, and has a dominant role in iraq. ght now in libya, with gadhafi, he gave up his effort to develop a nuclear capability. as bad as he was, what's going on in libya right now is so much worse, the terrorism that's unfolding. what do you say when you hear trump make those points? >> you know, as you say, look, there's a powerful argument there to be made. i think this is a kind of position worth hearing out. there's a kind of old-fashioned, real politics school in the united states that perhaps would have always advocated this. the trouble is, and tony blair talks about this in the documentary -- he says in iraq, we went in and took out the regime, and what followed was chaos and islamic terrorism. in libya, we went in, took out the regime, but didn't get involved in nation-building. chaos and terrorism. in syria, we didn't do anything, didn't take down the regime. what has resulted? chaos and islamic terrorism. the region is in turmoil. so, laid out, wolf, if you had saddam hussein in power and the arab spring had broke

i saw it in iraq and in afghanistan. we're in good hands. these kids signed up because they know they have a mission to do. we need to let them and the leaders and the military do that mission and we can do it, but it's not going to be resolved in a year or two years. again, it's a generational fight. if we don't recognize that and we keep trying to fight it ton margins -- fight it on the margins, we may never get there. >> rose: that's exactly what we have been doing is fighting it on the margins. >> we have been fighting it on the margins. >> rose: it seems to me that it's a recognition that we thought we could get away with this limited commitment, and then we realized that was not working, so we had larger commitment, and then we realized that wasn't working, and, so, we've got to re-think it. it seems to me there has been a rethinking of strategy almost every six months. so finally you see what ash carter had to say, recognizing that what they had been trying to do in syria had failed. >> right. >> rose: so let's re-think that. >> you k

. >> reporter: in northern iraq, isil fighters have killed men, and raped and enslaved women. >> reporterand in northern nigeria more than 200 girls remain missing a year and a half after they were kidnapped by the rebel group boko haram. >> they are choosing that we need to be -- we need to be protected. they are vulnerable children. now they are in the handing of monsters. >> reporter: in 2000 the u.n. security council acknowledged the world needed to do more to protect women from this kind of violence. it adopted a resolution to call on countries to include women in peace keeping. but 15 years late ear new report just released by u.n. women finds: >> reporter: the report says many governments have become more sensitive to the violations of women's rights, and more women are becoming leaders at the u.n. and in their own communities, but much more must be done. >> the process has been too slow, and the result is too uneven. >> reporter: undersecretary general ban ki-moon has called for gender equality by the year 2030, but he too recognizes the challenges ahead. >> i'm asking all of the

in its way. nor should it encourage the disintegration of iraq. the u.s. needs to be prepared for all outcomes, including the referendum on independence and ultimately the declaration of independence. we should not be caught flat-footed and in a position where we are not able to provide for our kurdish friends in the region. >> i would just add that they recognize the disintegration of iraq as a challenge. i would argue that the policy on how to address those challenges is lagging behind events on the ground quite radically. >> let's open it up to questions. there is a microphone are there. -- a microphone is right there. these identify yourself. >> i would like to ask both of you to extract -- extrapolate on the implication of an independent kurdistan, the partition of iraq and possibly syria, as well. shouldn't we also be prepared for the reality of a shia stan, suunistan? isn't this the first step on that road? >> jonathan mentioned the artificial boundaries that were drawn are very much in question. i have been going to the middle east for decades. last

we have terrible intelligence, both in iraq and syria. and by the way, blare -- he is being a little bit disingenuous. i worked with the british for many, many years. in every exchange we all agreed that our intelligence on saddam hussein was very bad and that, while we needed to get rid of him, we never trusted the intelligence about weapons of mass destruction. i don't know why that didn't filter up to the prime minister's office. that's a question i would have asked him. >> bob bair, david tafuru, thank you very much. >>> marco rubio would like a new job. he would like to be the president of the united states. critics coming out now and saying as senator he is not doing his current job with not exactly a great record when it comes to showing up for votes in the senate this year. we'll talk about that next. it takes a lot of work... to run this business. but i really love it. i'm on the move all day long... and sometimes, i just don't eat the way i should. so i drink boost® to get the nutrition that i'm missing. boost complete nutritiona

is iraq going to cooperate with -- wrongheaded approach in syria. from the primed no uncertain terms, the statement that he will not work with the russians. to bel not allow them partners with iraq in that regard. we are the preferred partners of iraq. the prime minister has repeated those pledges. i only say that because we feel emphatically about receiving those pledges. we intend to have been implemented by private history body.- prime minister of >> i raise it both with the mr. and france and private mr.. -- and prime minister. nots assured that they had extended that invitation. they don't intend to extend an invitation to do that. our request renew that they exclude russian aircraft from the airspace. our military should be prepared to help with that. thank you. you.or mccain: thank my question is, what is their in game? theree been bogged down sometime. when i go to west virginia and talk to citizens, -- fax you have to have people feel like they're safe. as the country rebuilds, there are still people there that are basically peaceloving, wel

forces are not in a combat role in iraq. this was a support mission in which they were providing support to the iraqi -- to the kurdistan regional government and u.s. forces north in an active combat mission in iraq, i can say that directly. >> for much of 2015 there has been speculation about whether iraqi forces are ready to retake territory from i.s.i.l. despite the loss of the u.s. special ops member, could be seen as a test run for alarger operation. rosiland jordan, al jazeera, washington. >> the israeli military says a sol hesoldier has been stabbed d palestinian has been shot. u.s. secretary of state says he is cautiously encouraged that tensions between israelis and palestinians can ease. john kerry last held several hours of talks with benjamin netanyahu in germany. he will hold further talks on sat. as the violence continues, israelis are rushing to arm themselves against possible palestinian attacks. encouraging civilians with gun licenses to carry them. >> they say it's never been busier in this shooting range as

forces are not in iraq on a combat mission, and do not have boots on the ground. the white house and pentagon have been reluctant to say this american soldier died in combat. because the president promised no combat, no ground troops in iraq. >> i want to be clear, the american forces that have been deployed to iraq, do not and will not have a combat mission. as your commander-in-chief, i will not commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another ground war in iraq. >> today the defense secretary faced tough questions about where a support mission ends and a combat mission begins. he finally admitted what everyone knew. >> this is combat, things are complicated. this is someone who saw the team that he was advising in and assisting, coming under attack. and he rushed to their, to help them. >> midwester sergeant josh wheeler will come home tomorrow. defense secretary carter and his wife will be at dover to meet him. the pentagon says since he died during a named mission, operation inherent resolve, the fight against isis, master sergeant wheeler is en

in iraq we have been frustrated with the pace of operations. ere has been recent progress and movement around ramadi and the peshmerga have made progress in the north area after talking to the commanders on the ground we will have an opportunity to reinforce iraqi for us in the days ahead. to be successful in syria and iraq and the issues i have mentioned, we also need to continue to improve how we leverage our capabilities. we will also look for ways to increase the effectiveness of the campaign. themexpect me to bring to all of the options that may contribute to our winning the il.ht against iso in closing as i complete my initial assessment of the campaign we have identified and started to implement the initiatives to move the campaign forward. we are not satisfied or complacent about where we are and we will not be satisfied until iso-is -- isil is defeated. thank you very much freight secretary carter, the president's spokesman after it was clear that the arm, train, and equip had failed the president spokesman said the president felt vindi

-led forces have destroyed an isis prison in iraq that is the prison where that u.s. ldier was killed in combat last week during the raid that freed 70 hostages who were just hours away from execution. cnn's ryan noble joins us now. ryan, this video is remarkable. it almost looks like it is out of a movie, but it is indeed real the u.s. military confirming that. walk us through it. >> soon after a raid that left master sergeant joshua wheeler dead, coalition aircraft destroyed the isis prison in iraq where officials say 70 hostages were being held. the video you're talking about, poppy, the u.s. military releasing video of the strike that destroyed the prison and for the first time today we're seeing intense video of the raid as it happened. you can see special forces going into the prison and liberating the hostages. at least 20 of whom were members of the iraqi security force. meanwhile master sergeant wheeler's body arrived back in the united states yesterday. his death, of course, the first at the hands of the enemy in iraq since 2011. defense secretary ash carter

raid to save hostages in iraq. one american soldier killed in that daring rescue. we'll take a closer look at what these new pictures show. >>> and a revealing interview with tony blair, about the war in iraq. >> was the decision to enter iraq and topple his regime a mistake? >> you know, when i'm asked this i can say that i apologize for the fact that the intelligence we received was wrong. >>> "newsroom" starts now. >>> hello, again, everyone, and thanks so much for joining me, i'm fredricka whitfield. >>> stunning new details today about a terrifying crack at the oklahoma state university homecoming parade. moments ago we heard a witness describe what happened when a car plowed through the crowd. >> it was, as you can imagine, quite a crazy scene. and the only thing i could relate it to is maybe some type of bombing or something. it just -- nobody knew what was going on. and all we were really concern with was with our family and friends and everybody that was injured. you know, today we're all -- we're all oklahoma. so we appreciate the kind words, and didn't r

either in iraq or in syria. that was his policy at the beginning of our counter operations, and it is our strategy today. reporter: you knowledge they could wind up in a combat role. how is that not a change in strategy? secretary ernest: because our strategy has been to build the capacity of local forces to fight these sites -- fight these fights against isil and our efforts to conduct airstrikes in advance of the ground operations and in coordination with ground operations has been a important on the battlefield. that element of the strategy has yielded progress, and so the president wants to intensify that assistance we are providing and one way to intensify that assistance is to pair them up with experts, some of the smartest, bravest, most effective fighters in the united states military and that's exactly what we're doing and i do expect that will improve their performance on the battlefield. reporter: but their lives could be at risk. secretary ernest: there is no denying the amount of risk that they will

is he in syria? iraq? me, he wasong public, and we had a public , it was a bigm step, the first time he had been seen publicly in some time, a show of defiance. charlie: but there is also this, you have been able to launch successful drone attacks against isil. hit the leadership, including the guy doing the finance for them. lisa: yes. anylie: does that have impact? some people have said they have carefully organized themselves so that somebody can step up. they expect to lose certain members because of drone attacks or other clashing militarily. lisa: we have been putting a tremendous amount of pressure in iraq and increasingly in syria and around iraqa. leader wasance killed during an operation. it was intended to capture him. military members were going into syria. what did happen, though, in that raid, was a tremendous amount of intelligence getting gathered. that helps us understand what isil is doing and its finances. but also in iraq, the u.s. to move th able number two -- the number two and i saw.

forces and not just in iraq but in iraq and in syria, as well.e a biggest calation, like a big policy change to be announced in a pretty soft spoken way in unheralded testimony before a senate committee that basically had no spectators there. is it actually as big a change in policy as it seems? are we now moving to a boots on the ground ground combat operation in iraq and or syria? and is this agreed to already or is the pentagon just announcing this is something they would like to do? "the washington post" says today president obama is considering this as a change in policy but the way the defense secretary put it today, beak sounded like it was a done deal and this is the new way things are going to be. what is going on here? this does seem like a really big deal. joining us is nbc news national security producer courtney kuby. nice to have you here. >> thanks for having me. >> is this a big policy change? isn't this boots on the ground? >> if you ask the white house, they insist this is no change, just an extension of what's already been hali

interaction with this battle in iraq. >> is it -- >> they feel that the u.s. is not serious. >> right. is it fair to say you're concerned that russia has greater ambitions in the middle east and that it's taking advantage of the vacuum left buy lack of american leadership, taking advantage of that to increase its influence in iraq? >> that is absolutely the case. if we had had more robust american leadership in the middle east, from the start of this administration, we would absolutely not be seeing russia playing the role that it is playing in the middle east today. it simply would not have taken the risk of engaging militarily in a region in which the u.s. was already pursuing its own strategic goals. the problem is that the obama administration has demonstrated time and time again that it's not serious about its engagement in iraq and syria. and that it is not prepared to engage deeply and in fact to pursue a holistic solution there. it's been made slum clear by the obama administration that they're not going to step up direct military engagement, and the ru

forces are not in iraq on a combat mission, and do not have boots on the ground. the white house and pentagon have been reluctant to say this american soldier died in combat. because the president promised no combat, no ground troops in iraq. >> i want to be clear, the american forces that have been deployed to iraq, do not and will not have a combat mission. as your commander-in-chief, i will not commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another ground war in iraq. >> today the defense secretary faced tough questions about where a support mission ends and a combat mission begins. he finally admitted what everyone knew. >> this is combat, things are complicated. this is someone who saw the team that he was advising in and assisting, coming under attack. and he rushed to their, to help them. >> midwester sergeant josh wheeler will come home tomorrow. defense secretary carter and his wife will be at dover to meet him. the pentagon says since he died during a named mission, operation inherent resolve, the fight against isis, master sergeant wheeler is en

but ever since the russians started flying war planes in iraq, the number of u.s. air strikes in syria has dropped off precipitously. one, maybe two specific targets a day. they did reach this memo of understanding, memorandum of understanding with the russians to deconflict the air space so that russian and american or other coalition aircraft wouldn't be flying in the same air space at any given time. but it appears, anyway, i know u.s. military officials will contest this, but it appears that the u.s. and the coalition have pretty much forfeited large spaces of air space there in syria, at least for the time being. and in terms of the special operations forces that are being -- going to be inserted, not imbedded or based in syria, as far as we can tell, talking to military officials, but inserted for specific operations, there's a saying in the military that if you want to kill the snake, you cut off the head. well, the leadership in isis, for isis, is located there in raqq raqqa, its self-proclaimed capital. much of this may be trying to dismember isis at the to

this would equate more strongly in syria. and iraq where the united states has been very heavily engages and continues to be in air strikes against isis. what russia, what the russian state media is quoting iranian media as saying that russia would be able to follow isis targets across the border as they move from syria into iraq. logical militarily because that -- to allow them sanctuary inside iraq from russian strikes to a military analyst but at a political level this seems to be a potentially difficult development. and when we hear statements like this from russian state news agency, quite often this is followed up by events on the ground in the coming weeks. >> nick robertson live for us in the russian capital. thank you so much for your reporting and insight on this. and speaking of iraq, we're seeing video of a coalition war plane taking out the prison where hostages were being held by isis after the raid to try to rescue them. the pentagon just release third down video of the air strike. nick paton walsh shows us how it unfol

we need to reinvestigate -- reinvest in the security of iraq. charlie: has this gone from bad to worse? mr. mcraven: it has clearly gone from bad to worse. i'm not speaking bluntly. we are in a situation we can handle. but, we need to move quickly. i talked to secretary carter about making the decision to do that. it would be easier to go back and say, why did we do this a few years ago -- didn't we do this a few years ago? provide theower to strikes you need, whether they fromnmanned or the strikes aircraft carriers or from airplanes. charlie: you fought alongside iraqis and afghans. why has it been difficult to build an effective fighting force? mr. mcraven: look. it is different. in iraq, when you look at what we have tried to do, we tried to put them together to create these multiethnic italians and brigades,--- batallions and brigades. we did that well in some areas. the politics undermined it over time in irawq. you have to stay with them. there's an expectation that you train them for a couple of years and then you can take the training wh

. >>> plus, dramatic new video inside that deadly special operations rescue in iraq, the first american killed in combat operations against isis. >> announcer: "this week" with george stephanopoulos brought to >>> chair of hillary clinton's campaign is standing by live, >>> you want to have a mess of a country, you want to have nothing but problems, you want to have a country that's going to go to hell, you have hillary elected president, you're going to have a country that's going to hell. i'll tell you right now. >> donald trump in jacksonville yesterday. i'm joined now by john podesta, chair of hillary clinton's campaign, welcome to "this week." you just saw donald trump double down that comment. john, your response. >> look, trump makes your head spin and i think that, if he is a person who thinks he can actually lead this country, it's just shocking that what he says, what he said about ben carson, what he said on your show this morning about deciding today that he needs to repeal medicare. every day is a new day with him. he just hurls insults across the board. >> how do you expla

of mosul, the second largest city in iraq. >> it is, it is. but this time last year, charlie, we were talking about isil being on the march. having taken over mosul dam, taken over tikrit, heading towards kirkuk, slaughtering-- in sinjar mountain. now today that is not the case. tikrit, 100,000 people have gone back to particular rid. all of which is to say that there are going to be ups, there are going to be downs this is a very, very difficult problem. and in syria, this time hast year, isil was operating completely untouched. completely untouched in syria, now that stretch of border between turkey and syria, we have cleared, working with turkamen, working with kurds. we have cleared that and pushed isil back from all but about 60 miles. >> have you takened control of the border? >> up until that last 60 mile stretch, yeah. so that is, and we're placing more and more pressure on roca. so none of which is to say that this is not an incredibly hard, long, slow process. the president has said, it's going to be a multiyear effort. and that is fo

the depths of despair of what was going on in iraq, it still remains a central concern. nd so much so that i have come to see it as almost an existential defining issue in the arab world. palestine is -- people here sometimes don't understand when you say that. but palestine for arabs what the hollocaust was for american jew. it was a horrible thing that happened to people just like me. far away. but it reminded me of my vulnerability. it reminded me of my sense of loss. it reminds me of sense of betrayal of the west. it reminds me of the denial of rights. all of the things that define in many ways the character and personality of people in arab countries across the region are somehow captured in this palestinian narrative. it's real and it grabs hold. second is how does it play out here in america? with all of the decades and decades of one side defining the terrain -- i would argue that you have two sides in a football game and one side plays and the other sits on the bench, guess who wins, the side that plays. one side has been playing for decades and the other side ha

is planning in iraq?e know special operations forces at least supported an operation there recently. >> reporter: that's right. and they will continue to do so. the air strikes continue in iraq. the u.s.-lead coalition air strikes, even as they have abated in neighboring syria. the senior administration official says they are going to be culting with prime minister abadi on establishing a special operations task force. there are other reports that says u.s. commandos are going to be deploying to northern iraq inn inn inner -- in erbil. turkey is going to be very suspicious of any u.s. moves to aid kurds whether they be in northern iraq or syria. >> anything else on what the white house is planning to do to up the anti-against isil. >> they are sending in more armaments. deploying to the nato air base on turkish soil, deploying a-10s the close air support -- i'm sorry they are known as the tank killers. air-to ground fighters. as well as more f-15s to carry the fight against isil within syria. >> mike viqu

in iraq and sir. i can't david martin visit add crucial military base in qatar where the strikes are run. here's a look at the report airing sunday on "60 minutes." >> the b-1 is carrying 17 and a half tons of bombs and 170,000 pounds of jet fuel. it's strange to get airborne in the reduce lift of 100-degree heat. it will take nearly three hours to reach the target with two aerial refuelings along the way. >> mr. martin, welcome to the combat operations floor. >> lieutenant colonel david hayworth takes us into the command center to watch as the b-1 and other aircraft carry out the day's attack plan against i.s.i.s. >> it doesn't have windows but a nice view, a good look at the arabian gulf back in iraq and syria. >> the air war has been going on 14 months but this is the first time news cameras are allowed in the nerve center. >> the weapon of choice is information. the more information we have about our enemy and friendlies, the better we are able to make decisions. >> on one wall a giant map showing

the overflow of saddam's government allowed a shia government to come to power in iraq. many of the people in the government had long-standing relationships with iran. the relationship between the two countries improved dramatically because of that. since then, it has been a mixed picture. some of the things iran has done in iraq have an very distraught to. some of the things have been very constructive at times. that is the nature of foreign policy. the back and forth of it. question isbigger whether it is realistic to imagine a world in which iran -- no influence influence in iraq, where they had 100 years of influence and common cultural links. that is not a realistic strategy. actually, as far as the united states are concerned, iran and the united states have common interests in fighting prices and maintaining stability. the question is if iran will encourage a direction in iraq that is inclusive of the sunnis or if it will be a winner take all strategy. that remains to be seen. mr. movroydis: we have time for one more question. before that, i want to let everybody k