we have the letter from the iraqi government to the u.n. security council, the public statements from prime minister abadi and president mousoon. there's no question with have the legal basis for action founded on the request of the iraqi government. let me just briefly address the fact that me briefly address th that we'll be acting in the support of local partners. this has been a major concern of people across house to. we have a substantial international coalition in place including arab nations committed to confronting and defeating isil. 60 countries are acting in some way to confront isil. ten are arab states. favor have taken part in air strikes. as i said our differences with iran remain. iran support for terrorist organizations, its nuclear program, treatment of its people i believe all of that has to change and we'll not back down on these things. if iran's political leaders are to help a more secure, more stable, more inclusive iraq and

the inclusive leadership of the iraqi government is a sign for the unity of all the iraqi people. the future of iraq or the future society, for that matter, cannot and should not be shaped by ideological extremism. it should be the common yearning of the people for the safety, stability and prosperity that moves society forward. the people of iraq have made the stancehoice in their against isil. and this council should strengthen our support for their fight. we believe that the voices heard today will bear flut fruit in te form of a robust commitment to assist iraq. least, we fully for theirem dedication to fulfill their mission. thank you. thank the representative of the republic of korea. come to the part where we invitedear from the participants in the council proceedings. quickly, itto say is well-known that an essential being engaged in diplomacy is patience. particularly thank all the ministers who have come, invitation.to the there's been an extraordinary display of great patience in sitting through the meeting thus far. and we have many people who are going to speak yet. b

if most of the competent iraqi commanders have like left the iraqi military, you got to replace themh someone, colonel francona, and wouldn't it be reasonable to think those someones might be americans? >> jim laid out the strategy just right the problem there is no leadership in the ground forces. you can use u.s. advisers but let me tell you, you push u.s. advisers down to the battalion level you are defining two things, mission creep and boots on the ground. >> colonel francona, jim sciutto thanks to both of you. >> thank you. >>> still to come in "the newsroom," for days coalition forces have been hitting terrorist targets in iraq and syria. there are new fears those pun h punishipunis punishing air strikes may not have been as damaging as hoped. why some fear al qaeda affiliates are still plotting revenge against the homeland. how much money do you have in your pocket right now? i have $40, $21. could something that small make an impact on something as big as your retirement? i don't think so. well if you start putting that towards your retirement every week and let it grow over

a state official went back to the iraqi prime minister and talked to him and the iraqi prime minister him that he was only speaking in general terms and this was not an actual imminent terror plot posed by isis this was not a plot against the subway systems. mayor bill de blasio said it was safe to ride the subway there. officials don't believe isis has the ability to carry out terror attacks on the homeland. they are concerned about khorasan members. they say and the fbi director says that group is capable of carrying out terror attacks. john and christine. >> thanks, jim, for that report. >>> air strikes against isis on thursday focused on cutting off the islamic terror group's income from oil sales. u.s.-led air strikes hit mobile refineries in eastern syria. in iraq, french war planes hit warehouses near fallujah. no relief in sight for the hundreds of thousands of kurdish refugees making the trip through the syrian desert. they are fleeing in advance of isis troops. they arrive at the border and find themselves trapped. turkey is prepared to accept more refugees, but resources ar

entire iraqi army.he whole command structure is broken. we thought initially it was the leadership of these small units and if we could replace the leaders with competent leaders, the leaders they had before. what happened after 2011 is many of the leaders were pushed aside in favor of the shia cronies of nouri al malaki, and we thought that was the issue. but now what we're seeing is the entire command structure is broken. when these guys called for backup, there was no one there. we were hoping the new iraqi government would address some of these problems. the issue, though, is the new iraqi government has not even filled its positions. there's no minister of defense and the prime minister is here in new york. so there's just a complete lack of control of what's going on. it's very frustrating for the people that are trying to fix this. the american advisers that are there are looking at this saying even if half the brigades are capable of conducting operations, there's no command and control structur

we added new iraqi army leader. we have an iraqi police chief. parts of the iraqi government were meeting in other places of getting it together, getting a red devastating regularly and unfortunately within two weeks at the arrival they had been assassinated. i had a meeting with him and a few of the marines there. as you walk home he was gunned down. then we had another city council member who is teaching teacher who represents the teachers was gunned down in his home. there were assassinated. you look around the room and say who is willing to stand up and be a leader now? there is the empty chair sitting there. at those moments you ask yourself what is the insurgency trying to have a duplex he just persists an enduring push on. so for me i finally found someone you seem to be a local partner. you are recessed in the relationship. we didn't have the outset. we supported them publicly where we could. i would give them advice on who to talk to. you need to talk to colonel mullen. so just troubleshooting and try to help him. he didn't need much enc

government and inside leadership positions in the iraqi army. the failure to keep american influence in rick was a precipitating event leading to disaster. as our reporter, josh rushing, a former marine reported, while we ground. we have about 1600 of the so-called advisors, military people. you said we don't need 1600, you said 10 to 15,000 is what you are looking at. this is so politically sensitive, you have been there and done this in iraq. help americans understand what is not getting done with the 1600 service personnel that requires 10,000-15,000. >> so what you'd really like to have is an american special forces team, which is equivalent, an advisor team, tam that are trained in iraq and afghanistan, in my last job in the army, embedded in an iraqi battalion. the 12 americans would provide air support, call in air planes, would help adjust art illy and provide access to american intelligence resources to help the iraqi military understand where the enemy was, what was around the next bend over the hill. and it would provide important log

rebuilding of the iraqi army will play out within the iraqi political context wi be an interesting proposition one of the reons the u.s. pushed maliki down the way for a new leader -- a new road which is less sectarian. on the ground, the number is up to 1700. the president is no longer lling boots on the grod, because boots on the ground have been boots on the ground from the beginning. how many folks are need to execute this campaignp? you are obviously looking at a far bigger number. where theylk about stand in iraq at the moment. paul is quite right. we need guys on the ground directing american flyers. that is a a lot of folks. those guys are boots on the grnd. i do not care what euphemism you attach to it. those are boots on the ground. they are going to get shot at. they are going to be in harms way. they need to be protected. they need to be supplied. that is one of the things i would be most worried about, the logistical sustainment of any iraqi campaign. >> they are exposed to risks of being captured and killed. i do think there is going to be a significantly larger effort requir. so

french fighters also hit four isis warehouses near the iraqi city of fa

last month, an iraqi arab pilot major general sadi flew an iraqi air force helicopter with of d ishcrew and a member poll irment and with the single al of rescuing them on mount sinjar. tragically, the helicopter crashed. the general was the only one killed. but before he died he told the "new york times" reporter that the mission to rescue this group was the most important thing he had ever done in his entire life and career as an iraqi pilot. this historic level of cooperation between iraqi and kurd ishforces has resonated deeply in both communities. as the president explained earlier this month, my president, isol is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way. in a region that has known so much bloodshed, these terrorists are actually unique in their brutality. they execute captured prisoners, kneeling them down, tying their hands behind their back, bullet through their heads. they kill children. they enslave, rape, and force women into marriage. they threatened a religious minority with genocide. and in acts of ba

people against the threat of the iraqi state. it is unfortunate every time the security council defaults on this inherent responsibility that international peace and security the cost is unbearable. we although the conflict in syria was a breeding ground for isil the terrorist group for those atrocities but the ongoing persecution of christians with the other religious minorities may even the amount to genocide. but the reality of this group must force our resolve to protect the many innocent civilians caught that have nothing to do with it. to express the condolences to all of the bereaved families. mr. president baghdad is far away them more than just geography. footed is no different from 20 years ago. faced with unprecedented cruelty i am the foreign minister of rwanda and carry the abandonment in 1984. we believe the international community must act fast and collectively to denied this terrorist group in the hold to territory or access to financing which allowed it to killed children and adults can be head journalist and hum

ambassador in baghdad, isis just 30 miles away, having seized an iraqi base, executed hundreds of iraqi soldiers, what would you be doing right now? >> i would certainly be very close to the iraqi government, seeing what they're doing and how we could help. this is going to be a long-term problem in iraq. it is not easy to deal with these people. and certainly, the iraqi army has had its problems. had its problems under maliki and now under abadi. >> is secretary kerry right when he says baghdad could have fallen without u.s. air strikes? >> it's hard to say. i would like to think there would be enough people depending the city isis would not be able to go in there. but i think he was wise to not wait and find out that way. >> there's not lot of support to the theory that baghdad could fall to isis. wouldn't baghdad be the next best thing? a small attack would still prove they're alive and ticking. >> if you look at the terrain there, i think they would have trouble masking troops or bringing columns of vehicles. i think they would get hit pretty hard. i don't think it's a real option f

targets as iraqi forces go on offense. moreover i've made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country wherever they are. that means i will not hesitate to take action against i.s.i.l. in syria as well as iraq. this is a core principle of my presidency. if you threaten america, you will find no save haven. -- safe haven. second we will increase our support to forces fighting these terrorists on the ground. in june i deployed several hundred american service workers to iraq to assess how best we could assist security forces. we will send an additional 475 service members to iraq, as i have said before these american forces will not have a combat mission. we will not get dragged into another ground war in iraq. but they are needed to support iraqi and kurdish forces with training intelligence and equipment. we'll also support iraq's efforts to stand up national guard units to help sunni communities secure their own freedom from i.s.i.l.'s control. across the border in syria we have ramped up our milita

the jordanians, the egyptians and the iraqis. then there are the turks.re's been a real rift with turkey and other gcc states, about the rise of political islam lately. and then turkey, about what is going on. there is a real concern, i've got to say almost uniquely so. from tehran all the way through about what this scourge of isis means for this region, and what might be done about it. so you posed the question who might get involved and how might they get involved to contain this spread of isis, without strengthening bashar al assad in syria. this is where it gets complex. iran, and any sort of iran-led shia-led militia in iraq or in lebanon for example, i've got the chief economist at the national newspaper here at the uae here with me. i want to start with iran. this is the elephant in the room. erol has been alluding to the involvement of saudi going forward, turkey and jordan. the elephant in the room here is iran. it's a shia-led government. the rest are sunni-led governments here. there's been this rift for years and years between saudi and iran.

missions so that we're hitting isil targets as iraqi forces go on offense. moreover, i've made it clear we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country wherever they are. that means i will not hesitate to take action against isil in syria, as well as iraq. this is a core principle of my presidency. if you threaten america, you will find no safe haven. second, we will increase our support to forces fighting these terrorists on the ground in june i deployed several hundred american service members to iraq to assess how we can best support iraqi security forces. now that those teams have completed their work and iraq has formed a government, we will send an additional 475 service members to iraq. as i've said before, these american forces will not have a combat mission. we will not get dragged into another ground war in iraq but they are needed to support iraqi and kurdish forces with training, intelligence, and equipment. we'll useless support iraq's efforts to stand up national guard units to help sunni communities secure their own freedom from isil's c

iraqi t.v.s government troops are in control of the northern entrance of the town about 15 kilometers south of haditha. new reports say at least 15 i.s fighters were killed in the operati operation. barack obama is expected to launch plans to go on the offensive. chuck hagle has defended the air operations. >> the iraqi government asked us for their support in those strikes. second, it was the iraqi security forces on the ground who con received of the operation. they, too, the iraqi security force air force is conducting strikes. haditha vam is a critically important facility for iraq. >> the governor of anbar province has been hurt by happennell after an explosive hit his convoy: he has tweeted saying that he has been slightly injured but is okay. john hendren joins me from erbil. what's happening at the moment, john? >> reporter: well, taditha is the latest spot where gains are being made by iraqi forces but not the only one. the fighting seems to be pretty intention. as you pointed out, peop

>> the iraqi security forces. i get to the point where for a particular mission i think they should accompany i will make that recommendation. >> and i did hear you say that and i at least appreciate that. let me submit for the record a column in the post by mark thesen where in he talks about general lloyd austin, a top commander u.s. forces in the middle east. to quote he advised president obama against withdrawing recommending that the president leave 24,000 u.s. troops to secure the military gains made in the surge and to prevent a terrorist resurgeance. had obama listened to austin's council the rise of the islamic state could have been stopped. where did you come down on that debate at that point? >> well, actually, senator, as you know we don't debate anything in the military. we let our elected officials make their decisions. it is well known that all military leaders believed we needed to leave some residual force in iraq to continue the development of the security forces. there is a debate in which i am

iraqis in saudi arabia. everybody here in this committee knows what that relationship has been like for the last years. and to hear the foreign minister of iraq who chaired the meeting, al fassel, say they were prepared to open an immediate embassy in baghdad, that's transformative. the result is something also for iraq that it's never seen before in its history, an election deemed credible by the united nations, followed by a peaceful transition of power without any u.s. troops on the ground. i must say, i was sort of struck yesterday, "the wall street journal" had an article talking about arab divide, but above the arab divide language, is the -- is the shia foreign minister of iraq, the kurd president of iraq, and the sunni foreign minister of saudi arabia, all in communication and jointly working as never before. so i think people need to focus on what has been accomplished here. as you know, i went to iraq last week, i traveled, i met with the leaders of iraq. and throughout the entire process, we've be

the iraqi military, president obwbama is relying on the iraqi military to step up to avoid sending american combat troops. what are you seeing? >> reporter: we are seeing the iraqi military not stepping up. this is an enormous military trained by the united states to the tune of $25 billion. i remember so many times speaking to american generals who were here saying, the iraqi army is ready. the iraqi army was not ready. they have not been able to push out isis. it hasn't been able to take back one province in this country. many people are questioning the loyalty of the iraqi army. they say it's deeply influenced by iran. so now the americans are flying overhead dropping bombs, doing american air strikes. you have the iraqi army in effective and guided by iran. >> richard engel inn erbil. >> bill, is asaud happy with the president's plan. does he see it as an opportunity to win the civil war? >> his men welcome u.s. air strikes but they say they want the strikes coordinated with them so that u.s. warplanes aren't shot out of the sky by syrian warplanes. the syrian warplanes have been in act

for the united states, and even for the iraqi government. there is been a shift in attitude from baghdad to the kurdss given the threat posed by isis. there's been a conflicting relationship for a long time, but given the threat that they have been facing there's been a much less adversarial relationship, and this is -- this gives us hope for a better relationship in the future, i think that the issue of independents would have to be postponed, this has to be deferred, it is still a very hot topic. wait a minute, that sort of says they will talk about that down the road. it is what he has been gunning for for decades. >> and frankly, not to say that we should go ahead and ask for a referendum, and see who really wants inspects, i bet you the majority wants it, and they are also smart enough to know there is cause for pushing for independents. i think they would want something along the lines of taiwan. not really confronting the community. to go for it on the basis, i think there are more pressing issues as far as finances and distribution o

last month an iraqi arab pilot, major general [ inaudible ], flew an iraqi air force helicopter withurdish crew, and a zitti member of parliament, and with the single goal of rescuing azittis. tragically the helicopter crashed. the general was the only one killed. but before he died he told a reporter that the mission to rescue the azitis was the most important thing he had ever done in his life. this historic accomplishment has resinated deeply in both communities. as the president explained earlier this month, my president, isil is a terrorist organization, pure and simple. and it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who standing in its way. in a region that has known so much bloodshed, these terrorists are actually unique in their brutality. they execute captured prisoners. kneeling them down, tying their hands behind their back, bullet through their head. they kill children. enslave, rape, and force women into marriage. they threaten a religious minority with genocide. and they took the lives of two american journalists and a british aid worker. isil simply poses a threa

the iraqi people, the iraqi military, and the iraqi government need to step up and take responsibility for their nation's security. >> they need to, but their capabilities are under question at best. i mean, as we've seen on the battlefield, their general core that was put in by maliki is basically incompetent in most cases. the soldiers have not been able to actually fight or retake territory, certainly in any sunni-controlled areas. and probably the most efficient fighters they have right now are the shia militias. are you seeing a scenario, or under what scenario do you see the iraqi security forces and the military actually being capable of engaging in combat successfully? how is that suddenly going to change given all the money, all the training we have already given them and they've been inept. why in the next few months is something going to change, they're suddenly going to be able to actually work on the battlefield? >> well, anderson, there is something really important that has changed, which is there is a new government in iraq. the previous government under prime minister

it is for the iraqi government and for the iraqi army to defeat isil in iraq.eed, in time i hope, it is for a proper, legitimate syrian government to defeat isil in syria. where we should be helping is with aid, diplomacy and political pressure and, yes, with our unique military assets where they can help, but it should be part of a comprehensive strategy and should not go over the heads of local people and should not ignore the regional powers, learning the lessons of the past. that is what this debate is about, that is what this motion is about, and that is why i believe that we are taking the right steps. i will give way to my honorable friend. >> does the prime minister agree that the wording of the motion before the house today was carefully chosen to ensure that we get support for it? would he accept that it to some degree hamstrings the government? is there not a place here for leadership and statesmanship, rather the popular support of the house? he needs the support of the country, but do we really need a vote on the matter? >> i say to my honorable fr

last week i made my second trip to baghdad to meet the new iraqi government. that is the interest to finally begin the deep divisions we are all aware of including those over energy resources, autonomy and a composition of security forces. all of these have plagued iraq through history also committed to empowering local communities to maintain security control and that the country has now responded to decades event the iraqi pilot flew the helicopter with a single goal to rescue. tragically the helicopter crash. and to tell "the new york times" reporter to find everything they have done in their entire life as the iraqi pilot. it has resonated deeply in those communities. my president said earlier this month isil is a terrorist organization pure and simple and has no vision other them a the slaughter of all who stand in the way. it has known as so much bloodshed there you begin to cover jollity. in time their hands behind their back to killed children it in slave and rape anserine a religious minority with genocide and to its allies of two american journalists

several iraqi kurds -- influential kurds and i've spoken with several iraqi sunnis who really aren't very upbeat about this new iraqi prime minister, haider al abadi, they say he's more of the same, comes from the same political party as nuri al maliki and they're not very confident he's going to do much. what are you hearing? >> well, no one's perfect when it comes to iraq. but i think he will be a significant improvement over maliki. also i believe now that the u.s. has reengaged in iraq, we will have more influence over a body to -- compel him to do the right thing. we lost all influence over maliki when we withdrew. so the fact that we will be there, to a large extent, abadi's survival is going to depend on u.s. assistance. we'll have more of a say over abadi than we had over maliki over the last three years. i also believe that if we can get american forces, americaamericans embedded with the iraqi army, that will help coordinate operations between the peshmerga and the iraqi army. >> but you realize, congressman, that would be combat boots on the ground, which the president has

we hope that the iraqi authorities and the iraqi people will make efforts that will lead to success so as to retrieve peace and security across the country. put an end to terrorism and combat it, madame president. speakers went beyond the .genda item under consideration that is the situation in iraq. that is what was on the agenda. they spoke of the situation in my country in a very erroneous and provocative one. i was very interested to hear in statement of mr. kerry hearing that statement. i did hear balanced wording, one that reflect the importance of the challenge in iraq and the region. i'm talking about terrorism and andthreat posed by isis other terrorist organizations in the region. some other statements toortunately attempted divert our attention at the crucial issues at hand today. that is the support to be provided to two governments and otheroples, as well as terrorist organizations affiliated with these terrorist groups. this is in line with 2170. the war against terrorism is a samee war against the enemy, the victims in both countries are the victims of one terrorism, a h

earlier this wreak the iraqi -- week the iraqi foreign minister wrote to the united nations security council requesting military assistance to support its actions. and when i met the prime minister in new york on wednesday, he reiterated that request to me. in iraq the real work of destroying isil will be for the iraqi security forces, but they need our military help, and it is in our interest and theirs to give it. >> give way to the former defense minister. >> there is a problem in iraq that we these to recognize, and it's not just political, and it's not just capability. there needs to be a will from the iraqi army to defend the sunni areas of the country. now, in his talks with the new government, has he seen that change that actually means that our airstrikes will be supporting a country that has the will to defend all of its open people? finish its own people? >> the right honorable gentleman is absolutely right, and that is the conversation we're having with the iraqi government. there's no doubt in my mind that this iraqi prime minister is a change from the previous regime. t

the iraqi army. current army was formed during the days of -- soldiers who should be part of the army, they weigh this much without really the -- without really exploring the possibility -- can these people be soldiers of the iraqi army? can they rely on the soldiers? i have to admit corruption that existed. army, thedes of the numbers should be many thousands. 1500 and theer is rest are fictitious. otherwise the iraqi army is known to be brave. undermined.s been all of this played strong in turning the army into what we see today. they believe into gods, the god of good and the god of evil. in two gods, the god of good, and the god of evil. they believe they are able to save themselves from evil. isis says these people are not followers of the book, believers of the book, i.e. christians, , others who have a message from god. they decided the youth should be killed. christians were forced to either taxes. or pay they started to attack the sunni areas with the sunnis themselves. thought these people

he was talking to the iraqi prime minister just about an hour ago. well, finally he came out of the american embassy in baghdad and made some official remarks, let's listen to what he had to say. >> the fact that the iraqis were able to overcome such deep sectarian and ethnic divides and approve a new and inclusive government is really a great accomplishment. they're able to do this -- the fact that they were able to do this peacefully in the midst of unspeakable terror and violence and bloodshed is nothing short of historic. and it's a true signal that iraq and the leaders they've chosen are committed at this moment to the democratic future that so many iraqis have sacrificed everything to bring about. obviously, the hard work is very far from over. we all know that. in many ways, it's just beginning. establishing a government doesn't mean a lot if it is not able to govern effectively or doesn't govern inclusively. and it particularly needs to govern inclusively in order to represent the interests of all the iraqi people. i was encouraged, very enco

, so that all iraqis feel involved in the nation building. let's bring in now our diplomatic editor, james bayes who is standing by at the united nations. james you have been listening in to that speech, interesting that he said that the establishment of a unity government in this iraq will help stop the danger of isil. >> absolutely. they have a unity government, but it's a very fragile structure there. there's still many, many problems in bagdad, and i think that's one of the reasons why, because iraq stands in this very difficult position with the threat of isil, both internal and externally they have problems. and that's why i think it was a somewhat non-controversial speech. how did you read the speech? >> as you said it is anything specific to instill, aside from isil and how they look over large territory within the state and declared their own state there. his emphasis on terrorism is of course understandable, considering the challenges that iraq faces. but he almost glossed over the issues of sectarian violence, of shiite militias, o

many again tasked with advising iraqi forces. mary snow, aljazeera. >> there are few people better equipped to talk about america's role and battle against isil than lieutenant colonel, john nygel. it's training the iraqi units that i want to start with. it's 2014, and americans are back in iraq advising iraqi soldiers, and welcome to the show, what went wrong that those american-trained iraqis cut and ran when confronted with isil fighters? >> in iraq, there's a lot to go around, but the president's decision to withdraw all american advisers in iraq late in 2011, against the advice of every military adviser he had. probably the unnecessary invitation of ac in 2003, working hard to hold iraq together after we left. we should have left 10 or 15,000 advisers there to hold all of the pieces together, to provide logistical support to the iraqi military. and to put pressure on prime minister maliki to include all of sunnis inside of iraqi government and inside leadership positions in the iraqi army. and the failure to keep american in

has hit targets in anbar, the iraqi state t.v. says government troops are in control of the northern entrance of the town about 15 kilometers south of hadifa. new reports say at least fifteen i.s fighters were killed in the operation. later this week, u.s. president barack obama is expected to outline plans to go on an offensive against islamic state fighters. chuck hagel has defended the u.s. air operations. >> first, the iraqi government asked us for their support in those strikes. second, it was the iraqi security forces on stot ground who con received of the operation. they, too, the iraqi security force, air force, is conducting strikes. the hadifa dam is an important facility for iraq. >> a spokesman for iraq's intrrp ministry said outside help is welcome. this counscil, there must be hep from the global system and if there is amarillo help from the american side, we will take he will it in a shorter time. >> the governor of anbar pronts has been hurt by shamnal after an explosive hit his convoy. he has tweeted saying he has

that result is the action of the iraqi government.ose ally of iran so there is already a serious sectarian divide. >> my second question about the concerns that are out there and the fact that by international the issue and the way the united states has and the coalition is not taking account of those complex problems on the ground, desperate groups and so on. >> you are right and yesterday there was cause by iraqi tribal leaders facing terrorism and should be facing all times of terrorism including terrorism practiced by some shii malitias in the government where reports came out with some appraisal acts and some iraq and sunni community. this is another dimension of the complexity on the ground and also bringing iran will fuel this problem and also back to your original question on iran and bringing them will bring with it also the nuclear debate and negotiations with the west and also the whole issue of syria, of course, with i ran being a close ally with the regime so that is one measure i think why this issue of iran has not been

i don't know exactly how iraqi's will pacify these areas. don't think he will be frankly as sophisticated and sensitive to civilian casualties as we were when they were there. >> i would like to add that i don't think it's going to be real violent either. a lot of the things we saw it looks like somebody has success they want to be on that team. when things start going south on them they melt away. i think what's going to happen is if you get the national unity government going in the center and they start the polling the military back together and bringing back the kurds into the military like i said eyes i says they are overstaying their welcome. declaring caliphate. you don't do things like that exceed if you expect to have a long life. what i think is going to happen is the tide is going to turn and it will probably turn quickly because when you think about it they are fighting in lebanon, fighting in syria and iraq. they have a lot of people working against them and i don't think they will last very long. as soon as the tide starts to t

similar to the iraqi government, a totally broken force. i have an argument, people say here we go, we trained and equipped the iraqi military and how did that work out. the primary reason that didn't work out was because the sunnis in the military chose not to fight or al-maliki. i don't know if they were a capable force or not, the al-maliki government became corrupt and didn't support the sunnis. we insisted on a change in that government. we have an iraqi government that is trying at least initially a power sharing government, we have sunni partners now who are going to lead that fight. when we go after isil, it has got to be locally driven. we have got to find local sunnis who are willing to do that. we can rush in and bomb and drop a bunch of u.s. troops in there. we would simply sas exacerbate e problem. make no mistake about it, they are a threat. i wish we didn't have to think about it. i truly do. it involves money, involves putting lives at risks, involves difficult military decisions. i wish that there wasn't a threat from isil

it was not just the iraqi troops that defended the iraqi capital, but when that threat became very nearo the shiite heartland, the heartland of the shiite majority in iraq, but militias are backed, sponsored and trained by iran, came to the front lines to defend the iraqi capital with significant iranian support, and there is also iraqi support for the kurds in the north as well. two months on, the scene is a bit different. there is some balance. iraqi troops in many places have actually bounced back, especially in breaking the siege, and also the peshmerga, the kurdish troops in the north, with significant air support from the american air force, succeeded to push back as well. so now the threat is not as it was in june, but you still have towns and cities in northern and western iraq, primarily the sunni areas, the part of iraq where the sunni minority lives, that is still under the control of i.s. so for iraqs who are hoping to get that part of their country back, you know, something more needs to happen. >> it's a very complicated picture, but if there is going to be more western-ba

the iraqies said in order to defeat i.s.i.l. in iraq you need to go after the safe haven in syria, and that is what exactly has happened. we haven't had an official reaction. it's unlikely we'll have an official reaction. iraqi military analysts and those in the security and defense forces will be watching to see what happens next. here in iraq - there's a difference between iraq and syria when it comes to the air strikes. in iraq, when the air strikes happen, we have had examples of these in amerli and the sinjar mountains, where the air strikes happen and ground forces from the kurdish and iraqi forces went in and cleared areas of i.s.i.l. fighters. they are unavailable in iraq. the syrian rebels are not in a position to go into those territories, they are not strong enough. this would be a different tactical approach. the air strikes would have been attacking places like rafah, a key strong hold of i.s.i.l. in syria, the headquarters, it seems, has been attacked according to a lot of reports. they won't have been able to go -

there were iraqi troops and iraqi forces and there were three brigades in most will. different route began to. they used all modern technology in their propaganda. they have many phone numbers of iraqi officials and they send to threaten them and threaten their family numbers. now before wese kill you and kill all of your family. minister of defense said one of the big problems that we have is the mobile phones because when the soldiers all have mobile phones, the defeat did not happen. happened at the level of army commanders in bothell and every soldier when they see this, when the commander has left the battlefield, they will gaveat making a way of us and they will defend very little. fell.s how most will if we go back to the makeup of , it was aarmy successful composition. the iraqi army has been through starting with a war with iraq that ended up with one million killed and disabled. then the army was taken into ,ccupying kuwait and in the and there was a deadly attack against the iraqi army. , not only he did not stop at his army being humiliated like this, he d

you mention just how much corruption there is in the iraqi army.ese guys are going to be able to defeat i.s.i.s., when there's reports that they're so incompetent? >> reporter: that's the million dinar question here. the problem is, in the engagement so far, the iraqi army has fought with i.s.i.s. and sort of held them steady or pushed them back. it wasn't necessarily the iraqi army that was taking the lead. it was the shia militias. some of them supported by iran, that were able to retake the village to the southeast of here. these shia militias have a murky past. they were really key players in the bloody iraqi civil war of 2006, 2007. they were very harsh in their treatment of sunni arabs. they were, in fact, one of the reasons why so many sunni arabs are opposed to the government in baghdad, which they see as dominated by the shia. it's a complicated situation. the way out is anybody's guess. zain? >> we'll see if the iraqi military can get trained in time. ben wedeman, we appreciate it. thank you. >> sure. eight years later. we'll see. >>> a v

he expressed limited hope the iraqis could try to get their act together. >> what happens if the iraqisight or can't fight? >> well -- >> what's the endgame? >> i'm not going to speculate on failure at the moment. we're just getting started. let's see how they do. >> so far the answer is not very well in terms of how they're doing. last week isis overran an iraqi outpost 20 miles from baghdad. today they pushed within three miles of a kurdish town on the turkish border. so it's remarkable not just that the united states underestimated isis but they overestimated the iraqi military and their capabilities. what are you hearing about how that happened? >> there were years of investment, as you know, dollars, training hours, live, frankly, the risk is u.s. soldiers were training the iraqi military. the feeling was that they trained a pretty good one. now, there were reasons to fear before isis overran the country because u.s. officials were aware of what the iraqi prime minister, the now former iraqi prime minister nuri al maliki was doing to the military. he was removing commanders who had

he talked about advisors accompanying iraqi forces.'m not sure if that means they will be engaged in combat but it puts them potentially in harm's way if they're fired upon. i suppose they could be in combat. they might be a combat position but i want to point out what a senior administration official e-mailed to me in response to dempsey's comments because we wanted to ask them what their take on this was and this person wrote back to me quote/unquote, the president's speech still stands, no u.s. troops engaging in combat. and so while it appeared that the chairman of the joint chiefs was providing a little wiggle room there for future use in the event they have to come back and recommend these advisors start going in with iraqi forces, more on the front lines than where they are right now, where they're kind of helping call out air strikes and that sort of thing, the white house is essentially saying, or the administration essentially saying no, the president's speech still stands, the president has said time and again that there wil

the iraqi security forces in iraq. pockets -- >> those are the guys who just got rounded up -- >> they are. >> killed by chemical weapons. and their fellow countrymen did not save them. >> we know there are still pockets of capable fighters. what we are going to do is send in american military advisors, which we've already been doing, to help them get back on their feet. we're going to send them weapons. we're going to train them. >> in a way that's going to lead to a better result than all the other advising we've been doing these past years. >> we've ramped up our efforts. we've given them more arms, more training. >> but they put the arms down and run. >> they're not anymore. i will say if you look what the iraqi military has done in conjunction over the past several weeks and months, really they've stepped up to the plate. there's a big challenge but we are going to standby them as we do as we fight this challenge. and as you know we're taking the fight to isil in syria. >> marie, good of you to be here tonight. >>

to stand up iraqi national guard units to help sunni communities defeat isil. the best counter weight to isil are local forces and the people of the area. as you know, in june, the president asked congress for the necessary authority for dodd to train and equip moderate syrian opposition forces and $500 million to fund the program. we have now secured support from saudi arabia to host the training program for this mission, and saudi arabia offered financial and other support as well. the 500 million request the president made in june for the train and equip program reflects the estimate of the cost to train, equip, and resupply more than 5,000 opposition forces. the package of assistance we initially provide would consistent of small arms, vehicles, and basic equipment like communications as well as tactical and strategic training. as these forces prove their effectiveness on the battle field, we would be prepared to provide increasingly sophisticated types of assistance to the most trusted commanders in capable forces. because dod does not currently have the a

the iraqi and kurdish forces and the moderate syrian operation.pport iraqi and kurdish forces, the president announced last week he would deploy an additional 475 american troops to iraq. part of that number includes approximately 150 advisors and support personnel to supplement forces already in iraq, conducting assessments of the iraqi security forces. this assessment mission is now transitioning to an advise and assist mission with more than 15 teams embedding with iraqi security forces at the headquarters level to provide strategic and operational advice and assistance. the rest of the additional 475 troops include 125 personnel to support intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions out of erbil and 200 personnel to increase headquarters elements in both baghdad and erbil, helping us better coordinate military activities across iraq. by the time all these forces arrive, there will be approximately 1,600 u.s. personnel in iraq responding to the isil threat. but as the president said last week, american forces will not have a combat