iraqi army in yellow. ministry of interior in black and are and the popular mobilization units in red. if you're interested in looking at the data go look at the study. likewise, we've done the same for the peshmerga in terms of a slightly rougher but quite -- probably the most detailed order of battle you're going to see out there on what the peshmerga really looks like right now and how it is structured. now, on this slide we see -- you know, even from the back it should be fairly visible -- the blue is kurdish regional security forces and the green is the areas where the federal government is contesting. one of the interesting factors in this is that you can see a little thin green line running from the iranian border up to kirkuk. that's the iranian line of supply. that directly supports the popular mobilization units who are gathering and building for a major operation just south of kirkuk at bashir. i'm not going to talk about the progress of the war against isil. we'll do that in other forums, on ot

. >>> iraqi forces are finally gaining ground on i.s.i.l. not without help from america, and with iraq going broke as the oil business goes bust. how much more blood and treasure can the u.s. afford to provide. i'm talking about a man who had his own boots on the ground and trained its army >>> plus, one of the influential women attempting to shape the future of this region at war. >> we will hopefully, behind the military piece come up with a civilized world narrative against a bunch of butchers. >>> i'm ali velshi, and this is "real money". >>> an iraqi ground offensive against i.s.i.l., with help from the u.s.-led coalition is imminent, according to general john allen, president obama's point man for confronting i.s.i.l. americans are in iraq, aiding iraqi forces in reclaiming the territory. the president went to congress to get authorisation for the use of military for or war powers. iraq, with u.s. help appears to gear up to retake iraq's second largest city, mosul, which fell to i.s.i.l. last june. iraqi kurdish peshmerga forces magged

the most effective units in the iraqi forces are the shia militias that are really not part of the iraqiructure. the iraqi army as we know it as constituted just is not ready for this. >> okay. so what the colonel said peter is pretty disturbing. do you agree? >> i think he's making a really important point. the most effective forces who are fighting isis are not fighting on behalf of the iraqi state. they're the kurds fighting basically for their own de facto country and the shia militias that on the one hand are more effective and more motivated. on the other hand are alienating the very sunnis that the iraqi government has to win over if it's going to woo them away from isis. so the idea that you're going to have motivated, affected forces that are not seen by the local population as shia dominators. remember this is one of the reasons that isis was able to move in in the first place was because people in the sunni regions in iraq became alienated from a shia dominated government i think that's not only a very significant military problem, it's a political problem. there's obviously p

they are concerned that the iraqi military despite the iraqi prime minister's efforts to make it more reflective of the broad collection of shias, sunnis and kurds, iraq is still a largely shia dominated force. to hear from that arab partners saying if you do this operation now, you will further split the coalition, you will further worsen the sectarian lines, that's a bold protest so close to this operation. >> you are also learning new information, disturbing information about new isis efforts if you will to recruit people in the west. >> that's right. a particular category of people and that is young women. i have heard this from senior european officials and we have another case of that today. a senior british diplomat telling me that the recruitment of women and girls is quote, a clear and disturbing trend and warns that girls involved in this particular case three young british school girls on their way to syria, it is believed are at risk of sexual and other exploitation if they make it to the isis war zone. these three young british school girls are believed to be the newest f

they even started their own iraqi contingent. all of this is going on, the spread and the movement and the networking. it continues. and if we're getting down to brass tacks on this one, we look at it -- i think a lot of this is just kind of a little game that a lot of people like to play. because a lot of these people will share members. they'll fight in the same fronts. they'll say they lost the same member. it's all a big game so i can sit here, suck down my diet mountain dodew, as i'm looking for yet another militia group. in addition to this, this is my white whale of militia commanders. i had followed this guy since he had his first facebook page. i kid you not. he actually ran it himself. and he also had this great haircut. he'd wear this awesome turban. everything about him was his own personality. but when you're looking at it, what does his presence really represent? this is a major thing. it was announced in this new group through their organization that he was a commander. that is nowhere near damascus that they are s

it's the iraqi security forces who have lost ground. the cities of ramadi and fallujah both under isis control are key battle grounds if the iraqi government is to relieve the pressure on the capital and persuade the sunni tribes in this area it will come to their aid. the syrian battlefield is much more complex. and there are signs that isis is trying to reassess its priorities in the face of intensive coalition air strikes. isis prize raqqa is being pummelled from the air almost daily but doesn't seem in imminent danger of falling. elsewhere in syria, isis appears to be pulling out of certain areas of the northwest and northeast where it's under pressure. and it may well be reprioritizing in damascus where there's every chance that a complex battlefield will emerge in the coming months pitting different rebel groups against each other and against the regime. >> i want to bring in my guest. former fbi assistant director tom funentes and a retired colonel to talk about this. we see isis is spreading part of its theology that they need t

troops be needed to help the iraqi military. the u.s.nt has long said he doesn't want to send ground troops back in to eye remark the u.s. military thinks that is the only way that iraqi military could succeed if they think that they will make that recommendation. still too early to tell whether or not this mission could actually succeed given the critical importance of mosul to both the iraqi government and to isil fighters. >> let's cross to every iraq. baghdad and speak to imran kahn. so questions as roslyn puts it, imran, about how the american army will exactly be involved in this poe suggestthis mosul operation when it takes place. but leading up to that, what is the role the u.s.-led co since will be playing in the next couple of months to prepare the iraqi army? >> reporter: well, that's right, the iraqi army has had u.s. advisers embedded with it like in anbar province so a significant amount of training is going on, baghdad airport where some of the troops are based. they have had some success taking by the oil refinery a big s

the iraqis have taken the fight to aisles.say that they are in a position where they are will be able to retake mosul. last week iraqi officials were speak to their u.s. counterparts that this offensive would begin there is clearly confidence within the iraqi ranks that they can do it. they have also been pretearing the ground, coalition air strikes have hit a key supply route between mosul. also kurdish peshmerga forces have taken over the dam in preparation for this assault. what happens is getting the 25,000 troops that the americans say is what is going to be needed enough to position, that's going to ache a little while. hence this time line of the attack taking place between april and may. but the other big problem we've got here is civilians. now, mosul is a city full of civilians. there is only about between official estimates iraqi estimates say 1,000 to 2,000 isil fighters within the town itself. but we have seen this before. what isil will do is take over key government buildings they'll make it very difficult for i

iraqi boots? arab boots? >> he is talking about american boots on the ground in addition to as part of a broader international coalition of the willing. right? and that would include middle eastern nations. it would include european nations and not saying go it alone but he is saying that even though the american people might be war wary i asked him about that he said look. you have to lead. you can't just stick your finger in the air. sometimes america has to lead and so you know what he's saying is you can't rule it out for political reasons. you have to acknowledge to the american people that in the end if you want to defeat isis it might require a coalition to do it and america should be part of that coalition. >> a smart guy, very popular in ohio. got himself re-elected. >> 64% of the vote. 26% of minorities. >> here's what worries democrats. jeb bush popular in florida. john kasich popular in ohio. if the republicans and the elect electal college, hillary clinton assuming she's a nominee has trouble. >>

troops are inside training iraqis to defend their country. will the iraqis stand up and fight? are u.s. forces in danger? and since isis used sleeper cells to take lightning control of a town near the base are militants about to spring up in other places? the forward head of the u.s. military central command, retired general anthony zinni is standing by to join us. let's begin with our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto. he's got the latest. >> when you looked at today's attack, here's where it was, right here at al assad air base right next door to al baghdadi just nine miles down the road. al baghdadi now under isis control. today's attack repelled by iraqi forces inside al assad base. they killed eight suspected suicide bombers who were dressed up in iraqi military uniforms. i'm told by pentagon officials that at no time were the 300 u.s. military personnel inside the base under threat. the base is the size of boulder, colorado. they were on the other side kilometers away. the fact is when you have isis in such close proximity to the base now controlling this

and iraqi troops. why do you think the pentagon is essentially letting the enemy know what's coming up? you think it's a misinformation war or is this about letting civilians leave mosul? >> i think it's got multiple advantages to do this. first of all, it signals the intention so you've got the iraqi government now committed to follow through on this. secondly it takes some of the heat off domestically from people in the united states saying when are you going to do something, when are you going to do something. third, you've got an advantage and may be getting civilians out. fourth you still don't have to do this. you can do a lot of things between now and then that go after isis but this fixes isis' attention on a defensive battle. when that defensive battle starts if it comes off on schedule and the iraqis are there, it will be a very tough fight because mosul is going to be very well defended. there may be other targets that are better at that time. but this is a way of maintaining the psychologic

units, this didn't please a lot of guys in the iraqi army.t also didn't please the people in the syrian army. there were actually a few little firefights that actually occurred between some of these iraqi shia militiamen were with haskell and also with some of the local militias. they were essentially running the show now. they are running the show in terms of command structure and everything else. i'm not saying there is no syrian army left but these guys that have the strategic -- in terms of numbers that are lost officially hezbollah says it's in the high couple hundreds. i would say it probably goes much higher than that, toppled into the 1000 range, probably more, because they have hidden a number of the casualties or hidden them as casualties from syria. so it's very, very hard to get a true gauge of that. >> i'm going to call on some folks in the crowd, and maybe identify yourself. wait until the microphone comes. up front, please. >> barbara slavin from the atlantic council. as claude rains would say i'm shocked gambling is going on.

they were all killed by iraqi security forces. pentagon says that is a good thing but there are big questions about what's going to happen next time. >> the fact is those 300 marines are the toughest guys around and they are well armed but the fact that the isis attack today didn't work doesn't mean that it couldn't work in the future. doesn't mean that something bad couldn't have been done. the fact is when you have the enemy only nine miles away and that's almost like a pool table. >> the pentagon wants people to know the entire anbar province has not fallen to isis just one city al baghadi and some americans may have been able to hear gunshots and explosions during the attack but they say they remained a safe distance away. >> thank you for that report. we'll have plenty more from peter king tomorrow morning on "sunday morning futures" we'll hear what he thinks about the president's request for authorization of military force against isis. and does it go far enough? that's tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. eastern right here on the fox ne

because the iraqi forces no matter what develops they're true iraqi if they are nationalists in theme won't want to do it. again. thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you very much. michael, phillip these are great presentations. by the way these studies can be found downloaded in pdf on the washington institute website. that's www.washingtoninstitute.org. i know we're going to go about ten minutes' worth of questions. but let me just ask first, mike, in terms of specifics how many soldiers right now isf are currently being trained up? what's the order of battle that iraq is going to be able to bring against isis? when are they going to be able to bring it? and is it going to be an integrated force? that's for you. phillip, hezbollah perhaps the largest of all the shiite militias operating now in syria how does it coordinate with the other militias, and what are your estimates of there are losses to date? and let's make that as really short answers and then we'll get to the group. >> i think the raw numbers of iraqi security force and peshmerga and ash al shabi to be honest all those figu

are training iraqis. towns fell under isil control after the group advanced quickly under syrian border last summer. imran kahn is in baghdad trying to find out exactly what is happening down there. what do you know? >> reporter: let me tell what you the official u.s. reaction is. they say they are aware of the reports of isil taking the town of al baghdad-y or trying to take the town. they are aware of skirmishes they say, they are on the outskirts of that town. they say the air base itself is safe now. there is about 300 u.s. soldiers that are training in an advisory capacity training iraqi troops in that area. this is a real worry for the u.s. their might mere would be one of their base with his their trainers being over run. isil mount this is tactic time and time again. when they want to take an iraqi government base, they take over that and ice it important a launch pad and they have had a lot of success doing this. the difference here is the americans will be able to call in air strikes a lot quick

we're talking about five iraqi brigades up to 25,000 people.ll take some time which is why secretary carter has said the timing is uncertain, we won't go until we're ready. we want to know isis that we are coming. >> congressman kingston talk about the u.s. role, the strategy in iraq because we do have advisers intelligence officials on the ground in iraq their president has been clear he doesn't want boots on the ground doesn't want combat troops back inside iraq. but when you have fighting that's going on shg, if you're an intelligence person or a vise visor or not, if somebody's attacking you you'll take on a combat role there, in some ways turning it into a de facto combat mission. is it appropriate to put u.s. boots on the ground in iraq? >> absolutely. if you're going to fight, you have to fight to win. we cannot be half pregnant here. that's one of the problems we've had in the middle east. we done have clarity, don't have an object they've we're going to say here's our measure of success, our definition of victory. we have to have that.

they're training iraqi forces. those iraqis have pro felled waves of suicide bombers trying to breach the airbase. u.s. troops have called in for reinforcements. phil black is in northern iraq. he joins us by phone to tell us more. hi phil. >> reporter: hey, carol. the information on the ground it's still a bit patchy. this is very much an unfolding situation. certainly local security forces on the ground iraqi security forces on the ground in al baghdadi they're telling cnn that, yes, much of the town all of the town is under the control of isis. the iraqi central government is saying that iraqi national forces are still fighting isis around this town, around al baghdadi suggesting that some of it is still being contested, but it would certainly seem that isis has made dramatic progress moving into this town taking on a lot of it as you say moving on to that nearby airbase about ten miles away. al asad airbase. it is there we have been told suicide bombers are trying to get to. as many as eight local security forc

all elements of iraqi society need to feel protected and part of the iraqi state. to the extent the shia militia has exacerbated tensions, we consider that a problem. >> iran. nuclear negotiations. where does it stand? >> i think you know we have had a number of rounds. we just finished one yesterday in geneva. there has been some progress. some of the issues are being worked through. i have to tell you there are significant gaps that remain. >> like what? >> i'm not going to get into the details. i don't think that will be productive. let me explain the categories of issues we need to work through. there is iran's enrichment capacity. what will it be allowed to retain? how can we be certain that whatever they retain is fully transparent? the international community is able to validate with certainty they are not able to use enrichment to produce a bomb. that is a big issue. what kind of stockpile if any would they be allowed to retain? what configuration? will there be research and development involved? what about the plutonium facility? how do we ensure there is

part of the iraqi army collapsed back in june.ther part of the army was battling isis in anbar, fighting very hard retaining its cohesion and really stalemate isis in anbar. and those forces that they're talking about using up in mosul, so the better forces. second point, i don't thing anybody is talking about american ground forces in iraq. i think it's very clear president obama said over and over and over again he's the guy who was elected to get us out of middle eastern wars not to get us into new ones. he inserted this language which i find bizarre about no major offensive operations. i think again is a way of making it clear that he doesn't want to do this but i think the last point that's worth thinking about is the politics of all of this. first, there's the attack that david was already alluding to. mosul is a sunni city. most of the iraqi military is shia and most of the fighting that's been done is done by shia militias. but you have a prime minister in baghdad. i was in baghdad last month. you have a prime minister in

and iraqi fighters.ording to security sources, isil retook the bridge on the you fray tease river, after that they sent a suicide bomber to try to bomb a gate to the base. they didn't make it to the gate but they did make it to a check point nearby just a couple of kilometers away. that's where at least three of those suicide bombers detonated. several iraqi officers and soldiers were also killed in the attack. baghdadi is where families have been under siege without food and water. the iraqi military has recently opened a corridor there. they have been evacuating families by driving them to the air base and air lifting them to baghdad or sending them on a round about route by road. there are very few families left there and the situation a still dire according to sources there. >>> a new human right's watch group i says kurdish forces have prevented arabs from returning to their homes. at the same time kurds have been allowed to return to those areas and even move into homes of arabs who left. local kur

iraqi military does not like militia. they never have.hey do not like have to operate alongside groups even though they don't recognize that they have contributed blood, sweat and tears to stopping isil's advance. they have to give them that. they deserve the respect and many of them deserve the full respect as fighting men because they've given everything including their lives to bring to a halt that the institution that they are part of into the forces that sit behind these often times we need to look extremely closely. that they are part of into the luckily we have seen in many cases in the past, the iraqi-shia vote for iraq rather than vote for sectarianism and iran. the iran-iraq war, not really a shimmer of an uprising against the iraqi state. hundreds of thousands of shia serving in the front lines. likewise basra separatism. basrawis believe in the iraqi state even though they have had a shocking deal. malaki recognize that he needed to cut the legs out from underneath before they took the crown jewel. basra. the national guard la

the iraqi military has recently opened a corridor there.y have been evacuating families by driving them to the air base and either air lifting them to baghdad to avoid the treacherous route to the capitol or sending them on a round about route by road. there are very few families left there. and the situation is still dire. >>> and a new human right's watch report suggests the kurdish leadership in northern iraq is responsible for ethnic discrimination. it says they have prevented arabs from returning to their homes. at the same time kurds have been allowed to return to those areas and even to move into homes of arabs who left. dozens of arab homes have been destroyed in an area identified as a possible kurdish extension. >>> isil has reportedly released 50 men who were kidnapped two days ago. they are said to still be holding 70 more. >>> the u.s. lead coalition has launched air strikes against isil positions in an area where 255 syrian christians were on abducted this week. they were taken captive as the group advanced in one province. mo

iraqi troops. how could a few terrorist breach a secure base and get alarmingly clays to american soldiers and marines. >>> then, ports up and down the west coast come dog a standstill, and analysts say this could hilt us all in the wallet and hard. >>> unites airlines grounding passengers who found a sweet deal online. so what is to stop any company from kelling -- telling us the bargain we found is bogus. >>> i'm john scott in for shep. we begin with breaking news today. the pentagon just confirmed the islamic stateiu"hm taken control of another town in iraq. official says isis militants attacked a nearby iraqi air base where hundreds of american troops are training iraqi troops. the americans were in another part of the base and not involved in today's fighting. they say iraqi forces killed the attackeres. that base is about ten miles from the city of al-baghdadi in anbar province. isis has been fighting there for months and the pentagon in the last hour confirm the islamic state is now in contr

they need to train iraqi forces. they need to have a plan in place for police force and they need to make sure what happened as u.s. and iraqi forces fought back against al-qaeda, doesn't happen now, that if you take back these cities, they'll be able to keep them free from isil and control them themselves and that is a long way off. >> live in baghdad jane, thank you. >> the remains of 30 people from the yazidi community have been discovered in a mass grave in the northwest of the country. kurdish forces found the bodies of men women and children in n. >> nevah province. they are believed to have been killed by isil. a kurdish peshmerga said some victims were shot, while others were tacked with knives. we have more now from erbil. >> yet another mass grave was found in the sinjar area, northwest of iraq along the syrian border. peshmerga fighters were clearing the area from explosives, booby traps, explosives and they discovered this grave believed to be from the yazidi community men, women and children. according t

and burning iraqi soldiers there. cnn has not been able to confirm when this individual was shot. they also seized u.s. armored vehicles humvees as well. it's now common tactic by isis to overrun iraqi military posts and seize big quantities of u.s. weapons from them. >>> iraq and the u.s. are planning a big spring offensive to take back iraq's second largest city from isis. this was last june when iraqi forces dropped their weapons and ran from their posts as isis militants arrived in mosul. cnn's erin mcpike is live at the white house for us. wondering what the pentagon is saying about where they stand in anticipation of this military campaign. good morning. >> good morning to you, christi. let me first point out that u.s. officials say by and large they believe they are ahead of where they thought they would be in the overall military campaign against isis. now specifically when it comes to mosul, they're saying that this april or may tentative date is just that it's tentative, for when they are going to launch thi

and in the west striking iraqi forces.strategic iraqi air base where some 400 u.s. military personnel are training iraqi forces. despite the u.s.-led air campaign us officials say the size of the force is increasing monthly. replenished with a stream of foreign fighters recruiting from the west and u.s. now continuing concern from counterterrorism officials that some militants could return home undetected. >> if i were to say we had it under control, i would say i knew of every single individual traveling. i don't know. i don't know every person there and everyone coming back. it's not close to being under control. >> reporter: the scope of the threat more than 20,000 foreign fighters in iraq and syria. more than 3,400 westerners. approximately 150 americans have gone or attempted to go to the war zone. the nation's top counterterrorism official says the number of fighters flocking to syria and iraq to fight with isis and other groups is unmatched in two decades. >> the rate of foreign fighter travel that we have seen in r

there's the support that has been provided to the iraqi government the iraqi government is taking the fight to i.s.i.l and we're doing our part with the iraqi government, other countries are supporting the iraqi government and as long as those are not working at cross purposes we take a the view the iraqi government as sovereign can invite support from countries it chooses and we are not coordinating with the iranians on the ground we are not communicating any way shape or form about operations. the iraqi government as sovereign is working with us and our partners and iran. but on the militia perks we do have a concern, and there, while it is truly some of the shia militia served and fought effectively on the ground in some instances, thails fought in a way that galvanized sectarian tensions and has gone against the sunnis in a number of places and that's counterproductive. our view of how this needs to work if it's going to succeed is if the iraqi government has to be sectarian. all elements of iraqi society need to feel protected and part of the iraqi state and to the extent the shi

the iraqi government is facing a crisis. one of the biggest oil producers is broke because of tanking oil prices and the costly war against i.s.i.l. is making matters worse. imran khan is in baghdad. >> reporter: teachers protest in basra, holding placards saying they have not been paid in nearly a year. >> we have not received our salaries for nearly a month. no one from the government is getting back to us or giving us answers. we don't take days off. >> reporter: it's not just teachers in the south. across the country state workers have been protesting that they have not been paid. the prime minister is in crisis mode. haider al-abadi is promising relief is on its way, blaming falling oil prices for the problems. >> our budget is currently compressed. you know that our budget started with a draft law to have each oil barrel for $70. when the ministers council met to vote we were surprised by the drop of oil prices. so it couldn't build a budget on $70 per barrel. this caused a gap in the budget. >> reporter: economists ar

iraqi security forces called for iraqi reinforcements earlier today. what is happening on the ground there right now? did they get those reinforcements? >> reporter: they did but it didn't really change events on the ground. the fighting continued through the day. come nightfall it is still very much isis in control of al baghdadi. that gives them a very firm foothold upon which to launch more attacks against that air base not that far away and the pentagon expects that they will do just that. this is just the latest really in the many land grabs that isis has launched successfully through iraq a region of iraq where isis stayed on the offensive, on the front foot and the efforts of the iraqi army and local tribes have not been able to slow them down. >> phil iraqi officials tell cnn that isis terrorists are already trying to cut off any escape routes from the base they are laying mines and ieds. it sounds like the start of a prolonged siege, yes? >> reporter: well it's straight from the isis playbook. it started very quickly when isis is able to physi

the iraqi forces engaged them. the pentagon says killed 8 of them and it was over pretty quick. >> what did the pentagon say? were they concerned about this? we have our people there. >> yeah. well, today they were pretty nonchalant in that, you know what? this is a huge base as been there before. to be on one side versus the other is mild. i think it's the side of bolder colorado, to give you an idea of it. they thought it was pretty desperate attempt to, you know, if your front line fighters are already loaded with ewe side vests what were they really trying to accomplish here. >> what did they accomplish? >> not much at all. over and done with. and, you know, i heard later today apaches were scrambled but never had to be used. if anything, they showed that he this could get there and they are at the perimeter. they are already in control of the nearby town baghdadi. this is in anbar. contested area for a long time. >> what were they trying to do? obviously trying to kill. suicide vests. whats were the point of g

is handing over to the iraqi military, who knows if the iraqi military will really show up or abandon the positions once there's a real fight. >> i think that's a legitimate concern. but i think from the united states' perspective, when the iraqi army melted away probably the rank and file fighter was ready to fight. they were probably pretty good. the problem is the leadership which was infused with these political leaders instead of professional leaders meltded away. and as a soldier, if you see your leadership run away, you'll run, too. and they abandoned the equipment. unfortunately, we have a choice. use the iraqi military totally disengage in the middle east or use 100,000 american troops. i don't think the american people are ready for that. >> there are kurdish troopsish the peshmerga. but the u.s. doesn't provide weapons directly to them. it has to go through the shiite-led government in baghdad. the kurds as you know are not very happy about that ff no. we absolutely should direct arm them. but keep in mind today they're defending a 1,000 kilometer border with isis with 250,

we also saw some dead iraqis as well. you know the last time the iraqi forces went up against a big threat they went running. could this potentially spook them and impact their psyche right now as they go forward and look at such a big mission? >> look isis is trying to show themselves as people who bring power to the battlefield, assassinating or murdering that jordanian pilot, beheading people showing these pictures of weapons. i don't think they're operating from a position of strength. not because of the weapons, i don't think those captured weapons are significant. you look at another handful of characteristics that will define success. how many people they have in the battlefield. one to 3,000 versus 20 to 25,000 iraqis. they don't have an intelligence advantage. they don't have an air advantage. they have an advantage on the ground. they hold the territory. but i think what they're trying to say to members of the organization now that as isis members and recruits says don't worry. we got it. we got weapons and recr

key iraqi province of dyalla. the group held a victory rally on monday and they are ready to move into i.s.i.l. strong holds. jane arraf joins me from baghdad. what was the significance of this celebration? >> well, that really was part of it that that wasn't the iraqi government. it shows how powerful these shia groups have become. they don't want to be called be publishmilitias. the badr organization is one of the biggest perhaps the biggest group, it could be argued as more 77 than the iraqi government forces, and pretty well have pushed i.s.i.l. back from one of their strong holds. but there has been a cost to that investigation into massacres but really it was all about celebration. it was about the badr organization in a former i.s.i.l. strong hold, saying this was the beginning of the fight. >> by the will of god as we liberate ala and by the will of god we will defeat these vicious gangs in the will of iraq and the will of the iraqi people. >> we talked to hadr al amri, i asked him if that included iranian

the iraqi security forces dealt with the attack. it involved the u.s. apache helicopters as you mentioned, but only in a support role some media role providing the information of the movement of the forces on the ground. the pentagon has been keen to point out that its 300 or so military trainers located at that base were under no risk. sit a huge sprawl complex, city-like in size and scale. the attack reached the perimeter on one side. but the military personnel we're told were never under any threat because they were located at another point inside the base spom miles away. >> obviously al baghdadi was one of the few towns in the province that was still held by iraqi forces up until this point. what does that suggest about the advance of isis? >> reporter: well linda, it backs up what we really know. in that province and in the west isis has maintained considerable military momentum, that the local sunni tribes have been trying to slow down isis or take back territory, they haven't been able to do so. that's what this event shows, is that isis still h

the pentagon says this is the iraqi plan. i can tell you already inside iraq from iraqi government officials, from kurdish officials, they're out there saying not so fast. nothing is ready yet. it's not going to happen all that quickly. they are putting a lot of cold water on it. the pentagon is saying they are putting this out there because they want to demonstrate iraqi resolve that this is a plan that the iraqis will carry out. maybe a little bit of psychological operations on all sides here. >> interesting that they may not exactly be on the same page at least publicly at this point. barbara starr at the pentagon getting details for you. thank you so much. >>> also happening in just minutes, president obama will be touting the economic progress made during his time in office. why now? at least partly to push back against attacks from gop presidential hopefuls who have been slamming him for blaming him for growing income gap we see in the country and he's also talking to a pretty friendly crowd we should point out. democra

the al iraqi army, we saw what they did a transfer of weaponry to a terrorist organization the iraqi government is the shi'ite militia with the ethnic cleansing so i don't see who we have to take in the areas. but to vote to laugh american soldiers in a bloody hand-to-hand combat role. with the aumf we have with the president sent over with the 2001 aumf and defect and publishes data and reaffirm said. so unlamented with what tactics or ground forces authorizing in afghanistan is one of did thousand it to be deployed on the ground next decade and a limited geography. so it is hard to say he doesn't have enough authority end has to the time the issue if there is the three year aumf after two years if we pass something else while they have soldiers in the field wondering if congress will pass the bill. but economics is the richest terrorist organization in history. huge quantity of iraqi currency. some of that currency exchanges. end they wear extremely popular with governments that he would describe baghdad. are any of you qualified if iraq can do a currency exchange with the billions

as we mentioned earlier, iraqi tribal leaders warning of a massacre if iraqi forces backed by u.s.air power cannot stand their ground against isis today. iraqi soldiers were able to push them back from a base where u.s. marines are stationed right now. but they took heavy casualties with iraqi fighters. so joining me now, let's talk to lieutenant colonel rick francona. thank you for being with us. in yesterday's attack iraqi forces fought off isis with the backing of u.s. air power. if isis were to attack this base again, the base where at least we know 300 plus u.s. marines are stationed, does that change or modify the strategy for the u.s. at all? >> yeah. i think it has to. and i think they will attack again. this is nothing new. we've been seeing this for several weeks now. they've been probing that base been clashes there before in which the americans were involved. they've got their eyes set on this. if you look at where the base sits halfway between baghdad and the syrian border, and it's on the -- it's off the euphrates river, al baghdadi is on the euphrates river, and it's

the iraqi troops ran in mosul. the iraqi army did not really run in anbar province. maliki pulled the troops out of fallujah in january because of a political dispute, and they rushed in and took over the police, who were in many cases much weaker than the military. the military, they have some bad days in anbar province, but they haven't upped and ran. my experience, and a good number of laws on various levels including out there trying to train them is that you can train forces to do well. it helps a hell of a lot if you have american troops advisory teams, and american air power with them. the vietnamese ran in 1972 when the non-vietnamese came in until we put in massive air strikes and we had our advisory teams out there fighting with them and the result was they turned the tide and pushed the vietnamese back. i've seen this also in iraq in 2010, 2011. iraqi troops did well against hard-core al qaeda but particularly when they had american advisory teams with them. so that's the first question. in terms of puffing up, having been spending much of my license, the

>>> isil closing in on an iraqi air base housing u.s. marines. the rebel group close to taking control of a nearby iraqi town. ♪ ♪ >>> good to have you a think loss, i am david foster. also coming enough in the next 30 minutes the al jazerra journalists now at home with their families after being granted bail by an egyptian court. plus. >> reporter: i am andy gallagher in north carolina, the bodies of the three victims who were shot here on tuesday and laid to rest we'll be bringing you reaction from the local community. >>> and the desperate need to save water anyway they can because of the severe drought in brazil's biggest city. ♪ ♪ >>> well isil forces in iraq appear to be getting closer and closer to a major government base housing hundreds of u.s. troops. fighters attacked the we siege the al baghdadi in anbar province. it's close to an air base where the u.s. marines are training iraqis. most surrounding towns fell under isil control last year. more from imran kahn who is in baghdad. i don't know what you have been able to find out in the

. 3200 iraqi troops are completing u.s. military training. this month, retired general john allen told the jordanian news agency, iraqi forces are planning to launch a ground offensive in "the coming weeks" against mosul. the state department said he was misquoted. the pentagon also pushed back. >> i have been pretty farm about not forecasting military operations here. i'm not going to start today. what i will tell shut same thing i have been saying. we are not going to you go go any faster than the iraqis are ready to go. >> what makes all of this so unusual, bret, normally the u.s. military refuses to talk about future operation. the pentagon generally appeals to reporters not reveal war plans to keep the element of surprise. in this case, it's apparent they want isis to know that a large force is coming and to set a timeline for the iraqi military to begin its attack. bret? >> jen as you know i dheefrd building. this is strange. u.s. military leaders are talking about this pending attack to retake mosul this spring. i do

now the plan is for iraqi brigades and iraqi forces more than 20,000 iraqi troops to go to mosul perhaps as soon as early april or may. pretty specific information. more than 20,000 troops. also peshmerga forces who will try to cut off any isis escape routes north and west of mosul. the big question of course is what role will u.s. troops play besides the ongoing coalition air strikes. still on the table, not decided, no recommendation to president obama as to whether a group of military advisers going to mosul functioning as target spotters. helping spot the isis fighters on the ground. it is an important area figuring out where isis is. raising the spector in the minds of some that it will bring u.s. troops perhaps closer to a combat environment. the pentagon says it's revealing all of this information to show the commitment that iraqi forces have to the battle. john, christine. >> thanks, barbara starr. >>> president obama is walking a fine line in the violent extremism. the president called on islamic nations to work harder to undercut the root causes of terrorism. at the same time t

iraqi government and to i.s.i.l. >> apparently showing u.s. and coalition air strikes on i.s.i.l. in iraq, take a look at this video showing a strike on sunday near the area of el hapbdmae and it will a group in annanbar province iraqi forces swept in june of last year. we're taking you back to the yemen story because just a moment ago we are telling you that news the u.n. mediator jamal ben omar, saying the rival factions have agreed on a people's council. editor in chief of yemen post what do you know of this hakim? >> the parties have not talked about this or announced about this deal. the issue of this deal is that the current parliament will remain and they will provide a forum called the transitional parliament, both will go together and form the transitional national council. this council will be in charge to lead the country for the next two years. these represent in this council 30% for women and 20% for youth. but again details of the distribution of these seats have not been agreed on. so this deal is an i