jamie mcintyre reports from the pentagon. the latest video posted on social media shows the syrian army's advance on aleppo, once a rebel stronghold and syria's largest city, before five years of fighting drove much of the population away. overhead a russian jet appears to drop cluster bombs, and unguided munition condemned by the u.s. for urban combat, because it can cause wide-spread indiscriminate casualties. the u.s. also accuses russia of bombing a doctors without borders hospital in northern syria, reducing it to a pile of rubble. killing at least seven doctors and patients. no coalition or u.s. planes were operating in the area at the time.

jamie mcintyre is live from the pentagon. >> reporter: as you mentioned, del, this is john campbell'second appearance before congress as he prepares to wrap up his 18-month tour as the top u.s. commander in afghanistan. and he had to concede that this has been a bad year in afghanistan, a year when the taliban has been resurgent and conditions are deteriorating. but the told the congress not all is lost. he said it's very important that the u.s. not have another year in afghanistan like 2015. >> afghanistan is at an inflection point, and i believe if we do not make deliberate, measured judgments, 2016 is at risk of being no better and possibly worse than 2015. >> reporter: the two things this hearing focused on are the plans for how many u.s. troops would remain in afghanistan, and also thef fort to go after isil. and he got sharp questioning on that from chairman john mccain both about the troop levels and about why it took almost a year for the u.s. to get the authority to go after isil in afghanistan. here is a little of mccain's opening statement. >> many of us are increasingly co

jamie mcintyre is live for us at the pentagon. amie, the pentagon is saying that it expects this attack to have an immediate impact on isil's capacity in libya. is the strike that big of an accomplishment? and why now? >> reporter: well, you know, the pentagon and the u.s. military has been flying reconnaissance flights over libya for months now, and they have had some people on the ground gathering intelligence, and this is the kind of strike that president obama earlier this week said the u.s. would be willing to take to carry out if it had the approach intelligence. this was a group of people, and the initial reports indicate several dozen people were killed along with the intended target, who as you said is considered to be behind two deadly attacks in tunisia, one against a museum, and one at a beachside resort. this is a group that the pentagon believes was gathering in libya, and conducting cross-border attacks into tunisia, and the area where this attack took place is west of tripoli, not far from the tunisia border. so the

jamie mcintyre reports from the pentagon. with north korea defying u.n. resolutions and ignoring crippling sanctions, the u.s. is making prudent military moves to counter the threat that north korea may threaten its enemies with nuclear tipped missiles. the pentagon says the north korean space launch was a bust insofar as putting a working earth observation satellite in orbit. the satellite dubbed loan star is said to be tumbling out of control. as for north korea's rocket science, the launch was a success. the second time since 2012 pyongyang demonstrated that it has developed ballistic missiles that could in theory reach the united states. in response, the u.s. korean commander asked for additional expenses, as soon as details can be worked out with seoul. a request president obama approved. >> we are consulting with the south koreans for the first time about more missile defense facilities to prevent possibilities that north korea could reach the facilities or population. it is called that. therm nal high altitude defense. a radar missile designed to s

the national security correspondent jamie mcintyre is live for us at the pentagon. give us the latest of what defense officials are saying about the recent provocation from pyongyang. >> richelle, as they analyst this launch of a three-stage rocket saturday night, sunday morning into north korea, the pentagon is saying essentially it was a flop in terms of launching a satellite in orbit. it did put a piece of equipment in orbit, but it appears to be tumbling out of control, not functioning. by the way, it orbited the super bowl stadium later in the game. but the missiles launch was a success. north korea for the second time was able to launch a thre three-stage rocket that can separate and put something into space. that's the same ballistic technology that north korea could use to deliver a nuclear weapon to the united states. what is the u.s. doing about it? we're talking about sanctions which has had no affect on north korea. but the other thing they're talking about is beefing up weapons long the korean peninsula. >> i spoke with president xi of china just a few

jamie mcintyre reports from the congress about the house of appropriation sub committee was reviewing the budget and seem particularly concerned about whether the u.s. military could keep up with threats from moscow and beijing. >> in his testimony before a house sub committee defense secretary ash carter listed five strategic challenges, isil, iran, north korea, russia, and china. but he called russia and china the most stressing competitors to u.s. military superiority. >> we saw it last week in the south china sea. we see it in crimea and syria as well. in some cases they're developing weapons and ways of war that seek to achieve their objective rapidly before we'll be able to respond. >> reporter: it's china that is seen as a longer-term threat challenging u.s. influence in the vital asia pacific region. something that earlier this week the commander of the u.s. forces in the pacific made clear in testimony before a senate committee. >> in my opinion china is clearly militarizing the south china sea, and you have to believe in a flat earth to think otherwise. >> china has been bui

jamie mcintyre has more. >> reporter: three of the points, i think are fairly non-controversial.s to continue the transfers of -- of prisoners, and there are 35 detainees at guantanamo who have already been cleared for transfer, and they may be gone by the end of the year, the other is to continue and even accelerate the review process for other prisons to see if more can't be approved for transfers to other countries. the third point is to prosecute or have legal consequences for those who can be tried with the military commissions or in other legal proceedings, and the last point, of course, is the most controversial, the people that the pentagon says are unreleasable for one reason or another. the president wants to bring them to the united states and close down guantanamo. he says he has not identified the facility, in part because the law that prohibits the transfer, also prohibits them from doing any work towards that end. but it has some notional ideas in there about how to do that. and just to review the number of prisoners left in guantanamo now, the president said at on

. >>> al jazeera jamie mcintyre is live for us at the pentagon. what is the strategy and is there talk of changing it now? >> the talk is how successful this rocket launch was on saturday night-sunday morning korean time. it did put a satellite into orbit, however, as the satellite launch was quite unsuccessful, the satellite is tumbling out of control so, it's not funking as an earth-observation satellite. more importantly th, this is the second time that north korea has been able to launch a three-stage missiles, and so it shows that their capability continues to grow. in response the united states is looking at beefing up missile defenses on the koreanen peninsula, something that president obama hinted at in an interview on cbs aired this morning. >> now they're trying to perfect their missiles launch systems. i spoke with. presidenpresident xi of china on tightening the noose on them. and we're talking about more missile defense capability to prevent any possibility that north korea could reach u.s. >> so what is the president talking about th

jamie mcintyre great wrap up there at the pentagon.nk you. >>> the fighting in syria has had a profound humanitarian impact. the red cross says at least 50,000 syrians have now fled the fighting in aleppo, and at least 500 people have been killed since the syrian government began its offensive there. >> reporter: many in the opposition are welcoming any deal, really, that can relieve the suffering on the ground. the offensive in aleppo has displaced 50,000 people according to the united nations, many are living out in the open. they left their homes with nothing, and they cannot survive without aid. they are also welcoming any deal that would bring in aid supplies to besieged areas across the country. at the same time they are skeptical. they don't believe that this deal will -- will really take effect on the ground, because they -- they -- they point to the fact that over the past five years, ceasefires have been agreed upon, but never really implemented on the ground. they have little faith in the syrian government and itself backer,

jamie mcintyre reports from the pentagon on the impact of russia's aerial offensive. the latest video posted on social media shows the army's advance on aleppo, once a rebel stronghold and syria's largest city, before five years of fighting drove much of the population away. overhead a russian jet appears to drop cluster bombs, and unguided munition condemned by the u.s. for urban conduct, because it can cause wide-spread indiscriminate casualties. the u.s. accuses russia of bombing a doctors without borders hospital in northern syria, reducing it to a pile of rubble. killing several doctors and patients. no coalition or u.s. planes were operating in the area at the time. >> while the u.s. stopped short of labelling the strike a war crime. the attack was called horrific. >> we are confident in the safety that russia carried out the strikes. >> should aleppo fall days before the fighting is instituted. it would end hopes of overthrowing bashar al-assad, and fuel the criticism that the agreement negotiated by secretary of state john kerry in munich played right into the

jamie mcintyre has more on china's bold moffin. >> reporter: tony, the timing would not be coincidence, after a warship went by a disputed island chain, and after president obama talked about the gathering of the countries. is the satellite shows the presence of chinese surface to missile batteries on woody island, which china claims as it's sovereign territory. woody island is one of the cells locked in the china see, which vietnam, china and taiwan all claim. the chinese hq9, an antiaircraft missile system with a range of 125 miles, drew an immediate rebuke from the u.s., which says that putting military hardware on a disputed of island, reneges what president xi said. >> when president xi was here, he stood with president obama in the rose garden and said that china will not mill tarrites in the south china sea, but there's evidence every day that there has been an increased militarization of one kind or another. >> but xi's pledge was before the u.s. sent a destroyer to in the words of the pentagon, challenge china's excessive maritime claims. china argued that it has every right t

more on that, but first jamie mcintyre has a closer look at the president's plan. >> tonyant president insisted that he's very clear i.d. about the hurdles facing the closure of guantanamo, he said that the politics are very tough. but he asked the congress and the american people to "step back and take a look at the facts." seven years after signing an order to close guantanamo, a bruised and battle wear president obama was pleading with congress to give it a chance. >> i don't want to pass this problem onto the next president, whoever it is, and as a nation, if we don't deal with this now, when will we deal with it? are we going to let this linger on for another 15 years, 20 years, another 30 years? >> reporter: over the years, some 800 prisoners have been held at guantanamo. and from that, more than 500 were released from other countries during the burke administration. president obama transferred 147 more, and now there are just 91 left. what the pentagon sent congress was a four-point plan to deal with those 91 and permanently close the prison camp, which president obama argues is

you heard jamie mcintyre talking about the unlikelihood about progress against i.s.i.l. in libya. what do you think, based on your knowledge, and your conversations with security officials in d.c., will it take to diminish i.s.i.l.'s influence in libya? >> well the set up piece talked about special forces, raids and air power. and that is wonderful to pinprick stops, stop the bleeding and. the military and diplomatic tracks are not contradictory. we need to do one, what we can, while the unity government tries to establish itself. that is really the answer in the long term, to get a government on the ground that can take the fight to i.s.i.l. that we can support. >> we know that there are 10 groups vying for power in libya, let's take a look at a map. this question goes to you. i.s.i.l., as jamie mcintyre indicated, controls a relatively small squath of libya, 150 miles around cert. what is the import of that area. it's an orbiting region, and appears to be very important strategic point between two major cities. >> it's central. the other thing is because the territory in libya i

jamie mcintyre reports from the pentagon. >> tony, the idea is that the temporary pause in the fighting would allow for food and he medicine for desperate syrians, and possibly laying the ground work for more enduring seeps fire when the peace talks resume in geneva next week, but now with the help of russian air power, forces it in favor of bashar al-assad are making big gains on the ground. the latest video posted on social media shows the syrian army's advance on aleppo. once a rebel stronghold and syria's largest city. before years of fighting drew much of the population away. over head, a russian jet appears to drop cluster bombs, unguided munition condemned by the u.s. for combat because it can cause inscrip at casualties. they also accuse russia of bombing a doctors without borders hospital in northern syria. reducing it to a pile of rubble and killing at least seven doctors and patients. the u.s. said no coalition planes were operating in the area at the time. and while the u.s. stopped short of labeling the strike a war crime, they called it absolutely horrific while brushing a

jamie mcintyre joins us now from the pentagon. what does this actually mean? >> the pentagon said that russia in that time has significantly stepped up its bombing of syria's and a lot of civilians are really feeling the brunt of this campaign. a lot of questions surrounding the implementation of this agreement. will russia stop bombing aleppo? the agreement calls for the cessation of hostilities among the warring parties, and that targeting by the air would only be allowed against isil and the al nusra front, an al-qaeda affiliate. russia has identified a much larger group of people as being part of the opposition. the main objective. the flo. >> jamie, are there any provisions in place, anything to prevent a flare-up in the fighting that could completely derail the goal of having the cease-fire by saturday? >> right now the big interest is in difficultying of the humanitarian aid. even russia has been at odds with the united states over many aspects in the fighting of syria has agreed. there is a great hope that this cessation of hostilities will hold long e

jamie mcintyre reports from the pentagon. >> reporter: in his testimony before a house sub committee, defense secretary a ard lifted the -- ash carter listed five challengers. calling russia and china a stressing competitor. >> we saw it last week in the south china sea and crimea and syria. in some cases they are developing weapons and ways of war that achieve objectives rapidly. >> russia have been supporting military muscle. china is the longer term threat. >> the commander of u.s. forces made clear in testimony before a senate committee. china is militarizing the south china sea. >> china has been developing reefs, deploying missiles and hardware to manmade and natural islands in in what admiral harris says is an effort to exert control and deny access in the united states. >> when they put their vast missile systems on the parasells, and build three runways. when te do all of that, they are changing the operational landscape in the south china sea. >> reporter: carter told congress the u.s. is spending millions on weapons counter-china and russia. he listed crows missiles on a su

. >> jamie mcintyre thank you very much. >>> at that same conference you heard jamie talking about, thedent talk about the supreme court appointment. he once again called for the senate to give his nominee a hearing. >> we're going to find somebody who is an outstanding legal mind, somebody who cares deeply about our democracy and rule of law. there's not going to be any particular position on a particular issue that determines whether or not i nominate them, but i am going to present somebody who indisputably is qualified for the seat, and any fair minded person, even somebody who disagreed with my politics would say, would serve with honor and integrity on the court. >> and most senate republicans continue to say the vacancy should be filled by the next president. but charles grassley of iowa saying he might consider holding hearings. we'll wait and see. >>> saturday republicans vote in south carolina and democrats caucus in nevada. the latest cnn poll showing a virtual tie on the democratic side in nevada. bernie sanders is ahead among voters under the age of 55. and in just a few mi

jamie mcintyre live for us at the pentagon, and jamie tell us more about what u.s.icials are now saying. >> reporter: well, del, it's important to differentiate, these islands are real honest to goodness islands as opposed to the land reclamation that has been going on as china has been drudging up soil to make man made islands in some of that area. this is the parasail islands. china has been occupying many of them since the 1970s, and this is a case where the united states is neutral on the question of who these islands should belong to, but it is not neutral on the question of whether or not there should be military equipment and hardware put on them. when chinese president visited washington last year, and met with president obama, the pledged not to militarize the islands in the south china sea and that's something that secretary of state john kerry today sited when he said the u.s. us would be questioning china about what is going on there. here is a little bit of what he said. >> when president xi was here in washington, he stood in the rose garden with presi

. >> jamie mcintyre at the pentagon. you very much. >>> also in washington the justice department investigating an l edged data breech. hackers saying they have posted the details of nearly 10,000 employees at the department of homeland security. they also plan to release information from about 20,000 workers at the fbi. the data was reportedly received through an email account. >>> the city council in ferguson, missouri expected to vote today on a police department overhaul. but the city says it can't afford to do it. >> reporter: the city of ferguson says it is $3 million in debt over the unrest that erupted after the shooting death of 18-year-old michael brown by then officer brian wilson. the city council votes to approve a consent agreement with the department of justice. the attorney general's office announced the agreement last month. the city has been holding a series of meetings to discuss the agreement and its potential costs. >> most of the time the mayor goes behind closed deals with some attorneys sign it an

jamie mcintyre joins us live from the pentagon. what can we expect to learn today?reporter: what we have learned from this hearing is that there's great concern about the level of u.s. involvement in afghanistan, and whether the president's plan to draw down the number of troops to about 5500 troops by 2017 is really sustainable. general campbell, who is wrapping up 18 months as the top commander in afghanistan conceded today that the conditions in afghanistan deteriorated over the course of the year, and he told the committee that the u.s. cannot afford to have a rerun of 2015. >> afghanistan is at an inflection point, and i believe if we do not make deliberate measured adjustmenteds, 2016 is at risk of being no better and possibly worse than 2015. >> reporter: and the adjustments he is talking about are adjustments to u.s. troop levels in afghanistan. right now the current plan is for the 9800 troops in afghanistan to stay there for most of this year, but then be brought down to 5500 troops in 2017. general campbell testified today that at that level, the u.s. wou

as jamie mcintyre explains, the pentagon says the u.s. to not planning a military response. >> reporter: this book defense secretary ash carter cited north korea as number three on the top five list of threats in the united states. causing them a serious concern. carter did not have a plan about what to do about it except to say what was needed is strong deterrence. it's a strong apply from what ash carter advocated a decade ago at the pentagon. >> north korea launched tests before. back then in 2006, harvard professor ash carter knew how to respond to the threat. take out the north korean missile with a sea launch missile while on the launch pad. writing in a 'washington post' op ed, kart area argued that: when i asked carter about the wisdom of a pre-emptive strike, he made it clear it was not something he wanted to revisit. a few years ago, when you were in public office, you wrote a compelling bid with secretary kerry, advocating that the north korean missile be taken out on a launchpad before it was contested. are you thinking about

aljazeera's jamie mcintyre has the details on what the president wants, and what stands in his way. >> reporter: the president insisted he is very clear eyed about the hurdles facing the final closure of guantanamo. the politics, he said, are tough. but he urged congress and the american people to "step back and look at the facts. seven years after first signing an order to close guantanamo, a bruised and battle weary president obama pleading with an unsympathetic congress to give his final plan a chance. >> i don't want to pass this problem onto the next president, whoever it is, and if, as a nation, we don't deal with this now, when will we deal with it? are we going to let this linger on for another 15 years, another 20 years, another 30 years? >> over the years, some 800 prisoners have been held at guantanamo. of that, more than 500 were released to other countries during the bush administration. president obama transferred 147 more, and now there are just 91 lest. what the pentagon set congress was a four point plan to deal with those 91 and permanently close the prison camp. wha

jamie mcintyre has the details. >> reporter: pentagon sources say that two u.s.ir force f-15s flying out of england conducted the strike in the early-morning hours, the target was a tunisian national who the pentagon says was a key isil facilitator facilitating attacks against targets in neighboring tunisia from the base in libya. the pentagon said the f-15s destroyed this training camp, killing dozens of people, including the intended target, whom the pentagon says was responsible for a number of attacks in tunisia, including one last march, a year ago, when a museum was attacked and then another later in the summer at a seaside resort in which dozens of people were killed. the pentagon says this shows the u.s. us retains the ability to strike against isil wherever it sees a target of opportunity. for months u.s. planes have been conducting surveillance over libya to look for potential ilz targets as well as social forces on the ground gathering intelligence. this comes as there's a debate about whether the pebt gone should be expanding its bombing campaign agai

jamie mcintyre is live at the pentagon.ia and russia are essentially saying they will continue fighting when there is supposed to be this cause that seems so promising. is the pentagon concerned that this entire thing is going to fall apart? >> reporter: well, i think the real key gets back to the old saying, one man's terrorism is another man's freedom fighter. a couple of key parts of this agreement, one is that they are immediately supposed to be opening up channels of humanitarian aid to besieged cities in syria where people are starving and in need of food and medical supplies. then over the course of this vehicle, the u.s. and russia is supposed to sit down to a task force and decide who the legitimate targets would be. they have identified isil and the al-nusra front as legitimate targets. russia has broadly defined terrorists as the people for instance holding the -- the rebels holding control of aleppo. that's clearly not the definition that the united states is looking for. so the question of whether or not this a

special correspondent jamie mcintyre has our report, produced in partnership with the pulitzer centercrisis reporting. >> reporter: behind this massive eight-ton door-- 60 feet below the frozen fields of north dakota-- a 27-year-old first lieutenant heads a two-person team with a singular mission. the two junior air force officers are misseleers-- entrusted with executing the most consequential of presidential orders. at almost the same time, at nearby minot air force base, a b-52 stratofortress that's been flying for more than half a century is drenched with deicing fluid. its aging jet engines roar to life with the help of eight explosive charges, a method developed during the cold war to give the bomber a quick kickstart in a crisis. ( alarms ) all the while, hundreds of feet beneath the pacific ocean, sailors aboard a u.s. ballistic missile submarine methodically perform their weekly doomsday drill. three ways to do the same thing: end the world as we know it, by launching nuclear weapons. >> weapons away. >> reporter: missiles, bombers, subs: america's nuclear triad. a three-pron

. >> jamie mcintyre live, thank you. an alleged data breach that could effect 80,000. homeland security employees and plans are released information from 20,000 fbi workers. the data was reportedly retrieved through a justice department email account. the city council in ferguson missouri is expecting to vote today on a deal to reform the city's justice system. it is part of a federal agreement. the city says it simply can't afford it. >> the city says it is $3 million in debt over the unrest there 18 months ago. after the shooting death of 18-year-old michael brown by then officer darren nielsen. the debt would more than double if they approve a consent agreement with the department of justice. attorneys general office announced that agreement last month, as a way of reforming a department that it found enfaked in questionable policing practices. the city has been holding a series of meetings to discuss the agreement and the potential costs. >> most of the time the mayor goes by with closed doors and signs it. we wanted to make sure that the residents could see what t

. >> jamie mcintyre for us. thank you very much. on that note there have been more airstrikes targeting isil fighters inside libya. planes targeted a convoy of suspected isil members on sunday. three explosions rocking a town around dawn is when it happened. no one claiming responsibility for those strikes yet. the u.s. also saying it was not involved. the pentagon launching two airstrikes against the group last year. >>> the truce in syria in its third day but the syrian opposition saying that russia has violateed that truce. new video that was posted online is said to show the city of homs and idlib being targeted by helicopters and military warplanes. one of those videos appears to show a helicopter dropping a barrel bomb. airstrikes are said to have had hit the rebel held areas. opposition forces blaming those strikes on russian warplanes. >>> a member of sale team 6 receiving the nation's highest military honors just moments ago. edward byers jr. with the medal of honor. >> consider this in the entire history of navy seals just

the national security jamie mcintyre is live for us.ow much detail did the pentagon outline on the new cyber strategy and what they're trying to do. >> they described it in very broad terms. the u.s. is not just dropping regular bombs on isil and iraq and syria, but also cyber bombs. what he meant was that the u.s. is using it's new cyber command to mount attacks to try to deny isil access to the internet. so that they can not communicate with their--the people in the region. and also can't send their message out to the world. the pentagon said that it's not going to give a lot of details because it does not want isil to know what it is doing, but both secretary ash carter and the joint chief chairman talked about it at today's pentagon briefing. >> we can't allow them to freely command control enemy forces. it's just lake in any other war, we have to attack their commanding control. one of the ways thats of doing it. it may have beneficial effect of driving them to the kinds of communications that it's in fact, easier for us to disrupt

al jazeera's jamie mcintyre is live for us at the pentagon this morning and what does this deal do andt does it not do? >> well del if you woke up in syria this morning you might not notice much difference and, in fact, just hours after this agreement was announced there were more russian air strikes in the area of homs, reports that more than a dozen civilians were killed during those air strikes and so one thing that is the agreement does not stop air strikes in syria for the time being and, in fact, doesn't stop u.s. air strikes either. under the agreement there is a temporary cessation of hostiles and not the same as a ceasefire beginning in a week assuming details can be worked out but would not apply to groups that are terrorist groups including i.s.i.l. and the al-nusra front and the operations in syria could continue. in fact, they are continuing today as well. the other big part of this which is supposed to go in effect immediately is the delivery of humanitarian aid to many of these besieged syrian cities where civilians are in desperate straits without food and medicine and

launched a different approach, jamie mcintyre has more from the pentagon. >> defense secretary lifted north korea as number three calling the nuclear weapons and missile technology a concern. he did not have a plan about what to do about it except to call for what he described as strong deterrence. that's a far cry from what ash carter advocated a decade ago when he was not at the pentagon. >> north korea launched missiles before, like the test in 2009. and a less successful attempt knerl. back in 2006, harvard university professor ash carter knew how to respond to the threat. take out the north korean missile with a crews missile while it was on the launchpad. >> in a washington post op ed along with mentor william perry, carter argued the united states should make clear its intention to trike and destroy the north korean miss ail before it can be -- missile before it can be launched. he added the multi story fuel and they would puncture the missile and cause it to ex-please. late last year, with the wisdom from a preemptive strike, he made it clear that it was not something he wante

jamie mcintyre at the pentagon. coming up, a look at the 14-year history of guantanamo bay prison and talk to a human rights aattorney your representing detainees. >> a court ordered italy to pay compensation to a muslim cleric kidnapped in 2003 by the c.i.a. the court ruled italy abused state secrecy and violated the rights of the man concerned. the man was kidnapped, taken to egypt, his homeland. he was a victim of extraordinary rendition, interaction and torture. nest celebrated the ruling -- amnesty international celebrated the ruling. >> it's an important story by the european courts of human rights. he was one of hundreds of people illegally detained and tort toured. people arrested for european countries and send to other countries in africa or the middle east wowed judicial supervision. italy was ordered to pay 78,000 to omar, and 16,000 to his wife. 26 americans were convicted in absentia in italy in the kidnapping case, italy did not seek their extradition. >> the syrian government and the main opposition

jamie mcintyre has the latest. >> reporter: john, after more than a week of negotiations, the deal was sealed in a phone call, between president obama and russian president, vladimir putin, but the final word on whether the fighting really stops lies with the syrian government forces on the ground and the fighters who app pose them. the agreement gives syrian forces another week to press their advantage over opposition fighters, and another week for russia to back the government of bashar al-assad, with punishing air strikes that have laid waste to the city of aleppo, and killed hundreds of civilians. in a broadcast address posted on the kremlin's website, russian president putin hailed the agreement as a break through that could radically transform the situation in syria. president obama by contrast did not mention the accord in address to the nation's governor, instead issuing a low-key statement, saying he welcomed the agreement. >> this is going to be difficult to implement. we know there are a lot of obstacles, and there are sure to be setbacks. for years, we have been trying to r

jamie mcintyre has more from the pentagon. >> reporter: if you cut all through of the diplo speak, the pros -- prospects for success in syria comes down to a single word, terrorists. in the northern province of homs, more than a dozen people were reportedly killed as russia continued to provide air cover for force loyal to president bashar al-assad. under the agreement hashed out between sergei lavrov and u.s. secretary of state john kerry, air strikes will continue, but some groups will no longer be targeted. >> to that end, we have also established a task force under the auspices of the u.n., and co-chaired by russia and the united states. and over the coming week, this group will work to develop the modalities for a long-term comprehensive, and durable cessation of violence, of hostilities. >> reporter: both sides have already agreed that isil and the al-nusra front are legitimate targets, both having been designated as terrorists groups by the u.n. so the pentagon says any eventual ceasefire will have no effect on the u.s.-lead anti-isil air war. >> we continue to operate against i

jamie mcintyre is at the pentagon with details. >> reporter: with north korea defying u.n.olutions, and ignoring crippling sanctions, the u.s. is making prudent military moves to counter the threat that north korea may soon be able to threaten its enemies with nuclear-tipped missiles. pentagon sources say the satellite subbed lodestar is said to be tumbling out of control as it circles the earth. but as for north korea's rocket science the sunday launch was a clear success. the second time since 2012 pyongyang has demonstrated its has developed a missile that could in theory reach the itself. the u.s. korean commander has asked for additional missile defenses for south korea. >> what we're also doing is consulting with the south koreans for the first time about more missile defense capabilities to prevent any possibility that north korea could reach u.s. facilities or u.s. populations. >> reporter: the system in question is called thad, missiles designed to shoot down short or intermediate range missiles. >> we have feel confident our posture right now is adequate to the ch

jamie mcintyre has the latest. >> reporter: john, after more than a week of negotiations, the deal was a phone call, between president obama and russian president, vladimir putin, but the final word on whether the fighting really stops lies with the syrian government forces on the ground and the fighters who app pose

aljazeera's national correspondent, jamie mcintyre, has more from the pentagon. >> reporter: well, richelle, the house subcommittee was reviewing the pentagon's budget and seemed concerned if the u.s. military was keeping up with threats from moscow and beijing. secretary, ashe carter listed five challenges, is ill, had iran, north korea, russia and china. and he called russia and china the most stressing competitors to superiority. >> we saw it in the sea and in crime and syria as well. in some cases, they're developing weapons and ways of war that seem to achieve their objective rapidly, before we can respond. >> reporter: russia has been flexing it's muscle with bashar al-assad in syria, but it's china that's threatening in the asia pacific region. something this week that the u.s. command in the pacific made clear in testimony before i senate committee. >> in my opinion, china is clearly militarizing the south china sea and you would have to believe in a flatarity to believe otherwise. >> reporter: china has been building up reefs in the south china sea, and deploying hardware to man ha

an suspected training camp in libya. 40 people were killed al jazeera national security force jamie mcintyre is at the pentagon with more. >> tony, pentagon officials say that the overnight strike does not represent an expansion of the full scale war against isil in iraq and syria, into libya as well. this was a chance to take out a major isil player and many recruits in a single blow. this is all that was left of a farmhouse and other structures in a rural area of libya after a pair of u.s. air force f-15s flown out of a british air base in london, along with unmanned drones in the region attacked what is described as an isil training camp the in the early hours on friday morning. it was targeted based on intelligence suggesting the fighters there were planting external attacks on u.s. and other western interests in the region. >> i think it's fair to say that this group and training facility posed a threat in the region and perhaps beyond in the short term, and as a result we wanted to move on quickly. >> they believe the primary target of tunisian was killed in the early morning strike al

aljazeera's jamie mcintyre is at the pentagon with more on the policy that could take years to reachhe front lines. >> tony, in theory, the debate on whether women can serve on the front lines or as commandos was settled last year, when defense secretary, ashe carter, ruled that all military jobs would be open to women, no questions. but today before the armed services committee, that question is anything but settled. much of the two hours of senate he testimony concerned the marine corp's two year long experiment at 29 palms california, where mixed gender units why less proficient than all male units. the secretary came under immediate fire for john mccain for dismissing the results without observing the training first hand. >> so you made claims that the study was flawed and biased, even though you didn't see the study performed. >> reporter: he argued that the marine experiment wasn't a true test because the marines be only had to pass a minimum fitness exam to take part. >> nobody had to meet a standard for these ground combat units. >> women's advocates, including the military v

jamie mcintyre has more. >> the president insisted he is clear eyed about the hurdles facing the closure of guantanamo. the politics are tough. he urged congress and the american people to step back and take a look at the facts. >> 7 years after signing an order to close guantanamo, a bruised and battle weary president obama was reduced to pleading with an unsympathetic congress to give his final plan a chance. >> i don't want to pass the problem to the next president, whoever it is. if, as a nation we don't deal with this now, when will we deal with it. will we let it linger on for 15 years, 20 years, 30 years. >> over the years, 800 prisoners have been held at guantanamo. of that more than 500 were released to other countries during the bush administration. president obama transferred 147 more and there are 91 left. the pentagon sent them to deal with the 91 and permanently close the camp, which is argued to be a stain on reputation and a recruiting tool. the plan transfers 35 detainees cleared for release to other country by the summer. accelerating elegibility reviews for the other p