mcgurk. couple of questions first.the authorization for use of military force, the administration has indicated would not oppose the repeal of that, is the issue the timing with respect to, say, pending elections in iraq? might it disrupt things you're doing in iraq if we were to do that now and? >> i don't think there's much focus on the anoraks i don't think it would make much of a difference in terms from the iraqi perspective. >> that's good to know, okay. >> those elections have to be held april 30th, there should not be a delay. >> what a novel thought, allowing people to vote remotely. -- billions and billions of dollars. we've reconstituted, we've trained, you know, law enforcement forces. we spent our military, blood and treasure, to gain a foothold, to gain fallujah, and, you know, al-qaeda's success as an organization manages to occupy it. and i understood your testimony correctly, we're now once genre lying on -- once again relying on tribal support to essentially dislodge the occupying forces in fallujah.

mcgurk, 192 t-walls were up. the big progress is that 43 t-walls are up, in addition 17,500 t walls. they save lives, put them up. number two, the iraqi jewish archives ted deutsche and i and many other members are concerned. i don't want them to be shipped back. the iraqi government incorrectly states these papers are theirs. that is not true. we hope you continue to work on that. the bigger issue that brings that together obviously since the departure of the troops, al qaeda's reemergence causes iraq to take a turn for the worse. and al qaeda safe haven so we've got to rebuild our influence there. thank you, mr. chairman, for calling this hearing. >> thank you, ms. ross slay ton. mr. deutsche of florida. >> thank mr. chairman and ranking member engle for holding this hearing. in the stability in the iraq government and the syria conflict, the number of al qaeda affiliated fighters in iraq has reached levels not seen since 2006. the off-shoot is now the primary perpetrator of violence. al qaeda disavowed the use

mcgurk. he appeared before the house foreign affairs committee on the rising threat of al-qaeda in iraq. mr. mcgurk also provided an update on the u.s. response earths in the us -- efforts specifically in the cities of fallujah and ramadi. al-qaeda's central leadership this week announced it was cutting ties with the islamic state of iraq. >> this hearing will come to order. this morning we consider al-qaeda's resurgence in iraq, an unfortunate reality is that al-qaeda in iraq -- now known as the islamic state of iraq and the levant or isis as you see it in the papers -- is growing steadily in size, it's growing steadily in power and influence, and its militant ranks have blossomed. last summer isis carried out attacks on two different prisons in iraq, and in those attacks freed hundreds of experienced al-qaeda fighters and leaders. the group is now able to carry out approximately 40 mass casualty attacks every month. multiple car bombings struck the capital this morning. the nearly 9,000 dea

mcgurk. prior to this current assignment, he served as senior adviser to ambassadors ryan crocker, chris hill and james jeffrey in baghdad. he also served as a lead negotiator and coordinator during bilateral talks with the iraqi government back in 2008. without objection, by the way, your full prepared statement will be made part of the record, and the members here will have five days to submit any statements or questions or any other extraneous material for the record. and, mr. mcgurk, if you would, please, summarize your remarks, and then we'll go to questions. >> thank you. good morning, chairman royce, ranking member engel and members of this committee. thank you for inviting me to discuss the situation in iraq with a focus on al-qaeda's primary offshoot in iraq, the islamic state of iraq and levant or isil. i will discuss the current situation in rah dad my -- ramadi and fallujah. isil is well known to us. its former incarnation, aqi, was a focus of u.s. and iraqi security efforts over

mcgurk, for being here and insightful testimony this morning. you can imagine imagine in iraq it is particularly difficult to hear about sacrifices of the billions and billions of dollars of taxpayer money expended in this region in the world you acknowledge in your written testimony in a thank you for that. at to first speak to the different events in vermont in falluja. they turned quick and fairly effective. that is not the case not the case of falluja. which you speak to buy the coordination between the tribal fighters in the iraqi government and resource allocation between these two cities and many other fact yours, which are contributing to different outcomes are different strategies? >> falluja has always just been the most hardened part of the insurgency when we are fighting and it's a different environment if you look at the protest movement over 2013, the protest remained generally of a moderate tone, focus on legitimate grievances of the community. the protest in falluja which also took place every friday for far more militant, far mo

mcgurk. a couple of questions first. authorization to use military force, the administration has indicated would not oppose the repeal of that is the issue the timing with respect to, say, pending elections in iraq? might it disrupt things you are doing in iraq if we were to do that now? >> congressman, i do not think there is much focus on that. i do not think it would make much of a difference. >> that is good to know, ok. elections in april. still on schedule? >> we, our team at the embassy is talking every day to the united nations mission in iraq. and the iraqi high electoral commission. and the information i received recently is that elections remain on track. we have tens of thousands of displaced families from anbar province. we have been assured by that -- that displaced people will be able to vote and the vote will count. l confident the election will be held on april 30, and our firm position is that those elections have to be held on april 30. there should not be a delay. >> what a novel thought. allowing peo