mr. mcgurk? >> first, the leadership in command of these units have all been fired. we immediately were in conversations with iraqi leaders, security and political leaders in the wake of mosul and recommended a wholesale change in the command. new commanders have been appointed. those are commanders we know very well. they're also quite effective. iraqis, just in the past month in terms of fighting units, they've suffered almost 1,000 killed in action and they are holding the line and beginning to conduct some very rudimentry operations to clear some highways. i will not underestimate the extreme challenge here. what we saw in mosul was not indicative of a force as a whole. the units, many of them, are balanced. there's about an average -- i was just on the phone to our folks out there today. the composition of the force is about 55% shia, 23% sunni, by and large. within the units there is no fracturing within the units themselves. now there are very incompetent, incapable units with poor leaders

mr. mcgurk? >> first, the leadership in command of these units have all been fired. we immediately were in conversations with iraqi leaders, security and political leaders in the wake of mosul and recommended a wholesale change in the command. new commanders have been appointed. those are commanders we know very well. they're also quite effective. iraqis, just in the past month in terms of fighting units, they've suffered almost 1,000 killed in action and they are holding the line and beginning to conduct some very rudimentry operations to clear some highways. i will not underestimate the extreme challenge here. what we saw in mosul was not indicative of a force as a whole. the units, many of them, are balanced. there's about an average -- i was just on the phone to our folks out there today. the composition of the force is about 55% shia, 23% sunni, by and large. within the units there is no fracturing within the units themselves. now there are very incompetent, incapable units with poor leaders

mr. mcgurk? or miss slotkin? >> i'll attack a first sttake a. it's important to review the history that both brett and i worked on the original 2008 with iraq that did say by the end of 2011 that we would be out of iraq. so that timetable was set in 2008. there was quite a bit of discussion and debate about what should happen at that time. i really do think the point that brett made is critical. iraqi leaders could not get it through their parliament. we had iraqi leaders at that time saying i don't think it's necessary. we don't want you in. they're a sovereign country. we didn't have will on the other side. that's a critical factor. >> it's certainly a factor. the united states is a pretty substantial country on the globe and we have a lot of involvement there and our officials were meeting with their officials and there were relationships and, yes, they certainly have to degree with it. the effort that was made and the decision to pull all the troops out, it's mind boggling to think, looking b

mr. mcgurk? >> one point, congressman. i think what i laid out in my opening testimony is a way forward that is focused upon the hard realities we face on the ground now. that's within the fabric of the iraqi constitution. that can harness their very significant national resources to empower local communities in order to deny space to these terrorist groups. and that is a model in which recognizes the principle of authority and federalism which is embedded in the iraqi constitution. were iraq to wish to develop more regions, such as the region that exists in the kurdish region, there's a process for doing that through the iraqi constitution. >> but mr. mcgurk, again, i agree with you. that ought to be how it works. the maliki government has significantly alienated huge swaths of its own country. and in the process has opened the door for receptivity to isis. that's one of the reasons they've had so little difficulty in addition to the collapse of the iraqi four divisions which we helped train and equip. but they've lost a

mr. mcgurk, but ms. slotkin, if you would like to weigh in, please do. one of the things that has not gotten a whole lot of attention but has -- you mentioned it in your testimony, and certainly we've seen it in other places where extremist islam has been in charge, that the plight of iraqi women and girls has borne the brunt of a lot of the violence as they've advanced through iraq. can you talk about what we can do and what is being done to help address this? >> first, senators, the fact that you're asking the question is number one. we have to put international focus and attention on this problem. in n mosul, the situation with isil goes from bad to worst. they've first gone after the christians, then kurds, and now they're going after women, particularly young women. this is a serious international problem. the governor the iraq, foreign minister of iraq, wrote a letter to the secretary general of the united nations asking for international assistance against this threat to their people. so it is something that we need the entire efforts of the entir

mr. mcgurk, you commented about the state of u.s. intelligence in advance of mosul and this most recent isis offensive. you said, quote, in the earliest days, we had to acknowledge that we were operating in a fog, end quote. you also say that intelligence collection after the fact has improved, but i'm troubled by the fact that we are -- but that we were operating in the fog in the first place because in february, you testified here and you told us exactly what isis wanted to do, take control of western iraq, challenge the iraqi government for control of baghdad, and have sectarian conflict. for most of the past year, isis has already been in control of about half of mosul. there were other plenty of clear signs that isis was a rising threat. really over the past year, year and a half, two years. we've had eyes watching what was going on in syria and surely watching the iraqi and jordanian borders. knowing all this and knowing all we did of what you testified in february, why weren't we doing more to collect intelligence all along? p

mr. mcgurk, let's quick go back to the kurds. i've been made aware of the fact the baghdad government is basically in arrears on current budget by about $6 billion. is that accurate? >> there are a lot of ways to do the accounting and the math. baghdad claims the kurds owe them money. kurds claim that baghdad owes them money. in that space is where a deal lies. i think that's going to be part of the conversation in forming a new government. >> if it is true baghdad owes them as much as $6 billion, with u.s. support kurds ability to export oil and obtain that revenue so they can keep themselves going? >> we want to get as much oil on to international markets as possible from all parks of iraq. that is something we very strongly support we worked very hard over the last six months to get a deal on the table by which the kurds would have exported as much oil as they possibly could through some of the existing arrangements with the revenue-sharing allocations that exist. that deal almost succeeded, but it ran up against the election

mr. mcgurk, let's quick go back to the kurds. i've been made aware of the fact the baghdad government is basically in arrears on current budget by about $6 billion. is that accurate? >> there are a lot of ways to do the accounting and the math. baghdad claims the kurds owe them money. kurds claim that baghdad owes them money. in that space is where a deal lies. i think that's going to be part of the conversation in forming a new government. >> if it is true baghdad owes them as much as $6 billion, with u.s. support kurds ability to export oil and obtain that revenue so they can keep themselves going? >> we want to get as much oil on to international markets as possible from all parks of iraq. that is something we very strongly support we worked very hard over the last six months to get a deal on the table by which the kurds would have exported as much oil as they possibly could through some of the existing arrangements with the revenue-sharing allocations that exist. that deal almost succeeded, but it ran up against the election

mr. mcgurk, that we need to work with our partners in the reach none. especially turkey to seal the border to syria from foreign fighters and isil recruits. can you talk a little bit more, you are limited to some extent, about how this is proceeding and what other partners we might engage to address this concern? >> thank you, senator. we have some experience in doing this in the late 2006/2007 time frame where it was the same foreign fighter network. at the time they were all flying into damascus going into aleppo. we squeezed the entire network from the source capitals where they are getting on airplanes to get them off the airplanes. we are doing a similar effort and ambassador bradky, senior advisor of the state department focused on the foreign fighter network. it's two parts. turkey has a very long border. it's very hard to control. turkey is doing some things to strengthen their own border and focus on this problem. also the source capitals in which young military age male are getting on airplanes and going to certain airports in turkey. we are w

mr. mcgurk, that we need to work with our partners in the reach none. especially turkey to seal the border to syria from foreign fighters and isil recruits. can you talk a little bit more, you are limited to some extent, about how this is proceeding and what other partners we might engage to address this concern? >> thank you, senator. we have some experience in doing this in the late 2006/2007 time frame where it was the same foreign fighter network. at the time they were all flying into damascus going into aleppo. we squeezed the entire network from the source capitals where they are getting on airplanes to get them off the airplanes. we are doing a similar effort and ambassador bradky, senior advisor of the state department focused on the foreign fighter network. it's two parts. turkey has a very long border. it's very hard to control. turkey is doing some things to strengthen their own border and focus on this problem. also the source capitals in which young military age male are getting on airplanes and going to certain airports in turkey. we are w

mr. mcgurk? or ms. slotkin. >> sure, i'll take a first stab at it. i do think it's important again to review the history. both bret and i worked on the original 2008 s.o.f.a. with iraq which did say by the end of 2011 we would be out of iraq, so that timetable was set back in 2008. i know there was quite a bit of discussion and debate about what should happen at the time in 2011 about a follow-on agreement, but i really do thing the point that bret made is critical. the iraqi leaders could not get it through their parliament, unlike what we have in afghanistan today, we have iraqi leaders at that time saying i don't think it's necessary and we don't want you in. they weren't inviting us in, they're a sovereign country, so we made a decision to cease negotiations, because we didn't have will on the other side. that's a critical factor. >> it's certainly a factor, but the united states is a pretty substantial country on the globe, and we have a lot of involvement there, and our officials were meeting with their officials, and there are relationships. y

mr. mcgurk, let's quick go back to the kurds. i've been made aware of the fact the baghdad government is basically in arrears on current budget by about $6 billion. is that accurate? >> there are a lot of ways to do the accounting and the math. baghdad claims the kurds owe them money. kurds claim that baghdad owes them money. in that space is where a deal lies. i think that's going to be part of the conversation in forming a new government. >> if it is true baghdad owes them as much as $6 billion, with u.s. support kurds ability to export oil and obtain that revenue so they can keep themselves going? >> we want to get as much oil on to international markets as possible from all parks of iraq. that is something we very strongly support we worked very hard over the last six months to get a deal on the table by which the kurds would have exported as much oil as they possibly could through some of the existing arrangements with the revenue-sharing allocations that exist. that deal almost succeeded, but it ran up against the election

mr. mcgurk talked about the sunni tribes trying to fight isis but they are outgunned. helping them would not be undercutting a new government. the kurds are fighting along the front and they need help. we heard about these highly trained effective iraqi units north of baghdad. they could benefit from help, too. we're striking al qaeda right now in pakistan, yemen, and with direct actions at times in somalia and libya. i see no reason why we couldn't, if we're getting the data now, start doing some strikes both in iraq and in syria. meanwhile, we have to be ready, though, if this doesn't work out, if the eiranians remain influential, if maliki remains in power, we have to figure out how we're going to deal with three separate entities, effectively a taliban-like islamic state in the middle of lchl evant and iraq is under the influence of iran. that's a huge new problem for us if we don't act very, very quickly. my bottom line here today, sir, is we need to act as quickly as we can. >> thank you, ambassador jeffrey. general barbaro? >> thank you for the opportunity to di

mr. mcgurk described in some detail to try to regain trust among the sunnis. i see this is only possible if we have a new prime minister in a new government. simultaneously i think wildly president is right we can do major campaign until he get inclusive government that can provide essentially people on the ground local forces we need to do limited structures. general dempsey talked about some of the possibilities going after key leaders in strategic infrastructure. we need to do a little better that nagl. to encourage everybody to its come together. mr. mcgurk taught about the sunni tribes that are trying to fight i suspect they are outdone. helping them would not be undercutting any government. the kurds are fighting on the front and they need help. we heard about some of these highly trained effective iraqi units that are still in the fight. they could benefit from help too. we are striking al qaeda right now pakistan and yemen and direct action to time in somalia and libya lithia. i see reason -- the reason why we couldn't start doing some strikes both in

mr. mcgurk described in some detail to remain within the republic and try to regain trust among the sunnisthis is only possible if we have a new prime minister and a new government. simultaneously i think while the president is right we can not do a major campaign until we get an inclusive government that can provide essentiallyan people on the ground, local forces, we need to do limited strikes. general dempsey talked about some of the possibilities going afterl key leaders and strategic infrastructure. we need to do t a little bit of that now in part to encourage everybody to come together. mr. mcgurk talked about the sunni tribes that are outgunned by, thatwe are trying to fight isis but they're outgunned. helping them would not be undercutting a new government. the kurds are fighting along the front. they need help. we heard about some of these highly-trained, effective iraqi units still in the fight, particularly not from baghdad. they could benefit from help too. we're striking al qaeda right now ine pakistan, yemen and direct actions at times in somalia and libya. i see no reason wh

mr. mcgurk to assist return from a six week trip assisting the embassy team in iraq and ms.otkin has experience rating from intelligence community and the national security council to the state department now the defense department. let me remind both of you your false statements will be included in the record without objection i will ask you to summarize so members of the committee canning gauge with a dialogue and we will start with you mr. secretary. >> if morning. i think you for inviting us to discuss the situation with the focus on u.s. response with the attack on mosul seven weeks ago. why this matters it is al qaeda it may have changed the name more broken was senior leadership but it is al qaeda and the doctrine and a threat to u.s. interest should there be any question of the intentions simply read what the leader says commit is important to pay attention because we cannot rest to underestimate the goals it capacity in breach of the organization. to eulogize the death of the osama bin live in and promised a violent response and many training camps are named after h