mr. rassmussen? >> i'd want to come back -- >> specifically, their capability to conduct counterterrorism operations against the taliban and al qaeda partners. >> i believe we've made a substantial amount of progress in bringing the afghan national security force up to the level where they can carry out counterterrorist operations against known terrorist targets inside afghanistan. what will be -- what we will not know until we see over time is whether the afghan government is able to sustain that capability, invest in resource and sustain that capability over time so they are able to do this as they encounter threats -- >> you think they have greater capabilities than the iraqi security forces assuming that as was the case over the last few years, there is no u.s. support? >> i'm reluctant to put it in comparative terms because i'm not sure i have the right expertise or knowledge through that. and i'd be happy to get you an answer from that. >> i think it'd be interesting. here's my feeling from som

mr. rassmussen. another woof at the door. we've known about isis for four years.e me and lindsey graham and many others have known about it and warned about it and talked about it while we've done nothing to really stem the tide and the growth of isis and the chaos we now see pervading iraq and syria. some of us are hopeful that the president of the united states will finally recognize that threat and outline to the american people some actions that need to be taken. but, many of us predicted this, many of us saw it coming, and it comes as no surprise. i thank you, mr. chairman. >> you're welcome. we thank you, as well. senator baldwin and senator portman. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. taylor and mr. rassmussen, i want to talk a little bit more about the estimated, more than 100 u.s. persons who have left to join the fight in syria. i think that's sort of how it was phrased. i just want to get a sense of, is this an estimate, or do we have a sense of actually who this 100-plus people are, names, where they're from, et cetera. how much detail do we have? are we b