doesn't make sense. >> when i was there the peshmerga were barely able to hold their own.re now attacking and we decided to pull out. anyone who thinks isis is being pushed back or on the defensive need only come to the front line like this to realize that in fact much more is dmeeded to defeat testimony. and until they get the weapons and support that they desperately need and ask for, it's going to be a long drawn out fight. >>> when i come back, the fight in washington over how best to in washington over how best to at ally bank no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like mute buttons equal danger. ...that sound good? not being on this phone call sounds good. it's not muted. was that you jason? it was geoffrey! it was jason. it could've been brenda. the has unlimited access is thatto information,tion no matter where they are. the microsoft cloud gives our team the power to instantly deliver critical information to people, whenever they need it. here at accuweather, we get up to 10 billion data requests every day. the cloud allows us to scale up so we can h

we're going to use the peshmerga to help. but by the time the peshmerga came, the fight had already been stabilized, mostly by the united states air force. and look, let me also remind you that mr. erdogan was absolutely livid about american bombing of kobani to support, to support the pyd, because if you remember, he said, he came out and said something like what's in kobani? oil? gold? diamonds? and, in a way, as if, first of all, the unit would only intervene if there was gold or diamonds. in a way, it was a very demeaning attack on u.s. intentions and u.s. strategy in that particular case. and then anybody you talk to at the time will tell you in turkey, and maybe you know, too, that kobani was not a place that turkey wanted to defend. it came, it allowed the peshmerga to come after both world opinion and kurdish opinion, especially in turkey changed. look, kobani was a main breaking point for turkish kurds, respective of what happened with the person ga, you know, the peshmerga was a way to signal to those kurds who i sa

a special of what happened with the peshmerga, you know, the peshmerga operation was way to signal to those conservative kurds i mentioned earlier who were eventually defectors to stabilize that constituency. and it didn't work. and as far as why the pkk started it, look, i think what was said, the perception but i think the pkk probably decided that the turkeys you think the turks were not serious because such as kobani. it's also during the election process. if you would overturn the election process, i talk about the june 7 in a period coming to the june 7 election, both mr. erdogan and the akp press went wild in terms of accusations against hdp. it was a campaign against hdp because they understood very correctly that the hdp was the single most important threat to akp maintain its majority to u.s. and ago but that was waging war on hdp on the kurdish party while at the same time engaged in a peace process. that contradiction is also one of the reasons why i think the pkk decided there was no hope. >> but even before the action of the government was building his army, fort -- what

>> well, the peshmerga isn't part of the iraqi army. it operates as a separate force. and the kurdish authorities have made clear that while the peshmerga will act in the area adjacent to mosul, it is not likely to take part in an assault on mosul itself. that will have to be carried out by iraq ei forces. >> yesterday there was some discussion about the future for syria, and there was some suggestions about no-fly zones. and then the point was made that there should be a cease-fire agreed by all sides before no-fly zones are put in place. how do you see that? >> yeah, it would be great. yeah, a cease-fire would be fantastic. we'd go with that. >> who's working on that? what are the diplomatic efforts? >> stephen, the u.s. special envoys have been working on the idea of a cease-fire. these things are easy to sit in a room and talk about. they're a bit more difficult to of do on the ground. the chairman referred to one such alliance earlier on. frankly, it can involve some very strange bedfellows coming together, tactical alliances around particular towns or cities that

irrelevant respective of what happened with the peshmerga, the peshmerga operation was a way to signal to those conservative kurds i mentioned earlier who eventually defended from the akp to stabilize that constituency and it didn't work. as far as why the pkk started it, look, i think what amberlin said, i think the pkk decided when in kobani that the turks were not serious about -- it's not just kobani, it's also during the election process. if you remember during the election process, i'm talking about the june 7 in the period coming to the june 7 election both mr. erdogan and the akp press went wild in terms of accusations against htp, there was a campaign against htp because they understand that hdp was the single most important threat to akp getting a majority in parliament or not. so you have essentially a government that was waging war on hdp, on the kurdish party, while at the same time engaged in the peace process. that contradiction is also one of the reasons why the pkk decided there was no hope. >> but even before that, as you know, the government was building these armies

especially what happened the peshmerga. the peshmerga operation was a way to seek medical those who essentially have been stabilized the constituent. and as far as whether pkk started it, i think the pkk probably decided they were not serious. it's also the election process. if you remember, in the period coming to the june 7th election, both mr. erdogan in the pkk process understood correctly the htp was the single most important, and it was engaging in the peace process. that contradiction is also one that decided there was no hope. >> before that as you know the government was building these are means. what would you call them? yeah, pose and also cutting off -- the pkk is cutting off their roots and the pkk was very unhappy about this and making a lot of noise. as you remember, you had the protests rather deadly and some people died. it didn't just happen overnight. there is a lot of mutual distrust and the government would argue as they were discussing commit pkk was busy start piling so obviously a lot of distress so

doses they just keep pushing the peshmerga for the. the peshmerga shouldn't go further. they know that. i have heard that. and there's recognition that that shouldn't go. so again in iraq there also has to be to develop of this force, and that is moving along. actually pieces are in place if we will resource of them and actually make a critical policy decisions. and i think that's the critical element for a sunni force in syria. they are not going to be willing to be supported about as if we're not going to support them when they are under attack by bashar as well as when they're under attack by isis, or some others. >> so you think it's been a long and winding road but it can be done putting in the field indigenous forces, syrian forces come et cetera and to keep a decision is they will be protected against any fellow? >> indeed. and take down the barrel bombs. if the barrel bombs continue, and the air force goes down. be on that i think will have to support some forces that when ii have got all the way through our train and equip program. i didn't i think pushing every

we have coherent operations by the peshmerga. we're seeing clearer signs of the kurdish entity about what to and what relationship it has with turkey, iran, and officials in baghdad. extension of the the term for the next two years, or potential extension, is it is.shows where they have disagreements and there is a real political debate around how to function either within iraq or otherwise. theink that it this stage u.s. can actually help in creating more unity between the --dish parties and currying encouraging reform because it does need reform. uniting the peshmerga and toouraging kurdish parties have a broader dialogue internally and with officials in baghdad. the solution thus far as been to mostly blame the central government for problems they face. as we begin to have a broader discussion of what needs to be done, kurdistan will probably move forward as a democratic process moves forward there. >> given what we've seen opinion itls in the kurdish areas suggests overwhelming support for independence from iraq. live this so

while the coalition pushes isil out of some territories including gains by the peshmerga in the north and iraqi security forces and the removal of isil along sections of the border with turkey the self-described islamic state continues to hold key cities including iraq a dan balz on iraq. there executed forces counter is to take back has struggled and brashear remains contested. the same time iranian backed shia militias have stalled their operations near fallujah and despite it's -- isil is consolidating its control of the population in the areas that holds in syria and iraq. the recent agreement between a state and turkey expanding access to land and use of turkish airbases seeking an isil free zone on the syrian border is an important step forward how are the provocative deployment by additional military forces under the guise of assisting and encountering isil efforts appears to be an effort by putin to prop up the assad regime further complicating efforts to restore security in syria. these events have raised concerns of whether the current efforts against isil is sufficient. cri

we have coherent operations by the peshmerga. we're seeing clearer signs of the kurdish entity about what to do and what relationship it has with turkey, iran, and officials in baghdad. that point in the extension of the term for the next two years, or potential extension, is really shows where it is. they have disagreements and there is a real political debate around how to function either within iraq or otherwise. i think that it this stage the u.s. can actually help in creating more unity between the kurdish parties and encouraging reform because it does need reform. uniting the peshmerga and encouraging kurdish parties to have a broader dialogue internally and with officials in baghdad. the solution thus far as been to mostly blame the central government for problems they face. as we begin to have a broader discussion of what needs to be done, kurdistan will probably move forward as a democratic process moves forward there. >> given what we've seen opinion polls in the kurdish areas it suggests overwhelming support for indepe

we still have very coherent cooperations by the peshmerga, but i think politically we're seeing clearer signs of a split about what to do with kurdish as an entity, what relationship does it have with turkey, iran and officials in baghdad? that point i think and the extension of the term for the next two years or potential extension, it really expose where the clergy is. it has disagreements. there is real political debate around how to function either within iraq or otherwise. i think that at this stage the u.s. can actually help in creating more unity between the kurdish parties. encouraging reform within the krg because the krg does need reform. uniting the peshmerga, unifying those forces and encouraging kurdish parties to have a broader dialogue internally and with officials in baghdad. the solution thus far has been to just mostly blame the central government for the problems kurdistan faces. i think if we begin to have a broader discussion of what needs to be done, kurdistan would probably move forward even as a democratic process moves forward there. >> would a more -- given wha

it was an attempt to show that, yes, we're not against the kurds, we're going to use the peshmerga to help. by

>> peshmerga operates as a separate force. and the kurdish authorities have made clear while the peshmerga will act in the area adjacent to mosul, that would have to be carried out by iraqi forces. >> yesterday there was some discussion about the future for syria. and there was some suggestions about no fly zones. this should be a cease-fire agreed by all sides. how do you see that? >> great. a cease-fire would be great. we would go with that. >> who is working on that? >> stefan, the u.n. special envoy has been working on the idea of a cease-fire. but these things are easy to sit in a room and talk about. they are more difficult to implement on the ground when there are so many parties involved, and so many shifting alliances. they referred to one such alliance earlier on. it can frankly involve strange bedfellows coming together. tactical alliances around particular towns or sphs being defends, assaulted. it is is a very fluid and complex situation. and i'm afraid the prospect of achieving a cease-fire i regard as being furt

gunmen and stormed an airforce base in peshmerga what and attacked a mosque inside the compound, 16 peopleen killed there. croatia is struggling to deal with more than 13,000 refugees who arrived in the past two days and it has now closed all but one of the border crossing and refugees are crossing over in other areas. delegation of leaders from the block of west africa nations is due to arrive in burkina faso, at least three people have been killed in protests against a coup there. seven politicians resigned from the ruling coalition in the democratic republic of congo and signed a letter asking him not to cling to power after his term expires next year and we report from the capitol. >> reporter: he resides the ruling coalition. he is no longer the first vice president of the national assembly. he is one of seven senior politicians who say they can't work with president joseph kabila and forming their own party to stop kabila from staying in par when his term end and others in a circle plan to join them. >> no doubt majority there are other people who are feeling like us and we know that

those who say, we'll just keep pushing the peshmerga farther. the peshmerga shouldn't go farther. b barsani knows that. and in iraq, there also has to be the development of this force and that is moving along. actually, the pieces are in place, if we will resource them. and actually make a critical policy decision. and i think that's the critical element for a sunni force in syria. they are not going to be willing to be supported by us if we're not going to support them when they're under attack by bashar, as well as when they're under attack by isis, oh, for that matter, the khorasan group or others. >> so it can be done putting in indigenous forces in the field, et cetera, in protecting against any foe? >> indeed. and take down the barrel bombs. if the barrel bombs continue, then the air force goes down. beyond that, i think we'll have so support some forces that will not gone all the way through the train and equip program. again, i think pushing everybody through that is not necessarily the solution for ramping up. >> one of the approaches to taking down the -- is eliminates t

while the coalition pushes isil out of some territories including gains by the peshmerga in the north and iraqi security forces and the removal of isil along sections of the border with turkey the self-described islamic state continues to hold key cities including iraq a dan balz on iraq. there executed forces counter is to take back has struggled and brashear remains contested. the same time iranian backed shia militias have stalled their operations near fallujah and despite it's -- isil is consolidating its control of the population in the areas that holds in syria and iraq. the recent agreement between a state and turkey expanding access to land and use of turkish airbases seeking an isil free zone on the syrian border is an important step forward how are the provocative deplmel mils under the guise of assisting and encountering isil efforts appears to be an effort by putin to prop up the assad regime further complicating efforts to restore security in syria. these events have raised concerns of whether the current efforts against isil is sufficient. critical issue for the military

we still have very coherent cooperations by the peshmerga, so that's a positive aspect. but i think politically we're seeing clearer signs of a split about what to do with kurdish as an entity, what relationship does it have with turkey, iran and officials in baghdad? that point i think and the extension of the term for the next two years or potential extension, it really expose where the clergy is. it has disagreements. there is real political debate around how to function either within iraq or otherwise. i think that at this stage the u.s. can actually help in creating more unity between the kurdish parties. encouraging reform within the krg because the krg does need reform. uniting the peshmerga, unifying those forces and encouraging kurdish parties to have a broader dialogue internally and with officials in baghdad. the solution thus far has been to just mostly blame the central government for the problems kurdistan faces. i think if we begin to have a broader discussion of what needs to be done, kurdistan would probably move forward even as a democratic process move

they tried to reinforce kobani with peshmerga, found it difficult to move that until the u.s. offered its convenient authority and brought people together and hemmed push that through. so they are important, unless you are caught between arab and kurd or arab and persian. when that's the most important. and then there is a tribal overlay and an islamist versus nonislamist in countries like, again, libya, tunisia and frankly in egypt for that matter. >> great. general, thank you. thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you, sir. general petraeus, thank you very much for your service is to our country. over the last year or so the prime minister of israel has suppressed his concern with what i would call a nuclear concession agreement. king abdullah of jordan has been before us and requested, as he said, first of all, on the day it was announced that one of his pilots had been incinerated he said thank you for the f-16s but he says it would be very appropriate if we could also receive some of the aroundments we have been waiting for for literally 24 months. in the spring of this year,

much further below where is it they are in iraq right now or frankly the syrian peshmerga. you might get them a bit farther. you might employ them for some specific operations. they will play a role including parts of moses, one would think you but they cannot ultimately hold those areas if they are predominantly sunni arab. so in that case, we have to be realistic. they have a stake, however, in that generally what it is we want done, which is to defeat the most extreme of extremists, the islamic state. and then also, of course, ultimately to create a context within bashar al-assad will be ushered from the scene in syria. although it is difficult to tell what ultimate shape syria will have at that point. sen. fischer: >> general dempsey speaks about risks and weighing the patience needed against how much risk we're looking at. how much patience should we be exhibiting towards our local partners in iraq and syria. how long should we stick with them before we reach a point where we've assumed too much risk and there may be no options left that the united states can look at.

we are sent military equipment to iraq to train the iraqi army and peshmerga.e are also providing emergency aid, implementing counter strategies and working on capacity building. it is not an easy task, but is crucial. when people are being beheaded and ancient heritage sites are being destroyed with sledge hammers, we must respond, and we must respond there where it is happening. a second track following is prevention. in our own country, we have developed a brood program focusing not only on potential for terrorist fighters -- >> okay. we have been looking to the prime minister of the netherlands at the counter terrorism summit. later today at the general assembly, the president rather of ukraine, will be speaking to us, petro poroshenko, we'll be talking to the director of communications. tell us what we expect to hear from ukraine's prime minister about the ongoing conflict that has been overshadowed by other events in recent days. >> reporter: i think what you are going to hear is a theme of resent tearing the conflict as opposed to trying to switch it to

peshmerga will act in the area adjacent to mosul. it is not likely to take part in an attack on mosul itself. that will have to be carried out by iraqi forces. >> yesterday there was some discussion about the future for syria. there was some discussion where the point was made there should be a cease-fire agreed by all sides before no-fly zones are put in place? >> that would be great. a cease-fire would be fantastic. we would go with that. >> who is with you on that? what diplomatic efforts -- >> stefan, the u.n. special envoy has been working on the idea of a cease-fire. but these things are easy to sit in a room to talk b. they're a bit more difficult to implement on the ground when there are so many shifting alliances. they are referred to one such alliance earlier on. can frankly involve strange bedfellows coming together. towns or cities being defended or assaulted. it is a very fluid and complex situation. and i'm afraid the prospect of achieving a cease-fire i regard as being probably further away than the prospect of getting

jon: now, aaron, the peshmerga have been the most effective fighters against da'ish but da'ish seems to be principally focused on iranian influence. is there a changing way they re talking about kurdish fighters as this battles unfolds? aaron: well, just like the iranians a or any other entity, they view them as an enemy. obviously they're using different types of derogatory terms for kurds as they do with other groups of people. but i they realize they are not -- g to be able to push any they started doing things a year ago. therefore, they're focused on issue ader sectarian because it gets more play as a result, you see more fighting in that regard instead of them trying to push back into northern iraq. but at the same time, that doesn't mean there isn't an opportunity they would not be willing to do. we would see a suicide bombing that sneaks into kurdistan. for the i had lambic state, -- islamic state, as a result, nothing is out of bounds for them. jon: mr. ambassador, you mentioned the reliable neighbor next door and the reliable neighbor next door, iran, is also thought to hav

and also we are working with our security forces and our kurdish peshmerga in a number of fronds. oilthe stark reality is low prices currently around $40, it is becoming increasingly difficult. this is why we continue to urge our coalition partners to increase their military assistance as a simple example when areas in the highly contested towns are retaken by our forces, they respond by deploying a wave of armament suicide trucks, bombs, to break down our defenses. just an example of, these bombs are something like 12 to 14 tons of explosives, every one of them. anti-mifflets are the most effective means of responding, but we are in short supply and at times our troops are overrun by the sheer velocity of the counter attacks. while we have a long hard struggle ahead, we can be encouraged that towns are being liberated and many local residents feel safe enough to return to their homes. some 75,000 from tikrit have returned to their homes since we liberated it back in march. across iraq, almost 300,000 individuals in total have been able to a-- return to their homes when we are abl

control of the shiia militia that are only ones that are really doing the fighting, besides the peshmerga. i have never seen a hearing that is as divorced from the reality of every outside expert and what you are saying. does the massive flow of refugees from syria have any effect on what you think we should be doing in syria? general austin: sir, i want to be clear that i believe that tragedy and ible this is a thing that the entire international community is going to have to continue to ork together on. there's always -- we would hope that as as these refugees continue to be disadvantaged that we see more countries joining in to assist. senator mccain: so would you not support a policy that would help these refugees that are being slaughtered by bashar assad by his barrel bombs? general austin: it's always in our best interest to protect civilians. again, i would not recommend a buffer zone at this point in time. senator mccain: so everything is really going well? general austin: no, sir, that's not -- senator mccain: well, if things are not going well and if we've had, quote, setbacks

iraqi army, kurdish peshmerga, and we have more in the pipeline. as secretary carter said in july, however, training for the raqi army has been slowed by a lack of trainees coming into the training sites. over the last several weeks, we've had better participation from iraqi units at the training sites and iraq has actually expanded the pool of units that are eligible for training. some of the units we've trained are now participating more directly in the fight in areas such as ramadi. and early indications are they're performing well in combat missions. as you know they face a difficult fight ahead and strong leadership of these forces is going to be essential. our forces on the ground at al-assad airbase are advising in anbar province to train the trainer type of assistance with the iraqi security forces. and in terms of equipping these sunni tribal fighters, we recently delivered a battalion's worth of equipment to iraqi officials working with us on those two airbases to get the equipment to fighters. we're also now overseeing the distribution o

and also the peshmerga in the north.it goes back to the bigger did bait -- debate on what the bigger issue is in syria. we have to negotiate with russia, whether we like the idea of putin -- negotiating with putin. i know carly fiorina doesn't but that will unlock the key to paralysis at the u.n. i think we need to look at lessons from afghanistan. i mean decentralized governance. the u.k. idea was a template out of kabul. because there are so many autonomous regions, the kurds, the jew, there should be a federal system which gives them autonomy to work and live under their own rule of law and their own cultural systems that potentially is a way forward from the governance side in syria. >> all right, thank you. >>> let's get the latest numbers from the united nations. so far this year, more than 440,000 refugees and migrants have crossed the mediterranean to enter europe. sadly more than 2,900 people at least have died along the way. >>> the pope arrives in cuba and what he hopes to accomplish there and when he arrives

today as we speak, south of kirkuk, kurdish peshmerga are heroically liberating villages under the cover of coalition forces. we admire the struggle that has been in legitimate opposition to assad. let me remind the council that the air operations are well ground and military procedures and firmly based in international law, and the request of neighboring states for collective self-defense under article 51 of the u.n. charter. that foundation has not changed, and we will continue our mission with the full sanction of international law. pursuant to these procedures in syria over the past year, the coalition is now conducted over 300 air targets against isil and we are in coalition with france, turkey and other countries to dramatically accelerate our efforts. this is what we will do. over the coming weeks we will be continuing our flights out of the base in turkey to apply constant pressure on isil in northwest syria. with we will be sustaining our support to anti-isil fighters in northeast syria, a n these efforts will put greater pr pressure on the operational areas of isil, and we will

♪ hello, we begin this news hour in pakistan where taliban gunmen stormed an airforce base near peshmergat and taliban stormed a guard house and a mosque which is inside that compound, the base has not been operational for years but it is used as a barrix, one killed and an army captain and 13 dade and have taken at least 20 wounded to hospital. let's cross live to hartsfield-jackson nicole johnston who is outside the base in peshawar, nicole is that attack still underway and the operation to repel it? >> reporter: yes, it is, it is continuing. just in the base behind me we can hear helicopters overhead and security forces passing by on the road and out here it has been relatively quiet and we know inside the pakistani taliban and the airforce backed up by the military are continuing their battle. >> nicole, security had been high in peshawar after an attack back in december last year. how was it that the taliban able to mount this attack? >> we had been expecting some kind of blow back from the taliban for the last nine months and they have been under a great deal of pressure, the milita

state has been successful in establishing the caliphate and defeating all its enemies other than the peshmerga is adhering to this violent radical interpretation of islam where they're decapitating people. and it stuns me to acknowledge this, but there's a significant portion of the population out there that wants to join with an organization like that. so as long as we allow the islamic state to continue to do what it's doing inside the caliphate, they are going to be successful at recruiting people out of the west, out of russia, out of north america. so the only policy decision here is are we going to take the fight to isis, destroy them in place, or are we going to try to identify american sympathizers and detain them before they go over. i visit jihadi websites every day as part of my research, that doesn't mean i'm sympathizer. how do they discern between people who are curious and people planning to join the fight? it's an impossible problem given our guarantees of a free and open society. >> and just to pick up your point about the situation on the ground in syria, and given that meeti

maliki decimated them, and to get them in a fighting position and to get the kurds, particularly the peshmergale to be fully equipped, then to try to go after isis in iraq and ramadi and mosul, pushing them out if possible. >> you said in an interview about a year ago, don't do stupid stuff, it's not an organizing principle for foreign policy. i know it became a tiff between the administration as you. so what is your organizing principle? >> my organizing principle that he defend our security and values and we do so with partners, friends, and allies around the world. and we do it the way that i did the coalition to put together the unprecedented sanctions against iran. you have to bring people together. you have to find common ground. the united states had a very clear interest in getting iran to the negotiating table to deal with their nuclear weapons program. other countries were not as intensely focused on that. i had to work to get them so. and that's the kind of slow, steady, persistent diplomacy that will further our interests and security. >> you were an advocate of training some rebel

you know, i go back to afghanistan and the famed peshmerga, the group of people who fought against the because it is part of their culture. do we not just need to figure out the culture of people who want to live in syria and fight isis and then capitalize upon that? because here comes russia and, again, this is such a mess in this country, and you know that, lieutenant. but here comes russia with a lot of might saying to assad, we'll help you. does that then displace our position there? >> well, it's, this is really very straight forward as well. if you are not willing to actress lutely in a timely -- act resolutely in a timely manner, you lose. and there was a time early on when a relatively minor u.s. intervention would have made an enormous dangerous. it's not so unlike the markets. but if you wait, it gets worse and worse. or cancer. cancer doesn't get better on its own. and now you've got putin going in. he will not put his forces under ridiculously restrictive rules of engagement. he'll do what it takes -- yes, exactly, like we do. when he fights, he means it. but the even bigge

and also we're working with our security forces and our kurdish peshmerga on a number of fronts. but the stark reality is with oil prices currently around $40 a barrel, our ability to finance the world against daesh is becoming increasingly difficult. this is why we continue to urge our coalition partners to increase their military assistance as a simple example when areas contested tons of retaking by our forces daesh respond by deploying a wave of armored suicide trucks bombs to break down our defenses. just an example these suicide bombs are something like 12 to 14 tons of explosives, each single one of them. we are in short supply and at times our troops are overrun by the sheer velocity of the counterattacks. while we have a long hard struggle ahead, we can be encouraged that towns are being liberated from daesh. and many local residents feel safe enough to return to their homes. some 75,000 rdps have returned to their homes since we liberated it back in march. across iraq almost 300,000 individuals in total have been able to return to their homes when we are able to liberat

peshmerga, urdish and we have more in the pipeline. as secretary carter said in july, however, training for the iraqi army has been slowed by a lack of trainees coming into the training sites. over the last several weeks, we've had better participation from iraqi units at the training sites and iraq has actually expanded the pool of units that are eligible for training. some of the units we've trained are now participating more directly in the fight in areas such as ramadi. and early indications are they're performing well in combat missions. as you know they face a difficult fight ahead and strong leadership of these forces is going to be essential. our forces on the ground at l-assad airbase are advising in anbar province to train the trainer type of assistance with the iraqi security forces. and in terms of equipping these sunni tribal fighters, we recently delivered a battalion's worth of equipment to iraqi officials working with us on those two airbases to dwibt the equipment to fighters. we're also now overseeing the the governme

getting from the coalition partners, and also we're working with our security forces and our kurdish peshmergand other funds, but the stark reality is with oil prices currently around $40 and our ability to finance the world against dash is becoming increasingly difficult. this is why we continue on urge our coalition partners to increase their military assistance, as a simple example when areas in the highly contested towns of beiji are retaken by our forces and bash respond by deploying a wave of our suicide trucks, bombs, to break down our defenses. >> just an example they're something like 12 to 14 tons, every single one of them. >> they're the most effective means by responding, but bee for short supply and then they show them by the sheer of the velocity and counterattacks. while we have a long, hard struggle ahead, we can be encouraged that towns are being liberated from dash and many local residences feel safe enough to return to their homes. some 75,000 have returned to their homes since we liberated it back in march. across iraq almost 300,000 individuals in total have been able to r

while the coalition has pushed some out of the area, including the peshmerga the north, outside iraqnd syria. retaking of tikrit by iraqi security forces and along sections of turkey, the self-described islamic state continues to hold key cities. including mosul in iraq. the iraq security forces counteroffenses to take back ramadi has struggled in the last few months. and basr remains contested. the iraq security forces they have stalled in operations near fallujah. and despite the recent setbacks, isil is consolidating controls in the areas in both syria and iraq. the agreement between the united states and turkey, expanding access of land and turkish airbases and creating an isil-free zone on the syrian side of the border is an important step forward. however, the deployments of russia of additional military forces to bases in syria under the guise of assisting and countering isil efforts appears to be an effort by putin to prop up the assad regime, further complicating efforts to have security in syria. these have raised concerns of whether our efforts against isil is sufficient.

to the provision of material sustainment, training, mentoring to the iraqi forces and the kurdish peshmerga forces. that means that the objectives will take longer to achieve than they might have done if western forces had been injected into iraq. but the judgment is that the ensuing result will be more sustainable if it is delivered by iraqi forces acting on the ground in iraq. so i think that is perfectly coherent. there will be many people -- i understand entirely their frustration -- who are reluctant to contemplate what i think general alan from the beginning was indicating, that it could take -- it could be taking years, not months, to resolve the isil problem in iraq and frustrated because of the immense barbarity of the isil occupation of parts of iraq. but i think it's coherent. if we look at the other part of the question, the international community's response to syria, that's a different challenge. and it is made complex by the fact that the two most important external players in iraq -- three most important external players, russia, iran and turkey, all have very different agen

. >> and that's one thing but to pack up, go to the front lines and try to help the peshmerga in thisn who don't have a lot of support like they used to have when the united states army and military was there, what are they facing against isis? >> they're facing a problem that could easily be solved with more help from this administration and future administrations. they're like a little israel. they could be our best friend but they need night vision, they need to be able to match them toe for toe at night and during the day. they need specialists. >> one of the things that you've talked about is that you might feel there's a disconnect from americans at home think this might not effect us anymore. its over there. you said you're over there trying to change that narrative. why? >> because that's the type of response we get. that if we want to help out, we should do it here in america. but what the regular population isn't understanding is that this is a game you have to play before it's too late. we need to make friends now and changing the narrative. the narrative isis is using to r