in syria?> we're focused on a political transition progress. two political tracks right now. up approach -- freezing the situation in aleppo. support the initiative. also, secretary kerry has been in talks with key stakeholders in the region. one believes that aside can govern that state. the rebels will remove him from power? who is going to remove assad from power? my dod collies -- colleagues can discuss that. regarding the syria training equipment program, it is that the beauty was unable to provide a witness today. a request today. >> thank you mr. chairman for the support hearing. as i'm sitting, listening to your testimony, listing to i estions being asked, understand that this is a complicated situation. it has been since we have been here. it is not easy, people have those areas -- n some for decades, some for centuries against one another. this is not a simple scenario. this recall being at hearing -- many of us can think it is simple. would be easy to get rid of saddam hussein -- tha

syria. none of this is hypothetical. we have seen returning jihadists go on murderous rampages before. in may, a returning french jihadist from syria killed three people during a shooting spree at a jewish museum in brussels. in october, a wannabe jihadist who wanted to travel to syria killed a canadian soldier. seven were arrested in the last two months, trying to travel to syria to join isis. a senior obama administration official in september said that some americans who have fought with isis in syria have returned to the united states. one known example is the case of eric harun. he fought with our nusra -- al nusra in syria on an rpg team. he flew to dulles international airport where he was taken into custody by the fbi. he was brought up on charges for conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization. pled guilty of lesser charges and was released in september of that same year. harun died of a drug overdose in 2014. he isn't the only american we need to be concerned

the question for syria since it's a panel on syria, can iran deviate from the playbook in syria and gotoward the iraq model? in other words, would they, could they be persuaded to ditch assad. i think my judgment is a lot more difficult in the sir i can't have case than it was in iraq because assad is a very, very long time ally of the iranians. assad is the key to protecting iran's main investment in the region which is lebanese. iran basically helped create his bala. this is a stunning achievement of 1979 islamic revolution in iran's mind set. anything that has to be done to protect those two will be done. assad is key to protecting. if assad falls, that could lead to his destruction or in many ways jeopardy in lebanon. so i think iran is going to be really hard to dissuade from its playbook in syria which is unconditional basic support of assad and arming and -- we just heard about it. they're recruiting all sorts of shias, afghan shias. there are shias from all over the place. iran is summoning them to the syria battlefield. iran is really going all out. so, what gets iran to chang

in syria and today in iraq. if you look at from the russian point of view, chechen extremist fighters are coming in to fight in syria and iraq which will be problematic because they go back and create problems. not only that, all the other jihadists who are looking for the next place to fight will also go back and cause problems. so they have a problem, i believe, if not slightly more because to have the numbers involved than, say, other european countries -- france, germany, italy, or anywhere else. so i think we've all in the same boat. you would probably be surprised we're picking up chinese from stern china and syria and in iraq and actually not too far away from our borders. so this is becoming a global problem. >> charlie: and how do you deal with that global problem? >> well, there is, on the other side, i personally believe that we as arab and muslim countries, as i said to the opening of parliament two months ago, this is a muslim problem, we need to take ownership of this, we need to stand up and say w

citizen who went over, trained with al nustra front in syria and then test test ack in syria. he didn't have any intelligence on him, is that how he was able to do that go over and train with al nustra and come back here. >> the tens he had been fighting with isil was only developed after he had departed. and certainly obviously, you know, it's unfortunate he chose the path that he did. had he come back into the united states there would have been measures taken in his specific case based on the status that he had at the time we learned that he had joined isil. >> ambassador, my final question is, a couple of weeks ago it was reported in the "wall street journal" that the president wrote a personal letter to the ayatollah in iran, stressing, according to the article that there were some mutual interests between the united states and iran with respect to fighting isis in iraq. and just as somebody who served in iraq and saw, you know, iran and iranian backed terror groups they killed hundreds of u.s. service members so that was something that i flinched at. but let me ask you,

the response with syria--was magistrate for the insurgents in syria. the lack of response from the international community, the failure of international community to find the solutions and put the regime in front of -- make a huge gap between the insurgents, syrian insure jenlts. right now the game in syria is going through dwimpt -- gulf countries, turkey, iraq ander ran. to create some new states, institutions, and achieve to the bashar regime. that's also a huge problem that we -- we are not able to even in syria where we have allies, where we have people fighting, a credible institution inside to deal with, even with this allies, we are not able to do anything to disrupt any strategy on the field, or the legitimacy of the u.s. administration, very weak. >> thank you. so now that the u.s. having falls back in any of these three countries, they have tried to avoid getting stuck in afghanistan, iraq and syria. one can remember a year and a half ago, when there was an op-ed in the "new york times," it was a brilliant title, let them bleed to death. he

-- syria? if it has? ambassador? question that might be better addressed to some of our colleagues in the intelligence community. my sense, looking at the numbers, is it is hard to say at this point, that -- what the impact is. it is relatively soon after these strikes take place, the numbers that we monitor, that we track, our estimates at best -- are estimates at best. it is early to determine precisely what the impact is. it is obviously something that our intelligence community is looking at. in a classified briefing, they can give you their assessment. perspective, the numbers, again, can vary for a variety of reasons. sometimes we get better information from our partners and that results in an increase -- >> so we do not know if it is effective or not. ,> i would say, if the issue is effective in reducing the flow of foreign fighters, at this point, i would want to see more evidence before i would come to a conclusion. >> mr. ward, do you have a different answer? answer to that question but he to be delivered i

turkey wanted to deal with root causes not just simply symptoms of the crisis in syria.heir argument, in my view is very compelling, that is we have to go back to how this conflict started. it's funneled fundamentally a by-product of the assad regime and unless we're willing to deal with the question of the future of syria, the assad regime itself, it did not want to invest any military muscle in trying to defeat isis in kobane. turkey had its own kurdish problem, that's part of turkey's calculation as well. i think the big point here is that all roads, i think, lead to damascus in terms of dealing with the isis crisis. isis is a fundamentally a by-product of the syrian war. it's a by-product of failed series of obama policies , but sitting on the sidelines open hoing that syria could be contained within its borders was a huge risk calculation. we can see that right now. and now the united states, after committing itself from pulling out from the middle east withdrawing troops, removing its footprint is now in many ways back at the beginning. we're reengaging, to reengag

they have been bombing sites in syria and iraq. since december, 97% of the air strikes in syria have been carried out by the united states alone. mark kemet, is former assistant secretary under president george w. bush. he spoke to us about how the military is trained to deal with these incidents. >> the king of jordan is a special operations soldier, his father flew aircraft as well. i think coming into the coalition. jordan fully understood that there is a chance one of their pilots might have been brought down, and sadly that's what we're seeing here, but i don't think it's going to have an effect on the coalition going forward. the entire air force is trained to pick up a downed pilot as soon as possible after the airplane goes down. clearly that didn't happen in this case. now the pilot has to use his own personal training to either evade and escape, which he was unable to do, now he's going to take the training he received as a pilot to resist his captors as much as possible. >>> peshmerga forces were able to push back islami

in syria? can we achieve a political settlement in syria without pushing back or defeating isil? what can and should congress be doing to push back, contain and ultimately defeat isil? with that i'll leave you with the remainder of the time. >> those are big questions. i thank you for your offer to follow up with those in writing. i don't want to put a specific timeframe on this. i think that would be. it's going to be a multi-year challenge. >> if i can, in the context, looking at the. >> it will last, in your pb, longer than that? >> we would like to see the iraqis over the next 12 to 18 month months begin to restore control of the iraq/syria border. that process will begin over the next year. and we're working with iraqis on a plan for that. in terms of congress we have programs ready to go now, waiting for that authorization. thank you for all that the committee has done. >> can we defeat isil in iraq, give iraq autonomy again and not defeat them at the same time in syria to be effective? >

syria. some of the president's loudest critics of course could not quite bring themselves to support his request to retaliate in syria against the use of chemical weapons. and had the president heeded their advice a year-and-a-half ago, two years ago, isil today would be better equipped and better trained because it drew that the very insurgents that the president was urging us to arm and train. i think the question is why, what motivates these men and women, especially men to join this barbaric movement. it's a very troubling question for the west and for islam itself. secondly how are they recruited? widely reported accounts of the use of social media, very sophisticated. once it's appealed, do we understand it. and finally, what are our options. it seems to me option number one, priority number one, is to preempt or prevent them from getting to syria. because once they get to syria, we have a whole different set of challenges that require a whole different set of answers. so i'm looking f

in syria? can we achieve a political settlement in syria without pushing back or defeating isil? what can and should congress be doing to push back, contain and ultimately defeat isil? with that i'll leave you with the remainder of the time. >> those are big questions. i thank you for your offer to follow up with those in writing. i don't want to put a specific timeframe on this. i think that would be. it's going to be a multi-year challenge. >> if i can, in the context, looking at the. >> it will last, in your pb, longer than that? >> we would like to see the iraqis over the next 12 to 18 mon months begin to restore control of the iraq/syria border. that process will begin over the next year. and we're working with iraqis on a plan for that. in terms of congress, we have programs ready to go now, waiting for that authorization. thank you for all that the committee has done. >> can we defeat isil in iraq, give iraq autonomy again and not defeat them at the same time in syria to be effective? >>

have not paid in terrorist activities while in syria. they believe those fighters should be monitored rather than incarcerated. those are decisions those countries make. >> is that in compliance with u.n. security council resolution 2178, that view? >> i'm not a lawyer myself. i have to take a look at that issue. there are different approaches how you deal with returning fighters particularly ones who have not carried out any evidence -- >> look i don't care if you're peeling potatoes in the mess, if you're part of the isis army you belong in prison until this war against islamic extremism is over. that's what security council resolution 2178 says. i hope your chart, you'll add to your chart a list of those countries that have told us that we do not think we should criminalize those of our citizens and residents who went to isis, joined the army but say they didn't actually kill anybody. >> also an issue, sir, of being able to prove in a court of law this kind of activity. >> that's fine. >> people on the ground in syria to come to a cou

syria is different. you know syria different than i do. -- better than i do.t's only you can take us on out and find some other ally. a buchanan, but it's more difficult. about isis is exactly right. isis in syria not threaten iran directly. isis in iraq does. 25 miles from the iranian border. that's almost mortar difference. a little further. sure enough, iran conducted an airstrike 10 days ago, or so, there, where isis is moving forward towards the iranian border, isis could easily move east, a little further used, they could shell the iranian border guards. they could drive suicide trucks towards these iranian border editions -- positions. they could shell or rocket. isis is a direct threat. hesitantran would be to use any ground forces unless isis moves in large numbers towards the iranian border. but this airstrike i think is the first of what will be more iranian airstrikes on isis. >> thank you. major obviously is a regional player. it used to be the most diplomatically active. it had good diplomatic relations with everyone. but since then, they have ta

fixedl he be able to be quickly at syria will not be a quick fix. -- >> syria will not be a quick fix. issues, almost two wars in a way that on syria. there is the war of regime change in the west and the war against isis in the east. using the american vernacular of chewing gum and walking at the same time, that is part of the problem. >> and in the west it is a sod the enemy, ands in the east it is isis. >> yes, and that does complicate things when you are trying to solve the problem. and also treating a problem, which has been the discussions in congress the past few days, different people have an idea of what is a priority. >> what do you think is a priority? >> global jihadist is a priority. assad? so than >> in our view, that is the immediate threat. but that is the american view as well. >> because of the mass , but it does not mean that bashar assad is a nice individual and the regime has done wonderful things. there are still a lot of people -- doese that feel that this mean that the regime gets off scott free echoed that is part of the convocations. does this mean that the r

she said they don't want to go back to syria when it's over. hussein and his family same last year after his home and business were destroyed by bombs. he has a job making office furniture, but said it's not enough to support his eight family members including the baby born six months ago in turkey. kim continued working with syrian refugees despite political differences between the turkish government and the Ñ borders. many say they are motivated to help, but they have islamic beliefs. >> this is the religious side has been the same from the prophet mohamed. he has a full stomach while his neighbor is hungry. >> the u.s.-based forum believe such work makes the world a better place. >> we need to do something to alleviate the problems for the people who are suffering. people who are crying and asking for help. it is incumbent upon us and everyone to alleviate those problems regardless of religious and cultural and racial backgrounds. >> while most of the refugees are in border areas, more and more are making their way to other parts of turkey,

>> the neighbor countries to syria have been incredibly generous by hosting 7 million from syria. but it poses huge strains on these countries. they're not rich countries in the first place, so their resources are already strained. infrastructure, schools, even issues like sanitation and electricity are being strained by the refugees. it helps that the world food program has given cards so they can integrate better in local businesses and provide benefits to local businesses by purchasing food, so cutting off that champion would hurt. but we need to think about the host communities as well as the refugees. cutting off this lifeline support will hurt the local communities and refugees themselves. we need to think about middle term solutions. this conflict is not going away soon, and reask shoulrefugees should not return home because it's not safe. >> we don't want those big settlements to officify in place and become reality for large numbers of people who miss work, children who lose lots of school. there are losses as this thing drags on, aren't there? >> absolutely. however, the

. >>> now on efforts to combat isis in iraq and syria. deputy mckirk testified before the house foreign affairs committee about the obama administration's strategy and efforts to build a more effective national government in iraq. this is two hours and ten minutes. >>> this hearing will come to order, i will ask those in the audience to take their skates at this time. this morning we welcome back ambassador mcgirk who was one of the few sounding the itsis alar as early as you did. we were having hearings last february to discuss the need to use airpower to turn back isis. after four months of the u.s.-led air campaign in iraq and in syria, isis still controls essentially the same amount of territory than it did in the summer. and one of the reasons for this in my opinion is the limited nature of this effort. we have conducted only about 1,000 air strikes to date, to date. now if you -- if you compared that to when saddam hussein invaded kuwait, and the response on the part of the united states, back then, we had 1,000 sortes per day. so y

but in syria, you have all kinds of competing interests. we have some allies in the region that are beginning to talk about the fact that we should align ourselves with assad. >> al: should we consider that? >> we have other allies in the region thabl that the only focus should be in the other direction. so there's a lot of cross currents. we obviously let this get into a situation that's more complex than it should have. we haven't really had a policy there. but again, as general allen works through with our allies, there are people who want to work with turkey and he's working with the northwest triangle where you have a no-fly zone over a portion of aleppo, and there are other allies that say we shouldn't be working with turkey that way, turkey's a friend of i.s.i.s. i'm not saying that, i'm just repeating. >> al: you say there are people who say we ought to consider some kind of arrangement with assad. what's your view of that and do you think assad is now entrenched, we're not going to get rid of him? >> let's face it, not to be too pr

syria and iran coming out of condemning these israeli airstrikes inside syria, could there have been a threat of retaliation considering also according to the syrian observatory for human rights, several hezbollah fighters have been killed in the attack. >> these israelis have attacked the syrian position several times before. this is nothing new. they presumably attacked hezbollah arms transfers from the syrian army or iranian forces stationed in syria to hezbollah. we don't know the details, obviously, but it is impossible to think about the kind of complaint that syria wants to put to the united nations when it has systematically ignored past united nations' resolutio resolutions. for them now to go to the united nations and seek redress i think is beyond the pale. >> this is an attack on the country's sovereignty. >> right, technically speaking syria is entitled to put its grievance to the security council, but the security council is composed of members presumably like countries are members of the united nations to obey or follow the rules of the united nations. if in the past s

their growing sectors that are with al qaeda aphelion in syria -- aphelion in syria -- affliate in syria. there are other islamist groups as well. the real challenge in helping the syrian rebels is the fact they are being outnumbered by the islamists. this is the most complex war in the middle east in a century. >> do they have enough people considered moderates to build soldiers on the ground to combat isis? they are probably down to somewhere between 30 and 50,000. the free syrian army doesn't exist as one entity. it doesn't have one commander. it doesn't have one set of strategies. it'll ordinate with each other. find a force that could fight isis or the government in damascus, the challenge is finding the number of fighters. isot of them feel whether it disillusioned with outside world from an looking at isis and not their work, not helping them , i wasaponry or training struck in talking to a lot of the refugees and asking, why aren't you inside syria? they were tired of the war. expected it to have happened much faster than it did. >> would it have been faster if the u.s. and other

the majority of the refugees in syria don't live in camps. they're trying to scrape by, sometimes putting up tents in communities, in little bits and pieces, quite disorganized. in many cases they try to work a little bit, and brought savings from syria. a lot of that is depleted now. they are not completely without resources but they have drawn thin over the years. everyone felt it would be a short conflict but now it seems it will be a long one. >> thomas weiss, was there a little bit of a cynical reaction, a kind of, oh well, here we go again, brinksmanship, squeezing donors, we've got to do this, so here's maximum leverage, we're going to have people who will be hungry right away? >> well, i think it's important to distinguish any cynical reactions from the real needs on the ground. there are clearly real needs on the ground and we've seen as we just mentioned a kind of slow motion rwanda over the last three and a half years. and the important thing to keep in mind is that the refugees are actually lucky ones. the 6 million to 7 million i

the whole issue especially in syria is a complex one. i think general allen is doing a good job in beginning to piece together actions that could have a desired outcome. we are not there yet. personally, i would rather take this up when they are fully ready and thought it through so the american people could understand what the outcome is. i would rather wait. i'm a minority right now. i'm thankful the chairman agreed to at least lay it out the way they did. it's not going to make it on the senate floor, but in the committee, it's likely will have a markup of some kind next week. >> the secretary of state said we have weakened the islamic state and have them on the run. do you agree? >> i don't think there is any doubt their operating in a different way. no longer are they patrolling with large caravans. they are operating at different times. they still are involved deeply in urban areas. we haven't yet done the things that are necessary to take them to the state that we wish to take them. you have two different arenas. iraq is easier to

. >> on the turkey-syria border. >> venezuela. >> beijing. >> kabul. >> hong kong. >> ukraine. >> the artic. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america. ♪ >>> september they had 400 followers. today, there are thousands of people who adhere ladenism. >> a counter-terrorism expert runs an intelligence firm that bears his name that advices governments and corporation >> the only thing they want is a religious war. >> he led the investigations of the the uss cole bombing. >> one of the biggest mistakes we did after 9-11, we didn't have a strategy. >> he intear gated many including azu bu bada. it put him at the center of the torture debate. he says so-called enhanced interrogation techniques like those used by some at the cia not count counterproductive counterproductive? >> i don't know what accurately get. >> he wrote a book, "the black banners," which was given the okay by the fbi but heavily redacted by another u.s. intelligence agency? >> the cia claimed authority over the manuscript. i think they try to control the narrative. >> i spoke to ali sufa

and i know you're in parts of syria where the government is not in control. but what about the danger to the doctors, because you have the savagery of the isis group which dominates a large portion of syria. >> the conflicts, and access is to hard. and we have had to be creative in delivery of our programs for that region. and we have had to juggle it with the beneficiaries that we're trying to serve, and the security of our staff. it's not just the expatriate staff but all of the doctors in the hospitals, but i've been there and they have a disregard for humanitarian principles, which is difficult for us. i've worked in many contacts around the world, where at the end of the day, at least ambulances were respected and we don't see that in syria. >> you see doctors in jordan and lebanon and iraq working with people. and let's look at the doctors, and a trauma surgeon at work. >> we have the three new cases coming. >> some of these doctors are working around the clock. this doctor was a refugee himself. how many people are there like him, who, in your group, w

. >> well, syria and iran have condemned supplied's israeli airstrikes on syria, calling them an act of aggression. the syrian foreign minister is in tehran in talks. the iranian foreign minister said that israeli airstrikes on the syrian army are only helping isil. >> as we have said these attacks affect the morale of groups in syria and iraq. >> israel has been accused of carrying out airstrikes in syria on seven separate occasions since the war began in 2011. the latest as we just mentioned were on sunday in two areas in the capitol. in march the syrian army position are targeted in response to an attack on israeli soldiers in the occupied golan heights. in november last year a syrian air base in th the province came under attack, as we were saying this is not the first time that israel has struck inside syria. why do we think that happened right now? and what are israel israeli officials saying if anything about this? >> reporter: although public response from the israeli government or military after the syrian government accused of it carrying out these airstrikes. however, the

sectarianism has been used in the powers. >> the situation in iraq and syria are different now.n iraq, we keep hearing about how maliki and his shiite administration did not allow space for the sunnis and that has fueled this growth. the truth is the sunnis before them didn't allow space for the shias and when the shias took over, they didn't -- they may have done things to moment this. you put out a paper called from buka into bakane. >> buka was a facility where, you know, anybody could get arrested because of activities against the coalition and the iraqi government, they used to take them and put them there in that dettension facility. >> there were a did you say proportionate number of people loyal to saddam and baathists? >> baathists and islamists. the baathists and islamists met together and we have a new brand of terrorism that has saddam, bin laden. one of the detainees, buka is baghdad e. and if you look at thenu 1, you know e tier leaders, the tier 1 leadership of is, mows of these visits were baathists who met al baghdad e in buka. the oil and the fire got to know e

activists in syria say the israel military has launched 16 airstrikes on facilities inside syria.arlier, syria's state news agency confirmed two airstrikes, one near the main airport in damascus and the other west of the capitol. >>> the al-qaeda linked group nusra front said it will execute two more unless the wives of 7 ario members are released from detention. the deadline they gave passed in the past half hour. iran carried out it confirmed attacks onnis ill on iraqi soil. offensive was paishlth requested by the iraqi government. >>> the u.s. government has released six guantanamo bay tee tainees. the four sirrians, one tuneesian and one palestinia had suspected ties to al-qaeda but were never charged. according to the human rights organization reprieve, which represents 15 prisoners, the u.s. has acknowledged holding 779 people at the cuban prison camp to date. 6 years after president obama pledged to close guantanamo, there are 136 inmates, 67 of whom are cleared from release. the u.s. authorities say they can't send them home because it's too risky or their home countries a

sending combat troops to iraq and syria. it should be taken by the united nations or by the anti-isis coalition by itself. but as we all know, only u.s. sentence advisors there or u.s. military advisos and troops to iraq to train the iraqi army as well as peshmergas. but it will be dangerous for turkey to unilaterally send its own forces to fight against isil. so, i think in the anti-isil coalition should make a decision that the iraqi forces, the peshmergas in syria are not enough on ground to defeat isil. i think turkey n my opinion, should allow more to the peshmerga. earlier pathway to turkey to syria to join the uid fors. >> i am afraid we are running out of time here. i have to thank you. thank you so much for your insight. appreciate it. military analyst from turkey. >>> in other news, a highly sought after leader of al shabaab has been caught in the genno region. the state department offered $3 million for information leading to his arrest. heavy rains in southeast asia have led to major flooding and landslides. more

be syriancentric and should focus on syria and it shouldn't be under the islamic state in iraq whichs an al-qaeda affiliate in iraq. >> created a division between bagdadi and later, the self appointive calif for the muslim world and zawaheri and jawani. a polit took place between al nusra and the islamic state of iraq. as retaliation, immediately issued a state called the islamic state of iraq and syria and later, an islamic state, which means that now zawahere and baghdadi and the whole leadership has to operate under baghdadi. >> that's why everything we hear that these two organizations are going to join efforts together is just assumptions. >> right. >> there is tee logical divisions now that will prevent al-qaeda and isis to join efforts together because i don't see see zawaheri agreeing to be under. >> when you say there are theological divisions, often, it's easy for us to look at terrorism as something that is centered on the west, targeting the west. and as you studied, this you learned something differently. they believe they are following uslam in its purest form, which is

hopefully our actions -- trying to read syria of -- rid syria of isis. >> airstrikes against isis last week. they played a role in stopping isis from going to baghdad. good or bad? >> it is interesting. in iraq, we would perceive we have some interest. they certainly are opposing isis inside iraq. on the other hand, they have concerns about us having alignments with the sunni population. in syria, they are working against us. they support hezbollah. hezbollah has been helping the regime. the regime is killing the moderate opposition. and we are having training sites throughout the region to train more moderate syrian rebels to help us. at the same time through hezbollah, iran is killing them. >> leads to the question of nuclear talks with iran. you have talked in the past about the imposing sanctions. the talks have been extended for another several months. >> you know, we had a great hearing yesterday. we had private witnesses. i'm getting ready to leave in a few months to a briefing where we are going to have a classified input. we had some private witnesses. i think everyone with th

syria. those discussions are going on. at this point that's all i can say. >> i understand that. every time the question comes up of smuggling and black market activities and who is buying the oil and everything, couple of countries come up and it's like they get a free pass. and sooner or later we're -- is there anybody that's re-evaluating who are our true allies and who aren't and it's almost like it's the military stockholm syndrome because we have two bases in those countries and we don't pressure them. that's basically what i'm asking. are they getting a bit of a free pass on this? >> i would not say they are getting a free pass. >> okay. >> let me switch gears. >> we've had a long and open dialogue with them and those discussions about what you were talking about, those discussions continue and we'll have to see where that goes. >> okay. we talked about a lot of these foreign fighters coming through turkey. how about through some of the other areas, turkey is one area. do they also co

united nations is asking for than $8 billion to help some 18 million people affected by the war in syriaant the funds as early as next year, which would help provide aid and shelter to those inside the country and the refugees outside. nick spicer has more from a conference this berlin. >> reporter: the german foreign minister opened the conference by calling syria the worst humanitarian crisis of our time. top united nations officials and ambassadors from countries surrounding syria painted a picture of infrastructure and social services under severe strain because of the influx of millions of refugees. >> jordan is now hosting a total number of 1.4 million syrias, which is a quarter of the population of jordan. >> iraq is also thankful for the humanitarian assistance it received to help the refugees and their idp's, although it falls short of what is needed. >> reporter: as the war enters its fifth year, united nations is launching a new approach, coordinating aid to syria and neighboring countries and bringing together emergency and development aid. >> component is now needed in order

when syria begins to implode, that pipe line reverses from iraq into syria. from iraq into syria which is part of the problem now. virtually every major jihadist come into this region right now comes from turkey. by land, usually also by air. it is the primary area that her department of homeland security has been monitoring air flights into, although they're going to europe now and traveling by land. but turkey, so the point here is this country now, which is a nato ally, is now bringing -- not the government but we see so many foreign fighter pipelines to come through turkey. if there was a decision by some of these groups to start striking against our embassy there, against the government can we have a very, very serious problem on our end. i think the turks come at a just in the region, the turks are clearly concerned there country is going in. >> the people of the government? >> i'm talking about the government. people may be less -- >> does present order one think of doing something? he seems to believe he will benefit from the creation of the islamic s

degrading isil in syria. huge swath of territory in syria, number two. leading ultimately to political transition in syria, which will be extremely difficult. the first phase of this campaign, it's helping iraqis regain control of sovereign territory. >> let me shift gears here. success against isis is reclaiming all the land in iraq that we lost. liberating action. >> i don't think that's been determined yet. i know who is friendly. that's the kurds. they've been there since 1990 when we first went in the gulf war and have been there with america against the iraqi government. iraqi soldiers cut and run in most. who didn't cut and run was the kurdish fighters. who didn't cut and run in the face of a bull dozer who was armored, they didn't cut and run. they actually ran toward the bull dozer to try to stop it. 25 or so kurdish fighters lost their lives. they didn't have the necessary armament and ability to stop that and some of the other weapons that isis now has and using in theater. my question to you is this. does the administration tend to more robus

you mentioned syria already.t is certainly preoccupying most of us at the moment. >> we just looked at a map of those being displaced. in lebanon, almost 900,000 people. it's like taking the whole population of canada and moving it to the united states in a matter of a couple of years. >> yeah the situation in lebanon is quite extraordinary. i have had the opportunity to go there in the last couple of months. you can see refugee villages everywhere throughout the country. it's equivalent to the number of canadians moving into the united states over a period of 18 months or two years. and one of the things we're beginning to ach appreciate in lebanon, it's also the local populations we have to worry about. because when such a large number of people flood across a border settle in local towns, villages and cities they place an enormous stress on the local infrastructure. so whereas the humanitarian community has traditionally focused its efforts on the refugees themselves now we're beginning to look at the host pop

parter ins on the ground in iraq and in syria. but when we look at that program in syria, u.s. back groups have seen no increase in support in the past several months. in fact, these syrian groups have suffered from dire ammunition shortages in the last several weeks. we've had meetings with the representative recently. they're out of ammunition. in addition to not being supplied with the heavy weapons they need to fight isis, and, at the same time, as they're fighting isis, for example, on the border there, a e aleppo has isis on one side and 30, 40 air strikes a day barrel bombs being dropped from the asad regime. in iraq, real maining the most effective force against isis. but the administration and baghdad have refused thus far to supply them with more than light weapons as they go up against tanks and artillery. and other heavy weapons. traj e tragic event a couple of weeks ago, this is why we have heard from the foreign minister that the situation for the need for armor and for artillery for long range moral xxs, for anti-tank missy e sills, that unmet e met need has had

but for syria and turkey, it has to do with sectarianism and money in syria. still, ideology is very important. that's not the only factor in this case. so they were able to recruit more and more people, gain more and more money, and control more and more lands. this is the recent map now. the small black spots grow to this black and gray area, which is controlled by the islamic state, which is the new version of isis. then came the international coalition air campaign against isis, first in iraq, and later on in syria. and the question here is, who is eligible, who has what it takes to control the areas that this international campaign is going to liberate from isis? definitely it is the assad regime. because as we said, for 15 or 16 months, the moderate rebels who are desperate, and doesn't enjoy any kind of support, either we're talking about weapons or training or financial support. so unfortunately, the people in syria now are not optimistic when they think about this war against terrorism in their country, and in iraq, because they think at the end of th