men who are looking at all of this and seeing and listening to the propaganda about islam being under threat from the west, this islamic state thing has an appeal. and if somehow obama succeeds in degrading and eventually destroying the islamic state, something will come along to replace it because those problems that create this phenomenon are not going to go away. >> but meanwhile the islamic state is a threat to saudi arabia, a threat to jordan, a threat to qatar, a threat to bahrain, those autocratic regimes you were talking about, a threat ultimately possibly to egypt. so why isn't it an option for the president to have said or to say this is your doorstep, if you don't put billions of dollars you're earning from oil and all of those young men who are available into the fighting of the islamic state, we're not going to be there. this is your fight. >> because our priorities for decades have been on military first solutions, not on political solutions. we have, as jonathan said, we've embraced dictatorships. backing ourselves out of those relationships is very hard in a washington, d.c., where the climate of politics ove

family is burying a young woman they say was killed while escaping the group calling itself the islamic state. her father told us what happened. >> they are part of the yazidi religion, one of the groups targeted by the islamic state of iraq and the levant, also known as isil. no one knows exactly how many yazidis were killed because isil-held territory is off limits to journalists and human rights workers. but tens of thousands had to flee their homes after isil fighters captured their towns and villages in june. isil now controls as much as one-third of iraq's territory, including the second-largest city, mosul. though its power and influence expanded in syria, it's here where isil was born. during the nearly nine-year long u.s. occupation. fault lines travelled 600 miles across iraq to look at the consequences of the fight against isil -- and how u.s. allies are also helping to divide iraq more than ever. >> when isil advanced this summer, people across the country's northern provinces fled, some of them to neighboring syria. >> we're on a floating bridge between syria and iraq, and this i

the islamic state. his is not like the north, where there were sunni co--religionists, some of whom gave aid and assistance to the islamic state. as they pushed into baghdad with its predominantly shia population, they would encounter a very, very hostile environment and probably be thrown out fairly quickly. >> are i.s.i.s. troops able to go freely from syria to iraq to get reenforcements and move troops and supplies? >> i don't think they are moving as freely as they were before we started air strikes. and that's bulk of what we want the air strikes to do on the syrian side, we're dropping bombs or destroying targets but it's less about destroying things on the syrian side of the border than making them unable to act freely to be able to reinforce in the manner you've been talking about, push resupplies, be it material or troops across the border. they are still coming, you can't close that border but they can no longer come in convoice of 50 suvs flying the black flag. that's not happening anymore. >>

they want to roll up division after division against the islamic state which the president says it's not islamic. notes it's not a state. they fly a black flag just like al-qaeda flies a black flag. if thrpz not so serious, it would be laughable. we have crossed into the absurd. this country isn't awakening to it. there isn't a single official with the guts to say, this is stupid, obama. this is stupid to all the flag officers in the pentagon. it's got to stop now. we have got to right this ship and we've got to do it now. >> couldn't agree more. this is not a war we can win. the american people understand -- we don't really care. we can now get our oil from home. we don't need middle east oil. let them kill each other. lou: do you realize we've had four star generals, the head of the cia, and i'm talking about david, created the doctrine for us military, the long war, we now have people talking amiablably in order to defeat the islamic state. what kind of mindless nonsense are they spewing and they believe it that a superpower cannot contend with a -- (?) with an ideology that is so

the leader of the kurds here in turkey who's in prison saying that if kobane falls to islamic state, that would be the end of the peace process between the turks and the kurds. meanwhile, speculation continues here as to why 46 turkish citizens were released from being held hostage by islamic state in iraq since last you know. they were released about two and a half weeks ago. a report today in a british newspaper saying that they were released as part of a prisoner exchange with islamic state in which up to 180 jihadis, foreign jihadis who were planning to fight with islamic state were released to the group. and we understand -- the report saying that ten of those 180 were e.u. citizens, two of them brits. the bbc has spoken to the foreign office in britain which says the reports of a prisoner exchange are credible. we are trying to get a confirmation from the turkish government, but bear in mind, it's the eid muslim holiday and we're not yet getting a response from the turkish government, but there were reports of an exchange and that is what cleared the way for the hostages to be r

and the islamic state has been able to consolidate ground despite u.s. air strikes in parts of the north. in western anbar province in the last month we've seen the islamic state have a series of victories in the euphrates river valley. all of this is perhaps allowing the islamic state to lose more of its fighters around, and even in the summertime in july, there was always talk in bag tad that could potentially carry out an attack in the neighborhood. so all of that has been here and continues to be even though there has been u.s. air strikes. that leaves iraqis feeling frustrated, worried about the future. and genuinely scared. but it isn't because suddenly the islamic state is at the doorstep, they have been at the doorstep for many months. >> woodruff: but overall, the sense is that the islamic state is growing in its presence and in the territory it holds in the country. >> right now, there is in new sense of alarm or panic. but when you look at it, the biggest change in the battlefield in terms of momentum is anbar province where you're seeing towns

kobani, even if we were told the islamic state by kurdish fighters, whether it's the fact that the islamictate continues to take place after based in iraq, the third in three weeks, another now threatened. and advances in syria. is there any sign whatsoever that the coalition has one on one battlefield in one firefight at any time that you are aware of? >> the only thing that we have been able to do is we took that the dam and we stopped the slaughter on the mountain. that is the two things that are tangible. and i'm not sure they would seize the deal. but you put your finger on it. they are on the move in their advance has not been stopped despite the most powerful and it tells you that our level is not right. and to put your finger on some of this is we need air ground controllers to facilitate this fire when they're so close to population centers. lou: general jack keane has been calling for those air controllers to be on the ground and to guide those jet fighters and smart weaponry, which apparently has happened to some degree in the city of kobani in what remains in the islamic state.

one radical gathering in support of the islamic state. it also operates an internet site in the middle east. >> translator: many young muslims support among people who have been skeptical of the islamic state. >> reporter: they say more than 15,000 have traveled to syria to fight for the islamic state. but they have not yet put together an overall picture of the fighters who are said to have reached the middle east through pakistan and other countries. there was concern expressed by people from countries joining the islamic state. >> our estimation today is probably about 1,000 potential aspiring fighters that have moved from this region, based on kind of our overall assessment. that number could get larger as we go forward. >> reporter: as concerns spread through the international community, the government in august banned expressions of support for the islamic state. the existing law in the country does not allow authorities to detain someone unless there is evidence that the person is involved in acts of terrorism. so they cannot suppre

barack obama says there is no quick fix in the fight to stop the islamic state group. the international coalition is digging in for a drawn out campaign to win back key areas. shocking pictures out of hong kong. officers appear to beat up a protester there. hong kong has seen some of the worst clashes since the rallies kicked off over two weeks ago. a new twist in the case of 43 missing mexican students. their bodies are not in a mass grave recently found nearby. no real leads on just where they might be. time now for the look at business news with kate moody. a big day for the french government. delivering its 2015 budget in brussels. it has not met the eu targets. >> it is being seen as a defined move here. -- defiant move here. the biggest problem here is the budget deficit. the eu wants all its member states to bring that budget deficit to it than 3% of gdp. while initially saying that it would do that this year, the france has said it will be possible until 2017. the european commission decides to reject the budget and make an example of france, it could become the

there was a day of very heavy coalition airstrikes and that pushed the islamic state backed out of somef the neighborhoods that they control. but what fighters are telling me from today from inside the city, the islamic state set fire to a lot of houses and that sent smoke going over the western part of the city. that made it difficult for the coalition to hit targets effectively. >> what has been the reaction where you are among kurdish refugees to the reaction that turkey will not be joining the fight at all? >> people are very angry. we've seen large crowds gathered at the border everything -- every day since this began. kurds on both sides of the border you like the kurds in kobani -- there are familial ties and ethnic ties. and they are angry and feel that ankara is leaving kobani to the islamic state. >> what about the kurdish men in the refugee camps? have they been trying to get across the border to join the fight against islamic state? >> certainly, in the first few days a lot of people were trying constantly to get across the border. the turkish security forces have cracked do

figure does not include deaths in areas controlled by the islamic state. the u.n. eport said militants from the islamic state carried out mass executions, abducted women and girls as sex slaves, and used children as fighters in systematic violations that may amount to war crimes. the u.n. also criticized the iraqi government for causing "significant civilian deaths" by carrying out air strikes on villages, a school and hospitals in violation of international law. >> this comes as the white house has confirmed it has relaxed standards aimed at preventing civilian deaths for the u.s. airstrikes in iraq and syria. according to yahoo! news, the obama administration has acknowledged that a policy announced last year calling for "near certainty" of no civilian casualties in drone strikes will not apply to the current bombing. the admission came in response to queries about a strike that killed up to a dozen civilians in the syrian village of kafr deryan last week. to talk more about the crisis in iraq and syria we are joined by sinan antoon. he is an iraqi poet, novelist

the united states. let's turn our attention to the fight for kobane. kurdish fighters are holding their ground against the islamictate group fighters. a military airdrop of weapons and for the fighters has fallen into the hands of the jihadists. >> a veritable stash of hardware parachuted down to the ground. this video suggest the air draft did not reach its intended target. >> these is the airdrop why the americans. praise to god. now we dispose of the mujahedin. >> among the contents in the tree are grenades and relief supplies supposedly destined to the kurdish fighters defending kobane. if these weapons are in the hands of the islamic state group, this is embarrassing for the u.s. the pentagon is struggling to explain. >> we just do not know. you have to give us more time. panelists are working to try to validate it. when we have something we can can give you, we will provide it. >> most of the supplies did reach the kurdish fighters. a known package was apparently destroyed by the air force. if the video is validated, this will not be the first time american weapons entered up in the hands of the islamic sta

it is not an issue which is discussed in nato. >> if kobani were to fall to the islamic state, the groupould be in control of more than half of syria's border with turkey. turkey is under intense pressure to do more to help the kurdish forces fighting the islamic state in kobani. on wednesday, pentagon spokesman rear admiral john kirby said air strikes alone are not likely to stop the militants' advance. >> i don't know that we're going to characterize the fall of kobani one way or the other. i think we all understand that's a possibility, that kobani could be taken. we recognize that. we are doing everything we can from the air to try to halt the momentum of isaiah's -- isil gazette town, but air power alone is not going to be enough to save that city. >> meanwhile, president obama met with senior military officials at the pentagon wednesday to discuss the military mission to defeat islamic state in syria and iraq. >> our structs continue alongside our partners. it remains a difficult mission. this is not something that is going to be solved overnight. the good news is, there is a broad

the islamic state looks like baghdad has the future of its capital. it has intensified its operations in northwestern iraq and anbar province where they have multiple the training camps and a route for smuggling. so it's a massive operational territory for it. but also it's a very heavily sunni area where they were able to capitalize on the animosity on these tribes have against the shiite-led government. so it has had multiple success fronts in northwestern baghdad, and we are, we are watching very closely. baghdad is going to be taken. >> do you think they can take baghdad? >> i don't think they can seize full control of baghdad. >> partial? >> they can certainly cause some havoc there where security forces can be confused and don't know how to act. >> and end up pushing them back into kind of a green zone? >> absolutely. >> david, do you think they can take baghdad? or how much will they take? >> i think they will encircle baghdad. they tried to do this during the war when there were american troops there. in the middle of this is the largest ameri

with the islamic state is practicing is not islam. that's why people want to come back. the problem is those are able to leave try to save themselves but i'm sure they're on the islamic states hit list. >> he can't understand how he came so close to suffering a similar fate. >> a german trucker gets jail time for shooting at other drivers. >> and an anniversary. stay with us. >> welcome back, everyone. a man known as the autobahn sniper has been jailed for more than 10 years. >> the driver shot a gun from his cab at least 700 times as he drove along the nation's famous network of highways. >> he usually aimed for new cars loaded on truck's but one of his bullets went astray and hit a woman in the throat. >> the court said he knew he was putting lives in danger. in 2009, the shooter nearly killed a woman who was hit in the throat while on an autobahn near -- police hunted the man across the country and it took years for them to find him. prosecutors say they are happy with the outcome. >> i am satisfied the shooting has come to an end and also satisfy that we could convinc

what kind of effect have they been having on the islam of state forces? -- islamic state forces? there were some saying the wrong lot of airstrikes this morning and her lee afternoon, but they were not hearing a lot of fighting. that could be that they are streetfighting in the city of kobani. we don't know for sure. if that was the case, you probably would not have isis shelling parts of the city where there are people fighting in the streets. i might explain why people -- that might explain why people are saying there is less fighting today. we will see tomorrow. this is something that has been going on for something like three weeks and there are hundreds already dead. we saw many casualties coming into the hospital today. >> what about those left behind in kobani? have they been managing to get out somehow? >> this is the problem, that the kurdish fighters are telling them to get out. this is the fight to the death. the problem is, they cannot easily get into turkey. turkey has troops and tanks at the border, but they don't want more kurds to minion. they've already take -- m

joining their kurdish car mats against the islamic state organization. those are the headlines here on france 24. a developing story out of burkina faso. protesters have clashed through a police barricade outside the parliament in the capital. according to our correspondent fires are ablaze around the building. france 24 has been monitoring events in ouagadougou as clashes were field as the political opposition call for blockade of parliament. the legislature was such a consider a constitutional reform that would allow long serving president blaise compaore to extend his rule. no word on whether or not those talks will go through. as the situation remains tense. the president's bid to stay on for a fifth term has sparked two days of protests. blaise compaore has served as president since 1987 after a military coup. we will bring you more on the situation out of burkina faso. now to the latest in the fight against ebola. the world health organization says the rate of infection appears to be slowing in liberia. health officials warn that the fight against t

we think of britain and the united states as really being the primary focus of islamic state's ire, but i think people around the world would be shocked -- and of course we don't know what happened today in canada -- but that canada, too. any country that joins this mission is potentially a target. >> and it is not necessarily joining this mission. there are other countries that are not involved militarily or have just contributed humanitarian aid that are just targeted because they are western nations. the underlying or the foundation of belief for the islamic state is that there are apostates and non-apostates, and we fall into the category of something to be targeted. >> you have written about this. is the threat of home-grown terrorism in canada something the canadian government is looking at closely? >> it certainly is, as all coalition members are. there was testimony in parliament, in fact, yesterday and the day before yesterday 100-odd out some people we are tracking, let alone the fighters that have gone overseas that we are also trying to track. that is a tremendous amount of

let's begin with another, another american in the hands of the islamic state. 's been confirmed by the national security council moments ago. are we doing enough to contend, to degrade, to destroy the islamic state? >> well, we're certainly doing more than before. i think the president has reacted strongly to the situation. but i'd like to see, as we talk about not sending our own boots on the ground, i'd like to see us do more by way of training the iraqi and kurdish forces, we have to think of creative ways to do that, perhaps taking iraqi units to neighboring country and refitting them and retraining them. i think more emphasis has got to be placed on enabling non-u.s. boots on the ground to help confront the situation, because it can't be dealt with airstrikes and drone strikes alone. lou: leon panetta in his new book slams president obama for hesitation and half measures when it comes to syria. he said, quote, i felt the result i felt was a blow to american credibility with the president as commander in chief, when he draws a red line, it is critical he act

is warning of a massacre if this syrian city of kobani falls to the islamic state group. they have taken nearly half of the kurdish town that sits near the border with turkey. six months after a worldwide campaign demanded to bring back our girls, the 200 nigerian students kidnapped by boko haram are still unaccounted for. and catalonia says it will push through its vote on independence, albeit in a different form. the referendum was suspended last month by spain's constitutional court. also coming up this hour, north korean leader kim johnson -- kim jong-ilun finally resurfaces after speculation about his health and even rumors of a coup. and the radical shift in tone from the vatican on homosexuality. reports from a catholic bishop are leaning more toward accepting gay people into the church. but first, we will starting kobani, where islamic state militants say they have taken half of the syrian town that sits on the border with turkey. so far, international airstrikes have only managed to slow the advance, not stop it. >> smoke continues to rise from kobani after yet an

>> we have to be careful to draw the line between zehaf-bibeau and the islamic state, but it seems tothe message of the islamic state to followers in other countries, including canada, to find people who are willing to act in this way and commit violent acts, or are considering acting in this way. and we know from the canadian agency about a canadian sighting in arab -- about the canadian fighting in arab countries, they are being willing and influence to go to other countries. i am reluctant to say the islamic state war is coming to canada, though. >> thank you very much. more nigerian girls kidnapped. it seems that despite the newly agreed truce between the militant local haram group and the nigerian government -- vocal haram --boko haram group and the nigerian government, there was another attack. they later released the older women. they are also being blamed for a bomb blast in one state that left five people dead. watch closely over the next two days. the european union will become a perfect micro case study over why it is so difficult to reach a global agreement on fighting cli

. >> the leader of the islamic state leader of the islamic state may have been doing a bit of a field survey. maybe some people will give allegiance to the islamic state, but we have to do some field survey. get some credibility from a number of jihadi leaders around the world. >> what does this mean? >> this gives him a lot of credibility. not only for him as a leader of this new caliphate or over the islamic state -- >> he's clearly the leader of something bigger than osama bin laden was ever the leader of. >> what he was able to accomplish in a short period of time took osama bin laden two decades to accomplish. it's not just his charisma, it's his military expertise, his sharia law, jurisprudence study, which he has a ph.d. in. >> what did he get his command expertise? >> he's been engaged in battles since -- >> take us back to that. before the invasion in 2003, he was where doing what? >> he was basically hanging out with a number of militants in the north. he was one of the founding members of an islamist militant

syrian border town since the end of september, attacks that could have turned the tide against the islamic state group. u.s. central command announced three planes have dropped 27 bombs -- turkey has been under pressure to provide similar items. turkish authorities have refused to answer. they say the workers of the pkk -- before the u.s. carried out its airdrops, the turkish president warned such an action would not be welcomed by his government. >> the kurdish democratic union party is for us equal to the pkk. it is a terror organization. it would be wrong for the united states, with homes -- with whom we are friends and allies, to talk openly, and for us to say yes to supplying arms to a terrorist organization. >> the pkk and other affiliated terror groups are on the u.s. authorities' lists. >> now as we've seen, aiding the kurds of kobane is a sensitive subject for turkey. barack obama informed the turkish president, recep tayyip erdogan, in advance of the weapons drop. in a sign of some compromise turkey announced they would send facilitating actors. we are joined by our international affai

and what he is doing is he is letting the islamic state militants slaughter kurds. and then when the kurds are slaughtered, then he may act against the islamic state. he wants an islamist government in damascus, he just doesn't want islamic state. he wants his extremist in damascus. >> what does this do to the propaganda that isis offers out there? you know, the u.s. comes in and according to our own allies on the ground the air strikes are not doing enough. they're not doing much according to some. what does this do to isis and its recruiting efforts? >> megyn, you just asked a crucial question that nobody else is asking. and the answer is it's a huge recruiting tool because it allows islamic state, the caliphate, to say, see, the americans said they were going to destroy us. we're still standing. we're still advancing. we can stand up to america. and along with those beheading videos which may horrify us but they are catnip to all the young dudes in the middle east who are radicalized or discontented, et cetera. islamic state is a magnetic force for all the malcont

the islamic state is using religious justification. i think the more population is aware this is not tied to religion, it strips away any claim they have in terms of the false name of the islamic state. >> ifill: manal omar of the u.s. institute of peace and david jacobson of the university of south florida, thank you both very much. >> thank you. >> ifill: online you can hear more from the 15-year-old girl who escaped from islamic state group militants. you can watch that on our world page at pbsnewshour.org. >> woodruff: the new supreme court term kicked off today with a case about the religious freedoms of prison inmates. should muslim inmates be allowed to grow beards for religious reasons or does that pose a significant security risk to prison guards? that was the question posed to the supreme court today. we start with a look at the case at the center of today's arguments. it comes from tim o'brien who filed this report for the pbs program religion and ethics newsweekly. a warning: it contains some graphic images and details. >> r

the prisoner exchange? >> back to 46 turkish citizens who were kidnapped in iraq by islamic state back in june. they were released about two and a half weeks ago, and there was a lot of speculation as to what was agreed behind closed doors between the turkish authorities and islamic state. all they said at the time was that there was no money that changed hands. but there was immediate speculation that perhaps around 50 prisoners were exchanged with islamic state. now, what we've had today is a report in the "times" newspaper of london saying that actually that number is as high as 180 people who were, they say, released by the turkish government, foreign fighters who were trying to fight with islamic state. and the "times" says that ten of them were eu citizens, two of those were brits. as you say, the british foreign office saying that a report of the prisoner swap are credible. the two are named as an 18-year-old student and a 26-year-old. we're trying to get more information from the turkish authorities, but they're remaining extremely tight-lipped. it's also slightly bad timing because it's