and syria and iraq and beyond syria and iraq. so these are two important things that originate in the 1990s, and they're relevant to the period today. after the iraq war, a second snapshot, husband to have call snapshot. -- husband to have call snapshot. you know, after the iraq war caused sunnis to feel that they have lost power. so they are minority, arab sunnis are minority in iraq, and they suddenly felt that they no longer are in control. they felt that the americans were conspiring with the shias and with the kurds and even with iran to take over politics. there are indications that these were, there are basis basically, for these kind of conspiratorial thinking. because, you know, the first elections that happened after the, you know the americans hand over power to the iraqis was dominated by shia and kurds. and sunnis boycotted the elections and lost control. so there was like, a kind of sense that they're losing power and you start of to have a movement dedicated to the restoration of sunni domination in iraq. now, that

we can do the same thing, folks today in iraq and syria. we have the kurds who are fierce fighters courageous and pro-american begging for our assistance. begging for leadership from the leader of the free world. maybe a few weapons. since isis is using u.s.-made weapons that they seized from the iraqi military. the kurds, we have the syrian christians, we have some moderate iraqi tribes who are all being enslaved and killed. they want to fight. they want to get rid of isis. they're begging for our assistance. we won't take the lead. doesn't take a heavy u.s. footprint. again, afghanistan 2001. it wasn't brain surgery. we got the job done. we can do that today. i believe. we need to do it because this thing is going to metastasize and it is as we speak. it's not alarmism. it's reality. no one wants to be in the middle east obviously. but when a threat is gathering that seeks to destroy america, it must be dealt with. that used to be our philosophy. it affects all of us. one thing, smash the caliphate. smash it. militarily. isis is not an 80

and, finally we will turn to syria. we get some targets there but our policy is ostensibly to arm a moderate rebels so that they may become more of a fighting force to force a stalemate in series a so that eventually we will be able to get to peace talks. and then as i understand our policy to be, we will then insist on the departure of assad. we need to discuss also whether, in our campaign to defeat basis, whether assad moscow or whether we need to make greater common cause with him as we move forward on the campaign. janine let me start with you. you're a senior fellow for defense policy at the council on foreign relations. you're a former pilot and air force officer. when you were deputy assistant secretary in the obama administration huber charged with reviewing strategic plans and military plans. as recently as august you wrote america has no policy to stop isis. you used to believe that? and can you give us some sense of what is happening on the ground today? is our policy working, and are we making progress agai

in syria and the kde pim iran. the kurds are factionalized and there are deep divisions but when they are under duress they come together to defend their collective national interest. by the end of the 20th century we started to see a little bit of a turn in fortune. the u.s. established a no-fly zone over iraqi kurdistan in the kurds were able to govern their own affairs and that experiments in grassroots democracy inspired kurds throughout the region to seek something similar federal arrangement where power was decentralized. >> is an extraordinary tale these dispersal against the four states in the struggle of the four states with their own challenges and parameters of regimes. you hinted at some turning points there in your last comments but how have kurdish movements and political organizations networked with each other? has the relationship also had some tensions? has it evolved? give us a sense of how in resistance to kurds have managed to find political expression or not in various points of history? >> bec

is so isis is a real threat to iraq, to syria. it controls a third of iraq's territory, a half of syria's territory. there are 8-10 million people who live on those territories under isis control. isis is well armed because of the arms that they seized from the iraqi armed forces. they're well financed. when they came into mosul they took $340 million out of the mosul bank. they were operating 18 oil wells and refineries. they've generated revenue through hostage taking, through selling historical and architectural artifacts. it's estimated that the annual budget for the islamic state is going to be $2 billion. so they are a force to be reckoned with. >> i want to back up just a little bit and i ask this question of you because you have always been very straight with sort of criticizing u.s./iraq policy, and you've done so across both administrations in terms of the governance of iraq and some of the decisions that were made after the american military intervention there. so i want to get your take on the failure of the united sta

the islamic state in iraq and syria. he also addressed he also addressed the agency strategy to strengthen intelligence gathering capabilities and enhance global security. charlie rose moderated the discussion. it is just over an hour. [applause] >> thank you very much, good afternoon, everyone. i also want to thank the council on foreign relations and especially richard for inviting me to be here today over the past many months ca has been in the news for a variety of reasons, most of them unrelated to the many challenges and opportunities that lie ahead of us. i would like to begin with a a snapshot of some of the international developments and trends that zero greatest concern to the cia and talk to you about how we're tackling these challenges. i thought i would take some time today to focus in particular on the importance of our work with foreign partners and enhancing global security. these relationships are founded on discretion, so we don't talk about the much but they play an essential role provide insightful an

president, i rise today to discuss the ongoing crisis in syria. sunday march 15, marked the fourth anniversary of the beginning of the syrian civil war. since this are brutal war began, more than 3.8 million syrians have fled syria. 7.6 million have been displaced within syria and 12.2 million syrians are in need of humanitarian assistance. most tragically, more than 2,050,000 people -- 205,000 people have died as a result of the war. this past year was the deadly hest since the applicant began with 76,000 dying in 2014 alone including more than 3,500 children. one thing has remained clear over the last four years. the war tactics employed in syria by both government and opposition forces represent gross violations of human rights and fly in the face of internationally accepted rules of war. the united nations independent international commission of inquiry on syria has reported that the pro-government forces have murdered, tortured, assaulted and raped civilians in syria. antigovernment groups have also engaged in murder, execution hostage taking

more than 1600 of them in iraq and nearly 1300 in syria. we've taken out isil fighters, many of its commanders, infrastructure, support to its terror infrastructure and facilities including 20 training camps and over 200 oil and gas facilities. since the coalition campaign began, isil has lost more than a quarter of the populated territories it has held in iraq. because we lack the same kind of partners on the ground in syria the situation there is more challenging and complex. still we're working closely with regional partners to establish sites for training and equiping vetted moderate syrian opposition elements in order to train approximately 5000 troops per year over the next three years. syrian opposition groups to counter isil continue to make strategic gains. expanding west and east from kobani and retaking territory from isil. coalition airstrikes against isil in syrian territory continue to degrade isil's sanctuary and limit its freedom of movement and military capabilities as well as its capacity to resupply its efforts in iraq. i

no area gains more attention than syria and iraq. isil is waging campaign of unspeakable brutality against the local population and indeed against anyone who does not share its ideology. isil is well-armed and well-financed. it is fighters are disciplined committed and battle hardened. left unchecked the group would pose a serious danger not only to syria and iraq but to the wider region and beyond concluding threats on homeland of the united states and homelands of our partners. this will be a long-term struggle. isil will not be rolled back overnight. if there is one thing we learned over the years that success against terrorism requires patience and determination. clearly our country will be dealing with terrorism in one form or another for many years to come. what makes terrorism so difficult to fight is not just the ideology that fuels it, or the tactics that enable it, the power of modern communication also plays a role. new technologies can help groups like isil coordinate operations, attract new recruits, disseminate propagan

the threat is not only syria and iraq. it has struck libya, yemen sinai mali nigeria the whole of africa asia the americas and australia. europe has suffered despicable attacks and shown unbeatable courage. your friends are with you. in january we joined millions of people in france who marched united against violence and intimidation. my friends, there are those living in europe today to remember the ravages that struck the continent in the late 1930s and the world war that followed because of an aggressive ideology based on hatred and disregard for the very essence of humanity. europe's war became the world's four. today we are fighting a similar war a war against an expansionist ideology that feeds on hate that is committing murder in the name of god and religion to justify evil actions that no religion tolerates, a war against terrorists who disrespect this land values and humanities values. our victory now depends on our unity and europe's role is vital. only by cooperation can our regions shut down the sources of ter

i mean, in many ways if you look at the problems right now in iraq, in syria especially with isis, a lot of scholars and academics place it back to what happened with the u.s. invasion of iraqing. especially with the -- of iraq. especially with the u.s. privileging a shia-majority government while not taking into account sunni grievances in iraq gave and fueled movements like isis that mobilized on this kind of like, you know sunni consciousness, the sunni sectarianism, gave those movements fuel. so it's really quite unfortunate, and i think until we can resolve what's going on with isis right now isil in syria and in iraq, the future of democracy in iraq is still very much questionable and debatable. >> host: syria jordan, saudi arabia non-democracies. >> guest: yes. >> host: is democracy, in your view, a laudable goal? >> guest: i think -- >> host: for those countries? >> guest: if we look at public opinion in the arab world, the grievance structure in the arab world, there's two things going on. one is the dire economic circumstances for many in these regions. again, the region on

some of that oil on the black market in the middle east and turkey syria, lebanon, iraq, iran. and according to some accounts they are making to $3 million a day in the illicit oil trade. so lots of different kinds of revenue streams coming. and the traditional look, you see the town, you see those you make them pay tribute and to levy exorbitant taxes especially on non-muslims. you levy and exorbitant tax on them on both the multiple revenue streams without a doubt. do we need to wrap it up? >> first of all, i can't thank you enough -- >> thank you. thank all of you. >> thank all of you for coming. erick is an incredible friend. he is the voice of intellectual courage and moral integrity, and of the truth. and i am very privileged to be here. [applause] >> you are watching 48 hours of nonfiction authors and books on c-span2's booktv. television for serious readers. >> thanassis cambanis report on the 2011 egyptian revolution and profiles two of its leaders and liberal architect and a pharmacist associated with the muslim brotherhood. >> good evening, everyone. i'm david cohen,

i would not go into syria right now. i think it i think one has to take precautions even going near the border with syria because isis is not only in syria they're all around the border. they are looking, and then was just sent to journalists recently saying be careful in turkey because they're coming into turkey, take them back into syria. so i think while people have to be very aware of what they're covering when they go into these war zones and have to understand understand, have to do their homework before they go anywhere near a war zone now. and it's not just in syria, or the lines are not so black and white. >> thank you for getting at the essence of the question. that's a change. >> i don't know if this is complete irrelevant but -- >> does it matter. >> the american society and the muslim society, wouldn't it be better if the troops were trained more abruptly for like -- >> that's a great question. i think we would not have the situation we're in an erect of the troops had been trained before they went to iraq.

you think people have gone from largely the caribbean to syria? can you give us a little bit more depth on where they are coming from, what do you think they are doing and have you seen and indications that any have tried to come back and how bigger problem is this? >> like in our own country there is a small number reportedly that have gone to radicalize in one way or another in united states. much larger numbers in western europe upon to fight gone to fight in syria. i was expect they will get good while they are in serious good at killing and pick up some job skills in terms of explosives and beheadings in things like that. everyone is concerned of course if they come home because if they went over radicalize one would expect they will come back at least that radicalize. as they say with really good job skills they have picked up at the fight. do we have any indication right now of any scheme to attack the united states? no but the smaller countries have i say you know we take for granted in the united states that we have a functioning legal ju

strategy is focused on iraq first but until the of mill town of syria which has been termed chernobyl it will spewed radioactive technology over the entire region. last fall may authorize training but to the great frustration when pressed on the path for word most officials seem to suggest we could figure out later this is creating and crisis of confidence and our witnesses are here to explain the strategy when the committee returns we will hear more about alejandra a you met -- a you imf request. >> thank you for calling this important hearing. we are delighted we have such a distinguished array of generals to speak with us this morning and thank you for appearing to day and for our country. with those significant challenges that remain we must address the elephant in the rooms in the for a new authorization of military force or aumf that congress has the important role to play in the policy i believe negotiations over the program congress needs to play its part and i will resist any attempt to marginalize congress with the constitutional role. service members the brave men and women

syria is in a civil war that can least for a at least five to seven more years at least. then you have isis. the average arab citizen is saying things are really lousy and as long as my country is holding it together i'd rather sort of like just watch and see what happens rather than push for more democracy right now. it's not because the average citizen doesn't appreciate or respect democracy. i think they're worried about what democracy might mean. it might mean instability internally oar might mean external alienation from outside, and this is the region that can't afford either of those option jazz professor, one of the countries you looked at in "of empires empires and citizens" was morocco. seems to be some relative stability there. is it because of geographical location, et cetera? >> guest: i think in morocco you have had basically a king that has realized there were a lot of tensions, a lot of grievances in morocco, so he expanded gradually in terms of allowing for some political reform, trying to economically reform the country, although we haven't seen the posi

to to complement the work we're doing with our fires to begin to counter isil in syria. my best military advice as we go forward is as we introduce forces that we have trained and equipped then we should provide them support, not only looking to provide them fires but logistics and intel support as well. i think that i think that gives them the best opportunity for success. >> do you think that the forces of aside in syria will attempt to task some of these opposition members we have trained and equipped? if so what level of military involvement should we expect? >> the likelihood that that can happen. we will try to as we put forces and. they are focused. that is the 1st task at hand. again, if they are attacked we should protect. >> what do we do if the forces that we train and equip end up attacking? >> initially that is not what we are focused on. we will discontinue providing support to those forces if they vector off and do things that we have not decided to do initially and asked them to focus on initially. >> do you think the success of the opposition groups do y

lebanon, syria, as well as israel. but guess what? with the percentage -- the likely percentage that an iranian missile can make it through -- if you run the percentages less than one percent. the likelihood that the israelis can retaliate and wipe iran off the map is 100%. so if i'm an iranian general or even revolutionary guard i'm not going to recommend that. but if the iranians have a nuclear capability, as david said nobody else is going to sit on their hands. if you are sitting in riyadh what do you see right no? you see iranians still supporting groups that want to overthrow the regime next door. you've see core constantly suspecting the iranians are playing in the eastern province which is mostly see ya dominated. now the houthis are taking over yemen. the classic saudi nightmare being surrounded by iranian puppets, and supporters. now, add on top of that an iranian nuclear capability. there's no way that the saudis will not go nuclear and by the way, i heard from one gulf foreign minister who told me a thing about a month ago

>> in syria very good question, and i will offer the following. he needs to come to the table in order to discuss his own receiving from the scene in syria. and for that to occur he needs to see -- receiving. the right combination of the doom of the strategy that he is said his country's course on set the course of his country on. and also i believe in pressure from russia and iran both of whom are supporting him, and the need to withdraw their support of him because of what he's done to his country. and when he sees that combination, it seems to me that may cause him to recede. but no doubt at our point of view which is he has done things to his people by this time that put them outside the pale and he has to go. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> thank you mr. chairman. secretary carter, good to see you again. congratulations. general dempsey, thank you for your service. i want to go back to a theme that we discussed during her confirmation hearing and that's this broader theme of leveling with the american people. i think that on our threats, and i

over the past year was out with conflicts in iraq and syria. the transition from combat operations to a train, advise and assist in ct mission focus in afghanistan. at the same time, we dealt with a number of difficult challenges in yemen egypt and lebanon and a host of other locations throughout our area of response biloxi. we actively violent extremist groups and took measures to counter the radical ideologies espoused by these group. we also dealt with the rand which acts as a destabilizing force in the region primarily through its code forces and support to proxy actors such as lebanese hezbollah. and while we are hopeful and acceptable agreement will be reached with the rain with respect to its nuclear program either way whether we reach an agreement or don't reach an agreement, it ran will present a challenge going forward. we are faced with a number of difficult issues in our region. however, i firmly believe challengechallenge s present opportunities and we make our primarily by the business opportunities and we do pursue them. i am con

this administration's incompetence in iraq and syria allow the emergence of isis. they are using american tanks and they are using american weapons and isis began taking cities that just a few years ago were secure by american blood. let's be very very clear about who isis is what they represent. they are a religious movement that seeks to take the world back to the seventh century. their aims are apocalyptic. they mean to cleanse the world not just of christians and jewish but muslims who disagree with their extreme ideology and it is their stated vow to kill as many americans as possible. it's time, it is time for the american people to hear the truth. [applause] the president declared in the state of the union that the advance of isis has been stopped and that is simply not true. [applause] he says that isis is a religious group. again, he is simply wrong. to deny the fundamental religious nature of the threat and to downplay the seriousness of it is naÏve, it is dangerous and it is misguided. isis represents the worst threat to freedom since communism. if egyp

utopian days of revolution turning into the restoration of an old regime the wars in libya, yemen, syria and have seen a bevy of clichÉs about the arab spring turning into an arab want to tonight i want to take you back to the beginning of this historical process that exploded open onto the conscience of the world in tunisia in december of 2010 and more, i think, intensely with terrier square in january 2011 and talk a little bit about the arc of history that we are watching unfold. lost in the daily politics again, very depressing scorecard of oppressive regimes versus dissidents the tall in imprisonment for free speech offenses, lost and that is the realization that today we are watching a new kind of politics and world being built in the arab world, being invented by arab citizens who have taken charge of their own destiny after literally generations of being told and ordered and manipulated in the not having a voice and feeling like i have the strength of power. when the hundreds of thousands of people poured into terrier square in january 25th, 2011, i was far away in new york city

1946, the famous night of the bridges, they blew up all the bridges, linking palestine with lebanon syria, jordan. vicki with the important ones shift in the book is following the king david hotel another controversy i couldn't get into because they had a role in selecting targets, of more complicated story but after the carnage that arose this alliance apart completely and generally speaking after 1946, they concentrated almost exclusively as you described on information and illegal immigration. they now longer attacked the british but that was the importance in constantly keeping a much smaller force, constantly keeping the pressure on the british and making the rule untenable in the sense that there was a large garrison guarding against revolts, even having trouble defeating 5,000 let alone 60,000 men at arm's. i am not trying to finesse this worse a privilege, one was more important than the other but as someone who spent his entire career studying the effect of terrorism, like government decision making and trying to better understand the countermeasures that can be used to defeat te

>> the request from syria is to defeat that isil threatened a work assyria policies lie will refrain. >> is a that incongruity? id and node with the syrian fighters are but today they fight isis' then they fight assad then retrain them to send the weapons? that ukrainian people ever said there were fights united states or kill us? have the ever said anything like that? direct certainly we will register your strong position on this issue but i will say 180 million but i hear your. >> at the end of my time we your sending defensive weapons will escalate the problem. not sending them will escalate because there will be no more ukraine. i yield back. [applause] smith know we go to the lady from florida. >> the ridges like to ask anyone to the ukraine last year, thank you for your testimony. to want to say i feel anxiety when i hear my colleagues with their unflattering remarks. i have three questions when we were in ukraine reheard time and time again have a correction of the ukrainian government would undermine the government to create an environment that they thank you alluded to of rus

>> could i turn to syria? prime minister said at the liaison committee last month that it was the policy of the government to hold up the moderate opposition in practical terms. are we actually dealing with the same people? i think for most of us it's confusing as to where we are today. >> it's a large number of often very small groups. >> many of them had areas to make sure that there are proper services and policing and rescue services on. we expect to make our main impact through a commitment to engage in the u.s.-led training and equipping program for the moderate opposition. you'll remember that the u.s. congress last autumn allocated $500 million as an initial trench of funding. it has been quite slow not least because of the difficulty of setting out mechanisms to vet candidates for training. >> in the short term rngs is it policy to work so closely with opposition when you consider the main opposition to the west is now isil. and actually not the sad. >> well, it's inconvenient. but we've got to fight

syria itself. we have dispatched trainers to the region to prepare for that task spent on the airstrikes, to expect to continue to do that? >> yes, we are flying missions every day, every night since six days a week with our tornadoes and other aircraft. and that's an effort we are going to sustain as long as the ground operation demands it. >> a question to you both, if i may. u.s. military officials have been expressing growing -- about budgetary pressures on the armed forces. one job going so far to say he believes soon it may be that british soldiers will have to fight inside u.s. units rather than alongside them. would it be better more candid to accept that budgetary reality rather than to deny it? and secretary carter, on a separate question, the iranians are playing with the iranian advisors are playing we believe pivotal role in the climax to the battle at tikrit. as we progress towards the even more significant battle for the liberation of mosul it seems that tehran and washington will no

they sent over to syria. you all know we have a train and equip program where we are training syrians outside of the country and we are going to bring them back to tackle isis. we are going to train 5000 over time. one of the things they are not willing to do yet 220000 people are dead in syria partially. some of the things we didn't do what we made a difference. a lot of dead people. so many names displays. they haven't mastered the authorization when most people come into syria after they have been trained they don't have the authorization to protect them. again they are worried that his provocative and i'll go back to the issue of fresh again. they don't be provocative. heidi on mac im going to steal the mike. -- can you address young men? there's another 120 dead in a mosque bombing. [inaudible] >> one of the so we have this agree that right now with their that is a short-term agreement. we have alleviated some of the sanctions on iran as we've been going through this interim agreement to allow them to ge

>> i do. >> i do. >> when it comes to iraq in syria led to agree if we take on isil we must win? and i guess senator. >> the first battle of fallujah was too rigid mitt combat teams to the order of 6,000 the second battle was about 14,000. >> to you agree that it would have been difficult for those soon the tribes to take over at the time. >> so we're about to fight a bigger force in town and members of our military to rehab today? >> i know knows the exact numbers but it is about 3,000. with 500 marines. >> do you agree that's isil represents a threat to west not just the region? >> some anybody thinks defeating or destroying isil is their problem not ours is making a huge mistake? >> directory. >> do you agree it is in our national security interest to make sure not only that they are destroyed and don't come back? >> dire greece to make you agree with me that the best way is to have some american forces to help the regional forces? for iraq senator right now i think it is critical we provide support and we're waiting for the recommendation right now what that would be. >> does

it is a nascent organization but again, as we talk about, it agree very quickly in iraq and syria. they have the potential to jump over different stages and build a network and we want to make sure we're looking at the heart. so making it a pirgys me better visibility. >> pret reports indicate that rau ow f was killed in afghanistan in a drone stroke help was called a figure actively recruiting for isis in afghanistan, specifically helmund, where coalition troops withglue october. can you confirm these reports? >> this is in the "washington post." >> yes, sir. it's been a lot in the media. rauf kadeem, was designated as a deputy amir of isil inside afghanistan,ty amir of what the call a core son, which is pakistan,s afghanistan, in that area, was actually a ttp from pakistan so this was the guy that said i'm the deputy amir. some -- >> before you -- i've got one minute left. so a few more questions -- >> the answer is yes. >> okay, you're aware. when you think about rauf, he was taliban commander, detained at gitmo, released. we turned him over to the afghanistan detention facility

over one-third roughly of syria and one-third of iraq. and they're big on dates. september 11th 1683, the ottoman turks were defeated at the gates of vienna. those kinds of things -- and that's what they're trying to do. that meant as much to them, that was a humiliating defeat, almost as much as the -- in 1492 the spanish when they drove the moors out. .. actually palestinen and that's important to realize because 70% of the population of jordan are not jordanians, they're palestinians. i got to tell you a story. i first met king abdullah almost 20 years ago when he commanded special forces. then later on i was invited to go to the palace. when you go to the pala and king hussein was the king at the time. before you see abdullah there's a family tree on the wall, hanging up, that begins with the prophet moo hamad and goes to king hussein and you see his kids, king abdullah and so forth. it was put together and researched by a british colonel in the 1930s. i remember sitting there and looking at this, and i looked up and i saw the prophet muhammad. and i sue anoth

in the summer of 2015 this government proposed actions in syria. the bombing in syria. i was called into a room by david cameron and make clay, president obama had been on the phone, leader of the free world. i listened to what they stand made up my mind and we said no. standing up to the leader of the free world shows a certain cost this. i am not proud of it. what i am not going to do is repeat the mistakes of the 2003 iraq war which happens when labor was in power, we rushed to war without knowing what the strategy is and without being clear what the cost of goods would be i am not a pacifist but i supported action in libya. david cameron -- and my tough enough? hell yes i'm tough enough. >> how this impression got out there, how is it that you are less popular than your party? that even your own in thes consider you a liability? how has that happened? >> i don't comment on these things. i desperately don't need them. >> do you read about myself? >> if i can avoid it. >> you make my point for me. to go to the general election the people here and the people at home ma

has been strangely silent unless i'm missing it and that is the war on isis, the bombing of iraq and syria. editorially i don't see a position on that. maybe one column and on ukraine it's very clear where the nation stands. so katha having thought about the editorial position isis in the war going on there. >> guest: you know i can't really speak to that. i work at home. i write my page. that's pretty much it. i'm i am not part of any editorial decision so you will have to take this up with someone who is more responsible. i'm almost like a freelancer they are. i get a salary but i'm not really connected to the week by week editorial decisions. >> host: we invited katha pollitt to talk about her book "pro" reclaiming abortion rights talking about abortion and politics specifically. >> caller: thanks to katha pollitt for all the work you do and i have to say one person you mention the woman state legislator saying i so regret my abortion. newt gingrich and ronald reagan could show up and complain they regret their first marriages and probably regret the first three or four. i forget what n

in in 2007, the israeli air force struck a facility in syria that eventually was intended to produce plutonium. personally wonder, what would have happened if that strike hadn't taken place. say material was produced there bombs created and acquired by non-state actors in the maelstrom of the syrian civil war. what i wonder is, would north korea be held accountable for that because the north korean government is helping to build that plant? i wonder if prior to 2007 that individuals in north korea that decided to assist syria in development of that reactor if they believed at that time, that they would be held accountable if their efforts ultimately resulted in the transfer to a non-state actor. i will also wonder about less direct forms of assistance, say failure of government officials in a friendly at this like france or japan to invest in fends at a site security that contains special nuclear material? what are the standards for culpability? what are the mechanisms to hold people accountable? i will be very clear in saying i'm not suggesting and the book doesn't suggest that nucl

you think he has the time devote to the arctic council on a day-to-day basis with dealing with ebola syria isis, and everything else in the world? there's a -- something that goes along with leadership and that's you have a lot on your plate. the united states is fortunately oar unfortunately involved in a an awful lot of things around the world. therefore the arctic isn't a huge problem so it's hard to draw attention. hive been trying to do how to couple with the national imperative, something that will draw in the american people, and we are still struggling but we're getting closer. >> yes, sir. >> thank you. richard ranger from the american petroleum institute. the lady's question prompts a suggestion for you to consider and that is through some resource associated with the u.s. chairmanship, a recommended reading list something you could develop over time with the state of alaska, with academia. a lot of greet books are out there, very lopez, arctic dreams, the "50 miles from tomorrow." i think from the standpoint of the long pull, building student interest, academic interest public i

but those boundaries drawn between iraq and syria with the british colonel's eyes understand. and the bloodletting is beyond anyone's imagination is staggers the imagination the british lost 30,000 killed and wounded in the first day. the numbers overall view. even those united states came late in the war and the battle fought that was the seminal battle the americans won against the germans american marines. it is entirely appropriate not for those only to sacrifice but to recognize that contract was up proportions that my imagination does not encompass how terrible that bloodletting was. called all quiet on the western front i've recommended who has not read it to understand the incredible horror of that war. >> you say it is the humility that makes service people he rose. explain humility. >> i was in prison with individuals with urea and world war ii veterans and some that were aces. i had been -- i could win those and they're all modest individuals. you almost have to pry it out of them the experience that they had. the most humble man that i have met because they had the

this has been building for years and years in syria and iraq, and in afghan it's a different dynamic with the culture that you have there as well. and -- but we'll see and it will continue to monitor it to make sure that we have a strategy that can attack it on a short, term and mid-term and long-term. >> thank you. >> mr. ashford. >> thank you mr. chairman and thank you, general campbell. i can tell you that when we went to see general ghani he would so terribly appreciative of your efforts and all the efforts of our military and our support personnel. incredible. also happy to hear from president ghani of his relationship with the university of nebraska at omaha and the afghan study program, so i was glad to hear that and i want to thang congressman wilson, the chairman of our subcommittee forks his leadership and also my two colleagues. it was an immensely important opportunity for me and our district to see what was going on. just -- we had -- we went to obviously to jordan and iraq and afghanistan so we got the entire picture in a way. and congress woman stefanik asked a critica

the 2nd kind of conflict take the conflict in syria and iraq for example. there are many aspects of that conflict. syria as i mentioned had a massive environmental crisis as a prelude to its conflict, but it is not -- it was tender that set it off and away. why is there so much killing? it is a geopolitical proxy war going on. the united states says they want to overthrow assault. bad idea. when when governments say they will overthrow this one and their allies is no and suddenly we are in a proxy war who suffers from? just the syrians. they die. everyone no space politics. then when you do that you open up even more horrific disasters. disasters. who could be worse? asad has to go. i wish they could think a little bit. really it's a problem. it's a different kind of issue. but these questions into the united nations. the security council is the only legitimate basis for international law and for finding peace and not just great powers doing what they think is so cold in their best interest. i would distinguish the different causes and try especially when t

over a million syrians have left syria to go to lebanon and jordan. that's not a moderate regime mr. president. moderate regimes do not support insurgencies that through the force of arms take down elected governments. hezbollah, mr. president, is not a moderate voice in lebanon. they're supported by the iranians. they've had a record of attacking israel and killing us for decades. so mr. president iran's support of hezbollah, of the huthis and of assad that's not what moderate people do. now, in iraq itself, mr. president, the shia militia that are roaming around iraq are committing war crimes as i speak. so you are completely disconnected from the behavior of the people you're negotiating with and you don't understand the iranians at all. you are dangerously in denial or delusional about the threats we face and who we're dealing with. so i'm glad we wrote the letter to bring some certainty to the process. if the president of the united states negotiates a deal with iran and that deal includes lifting the congressional sanctions, and he does it witho

ambassador to the united arab emirates and syria. and then the governor james gilmore is on his way, and he will speak -- >> [inaudible] >> he is there? well, you are quicker than my eyes -- [laughter] but at any rate, you're very, very welcome. we appreciate that you came all the way from richmond here and he's going to speak. and then, of course, to make some closing remarks general alfred gray, as you know, the 29th common darnt of the united states marine corps and currently senior fellow and chairman of the board of regents of the potomac institute. i think that before we have the speakers deal with the issues a few footnotes. first of all, i'm delighted that we have in the audience many diplomats, ambassadors, representatives, academics and so forth. we appreciate very much media representatives for bringing our discussion to a wider audience in the united states and internationally. traditionally academically we like to express our sympathy with the families of the victims of terrorism throughout the world as well as to send a

the recruiting of foreign fighters into syria and iraq. we've not found a way yet in my opinion, to effectively stop or even slow it down. and it's more than a law enforcement from its more than an fbi mission but it certainly is an fbi mission. but just last week we learned about a 47 year-old air force veteran who tried to join isis. and before his apprehension he worked for number of american firms overseas and including a u.s. defense firm in iraq for whom to perform avionics on u.s. army aircraft. we've had several stories like that that have appeared. is there a magic bullet to try to get that kind of problem that fbi came to speak with there isn't a magic bullet. to us it's about a full-court press making sure that we have sources will we need when we need them to be that we have the capability both the know have the technical capability to play in the online space with a meeting and recruiting and radicalizing, and that we are closely connected to stay local partners. i agree with the chairman they are far likely to hear about a gu

. >> they don't want to defeat isil and karen syria over to iran. the you agree with that? >> i do. >> allotted arabs are saying not want to destroy both enemies assad as well as isil. i don't see a chance of a regional force until you put assad on the table. the authorization to use military force a very specific question. the people we are training throughout the region to go in and fight isil, the mvp -- the young men who will join the cause. what happens if the air power of assad helicopters if they begin to attack the people we train because they know they will turn on assad. under authorization of military force can we protect the people we train against an attack by assad? >> i think we have an obligation to those we trained to protect them. the manner in which that would be done is something that is being discussed, but in my view we have an obligation to do that. it goes with that training part. >> i agree with you both and i ask white house general counsel, the authorization to use military force would not allow us, the united states, to engage the air force of as

the former deputy commander i think that we left iraq to syria. we left them on a timeline rather than a condition on the ground and it affected the sunnis, it disenfranchise them we isolated the kurds we agreed to centralize government and to be noninclusive and the result was the vacuum, what we are seeing today it was filmed by isis. my concern is that we don't repeat the same model in afghanistan. i think that that concern remains the same. what would you consider your three priority conditions and what is the in strength to support that. lastly in my experience having a temporary detention center give us the ability to rapidly turn around sensitive site exploitation and do this in a timely manner and not having this ability at least a temporary detention center would adversely affect the ability when you find a target. if you would comment on that on whether it does adversely affect this turnaround. >> thank you for your service and thank you for the questions. if i can answer the last one and come back to the peace. it drives operations and

america continues prop up bashir al-assad in syria. militants recent seized the capital of yemen. hezbollah remains iran's atzpah. they drive five capitals in its drive for regional hodge hegemony. and they have increased its size of their nuclear missile arsenal. just two weeks ago iran blew up a mock naval aircraft carrier in exercises and publicized it with great fan fire. iran does all these things without the bomb. just imagine what it will do with the bomb. and imagine the united states further down the rows of appeasement -- road of appeasement largely defensive against this tyranny. you don't have to imagine much, though. simply look to north korea. because of a naive and failed nuclear agreement that outlaw state acquired nuclear weapons. now america's largely handcuffed watching as this rogue regime builds more bombs and missiles capable of striking the u.s. homeland and endangering our allies. but perhaps an even more obvious result of this experiment with retreat is the resurgence of russia. the president aspired with a reset with russia and made one-sided concessions

but those boundaries drawn between iraq and syria with the british colonel's eyes understand. and the bloodletting is beyond anyone's imagination is staggers the imagination the british lost 30,000 killed and wounded in the first day. the numbers overall view. even those united states came late in the war and the battle fought that was the seminal battle the americans won against the germans american marines. it is entirely appropriate not for those only to sacrifice but to recognize that contract was up proportions that my imagination does not encompass how terrible that bloodletting was. called all quiet on the western front i've recommended who has not read it to understand the incredible horror of that war. >> you say it is the humility that makes service people he rose. explain humility. >> i was in prison with individuals with urea and world war ii veterans and some that were aces. i had been -- i could win those and they're all modest individuals. you almost have to pry it out of them the experience that they had. the most humble man that i have met because they had the

iran continues to prop up bashar al-assad's outlaurent game in syria. iranian militants seized sanaa the capital of yemen. over the weekend we had to withdraw further troops from yemen. hezbollah remain's iran's cat's paw in lebanon. put simply, iran dominates or controls five capitals in its drive for regional hegemony. iran increased size and capability of its ballistic missile arsenal recently launching a new satellite. three weeks ago iran blew up a mock u.s. aircraft carrier in naval exercises and publicized it with great fan fair. iran does all these things without the bomb. just imagine what iran will do with the bomb. imagine a united states further down the road of appeasement largely defenseless against this tyranny. but you don't have to imagine much. simply look to north korea. because of a naive and failed nuclear agreement that outlaw state acquired nuclear weapons. now, america's largely handcuffed watching as this rogue regime builds more bombs and missiles capable of striking the u.s. homeland and endangering our allies. regrettably, th

they're propping up assad and syria, and its proximatey hezbollah, threatens israel. iranian backed shia militia are killing hopes of a unified stable iraq and last month, an iranian can backed militia dismailsed the government yemen formerly a key counterterrorism partner to the united states. many of our allies and partners see iran pocketing an advantageous nuclear agreement and ramping up its aggression the the region as a result of the hard currency they'll have at their disposal as the sanctions are lifted. so this committee is prepared too evaluate any agreement to determine if it is in the long term national security interest of the united states and our allies indeed as secretary kerry testified not long ago any agreement will have to pass muster with congress. those were his words. yet that commitment has been muddied by the administration's is insistence in recent weeks that congress will not play a row. that's not right. congress built the sanction structure that brought iran to the table and if the president moves to dismantle it, well have a say. so i no

we can't simply walk away from what's happening in yemen today or iraq or eastern syria. but they have been admirably held in front and back out in front i would argue of the american administration and the action it took him ali and its willingness to intervene in syria into the general seriousness about the nature of the threat and the fact that it has to become prompted on the marches and statements about the solidarity but it has to be confronted kinetically so to speak. i'm running up against my time limit. we are coming to grips with the fact that there's a war on the western values like free speech. one of the best responses is to have free speech. if i were a part of the french political debate i would advocate for two things. one of which would be what i heard of as the pedagogy of insult. people have to get used to having their secret until today insulted and it's not going to help if it's left. indeed it it did left them because being in charge of hypocrisy is indeed a very potent charge. it's for the statutory values of simply allowing people to speak without