into iraq. we had -- we went from to 5 to 11 a year up to 35 went up 30 a month, sometimes 50 a month. the month before the iraqi elections in april we had 50. it is coming down when i look at the indicators. i can't tell you if that's a trend or simply an amomly but right now it's coming down. we're looking to see the reforms that this new government is making and without an iraqi commitment long-term we probably won't succeed. but if you look at what the government has done in 100 dies, , it's abolished the office of the commander in chief which was an irritant to the sunnis and centralized all security responsibility in the office of prime minister. terminated almost three dozen problematic security commanders. it has identified as it has said 50,000 ghost soldiers on the role which is san anti-corruption mechanism. so it is taking steps that we wanted to have taken. to change the government, congressman, we couldn't just say, we have to have a new government. we had to get to elections. iraq

we'll start the program in erbil, iraq. a member of iraq's yazidi community, welcome to the program. what's the situation that we find ourselves in as 2014 ends? are there any traditional yazidi areas that have been untouched in this war? >> reporter: thank you very mu much. yazidis, no, and it's a tough situation. after four and a half months of control of sinjar, and kidnapping 5,300 women and girls, 479 have escaped girls, women and children. still there are more than 3,000 women being kidnapped and disappear and being controlled by the isis. so the yazidi situation is a terrible situation, especially in sinjar and sinjar mountain after the third of august when isis control sinjar, they not just kidnap the woman. but kidnap the woman, kill the men and destroy yazidi temples south of sinjar. so the situation we can say it's also isis tried to finish the yazidi history from the area, and very, very sad to scene to see yazidi, women and children, who have been kidnapped, and they are very near sinjar mountain. >> there have

iraq's stability was not only in iraq's interest but also in ours. i privately and publicly advocated for residual force that could provide training and security for iraq's military. then he went on to say, those on our side -- talking about the pentagon. those on our side viewed the white house as so eager to rid itself of iraq that it was willing to withdraw rather than lock in arrangements that would preserve our influence and interest. that is a statement by leon panetta. on afghanistan -- i'll move on to afghanistan. mr. blinken said -- quote -- "we've been very clear. we've been consistent. the war will be concluded by the end of 2014. we have a timetable, and that timetable will not change." this is why i'm so worried about him being in the position that he's in. because if they stick to that timetable, i am telling my colleagues that we will see the replay of iraq all over again. we must leave a stabilizing force behind of a few thousand troops or we will see again what we saw in iraq. so let's move on to syria. an msnbc interview in 2014 res

the summer iraq in of 2003. i was against the war but i believed it was important for us take a sad song and make it better. and governance is a nice label, i think the main point i wanted to say is that it touches politicsr politics and in the strands that i was talking about the fusion of power. that is where kim and i disagree with little bit. there was the notion if weigh stuck around with tens of thousands of troops and held it expensive duct tape. the real fault in the obama administration wasn't leaving it was inattention to the sectarianism that contributed to in sunni radical jihaddism. not managing those politics point i was trying to make in terms of diffusion of managing.even we don't manage these things but keeping an eye to it and understand that other actors have efficacy and they will write their own destiny and we can can shape on the parks. is where obama gets it right. he is portrayed as too stand offish. in a sense i think he understands that people neat to write their own history. think it w

you take syria as a new iraq. and syria is not a new iraq because the structure is different. so, we should stop -- the idea that all interventions are going to fail, it's not a good idea. right? i would -- most of the time i say do not send troops on the groun ground. ed the problem in washington is that when you're saying i want to intervene or i don't want to intervene, actually there's a political sub text. are you liberal, are you neutral? are you whatever, whatever, whatever? nobody is looking at what's going on on the ground is the problem. everybody is playing politics. and i would argue at least just looking at the problem not the political undertone of the solution is the key to answer things. and the lady was perfectly right. everybody interested in syria was very clear, there are two years that we are going to -- it was clear. it was written. we wrote it. other people wrote it. the strategy -- was very easy to understand. international -- sorry, i should not say that. you don't need necessarily to have opinions or understand the crisis. it's quite simple actually.

the problem in iraq in particular and it really is true of iraq and afghanistan that what began as swift military victories quickly degenerated into long and grinding wars. in the case of iraq it was always believed that it would be a short-term commitment. i think it would be interesting to ask those who were participants in the decision-making had they known in march 2003 that the country would be at war in iraq for six or seven more years whether they would have made the decision they did. but this assumption that the war would be short or the endless right around the corner afflicted the department of defense as badly as it did the decision-makers themselves and because everyone assumed that the war would be over there was a great reluctance inside defense to spend significant sums of money on equipment that might be needed to protect the troops but that might be useful only in iraq or afghanistan. as i describe in the book the department of defense is organized to plan for war, not to wage war and so the services dedicate all of their efforts, pretty much all of their efforts to dev

so that's one thing we won in iraq. nasa has found meth ann on marses though i believe it originated from uranus. this is the colbert report. (cheers and applause) captioning sponsored by comedy central ♪ >> stephen: welcome tos report, everybody, thank you so much. >> stephen, stephen, stephen! stephen, stephen, stephen! stephen, stephen, stephen! stephen, stephen, stephen! >> stephen: thank you, ladies and gentlemen. thank you so much. good to have you with us in here, out there, all around the world. ladies and gentlemen, folks thank you so much i mr. so grateful that off you are here, all of you are at home watching. this is my last show that this isn't my last show. an i have told to tell you there is some of i'm going to miss. like my beloved studio. i have enjoyed so many memories here. i have also enjoyed so many bottles of bud lite lime that the memories are a little hazey. but tomorrow i will conclude my final broadcast. say my fond fair well, angry adioses, and my luke-warm lighters and walk out. and then e

steve mentioned the war in iraq. peter has a good piece in the atlantic monthly on afghanistan, the ongoing war in afghanistan. he hopes the lessons of the mistakes we made at the end of the iraq war are not repeated in afghanistan, the we do not again as is currently u.s. national policy pull all american troops out of afghanistan at the end of 2017 because the taliban is waiting to come back, waiting for that opportunity and if we have -- i will stop here -- if there is a guiding principle of american national security policy in the wake of september 11th is not to yields territory to terrorists in which they can plan, prepare for and conduct operations against the united states and our allies. steve felt that in your act and we are fighting back against it. i hope we don't make this a mistake in afghanistan. >> you referred to withdrawing u.s. troops. we could argue whether it had to be done or not or should not have been done. was that the only mistake at the end of the iraq war? >> the biggest mistake at the end

and so we do the iraq war. and the iraq war turns out to be the way we don't want it to be. so we do the exact opposite. we disengage, we pull back, and we make the mistake of equal eating internationally with military interventionism. they are not the same thing. it is probably the utility of it that's not demonstrated. that we should be cutting our military capabilities. that we should be showing up at meetings and reassuring our allies. this is just old-fashioned diplomacy. it is not interventionism, per se. i do think that one thing that we should learn is that we have to be damn careful about using military forces. let's not over learned and dropn involved in syria russian mark >> not with military force. the same problems applied there that apply to libya. it was a situation where i did the usage of force turn out well. the problem was protecting. there was a humanitarian operation that could not be applied to syria. as many arefar concerned, it is not about human rights. put more ofickly, i transnationale and the issues that you are focused on, in terms of climate cha

iraq's stability was not only in iraq's interest but also in ours. i privately and publicly advocated for residual force that could provide training and security for iraq's military. then he went on to say, those on our side -- talking about the pentagon. those on our side viewed the white house as so eager to rid itself of iraq that it was willing to withdraw rather than lock in arrangements that would preserve our influence and interest. that is a statement by leon panetta. on afghanistan -- i'll move on to afghanistan. mr. blinken said -- quote -- "we've been very clear. we've been consistent. the war will be concluded by the end of 2014. we have a timetable, and that timetable will not change." this is why i'm so worried about him being in the position that he's in. because if they stick to that timetable, i am telling my colleagues that we will see the replay of iraq all over again. we must leave a stabilizing force behind of a few thousand troops or we will see again what we saw in iraq. so let's move on to syria. an msnbc interview in 2014 res

iran is a fact in iraq. you have to look at a border -- at a map to see that with a 1,500 kilometer border. >> excuse me, sir, would you say that iran violated iraqi air space? >> i would to refer to my d.o.d. colleagues. >> if they did, would we -- would there be any consequences for that violation, one of many? >> well, it's up to the iraqi government to control its own air space. they lack the assets and resources to do that. i would mention on that score, the f-16 program is moving forward. the pilots are in training and we're working with jordan to house those f-16s on a temporary basis before the bases in iraq are ready. >> if i could just on a few seconds we have left on syria, what is the latest with the train and equip mission? it doesn't seem that we've come very far. >> as you know that's a title 10 d.o.d. program and my d.o.d. colleagues can give you a substantial briefing on that. general allen and i have been to some of the host countries such as turkey, qatar and saudi arabia. we hope we can g

the eyes of the islamic state in the iraq and levant. something close to civil war in ukraine's east. india's narendra modi in nigeria, boko haram moves to attack and pitch battle all as oil plummets in price causing serious headaches. like every year you can look back and say, that was a time . >> one of the biggest moments for u.s. foreign policy in 2014, august 7th, president barack obama announcing the u.s.' mission to degrade and destroy the islamic state in iraq and the levant or isil. with the help of international coalition. the strength of the relatively new force took iraq and the region by spruce. iraq's prime minister nouri al-maliki stepped down. syria began to deteriorate into one of the worse civil wars and humanitarian crises on earth. 2014 saw rapid escalation. israel and gaza. and de-escalation. the u.s. nato combat mission depends afghanistan. some regions saw both conflict and celebration in 2014. ukraine elected a new president, then russia annexes crimea and russian-backed rebels battle for donetsk. and downing of a

iraq's prime minister nouri al-maliki stepped down. syria began to deteriorate into one of the worse civil wars and humanitarian crises on earth. 2014 saw rapid escalation. israel and gaza. and de-escalation. the u.s. nato combat mission depends afghanistan. some regions saw both conflict and celebration in 2014. ukraine elected a new president then russia annexes crimea and russian-backed rebels battle for donetsk. and downing of a passenger yet. the west fights russia's president vladimir putin with words. >> russia's aggressive actions elsewhere in ukraine as well as the spread of violence and extremism in north africa and the middle east affects security to nato's east and south. >> by the end of 2014 russia's currency had plummeted after months of sanctions and dropping oil prices. a stark difference between how the year began with the sochi olympics. also in 2014 the world's largest democracy, india elects a new prime minister. western african countries combat the worst outbreak of ebola in history. scotland's vote for independen

iran is a fact in iraq. you have to look at a border -- at a map to see that with a 1,500 kilometer border. >> excuse me, sir, would you say that iran violated iraqi air space? >> i would to refer to my d.o.d. colleagues. >> if they did, would we -- would there be any consequences for that violation, one of many? >> well, it's up to the iraqi government to control its own air space. they lack the assets and resources to do that. i would mention on that score, the f-16 program is moving forward. the pilots are in training and we're working with jordan to house those f-16s on a temporary basis before the bases in iraq are ready. >> if i could just on a few seconds we have left on syria, what is the latest with the train and equip mission? it doesn't seem that we've come very far. >> as you know that's a title 10 d.o.d. program and my d.o.d. colleagues can give you a substantial briefing on that. general allen and i have been to some of the host countries such as turkey, qatar and saudi arabia. we hope we can g

into iraq in july. with president abadi, now prime minister abadi, he has reached out to the sunnis, and i think the atmospherics are better. but, again, there's a time factor. if he doesn't deliver some of the promises to the sunni tribes that they are part of iraq, that there is a future, that could backlash. so, i mean, i sort of am trying to explain to an american audience, we have kurdistan, in a way we have shiastan, but we never have had a sunnistan. so unless we solve that part of the puzzle of iraq, then the sunnis will always fe isolated and to an extent betrayed. >> charlie: but sunnis are the best to explain that to them. you have to promise them that the shia prime minister is going to reach out and wants to have a relationship but the people best able to do that because of history i assume is fellow sunnis. >> to an extent. but again, i think there are a lot of iraqis, whether kurd, shia or sunni, that believe in a united iraq, and you've got to give those people the benefit of the doubt.

areas in syria and in iraq, the i.s. is trying to carry out effectively and enforce program of additional fighters from men and young adolescent boys? >> i think it is fair to say that's what's happening. there's a sense of fear that the isil uses in order to force individuals who perhaps when they are -- with intent to fight. britains, some of them who have returned or come back to europe have said that they were monitored and if they were seen not to continue to fight with the same level of energy that they went out there, then they would actually be killed or somehow persecuted. you are right. i think there's a massive amount of fear and brutality that isil is using in order to contain the ranks. >> at the moment, the consulate is running from a seventh floor. is that good enough? doest allow service? >> i visited. when we arrived, i share my surprise that we had arrived at the consulate's location. what is fair to say is that where things were in june, where the country was -- where the kurdish region was going in ju

i listened to the iraq panel earlier and i was encouraged by the optimism that this thing called iraq would be considered one political unit together. yes there are complaints on many issues seen on the kurdish issue et cetera. until three months ago, i used to live in acura. when you live in acura, these entities look much more loose and less real, lacking credibility. therefore the need for serious thinking about what kind of order or security architecture there could be a devise. i agree with what robert said. he's probably a talented and capable diplomat. i was here in a meeting with him here. i frankly admire the energy and optimism that he carries, but i don't think it will mean a lot on the ground. when it comes to aleppo t freeze would only be interested in a way if it would prevent the fall of aleppo to government and regime forces which would mean the prevention of even more refugees coming to turkey. now the kobani issue, et cetera. i'm an outspoken critic of the erdogan policies domestically. i understand there's a lot of negative perceptions developing for good reasons gi

revenue comes from iraq oil fields. the group has retained control of major oil fields in the north of iraq. from there, it smuggles oil to turkey where it sends to refineries in syria. >> >> we can target them to deprive them of this revenue, but they have enormous financial resources, paying their fighters good salaries, better than what we can afford to pay ours. >> that's partly because iraq has a serious financial cries. the economy is expected to shrink this year, because of lower oil output due to the war and unchecked government spending, including on the militiamilitias propping up secy pores. the government believes fire months of airstrikes and more effective ground forces of put isil on the defensive. it's planning to push on with an attack on mosul to recapture the city taken by isil in june. >> iraqi government has set up an operation for liberation of mosul and this can only be done in concert and coordination with the coalition, not separately. i believe it's doable and contrary to what many believe or t

what happens in the region flows into iraq, but also what happens in iraq affects the region. i think when national reconciliation happens, it needs to have the blessing of the regional actors that have most influence in iraq. i mean by that americans, i mean by that the saudis. i mean by that the turks and the iranians. that brings forward the question of the future of u.s. iranian relations. i think without the kind of blessing or umbrella provided by the regional countries and the countries that have influence in iraq, i think national reconciliation, whether at the top level or at the grassroots level has limits in how far it can go. now, in terms of agenda, i think my panel, my fellow panelists here have talked about what the agenda of national reconciliation process, especially at the national level should be focusing on, the question is back to the forward, how you make that work. i agree with you, there is no power sharing and i remember in 2006, 2007, many of the sunni participants in that track 1.5 of reconciliation, the word they came back to time and time again is

first, we surged intelligence over the skies of iraq. we went from flying one platform per month to 60 per day, gaining a more granular picture of the isil network essential to the future of any military campaign. second, we established joint operations centers in baghdad and irbil, restoring critical relationships with iraqi and kurdish commander, gaining new insight into their capabilities and needs. third, we deployed special forces teams to assess iraqi and kurdish security formations with a focus on the defense of baghdad. and finally and perhaps most importantly we supported the iraqis as they worked to stand up a new and more inclusive government following national elections. throughout the summer months we worked these four tracks sultly, lohsing more about isil, its locations, movement, and leadership patterns, restored relationships with iraqi commanders and learned more about the deficiencies within their security services while supporting iraqi political leaders as they stood up a new government. for all these reasons, on aug

iraq. there is a connection. when you add jim's a dimension of social media, twitter, myspace, youtube, facebook, a connection that we can make it homes in the united states that have encouraged people from denver, from florida to go fight in this area. in the case of abu sal is a very interesting one. there's a kid north of miami, radicalized here in the united states in florida, goes over to fight with al-qaeda affiliates in syria, al-nusra front. comes back to the united states for six months. no one in the u.s. law enforcement system realized that he'd gone to fight with an al-qaeda affiliate. makes the decision to blow himself up. thankfully does that they're rather than h he because he stad for six months, returns in and blows himself up. that connection with the unprecedented numbers makes this i think given to the second issue really with the islamic state of iraq in the levant, isil, whatever acronym you use, we have an interesting situation to a nonstate actor has made a pretty se

we're not trying to create perfection in either iraq or syria. we've accepted, but certainly not trying to do that. so, i think that's the big assurance. >> so, if there was mission creep, that would be the direction of politicians here? >> it's the ministers to decide what objectives we seek to carry out and how we don't -- seeking to do so. >> thank you chairman. >> i'd like to go back to the issue of training. that mr. havard started to explore because you talked about, you said that the counter ied scoping that you were doing and you hope to have some decisions in a few days. now, i gather we have been employing private companies to p r(t&háhp &hc% we've paid 250,000 for 18 peshmerga to have four weeks of training. why are we using a private company rather than british armed forces? >> well, that was a foreign office program designed to deliver very quick effect into a peshmerga on the back of a request by the peshmerga and as i say, that was a foreign office program. i think what i have described is something that is much more institutional

when they went into iraq in july, the uprising that happened in western iraq was not because the sunni tribes had any affinity for isis. it was the frustration with baghdad for many, many years because there was no -- the sunnis felt there was no political inclusion into the future of iraq. that is something we have discussed not just with us jordanians, but with americans. we have heard that for many years. and it was that explosion of isis into iraq in july. now with the new prime minister, he has reached out to the sunnis and i think the atmospherics are better. but again, there is a timetable. if he doesn't deliver some of these promises, then to the sunni tribes that they are part of iraq and there is a future, that could backfire. i try to explain to the american audience, we have kurdistan. but we never had the sunnistan. unless we solve that part, they will feel isolated. >> but they need people to extend that to them for some you got to promise them that the shia prime minister is going to reach out and wants a relationship. but the people best able to that because of history,

we are giving this a tremendous amount of aid to iraq whereas it is my understanding that iraq is still paying and acknowledges its debt to saudi arabia and kuwait for tens of billions of dollars borrowed by saddam hussein. is iraq still making payments to saudi arabia on that debt and those that care for them in the position where instead of paying for that we have to give it to them for free? >> as i mentioned we face a very serious fiscal crisis and that they are facing a -- >> they faced the crisis in part because they honor the debt to saudi arabia and kuwait run up by saddam hussein. i've never gotten a straight answer out of the state department. i figured i'd try. >> payments are mandated by the chapters of immunity to the council resolution. they can do about a billion dollars a month. iraq is obligated to pay those funds. >> they are payments on saddam hussein's data. >> they are the gulf war reparations that they are about a billion dollars a month. >> i'm not talking about the reparations. i'm talking about the money that is borrowed to carry on the war against iran. the pro

it was totally destroyed in iraq. but in the which is come of america, and the lack of support for the militia, made the system very weak. i know that olt of them joined isis and they explained to me why and how and that it is perfectly logical for them. why? because in january 2013, when falluja fell into isis in iraq, the u.s. sought to remove the shiia militimilitia. you have a lot h a lot of shiia militia in the fight against sunni insurgents. while maliki sought to sec t-- what should happen if the arab sunni in iraq was moving. at this time it was exactly the time the months where isis in syria was launching a huge attack against isis. and isis was expelled from all the west territory in syria. so at this critical time, we called it, i mean the u.s. and our country called out and tried to stop maliki, to push on maliki to not open the way to a sectarian strategy. of course rise the power of isis in iraq. >> again, a lot of ground has been covered. let's now turn to the audience, please introduce yourself and als

military in iraq. [cheers and applause] that's right. that's right, ladies and gentlemen. iraq. the country so nice we invaded it twice. you know, folks, a lesser man would try to pander to you. but i'm to the going to do that besides you would never fall for it because you are the sharpest, coolest, sexiest fighting force in the history of mankind. [cheers and applause] you know, it's my first trip to iraq. i don't know why i haven't made it here before but it's hard to explain to the people back home just how hot it is here. let me put it this way: when saddam hussein got to hell, i'm guessing he asked for a blanket. [ laughter ] we're actually broadcasting tonight from one of saddam hussein's old palaces the al-faw which is also known as the water palace because that's the only damn drink you can get around here. come on! [cheers and applause] i mean really. [cheers and applause] no alcohol, if anyone deserves a beer it's you people. [cheers and applause] if you get one, hook me up i've had a look around the palace. saddam has fantastic taste. there's so much marble and gold

we're still involved in iraq. i think that, you know, when we go to war, the obligations that we have, as a country, they're long-lasting. they're long-lasting in terms of, you know, what we owe the veterans who come home. some of them, you know, who need long term medical care. and you know, we also have an obligation to think very seriously about how we use military force whether we have done so wisely and what lessons we can draw for the future to make us a more responsible nation. (cheers and applause) are they people that you served with without can look at these stories and say i know what influenced you? i know that situation? i was there in that story. >> well, i did interview a lot of people. you know, i went to iraq and drew on my own experience. there's no one person who ask just sort of a fictionalized individual. because i would feel constrained, how. i don't think i could be as, in a weird way as truthful as i wanted to be in trying to chase down the experiences i was trying to articulated on the pag

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 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 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 totally ab curt. bid laudin in the gjihad, yes it focused on the u.s., on the west, but it also focused on the middle east. there are many incubating factors that leads to terrorism, that leads to violent extremism, to recruitment. you know, for example, an education system in the

one issue from the moment we invaded iraq is that we invaded iraq. what is significant about right now this is really apparent to me when i was in iraq last month that the iraqis have now invited us in to help them. it's a totally different environment than our presence in the past and it gives us a kind of a new foundation in which to operate. right up until a presence in iraq, was extremely controversial we were there at all. >> ambassador, unfortunately we have to cut you off because i will recognize the remaining members were then it each because i know that you need to leave by 12:15. mr. cicilline of rhode island. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, mr. ambassador for being here today to discuss the implementation as it relates to the strategy to defeat isis and have the opportunity to thank you for your service to our country and area of tremendous difficulty. i believe there's no military solution to the conflict in iraq into syria and i have deep reservations about the efficacy of the military actions we've taken, particularly as it relat

iraq, jordan, and lebanon have lesser numbers. we have obviously -- in the of iraq and jordan, lebanon as well -- goes beyond what i can talk about in this session. >> the last question i had, in regards to foreign fighters coming from russia. is russia facilitating their leaving the country and going another area -- simply because of the problems that they would cause internally in russia? aware of any evidence that they are encouraging foreign fighters to leave russia. >> thank you very much. the chair recognizes the gentleman from new york. think we need to ask the question, why they coming? isis, there most potent tool is momentum. in e conquest of territory syria and iraq. the ability to maintain momentum. why, is isis so effective? because, there has been no effective counterforce to confront that. united states spent $25 the iraq building up the iraqi army ran. so, the new york times reported this morning that was a major deal between baghdad and kurdish leadership. a permanent long-term the to provide 17% of national budge

a lot of that revenue comes from iraq -- iraq eye oil fields. >> air campaign target those facilities in syria and some in iraq to deny them and deprive them of this revenue, but they have enormous financial resources. they are paying their recruits or their soldiers, or their fighters good salaries, better than what we can afford to -- to pay ours. >> reporter: that's partly because iraq has a serious financial crisis. the economy is expected to shrink this year, because of lower oil output due to the war, and unchecked government spending. but the iraqi government believes that five months of air strikes and more effective ground forces have put isil on the defensive. it's apparently planning to push on with an attack on mosul to recapture the city taken by isil in june. >> the iraqi government has set up an operation for the liberation of mosul, okay? and this can only be done in concert, of course, and coordination with the coalition, not separately. but i believe is doable. and contrary to what many people believe or think, i don't think it will be a long-fought battle. >> report

i went to iraq in 2003. i was against the war, but i believed it was important to take saddam hussein from power. governance is a nice label, but the main point i wanted to say that it touches upon politics and the strands that i was talking about -- these diffusers of power. i think there is this notion that if we just a ground with tens of thousands of troops, held it together -- we would have held it together like expensive duct tape. it was the inattention to the that tary and is and actually contributed to the spike in sunni radicals. not many singles politics, trying as a point those to make -- eeven the word i just used here, managing -- we do not manage things, but keep an eye to it. they, themselves, will shape the margins. that is where i think obama is often right. as, often, too standoffish, but he understands that people need to write their own history. great if we ould be could talk a bit more. we're not going to re-invade and reoccupy, which is a good thing. >> the only thing i would say to th

what we saw, the real reason why in iraq it has been twofold -- one, the rise of isil. an outgrowth of al qaeda in iraq, but secondly, the really dismal governing authority that maliki divided, which was sectarian, which was corrupt, which didn't invest in maintaining the capabilities of the iraqi security versus that had -- forces that had been built up. >> we had a lunch where we witnessed in a two size and cross-dressing, i think -- [laughter] we had bob menendez, the democrat, and rand paul, the republican. we were talking about iran, rand paul was completely supportive of the administration from negotiation strategy with iran. senator menendez said he would bring forward a resolution in the next three weeks that would intensify the sanctions regime, increase the sanctions regime on iran from march, first of april of this new two-part deadline from march to make sure pressure is maintained. he worries, he fears that iran will play this out and the sanctions will gradually be weekend -- weakened, that he will produce legislation that will require you to increase the

iraq, jordan, lebanon have lesser numbers. and we, obviously, in the case of iraq and jordan their efforts to curb the flow of foreign fighters. lebanon as well although that's somewhat more difficult situation. it goes beyond what i could talk about in this session as well. >> all right. the last question i had was in in regards to those coming from russia and i suspect this relates to chechnya. is russia facilitating their leaving the country and going to another area simply because of the problems that they are going to cause internally in russia? >> i'm not aware of any evidence they are facilitating the chechnya fighters to leave russia. >> thank you. >> chair recognizes the gentleman from new york, mr. higgins. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i think we need to forget for a moment where these foreign fighters are coming and ask the fundamental question that we're not asking which is why are they coming. isis their most potent recruitment tool is momentum, success. conquest of territory covering large portion of syria and ira

this month alone we had 42 people killed in iraq. we have some kind of security forces there who killed in the line of duty as well. >> interesting. thank you very much for speaking to us. it's not just iran making its influences felt t iraq forces have targeted isil fighters. the strikes follow two important gains by the iraqi army in salahudin prove incident. a report. >> reporter: militia fighters are celebrating after taking over the iraqi towns. they are supporting the iraqi military's advance of flighters ing to the islamic state of iraq in the levant. dozens were killed and injured on both sides. pro-government militia men say they are in control of both tongues. >> this is the town that used to be infested with snippers who hurt many civilians. we have now managed to retake it for the iraqi people. all iraqis we are ready to fight back. >> this is an area praise to god we have managed to liberate it. by the help of god, we are the victors. we are the imamidi brigade. >> they are important because they are left in a 100 kilome

iran is a fact in iraq. you have to look at a border -- at a map to see that with a 1,500 kilometer border. >> excuse me, sir, would you say that iran violated iraqi air space? >> i would to refer to my d.o.d. colleagues. >> if they did, would we -- would there be any consequences for that violation, one of many? >> well, it's up to the iraqi government to control its own air space. they lack the assets and resources to do that. i would mention on that score, the f-16 program is moving forward. the pilots are in training and we're working with jordan to house those f-16s on a temporary basis before the bases in iraq are ready. >> if i could just on a few seconds we have left on syria, what is the latest with the train and equip mission? it doesn't seem that we've come very far. >> as you know that's a title 10 d.o.d. program and my d.o.d. colleagues can give you a substantial briefing on that. general allen and i have been to some of the host countries such as turkey, qatar and saudi arabia. we hope we can g

there's no question that iran is playing a role in iraq. isil is a threat to iran and we have said that every country in the world has a role to play in defeating isil. the question for the iranians is whether they're going to do it in a constructive way or d n a destructive way. somewhat of what we're seeing right now in terms of iranian militias is not only problematic in terms of what we're seeing it's also problematic i know to the new government and also to ayatollah who has spoken out against any armed group operating outside the structures of the iraqi state. in the iraqi government made a commitment that was reaffirmed before 60 countries last month in brussels to assure that all armed groups are operating under the structures of iraqi state and that's something that the government will be working on. but in the total security collapse we had this summer, there's no question that mili a militias and some armed groups filled that vacuum that iran has played a role in that and it's something that the new government will have to begin

-led coalition air strikes in mosul, iraq. kurdish forces say they have taken control of five key villages close to the town, on the road between i.s.i.l. held mosul, and erbil, the capital of the kurdish region, i.s.i.l. commanders say they have gained territory near the oil refinery. dozens of soldiers are reported to have been killed in a long-running battle for control of the oil refinery. >> pope francis called on leaders to issue global condemnation of terrorism. the head of the roman catholic church was speaking to reporters on his way back from turkey. the popt if was on a 3-day -- pontiff was on a 3-day visit from the middle east. he urged an end to the persecution of christians in the region. >> it is true that when one sees these terrorist acts, not in this region, but in africa, there is this rehabilitation. if this is islam, i'm going to get angry. so many muslim people are offended. many say but we are not this, because the koran is a book of peace. it's a prophetic book of piece. it is not islam. >> to hong kong

and kurdish forces on the mash against isil fighters on iraq.