it ssht that easy in iraq. can you see they are spreading out seems of shia and turkey communities that stretch into kirkuk and they are still well behind isis lines still at this point. so no partition of the country -- and there is no limit to the pmu -- they will have to go north to eliminate all shia areas so i don't think it is neat and tidy for sure. and if they are trying to maintain a line of supply out to syria, well that is running through the anbar province and alien areas. >> right. and i'll pick up on the point. i think there is no reason to -- if you have the bass raw the major income for the country, we like to say those of us out there doing business bass raw doesn't need baghdad, baghdad needs bass raw. and then you have the capital, yeah, why push your luck and get in the food fights up there in indian land for what? you are not losing anything. >> and there is the idea that fights within themselves occur and i think phillips smyth showed that and that supports that as well and we have to assu

role, the strategy in iraq because we do have advisers intelligence officials on the ground in iraq their president has been clear he doesn't want boots on the ground doesn't want combat troops back inside iraq. but when you have fighting that's going on shg, if you're an intelligence person or a vise visor or not, if somebody's attacking you you'll take on a combat role there, in some ways turning it into a de facto combat mission. is it appropriate to put u.s. boots on the ground in iraq? >> absolutely. if you're going to fight, you have to fight to win. we cannot be half pregnant here. that's one of the problems we've had in the middle east. we done have clarity, don't have an object they've we're going to say here's our measure of success, our definition of victory. we have to have that. i served on the defense committee over ten year represented every branch of the military particularly the 3rd infantry, probably the most action in the middle east more than any other infantry division, and i heard it over and over again. unfortunately, you have to have boots on the ground to coordina

>> look at iraq. look at iraq. getting rid of saddam at the end of the day was not that hard. replacing saddam with somebody who could actually run the place very very hard. >> rose: but we also were misled by a bunch of bad people, too. some of the people we supported who felt they were-- >> sure, sure. but, you know, there was a reason why saddam ran the place the way he did. there's a reason he ran it with an iron fist. >> rose: the story was, was saddam the way he was because of the way iraq was or was iraq the way it was because of the way he is. >> probably a little of both. qadavi kept islamic extremists under control. so no, we don't have a very good track record. >> rose: back to isis. >> two very fundamental problems in the middle east. isil and iran. both of them are significantly detrimental to u.s. national security interests both of them. and yet there's this weird relationship between the two of them. where the iranians are actually helping us with isil. >> rose: the interesting thing, too is that in public opinion polls, whatever they mean, if anything more and

part of iraq's government. so they've been around for quite a while. it doesn't mean they are growing at rates that we've never seen before. there is a new crisis that we have in the organization. the other main thing is the breach and this is totally overstated. i can't say how much annoyance that causes me because they are so open about this and how they control these organizations. they have to follow the media and here is the weird thing even if they are not directly controlling the group then beyond that they will try to influence some with cash and weapons and support and then guess what happens they become another little micro has hezbollah. you can't ignore this top-down strategy because the people are recruiting. there is a top-down trickle-down structure here how many of you in a few decades ago but have said. these are the main issues. why are they going to fight ends. and how did this me to the current events in iraq and of the militia fighting against isis? a religious crisis needed to be manufactu

the problem with iraq, you are absolutely right about the role of iran and iraq. it's pervasive and it goes down the shia militias. it's in every level of the government every level of the state, security forces the kurds. they have relations with everybody in iraq because they actually have a full spectrum strategy for data with a close neighbor. i would actually not pose iran as the primary problem in iraq i think the militias are a primary problem, and iran can use that instant when it is useful for them, and if they decide it's not useful for them and they can begin to move to try and shut it down. i think that the key point is going to be that it's impossible to have as you said it's impossible to have a strategy which is about keeping a unified state in iraq that isn't going to include some kind of tacit maybe not formal but at least tacit cooperation with iran. their role in iraq is simply too invasive and to real. and security forces can't be disaggregated and only working with sony units. and if you want to tamp down sectarianism, you can't than doubled d

indirectly or directly communicates with iranian military inside iraq? >> no. >> the iraqi government doesn't share information with the iranians, and -- >> that would be a great question to ask the folks in baghdad. i don't know. i'm telling you we're not doing it. we're not talking to tehran. no i know but you're implying that we have some sort of -- [ inaudible ] some sort of indirect relationship or sort of allowing it to happen. we are not communicating directly, either with tie iran or the assad regime. we're not doing it indirectly. and we're not trying to fasting tate or encourage some sort of indirect communications either. >> a third party is not doing that on its own for whatever reason? >> we do the very best we can everywhere we operate to protect information as best we can. >> the question about -- that there's no evidence indicating that -- strikes on february 6th [ inaudible ] >> i don't think josh said there was no evidence of civilians on the ground. he said there's no evidence, we have no indication that there were civilian casualties

to bring iraq's communities politicians together and make this a fight for iraq, for the time being it seems each community is fighting for their own territory. >> protestors gathered in the egyptian capitol. this is a scene in sadat in southern cairo. protests are also taking place in east cairo. al jazeera journalists mohamed fahmy and baher mohammed have enough spent 405 days in prison in egypt accused of supporting the outlawed muslim brotherhood charges al jazeera has denied. peter greste arrived home in australia after being released early they are week. mohamed fahmy and baher mohammed are still imprisoned. al jazeera demands their immediate release. >> we'll go behind bars in new york where prisoners are getting a chance to be rehabilitated through a unique program. >> from baghdad to berlin, how a snapshot of iraqi history are trying to break stereo types. >> the dubai tour, in sport. >> monday. >> we're going to the bottom of the sea. >> deep submergence vehicles. >> three, zero, three, six. >> ocean experts have made some miraculous discoveries. >> octopus everywhere. >> but

i think that is the lesson we learned in iraq and afghanistan. with that i look forward to the testimony and questions. i appreciate the chairman holding the committee, i hearing i should say. >> i thank the gentleman. i mention to members we're supposed to have votes on the floor roughly around 10:40 10:45. i will try to be fairly strict with the time limits so that we can move along smartly. i ask unanimous consent that the full written statement of all of our witnesses be made part of the record. without objection so ordered. let me again thank our witnesses for being here. very pleased to see retired lt. general michael flynn, former director of the defense intelligence agency. mr. william braniff executive director, national consortium for study of terrorism and responses to terrorism with the university of maryland. and dr. mark lynch with the george washington university. all of these gent men have done very serious and helpful work for the committee and the country on the topic of terrorism and we're very grateful to have you with us toda

military in iraq for five years. and the studies for the new and american security previously she served in as the staff the national security council. a professional staff member on the senate as well. we will welcome them all and without objection witnesses will have a full prepared statement as part of the record they have have days to submit questions and staple and materials for the record. ambassador jeffrey if we can start with you and ask to you summarize your remarks in five minutes. thank you sir thank you mr. sherman and members of the committee. it is very important to note what we are doing today as you said, considering an authorization for the use of military force it is fitting and just that they would untake the grave decisions as this. i am proud to be here today to provide whatever help that i can. will the me start with isis. they have received a lot of help from the three or four of you have spoke end isis is a unique threat for reason that's have you laid out i will not repeat them again. we hav

-led invasion of iraq in two through three. opposition member of parliament phil if gulf was a member of foreign affairs at the time and says the currents government is making a mick that. >> we need to go down a different path. they have not taken in to account the he is lessons of history. >> reporter: the chances of an an attack here may be low but as the military prefares to join the fight in iraq, the dangers of some new zealanders overseas may increase. >> journalists, business people, diplomats who are within the reach of the islamic state and that reach, for example now extends heavily in to libya. it's presents in egypt. it's present in algeria. >> reporter: the government says the decision on what is likely to be a long deployment will be made within weeks. wayne hey, al jazerra aukland. >>> two al jazerra journalists are out on bail after 411 days in jail in egypt. but their fate for justice isn't over yet. bahar mohamed and mohamed fahmy are still charged with co colluding with the band muslim brother hood their pre

military deaths in iraq totalled more than 4400 people. the iraq war cost $815 billion according to the congressional research service. the u.s. deaths in afghanistan totalled 2200 people. and the total of cost is $86 billion. death on the iraq and afghanistan side are much harder to calculate for various reasons but when civilian deaths are included, number in the hundreds of thousands for iraq and nearly 15,000 for afghanistan, and of course we haven't stopped there. including but not limited to u.s. drone strikes, united states has been involved in yemen and pakistan. and the information has been compiled covering the bush and obama administrations. they estimate that more than 800 people have been killed in drone strikes in yemen, and more than 200 have been killed in pakistan. so it seems we have been doing a lot of killing our way out of this situation for a long time. what does the world look like? having spent money and risking our troops worldwide, here is what it looks like. afghanistan is a corrupt state that many believe will o

what did you see in iraq? officials here claim they're making progress against isis in iraq. >> reporter: i was incredibly depressed frankly. i knew iraq was in bad shape. it was even worse than i thought. isis is a huge problem in iraq and syria. but unless you confront the much bigger issues the issue of will occurred kurdistan be an independent state. what happens to sunni areas? will the government in baghdad continue to be run by shiite militia militias? what happens with assad? unless you address the bigger issues, it is still going to be there. i was completely discouraged by what i saw. the iraqi army has been described as pathetic, little more than a coalition of militias. so i got no indication that things are going well. >> all right. richard, thank you for your sober account there. we'll discuss this attack plus the war against isis with two key senators from the armed services committee the first one is the chairman of that committee, senator john mccain of arizona. and the 2008 republican preside

always meaning isis is today just what used to be the islamic state of iraq, al-qaeda in iraq, the czar coo wee network. all the same thing. even back during 2005, 2006, the insurgency was and continues to be today through localized crime. kidnapping for ransom, extortion, political corruption, et cetera. whereas we have tools to deal with major donors in the gulf, we have tools even if we decide to implement them to deal with the oil they're spahning off. we don't have tools to deal with their crime at home because we don't have boots on the ground. >> what was the reason for having such an enormous ransom figure, for instance for james foley. they wanted 130 million american dollars. if they have all this oil money coming in, it never got that kind of money. maybe some countries pay ransom. but they were never going to get 130 million from any country. >> that's why many people think they weren't in it for the money at all. the united states and united kingdom have a no ransom policy anyway. >> the oil that they have selling on the black market, is there any way to shut that down, bec

helicopters battling fighters in iraq. that's what we're talking about because the bombers attacked a military base and that base is housing hundreds of american troops. it's just nine miles from the iraq town. you see it here on the map. they grabbed control of the town on friday in an intense assault. 90 percent of it is under isis control. now, as the isis fighters battled inside suicide bombers wearing uniforms that they had stolen trying to rush the air base. cnn's bill black is in iraq right now. what is the latest at the base? >> reporter: no further attacks. isis mill at that particular times dressed in iraq military uniform as many as ooetd of them were suicide bombers and they were dealt with with the assistance of the american attack helicopters. did not fire any rounds, but seemed to have played a surveillance role. in a nearby town the iraq and the efforts to retake the town have not made a lot of progress. they're still at the perimeter of the town. the center and the heart of the town and is vase majority of

of iraq and the levant. they long to one of the biggest tribes in the country. iraq's defense minister is a member of the same tribe. all of those taken come from a single village east of ta creek. we'll hear about the abduction in a moment but first to syria where isil it's a is under attack from kurdish forces. zana hoda reports. >> reporter: syrias kurds have been at war with the islamic state of iraq and the levant for months. isil fighters were defeated in the border town of kobani now kurdish forces are trying to force them future. it's not an easy fight. it is a province in eastern syria, which is home to kurds arabs and christians and where isil controls pockets of territory. it borders territory controlled by the group across the border in northeastern iraq and there is an important supply line. >> translator: what is happening now is that there is a real fight against isil. it controls about 30% of the province. kurds are fighting on one front, and regime soldiers based in the province are also att

ground combat forces to iraq or syria. it is not the authorization of another ground war like afghanistan or iraq. the 2600 american troops in iraq today largely serve on bases. and yes, they face the risks that come with service in any dangerous environment but they do not have a combat mission. they are focused on training iraqi forces including kurdish forces. as i've said before i'm convinced that the united states should not get dragged back into another prolonged ground war in the middle east. that's not in our national security interests and it's not necessary for us to defeat isil. on the ground who know their countries best are best positioned to take the ground fight to isil and that's what they are doing. at the same time, this resolution strikes the necessary balance by giving us the flexibility we need for unforeseen circumstances. for example if we had actionable intelligence about a gathering of isil leaders and our partners didn't have the capacity to get them, i would be prepared to order our special force

that's the cost of, like, 40 seconds of the actual iraq war. (applause) so "american sniper" is already the biggest january release ever and is on pace to beat "passion of the christ" as the number one r-rated movie of all time. it's official. bradley cooper is the new r-rated jesus. (cheers and applause) (hallelujah chorus music) ♪ hallelujah! ♪ ♪ hallelujah! ♪ >> larry: so why is this movie striking such a chord with people? maybe people just love a good war hero. >> most of the conversation about iraq is negative, and most of the conversation about what happened with our country in iraq is negative. this is a positive portrayal. this is a film with an american hero. >> larry: and hollywood is taking notice. columbia pictures is rebooting "black hawk down" as a musical called "black hawk up"! (laughter) (applause) i've heard neil patrick harris crushes it. whatever it is, "american sniper" has been a virtual i.e.d of emotions since its release. this film has become a political football faster than you could say "michael moore." michae

custody in iraq from 2005 to 2009. the prison camp located in southeast iraq was named at ronald buca a new york city fire marshal killed in 9-11. he turned over authority to iraqis he was improperly let go in 2009. details are sketchy about what happened next. >> we know al qaeda as a great amount of autonomy within those camps in iraq. they kept their command structure. they were ordering and planning attacks from inside custody. in the years following his release baghdad did i climbed the ranks in eye can ra. later the group rebranded itself as isis. >> he clearly leap frogged ahead of al qaeda by declaring a territorial state. something that has empowered isis in many ways the islamic state to really now lay claim to being the chief terrorist organization in the world. >> back to the panel. why don't we know more about baghdadi. why can't we get more information we know we want him. >> he has been forecast to have been killed and wounded. certainly he is not dead certainly if he is wounded esz still getting around.

we need to recognize that because it's not just starting with iraq and trying to do iraq first and then we'll deal with syria, it's understanding this wider problem that we have in trying to solve it in a way that, you know, that actually does something and suppresses it. we're never going to quite get rid of it. you're never going to get rid of the zealots that are out there. they exist from the beginning of time. you can suppress it and you can get governments to basically meter their own problems they have and do more about it. if governments are corrupt it's not going to help. >> charlie: i leave you with two ideas. number one is this idea the united states cannot believe -- cannot be the world's policeman. >> right. >> charlie: the other idea is if not the united states, who? >> yeah. so both. it's okay to be the world leader. it's okay we're the world leader. we should not, as i said earlier -- >> charlie: i didn't say leader, i said policeman. >> but policeman means we're going to have to be the force out there leading whatever the problem set that we're trying to solve is. so be

that's the key to holding iraq together and liberating iraq from isis. >> the u.s. spent a decade training the iraqi forces. they were supposed to have a central military. hundreds of thousands of troops were armed, trained, funded by the united states. the u.s. spent a decade there doing it. as soon as the united states pulled out, that entire effort collapsed. as soon as isis came in with a few thousand guys they ran away from mosul, a big city nearly two million people. all that armored, equipment was left behind. these are the people the u.s. still thinks that the u.s. can train and get the job done? it was a total waste the first time around. why try again? >> it's our only option. between the iraqi military -- >> the peshmerga, they are fighting. but they have no weapons. the u.s. is still providing the weapons to the central regime in baghdad. some flows to the kurds. it's a horrendous mess. >> they have gotten a dozen. but they have a board we are isis. it's not going to do very much. we need to arm the peshmerga. deal with it. >> right now, the 400 marines

when we talk about isis in iraq it's a bit more of success story for the u.s. and coalition force than isis in syria. what is your assessment whether we need u.s. ground troops not for fighting on the ground but better locating the targets. do we need to see that? >> poppy, you know the attack on to or assault on mosul, when that is planned and will kick off is based on the timeline between iraqis and u.s. advisors that are there. because it is such a difficult fight, mosul being a city the second largest city in iraq it will probably behoove us to put air controllers, some other special forces advisors in there for the iraqi teams to insure we get precision fire and reduce our collateral damage. >> isn't that just boots on the ground? isn't it just semantics to say it's something different? b, frankly after heavy air strikes in kobani we were able to drive isis out of kobani. >> first, let me start with kobani. kobani was in a pretty major fight. kobani had most of your civilians and non-combatants were leaving or trying to leave and we really had a fight of i

people don't know you sacrificed two of your legs when you fought in iraq and afghanistan. you are an american hero sir. thank you for your service. >> thank you. >>> well a 911 operator facing criticism for the way he handles a teenage girl in a life or death situation. >> please, hurry snup ma'am stop yelling. i need a location. >>> welcome back to the real story. he told a distressed caller to quote, stop whining. the voice on the other end of the show a teenaged girl. her father pictured here had been fatally struck while changing a tire on the side of the road. trace gallagher has more. >> if i had time i'd play the whole thing to show you how inappropriate this dispatcher was. 38-year-old rick warwick and his fianceee aniancee were trying to fix the flat tire. they were both hit by a passing vehicle. she called 911 and as you might imagine she was a bit shaken but right away the dispatcher starts being critical. listen. >> can you please hurry up. >> ma'am, stop yelling. i need a location. >> we're on 295. >> are they breathing? >> yes i think so. can you all hear me?

press lead up to iraq war. there's been a lot of jokes saying brian williams only one punished with lies involving iraq. is there some truth to the idea we're focusing so much on this and ignoring some of those bigger issues? >> there's a great irony here that one of the legitimate, many legitimate crit ex-iques of the media they tend to focus more on personalities in a political campaign than fundamental issues. certainly if you compare damage apart from the damage done by nbc, from brian williams misstatements or lies or whatever they are compared to what the consequences were bad, inaccurate reporting of the run-up to the war in iraq it's geometric, it's enormous gap. this one other quick point i think worth making one of the reasons brian is in trouble, this fits a familiar narrative of on outsized personality who may not be what they want us to think they are. for instance the liberal who votes for school busing and sending kids to private school war with five draft, environmentalist who flies a private je

defeat and degrade isis in iraq as well these two battlegrounds, syria and iraq as much as the u.s. would want to try to differentiate and provide direct assistance on the ground in iraq these are effectively the same battlefield. defeating isis in one nation does not mean it is going to be defeated in the other. and there needs to be a strategy that's going to address the difficulty of defeating isis that is going to combine both iraq and syria. and that means a potentially uncomfortable situation for the united states where it is indirectly in allegiance with iran and also with bashar al assad. >> it's a very complex situation over there. i've spoken to some u.s. officials who are concerned that al abadi who is an iraqi shiite he may be more interested in maintaining a strong relationship with his neighbor iran than he is with the united states which he obviously doesn't fully trust in the aftermath of what's been going on in recent months. we'll see what happens. it's a very delicate sensitive situation right now. as you correctly point out, there are u.s. troops increasing numbe

same mistake in iraq in 2003. we destroyed the iraqi infrastructure, wiped out the army and had no blueprint to the move forward. >> i want to go back to marie. you were shaking your head. it seems like colin powell was right. he said you broke it you bought it. we've broken all these governments from iraq, afghanistan, libya half a government and what's left in syria and they're all broken apart, and we've become the gendarme and we're fighting isis. isis is here. until we get rid of it, it's going to be here to stay. my question, where do we go from here? >> i think what everyone was saying is too simplistic. in libya and syria we supported people who were rising up in their own country to try to get a better future. i remember the time people saying we were too slow to support them. >> what government? libya? >> in libya and syria. around the middle east when we were talking about the arab uprising different than iraq. complete different. people were saying america should stand by these people looking to stand

in iraq. i think there are a lot of questions relative to syria. my sense is today you'll have a number of questions regarding that. and we hope that what you'll do general allen is give us an honest assessment as to the end state we would like to see happen in iraq and syria when we complete the activities that we're involved in. and understand the political and military strategy that we have under way. and to give us a little sense of time frame relative to the various activities that are necessary. i was just in iraq last week in both baghdad andish isherbil with our kurdish friends and ankara with our turkish friends. the shia militias are everywhere in iraq as people know. general sulayman who was head of the force for iran has now become a celebrity in iraq. and i have to say it feels very strange to be there knowing much of the activity we have under way while it is necessary is really to iran's benefit. and i know there is a lot of concerns that after this activity is completed, if we'

these men may represent many communities, but iraq's shia are not among them. there is still little reconciliation. they want authorities to speed up plans to create a national guard, made up of people from the area. >> the sons of the city know who are good and who are terrorists. we were all terrorists or at least suspects. >> commanders hearsay that the national guard is important where the mainly shia army may not be trusted. defeating isil in this strategic and i'llly highly symbolic city of mosul could be the start of another conflict in iraq. al jazeera. northern iraq. >> more on all the stories we've been covering at our website www.aljazeera.com. woman, a president who would help us look in the mirror and see ourselves honestly.

go to iraq and let's go now new zealand is considering setting troops to iraq, and the government says any soldiers it sents will perform a noncombat role. this was the public invitation to a fight that many people suspect new zealand has signed up for long ago last week became the first iraqi foreign minister to visit here, and came calling on his counter part to send troops. >> the motion has always been there would be need to be some invitation that we would feel that our differents -- >> according to the government, any troops it decides to send would be to help train soldiers. it has performed similar operations in afghanistan. the price of belonging toking the club. a reference to the intelligence alliance that also includes the united states australia, great britain, and canada. but it is also about pay back, last year, iraq voted to include new zealand on the united nations security council some people worry that new zealand is losings it's reputation that has at times seen it take a bold stance against some of it's much larger allies. a move that certainly upset the united sta

. >> also on the program the shia militia in iraq has pushed isil from a key province and preparing to target other strongholds. >> anti terrorist police are on the alert in france and knifemen attack soldiers guard ago jewish center. >> british m.p.s are the first to give the go ahead for a controversial technique. now doctors are closer to creating a baby with three parents. >> now video released by the islamic state of iraq and the levant purportedly shows members killing a captive jordanian pilot. he was taken by the group in december after his jet crashed in syria. a message from isil said the pilot would be killed if jordan didn't release an iraqi woman facing the death approximately. the death comes days after the group released a video purportedly showing members killing a june knees journalist. >> let's talk now, thank you for joining us here. if it's true, it's a terrible and tragic development. what do you make of it? >> >> it is a brutal execution by any organization to burn a hostage alive, we have never seen anything like this. we don't know the circumstances. we don't kn

iraq and the levant. they long to one of the biggest tribes in the country. iraq's defense minister is a member of that tribe. all of those taken come from a single village east of tikrit. in an area where isil is involved in fierce fighting with government forces. first, though, we're going to go to syria, where isil forces are under attack from kurdish forces. >> reporter: syria's kurds have been at war with the islamic state of iraq and the levant for months. isil fighters were defeated in the border town of kobani now kurdish fighters are trying to force them from this area. they lost a view villages. ilgs's not an easy fight. u.s. lead coalition has been helping the kurds with air strikes from the air. it is strategic for isil and the fight against the armed group. it borders territory controlled by the group across the border in northwestern iraq. and there is an important supply line that isil uses to move from its co-called capitol to the iraqi city of mosul, one of its strong holds in northern ir

including in iraq. the republicans are playing a game here i think in which they want to say the president's been too weak but don't necessarily want to go on record with a vote that indicates that they're giving this president or this president's successor this kind of blank check that george bush had at some point. a lot of constituencies, there's a sense that united states just got out of two wars, don't want the get back in. >> both parties i would say had division between elite ranks, the national security strategists tend to think on truth serum versus where the country at both ends of the ideological spectrum is weary of war, skeptical of our ability to make a difference even if we want to. president obama president closer to the mood of the country than the people who are saying, we got to do something, the world is on fire, we need a more aggressive response. >> everybody pretty much thinks that we need to update the authorization that the much less agreement. but especially as we wind down the

many iraqis like him found themselves without a place in the new iraq. commanders and fighters here are bitter about the way they were treatedar the fall of saddam. the grievances were by i.s.i.l. but armed groups represent them. they are leading a fight against i.s.i.l. on behalf of the iraqi deposit. >> the fight to push out i.s.i.l. from the city of mosul may be a while away. >> it's not just a question of being ready militarily the battle for the largest city requires a political solution. >> iraq's shia are not among the communities. there's little reconciliation. sunnis want the authority to speed up plans. it involves establishing an armed force in each province made of of people in the area. commanders want the national guard to be created. they won't treat everyone badly like the army treated us. we were terrorists or suspects. >> commanders say the national guard is important in sunni areas where the mainly shi'a army may not be trusted. >> defeating i.s.i.l. in the strategic and symbolic city of mosul may be the beginning of the end for the ar

they plan to open 13 more. >> iraq people now have money. they want to spend it. >> reporter: and there's more to come. this 33-story complex next omansour will include a shopping mall a restaurant a luxury hotel. investments and enough stability to make them work. jane arraf, al jazeera baghdad. >>> the biggest push yet to resolve the ten month conflict in ukraine that have killed 5,000 people. a last ditch attempt to avoid the u.s. arming ukraine in its battle against pro-russian rebels. simon mcgregor wood reports. >> first it was secretary of state john kerry meeting president poroshenko and then prime minister yatsenyuk pointing a finger of blame at moscow. >> russia and the separatists are seizing more territory terrorizing more citizens and refusing to participate in serious negotiations. let there be no doubt who is blocking the prospect of peace here. >> reporter: significantly he said president obama would decide soon whether or not to supply ukraine with lethal weapons. later, francois hollande and angela merkel flew in. the talki

-led invasion of iraq in 2003. opposition member of parliament phil tkpwo*f was the goff was the minister of foreign affairs back then and says the current government is making a big mistake. >> we need to go down a different path. this government has not thought it through and not taken in to account the lessons of history. >> reporter: they tightened laws giving agency greater power to monitor people and preventing new zealanders from leaving the country to join isil. the attacks threat might be low here the dang foursome new zealanders over seize seas in increase. >> journalists business people in reach of isis, it's presents it lib yeah, egypt al year ya. >> reporter: the government says a decision on what's likely to be a long deployment will be made within weeks. wayne hey, al jazerra auckland. >>> eastern ukraine fighting has threatened the pull back of weapons. they spoke on the phone about the situation on the ground, a truce came in to effect at midnight on saturday but shelling in the key town of debalts

strategy in iraq as heroic. >> there were mistakes made in iraq for sure. using the intelligence capability that everybody used about weapons of mass destruction turns out not to be accurate. my brother's administration through the surge, there was no support for this and hugely successful and created a stability that when the new president came in, he could have built on to create fragile but more stable situation that would not have and allowed for the void to be filled. the void has been filled because we created the void. >> steve kornacki, most of msnbc's "up" and george pataki how does jeb bush separate himself from a very recent presidency with whatever your politics is now recognized to be the very unpopular war with iraq? >> he did not do that today. he said he's his own man and he is. he will be asked specific questions and he will outline issues that will allow him to stand on his own two feet. but what he really said today was basic republican orthodoxy. he said we made the wrong decision on cuba. almost all republicans agree on that. we have to

what we've seen with al qaeda in iraq and isis, i think isis has learned from al qaeda in iraq, the previous iteration, now providing social services to people in eastern syria, for example. but it's almost as if they've got something in their dna that they can't help but burn a jordanian alive in a cave or decapitate prisoners on video. that's the stuff that i think will cost them not just within the broader arab world, but also motivates the international community in a way that were not motivated, for example, to intervene against boko haram in nigeria. >> or assad dropping barrel bombs and killing people. >> that's right. >> really a pleasure. >> sure. >> the success of isis in capturing the world's attention is about more than the extreme barbarity its members have committed, it's also the way they packaged the atrocities. the aggressive propaganda machine seemingly designed to seduce new recruits to a cause and scare enemies into submission. isis released footage purporting to show people in the isis controlled city of raqqa in syria watching the group's latest horrifying spectacle on

but not so much on the iraq. and something came out over the weekend of an interview he gave to a student journalist back in 2007 where he talked about the fears he's had for his life in ever coing stories. just watch. >> i look down the tube of an rpg that had been fired at us and it hit the chopper in front of ours. and i'm so fortunate to be sitting here. >> okay. he never looked down the tube of an rpg. >> right. >> that was never true. now we know his life was never in danger. so when you hear these stories, this underscores the problem he faces when he goes back on the air. >> exactly. and this is one of these stories that has just broken through that everybody is talking about. i've heard a lot of civilians. people are not obsessed with what the media and politics say. i don't know that i could ever look at him the same or ever trust him. so he has multiple problems of having to play defense on these various stories having to become a national punch line and a bloodthirsty mob online that doesn't care abou

by the way not just isis, but it's isis in iraq and michael can comment on this more, isis in iraq and syria but it's in yemen with aqap the group that inspired the attacks in paris we have collapsing situation in yemen. other al qaeda groups in syria and ip north african we have this social media dynamic that is radicalizing individuals around the world and individuals in small groups. and we have first class crisis in europe right now. >> perspective is really important here. isis pose a threat to the united states, absolutely. does it pose a threat to the order in middle east and borders and the whole system ip the middle east, absolutely. but is it the biggest threat to the only hand right now? no. aqap in yemen is a bigger threat al qaeda in pakistan is a bigger threat, the group which is part of the group in syria which is separate from isis is bigger threat right now. perspective is really important here. >> schieffer: when you put all that together no, i don't think so this has anything close to the evil that the nazis represented, obviously this is not the cold war with the so

the problem with iraq you are absolutely right about the role of iran and iraq. it's pervasive and it goes beyond the shiite militia. it's in every level of the government the level of the state, sacred forces, the kurds. i have relations with everybody in iraq because they have a full spectrum strategy for dealing with the close neighbor. i would actually not pose iran as the primary problem in iraq. i think the militias are a primary problem, that iran can use that instrument when it is useful for them, and if they decide it's not useful for them then they can begin to move to try and shut it down. i think the key point is going to be that it's impossible to have come as you said, it's impossible to have a strategy which is about keeping a unified state in iraq that isn't going to include some kind of tacit or formal maybe not formal but at least tacit cooperation with iran. the role in iraq is simply too pervasive into real. security forces can't be disaggregated and only working with sunni units. if you want to tamp down sectarianism, you can't than doubled d

>> charlie: iraq. yeah, he was born in iraq. yeah, he's iraqi. he was born in samara, iraq, and he does his ph.d. in baghdad so this is where he gets the name baghdadi. it's not clear when he joined al quaida in iraq but he was one of the early leaders of the islamic state of iraq, i was a a -- he was a jurist in the group. this is what the islamic state itself says about him. also in the biography that i've read of him it gives the lineage of the man all the way back to the prophet muhammad saying he is a decedent of the tribe, one of the requirements inning islamic law for being the kale off. >> charlie: how do you think this turns out? >> it's a long-term challenge. >> charlie: that's what the president said. >> i agree with him. >> charlie: is the goal -- does the goal simply have to be containing it or can it be eradicating it? >> i think that, you know eradicating it is awfully ambitious because, first of all, this is a group that's been around, as you said, as you noted, for nine years. so i think that kind of containing it is the best thi

we begin with isis on the move in iraq. militants taking control of the town of al baghdadi after attacking it from three sides and activating sleeper cells inside the town. they then deployed eight suicide bombers to attack the al asad air base with the u.s. military personnel and u.s. officials saying there's no plans to evacuate u.s. troops from the base at this time. western iraq is not the only place where isis is advancing. phil black is on the ground in northern iraq by telephone now. phil tell us we have been talking about isis on the defensive but we see them on the offensive both down by al baghdadi and kurdish areas in the north. >> reporter: yeah. that's right, jim. the latest first of all, on the area around the al asad air base we understand there's still fighting fairly close to the location from iraqi security officials in the area and baghdad, as well. you mentioned eight suicide bombers tried to get to the air base itself. indeed they say they were all stopped, all killed. according to the u.s. military. t

iraq. in syria, it talks about the notion of some sort of political rearrangement there that will be necessary. it does not really sound like a plausible strategy. it may never be possible to have a plausible strategy in syria given the situation. but how do you deal with the fact that this is a phenomenon -- there is no border anymore. do you have a way of dealing with it in iraq -- it does not so much we have a way of dealing with it in syria? >> martin, there is no question the challenges in iraq and syria are different and by necessity we have to approach them differently. yet, it is a region where the violence is spilling, not only between iraq and syria, but other nations in that same region. in iraq, we have the prospect of working with the government in a fashion that provides hope and a nonsectarian way, and inclusive way to give us a partner on the ground that, however weakened, it is established can be built up. that is exactly what we are doing with our coalition partners in the

against al qaeda in iraq which was i.s.i.l.'s predecessor? >> the potential is there. we saw reports that the pilot's family made over tours to i.s.i.l. saying you should offer him sunni hospitality, he is one of us. clearly that is not the understanding that they had of how this works. the potential is there, certainly in jordan for this to galvanise support against the islamic state. as your own piece showed there are demonstrations in the street there, that this war is not about the jordanians it will be interesting to see what's as king abdullah returns from washington. can he galvanise the county. >> could it gall have beenize other states and divide the coalition. the pentagon says the murder sharpens the focus on beating i.s.i.l. could that be the case? >> i don't. i don't think it will be harmful, but it will not result in any more coalition among the coalition. the coalition is what it is. the internal conflict within the coalition are what they are. we continue to move forward. it lurches along. it's better than nothin

in the north villagion ended up depopulated, so iraq's prime minister needs to find a way to bring iraq's communities politicians together and make this a fight for iraq. for the time being it seems each community is fighting for their own territory. >> tunisia has a new prime minister officially taking office friday during a formal swearing in ceremony in the capitol tunis. it comes a day after the first post revolutionary government was confirmed. >> protestors gathered in two suburbs in the egyptian capitol. this was a scene in southern cairo. demonstrators there are rallying against the government. protests have been taking place east of cairo. >> al jazeera journalists have now spent 405 days behind bars in egypt. they along with our colleagues peter greste were accused of reporting false news and supporting the outlawed muslim brotherhood, charges they and al jazeera deny. peter has arrived back home in australia after being released early they are week. mohamed fahmy and baher mohammed are still in prison. al jazeera demands their immediate release. >> still ahead renewed concerns

there's new leadership in iraq. there's a collaboration between the iraqi armed forces and the kurds. and i would say that now our role is to help them to defeat the islamic state in iraq. i think we've taken some actions here in recent months to better prepare ourselves for that and i look forward to seeing that be successful. >> congressman, you're one of the real leaders, the thinkers down in washington. you've taught national security policy at both west point and stanford. you've written a book about that. last year, you voted no on arming the syrian rebels and this past week, you wrote an op-ed, i read it it was a great piece, what you said, that you will not vote in favor of the president aumf. can you explain to us why that's the case? >> well look unfortunately, for some of my colleagues, great folks, both sides of the aisle, there's a feeling that they have to do something, when in fact what we need to do is do something effective. see, that's the key point here. and, you know, i gave it a fair hearing wit

many like him found themselves without a place in iraq. commanders and fighters were birth about how they were treated after the fall of saddam. these men say the armed group doesn't represent them but neither does the shiez militia. the fight to push out i.s.i.l. from the city of mowlz may be a while away. it's not just a question of being ready militarily. the battle for iraq's second largest city will require a political decision. these men may represent many communities but iraq's shia are not among them. there is still little reconciliation. sunnis want the authorities to speed up plans to create the national guard. the plan involves establishing an armed force made up of people from the area. >> the sons of the city know who are good and who are terrorist. they won't treat everyone badly like the way the army used to treat us in mosul. we were all terrorists or at least suspects. >> reporter: commanders say the national guard is important in areas where the mainly shiez army may not be trusted. defeating i.s.i.l. in the strategic and

yes, he was in a helicopter over iraq. and as he accurately reported 12 years ago, another chopper was hit by an rpg and went down. his helicopter landed perhaps an hour later according to what some veterans are telling stars and stripes newspaper they did not like williams saying he was on the chopper that was hit. it was a sandstorm and he was grounded for a couple days. i give him credit for going to iraq, he's been there a couple times. it is difficult to understand and he has apologized and blamed the fog of memory. but come on, if your helicopter was shot down, that's a life changing event. it either happened or didn't happen. it's very hard for me to understand how he could make that mistake. and i have to be candid and say major blow to his credibility and that of his network. >> this is what he said i want to run what he said. this is what he said on friday when he was trying to praise the military for helping him in his supposedly downed chopper. listen. >> the story actually started with a terrible moment a doze