Threat at the center for American Progress. His remarks are followed by a panel discussion. This entire event is an hour and 45 minutes. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the center for American Progress, its amazing to see so many wonderful friends here i see investor haley, some other distinguished members of the diplomatic corps. Were all here from caps perspective to launch this report, from all of your perspective to get an opportunity to hear directly from general john allen the president s special envoy to the Global Coalition to counter isis. They still say isil, i say isis. General alan is one of the great patriots and Public Servants weve had in this country. And ive had the privilege to know him for several years. He has been a man who would take on any difficult task for the United States. And hes been endlessly dedicated, dedicated to the troops dedicated to the marines he led. Dedicated to the civilians who worked in the most difficult places, and im really honored that we have him here today. Before being the president s special envoy, many of you know he took on the small challenge of trying to help lead the middle east Peace Process for two years working back and forth between israelis and palestinians and helping with what was a heroic effort to move forward toward the two state solution. Prior to that, he commanded forces in afghanistan, hes been the commander of cent come, he applies a great deal of thought and reflection to ho America Needs to handle its most difficult challenges. Most importantly, and ive seen him in this capacity wearing the uniform and out of the uniform he understands that the kinds of challenges we face are never strictly military. Theyre always political. They are always complex. We could have no better person to bring to this task to trying to figure out what are all of the pieces of the puzzle to countering the threat that isis poses to the countries that it is currently decimating where its erasing borders to the region, to the world. And how we can get a solution that isnt just going to rely on military force. By us or by others, because the only way forward is going to be something comprehensive something sustainable, something led by the countries most affected with the support of a wide coalition. We dont have general alan for a long time today i wont go into much detail. Well be hearing from him, he and i will have a chance to do a short discussion, and then we have a distinguished panel that will join us afterwards for some followup discussion. So without further ado, general allen, welcome to the center for American Progress, and thank you for joining us much. [ applause ] good morning, ladyies and gentlemen, its a great pleasure to be here. I want to thank you not just for the introduction you gave me this morning. But in your own right for the magnificent Public Service you have rendered to our country. As many of you know he has had really substantial contributions across a whole variety of ways. In a variety of ways to our diplomatic and coalition efforts. And i benefited directly from those and your work in east asia, we should all applaud your great work and should benefit from the work youve done not just there and in the department of defense, but certainly more broadly in this community that takes a great interest. Important and Difficult Conversations and thank you for that. I want to thank the center as well well, so many complex issues that are facing our country today. I want to compliment you on the report we are digesting. I want to find a ready ear for the information you are finding on this report. I want to thank you for bringing those about. Today were here to talk about the coalition and the coalition as it deals with isil. As president obama said last september at the United Nations general assembly, this is a moment where the world is at a crossroads, were living during a time of Human History when the older order is passing and the newer order is coming into being. And how isil has effectively used 21st century tools, the ease of world travel, Global Financial networks in the internet, we see some vulnerabilities and gaps in this global order that is emerging gaps that can be exploited to the detriment of this emerging order. It is one of isils great ironies. That theyre so skilled at using modern technologies to spread such an antimodern and medieval and dehumanizing theology. As someone who spent four decades as a u. S. Marine, ive come closer than many to the face of inhumanity, ive never before seen the kind of depravity and barbarity, i use those words specifically that isil represents and celebrates every day. In my service as the president s special envoy to the Global Coalition too counter isil over the past ten months the Global Response to isils inhumanity has given me reason for optimism. Im continually impressed by the Diverse Group of partners who have committed themselves committed their states to counter isil and to contribute to the campaign. By my willingness by their willingness to make substantial contributions of National Prestige and the blood and the treasure of their population it is their genuine effort to mark a contribution to solving a complicated and complex problem. Indeed its been a privilege to help to organize their efforts, the efforts of 16 nations and two organizations into a Coalition Campaign that matters profoundly to the security not just of this nation but of the nations of the world. From the outset of this coalition, this coalitions campaign to counter isil which ill henceforth refer to by its arabic acronym as dash. We should persistent adapt our activities in the light of both victories and set backs. Set backs as in the one that was experienced in ramadi in may. At the same time, its also imperative for all of us to understand the direction of our campaign from a more expansive horizon than the one set back or the one victory. Having been part of four previous comb igss over the course of my career, and having commanded a coalition of 50 nations, ive seen how important, how indeed essential it is to see the ups and the downs of a campaign within the context of long term strategic objectives. As we mark one year from the horrific events in iraq, which spurred the United States to act and to convene a Global Coalition, we have an opportunity opportunity to take stock of how far we have come and how much further we have to go. Its difficult to remember just how perilous a moment it was last june as dash fighters across the Syrian Border began to pour down the tigris river valley, as dash destroyed entire communities and massacred thousands of ethnic and religious minorities in its path. It was a moment where iraq was under siege and largely alone in the world. Not only did dash win quick victories on the battlefield during those early days they demonstrated an ability to use Information Operations as a force multiplier. As dash fighters took to social media. To boast of the women they had brutalized, they had forced into a sex trade, these messages had had a remarkable effect upon the world world. Immediately, ultimately, we will never know the complete impact these messages had on thousands of iraqi soldiers who fled their ranks, not just because of the weight of the Media Campaign against them but to defend their homes and families. We do know this. Dashs ability to define the environment was a pivotal, perhaps defining role as they began to emerge in this crisis. Our ability to delegitimize that narrative and in fact the very idea of the organization will play just as pivotal a role in their demise. Nowhere has dashs matter more when they declared the existence of the califate when al baghdadi confirmed himself leader of the faithful. He proclaimed dashs global ambitions. It was during those difficult days last summer as dash fighters surrounded thousands of yazitis, as they threatened the approaches to baghdad the United States took a series of actions that would shift the momentum. President obama, secretary kerry made some critical decisions that would begin to lay the groundwork for a coalition. A comprehensive effort to come. First we surged intelligence assets over iraq from one isr intelligence sur xray answer reconnaissance for a month to 60 per day. Gaining a more granular picture of dashs movements. Essential to our future operations. Second we established joint Operations Center ss restoring critical relationships between iraqs Central Government. We deployed special forces teams to assess Iraqi Security formations with a focus on baghdadi assuring that defenses could hold and that our people would be protected. And fourth, and perhaps most critically for iraqs future we redoubled our efforts to support iraqis and the political process following national elections. These actions were absolutely essential in the immediate term but by no means sufficient to address the many grave dangers that we faced. Indeed it was also last summer we began to understand that dash was not simply an iraqi or a syrian problem but emerging as a regional problem with global and generational implications. It was a keen awareness of that reality, if this emergency would go unabated that our president supported by the secretary resolved to build a Global Coalition. It was at that time last year when i was asked by the white house to assist the president and secretary as a special president ial envoy to the Global Coalition. Since i began serving in this role i had the opportunity to travel to 30 capitals. Weve been able to establish a coalition of 60 nations and two partner organizations. And unlike other Coalition Campaigns ive been a part of weve had to build this coalition out of whole cloth, when i served as the commander of our nato forces in afghanistan, our authorities reside ed resided, the framework for our organization rested upon the North Atlantic Council of nato the unprecedented nature and the urgency of this effort required we create an organizational framework that would sustain a long term effort by confronting the emergency we faced. Last december in brussels. The Global Coalition to counter isil agreed to a joint statement whichout lined our objectives and commitments to Work Together over multiple lines of effort. While it is the coalitions kinetic actions that often do and usually receive the most attention, it is the aggregate effort of the coalitions activities across multiple lines of effort that will, in the end determine the coalitions success. Thats why in every visit that i have to a coalition capital, every conversation that i have with the Prime Minister or foreign minister or president or a king. I describe the coalitions campaign as organized around five multiple lines of effort. The first is the military component to deny safe haven and provide Security Assistance to our partners. The second is disrupting the flow of faern fighters. The third is disrupting access to daeshs resources. The fourth providing humanitarian assistance, relief and stabilization report. And the fifth is defeating daesh as an idea. Briefly let me provide an overview of the coalitions progress over our lines of effort and the ways in which the coalition is evolving. To confront an adaptable enemy. Our first line of effort focused on providing security support to our partners on the ground. These efforts are the per view of sent com it is essential that the coalitions activities are synchronized and mutually supported. We evaluate this effort, ramadi is a set back we must learn and understand. If youve not been following it, about 0500 yesterday morning, the iraqi forces jumped off to recover ramadi, in a short period of time after ramadi was seized by isil the forces are enroute to isolate and take it back, we should not forget while we think about this that is unfolding against ramadi, daesh has suffered set backs in other provinces. Among the mosul dam, its assault on the occurred Stan Regional government. And syria in cobani daesh hoped to achieve a media spectacle. They were soundly defeated. And thats an accurate term, soundly defeated, beyond kobani. Across a long stretch of the Syrian Border, neighboring and across the border of syria and turkey two thirds of that border has been rested from the control of daesh in the last six weeks. In tikrit our fires permitted Iraqi Security forces to push daesh out of tikrit and recover the city. Today, less than three months later, hundreds of displaced families have now made a peaceful return to the city. This process gives us reason to be cautiously optimistic about the iraqi led efforts for stabilization and the stabilized support to liberate populations and communities as they seek prevent sectarian reprisal. The coalition has played a vital role in improving their cape abilities as well. 15 partners are helping to build the iraqi forces at six Training Camps eight nations have participated in air strikes over iraq and five over syria. Among the more than 8,000 iraqi fighters that the coalition has trained, many are helping to secure the attack in the effort to recover ramadi. In a short period of time since ramadis fall, president obamas decision to locate our troops at a fifth Training Center in the takata habania complex, has produced 1300 tribal fighters who are engaged in supporting the Iraqi Security forces in attacks on ramadi at the moment. To make no mistake, iraqi, shiite, kurd alike must be recruited, and trained and engaged to take back their country. Building the capacity of iraqs Security Forces will require an enduring commitment. One i believe this coalition has made. Others may not agree, its my belief that with each passing week week, we will see their increasing effort. Success will inspire success as weve seen in other places i believe we will see others enter the fight as time goes on. At the same time, we must appreciate that the security gains can only be sustained if political reforms are made in parallel. We must continue to encourage the Prime Ministers pursuit of an inclusive path he has set for his country one that begins to operationalize governance. Which emphasizes the importance of decentralizes authorities to the provinces. It is in that approach we hope to test the plan that Prime Minister abaddy has put in place, the five point plan to recover alain bar, and to solidify the support of the sunnis in this process. Success in anbar will depend on their ability to take back their communities. This will requirement Prime Minister abadi and others to assume risk. We have seen him assume that risk and seen the sovereign decisions that have been made in baghdad that are beginning to pay off. As we see the sunnis begin to form, we will see the reality of that support as well. In how we support iraqs efforts, we must avoid over simm simplification simplification. We have endorsed the contributions of pmf or Popular Mobilization force elements which are primarily shiite. Endorsing their willingness to fight alongside Iraqi Security forces. They recognize there is a distinction that must be made between the shiite hardline militias under the influence of iran and the large number of shiite who answered the grand ayatollahs call to 00 defend iraq last summer, and they came to the countrys rescue by the tens of thousands will. We have to understand the differences between the two, i believe im Better Qualified than most to understand the destructive and stabilizing role that sectarian militias can play. From our own disappearance in iraq before and as were seeing it unfold today. Someone who is deeply committed to this coalitions campaign and to iraqs success. I understand the error in seeing iraqs fighters communities and future through a narrow and sectarian prism. Enabling iraqis to move beyond these divisions is part of why stabilization efforts are so important as the Campaign Continues to unfold and why the Coalition Support for these activities is one of our central lines of effort, as i see it there are four components to the counter offensive underway that require these efforts be closely synchronized there is the clearing element when the iraqi army and committee forces ultimately remove daesh from a Population Center or urban location. There is the security and policing element also known as the hold force that deals with crime and provides general security to the liberated population, so life can return to normal. It will likely be a combination of reconstituted sunni police, local tribes and some militia elements. We find the effort by the Central Government in baghdad and provincial headquarters and capitals to extend governance to the populations that have recently been liberated and have suffered so much under the heal of daesh. In the stabilization effort itself this include ss immediate humanitarian assistance to address life threatening issues of essential Services Like health care and fresh water and electricity. On each of these fourment wills the coalition is surging to our iraqi allies and iraqi led efforts. The germans are helping organize these stabilization activities, others are providing significant support, the italians for instance are playing a substantial role training the Effective IraqiPolice Forces that are being reconstituted. Several coalitions have made sizable coalitions. This funds will allow the iraqis to make an immediate investment to meet the urgent needs of those who have suffered the daily degradations for so many months, and to restore Critical Infrastructure such as Water Purification and electrical distribution. Through the support of baghdad this provides populations what they need so badly, and it creates the opportunity to strengthen the connection between the capital and the people in fact being liberated this ought to be considered as reckon sell yags from the ground up. These kinds of stabilization efforts will eventually be just as critical to syria where fighters have made a series of recent gains. The coalition is enhancing our cooperation to capitalize on successes such as kobani. Sentcome is looking for ways to streamline our trained and equipped programs vetting process so we can get more recruits into the trading pipeline. We can see the number of fighters currently enrolled in the program is smaller than we had anticipated. We will continue to require capable partners on the ground in syria to assure isils lasting defeat we cannot afford to become desensitized to the level of violence in syria or the belief that nothing can be done for these people. We will continue to work this very hard. It is not the place of the United States or the coalition to dictate the future for the Syrian People, each of us has a profound stake in creating the conditions where syrias people can begin to determine their own future, the future that is free of the brutality of the Bashar Al Assad regime, as well as organized elements such as daesh. Across both syria and iraq one of the best tools the coalition can use to disrupt da is eshs management is our ability to squeeze its access to financial resources. These resources led jointly by italy and the institute were sharing information to block the access of daesh and uncovering their points of access in the region and abroad for financial support. I must tell you what we have learned from the take off the objective in the raid two months ago is beginning to paint a clear picture for us in ways that we can exploit. The ole igs has also woulded to degrade daeshs oil enterprise. Still daesh is proving resilient in its ability to degrade infrastructure back on line and were going to continue in this effort to attack the oil enterprise. We must recognize that daesh has other capabilities that are diverse, beyond the oil enterprise, the portfolio includes a number of other measures that are being taken. Massive criminal extortion of the populations under its control. Looting, kidnapping for ransom human trafficking, and the potential profit from the sale of plundered antiquities. Daesh operates in territory where theres extensive criminal infrastructure to support is it financial activity. Much of it dating back by the saddam regime in an effort to defeat the oil for food sanctions of the 1990s, in a recent raid on the abu saeff, we created a great deal the financial manager or the fco for daesh, we not only recovered a great deal of information about the financial activities we have much more greater clarity in the organizational activityies and the organization of daesh, and this is helping us with further planning. The coalitions counter line of testing is across platforms and languages. Its important that key credible muslim voices and scholars speak out and publicly reject daeshs credibility. Just last week the United Arab Emirates and the u. S. Launched a joint center to help coordinate counter daesh messaging in the region. This is a regional asset not just a bilateral asset were discussing with other regional partners messaging centers that could be established in europe and Southeast Asia. These efforts will remain an up hill battle. This remains an area where the Coalition Must take more comprehensive and decisive actions. And were committed to them. Daeshs toxic message cannot be allowed to go unchallenged. The final line of effort ill address today is the area stemming the flow of foreign fighters. Most of the foreign fighters enter the battle space along turkeys 900 kilometer border with syria. Our turkish allies have stepped up the reference to interdikt this border. The burden of stopping the flow of foreign fighters can not rest with turkey alone other partners need to step up their own interdiction and sharing of information the Turkish Border should be the last line of defense in this equation. Weve seen substantial progress by engaging in a sustain eded and respectful dialogue of this and a variety of issues. I believe enhanced cooperation with turkey will present further opportunities for our two countries in the coalitions efforts to counter daesh as we enter the second year of this campaign. We need nations working together like this, working together at east link of the chain in becoming a foreign fighter. The links of that chain are at the border between potential foreign fighters in the battle space in home communities. At the point of communication. Over 30 Coalition Partners have enacted laws to create greater obstacles for those planning to become foreign fighters. At least 26 countries have made arrests breaking up daesh networks. Stopping the flow of foreign fighters into iraq and syria continues to be a serious challenge. We must also confront a new reality. Potential foreign fighters no longer need to leave their home to be radicalized and to be tasked to become lone wolf attackers. There is no type of foreign fighter, no single method of recruitment, and no one source to support them financially. One issue is how we manage to reach and reintegrate the thousands of young people. Who have become known to husband, and who we will need to help returning to their societies to become productive members of their states once again either as they have become radicalized or they have returned from being a foreign fighter. There is no denying that many societies find the idea of rehabilitating foreign fighters objectionable. Those who have broken the laws of our lands must be held accountable. Long term detention simply cannot be the sole means of dealing with returning foreign fighters. And i believe that we must strive to be a coalition of compassionate states. Especially when certain Coalition Partners have experienced success. The promise of rehabilitation and reintegration is one that we ought to actively study and embrace, earlier this year, i had the opportunity to meet with key Muslim Leaders in singapore. Who have been working successfully to deradicalize young men and have supported their successful return to society. The numbers are not high. For singapore were not as high as singapore as they might be for other states. Their success is notable of the 57 releases that they have made theres been only one resid vift. Belgium, austria, germany other states in europe, other states within the coalition to include the kingdom of saudi arabia have developed a set of effective practices where the specific cultural and natural context ultimately to assist in this process of the reclamation of these foreign fighters back into society. Any successful approach will have to respond to uniquely social conditions and realities. At the same time, some of the forces which compel young men and increasingly young women to become foreign fighters are thoroughly global and modern in their nature. Daesh is practiced at exploiting a sense of ruthlessness and separation that many young people feel in their communities. Whether an arab communities in the west. In certain arab societies or in Southeast Asia a feeling of disenfranchisement, and otherness is present and a powerful force for many. There is a separation between these young people. And what is defined by a mainstream culture as they perceive it. Theres a separation between the opportunities young people see on their smart phones and those they believe are available to them in their own lives. Theres a separation between these young people and the true depth and the richness of the faith of islam. Frankly we must save our children from this reality. We must guard against the manipulation of these separations and the anxieties that they feel while at the same time working to address their causes. Its a matter of working together as a coalition to assure the promise is available and achievable to all. In my discussion with muslim scholars at the faith of islam and imams over the years. By embracing and connecting with the world not through its rejection, that a muslim can fully achieve the richness of his or her faith. Developing this sense of Mutual Respect strengthens our ability to act in shared purpose. Which is absolutely essential in the fight with which we engage. We must draw strength from the diversity, the enormous and frankly favorable diversity of our coalition. When daesh succeeds when men and women feel little connection to their governments and societies, its necessary for us all to Work Together to offer better models. When daesh defines itself by what it seeks to destroy. Its important for us to define our efforts by what we seek to build together. We see groups and individuals seeking to affiliate and align with daesh in several parts of the world, we see how these challenges are not unique to one region. The growth of affiliated groups is a challenge that the counter isil coalition is beginning to confront. Not every group who raises the black flag of daesh raises the same threat. Many of these groups are simple criminal gangs. Trying to determine the potential threat from a daesh affiliate, we find it useful to ask a series of questions. What command and control does core daesh have over the group . Has daesh leadership decided to link itself publicly with this group, and coordinate their propaganda and messaging campaign. Third can core daesh Exchange Resources including funding and fighters. Fourth, and most importantly, can this group threaten the coalition homelands . If the answer to most of these questions is yes, the coalition has ways to mitigate this threat threat. Countering finances, countering the flow of foreign fighters and countering messaging. We can build then with those capabilities on current or local efforts that are being taken to counter daesh affiliates around the world you must not forget that daeshs legitimacy is connected to a califate this means our over arching objective must not be just countering dash, bearing down hard on core daesh squeezing and degrading feeding daesh at its core as a coalition we cannot eliminate rivalry. In coordinating the global effort to counter daesh. We can and we have changed assumptions about how nations can come together to fight one of the great challenges of our time weve united dozens of partners to this structure. That will endure long after this present campaign is complete im beginning to see strategic momentum building. Within the lines of effort and within our working groups. It means learning from our set backs and not letting then define our long term objective ss this will be a long campaign. It will likely take a generation we as an International Community can and must rise to the challenge. You see to understand the complexity of the campaign. We value those contributions and solicit them. I look forward to the conversation briefly i look forward to the continued work of this important center and helping us all to get to the place where we want to be which is ultimately the defeat of this odious movement. General allen has to be the athe white house shortly, were not going to have as much time as we honed for questions. I out i would give you a couple couple you gave us an extraordinary frank appraisal of the challenge that could make us depressed. That wasnt my intent. The dedication and commitment you are seeing not just from a handful of friends and allies but from an incredibly broad range of partners. Let me talk to you about your deep experience working with coalitions. In this case it seems to be the most complex environment to have a coalition coming together. Theres two areas id like to highlight. Were in the moments after the announcement of an iran deal. Members of this Coalition Many of them see iran potentially as a greater threat than even isil. And are acting in some cases independently of the coalition in other areas, strike inging at the same time, you have some members of the coalition that are providing help to the groups which may include al qaeda affiliates. Can you share your views of the perceptions some of us might have, on how these complexities play in, and how youre managing that . The first thing that coxs to mind this is the fifth coalition which i have been involved. One of the first things that is evident in nicole igs, is that while states have come together usually sharing a desire to achieve a common purpose achieving common values. Common interests, seldom will those states in the process subordinate the personal or National Interests. And so National Interests will continue to be important to the individual members of the state. Of the coalition we have achieved i think in a relatively short time a remarkable con consensus within the coalition. Ultimately for the defeat of daesh. That really was a very impressive effort i think on the part last year of the president s leadership, having watched secretary kerry very closely in this and in the real emergency of august and september bringing this coalition together. Theyve come together to achieve an outcome with regard to daesh but that in the course of that, they also have continued to recognize as we should recognize that they all have National Interests of their own. For many of the members of the coalition, iran has been is and probably will remain one of the principle sources of threat to their national security. And you see that clearly in the gulf, and you see that in that region. And i wont speculate on the outcomes of the announcement that was made this morning with respect to whether it will fundamentally change iranian behavior, that is an important question to all of them. Will irans behavior change as a direct result of being more completely asimulated into the community of nations as a result of this agreement. Remains to be determined, i will tell you that it is clearly a point of interest and strong attention for our neighbors and allies in the region. And it will become an important point over time. But even though we are committed to daesh committed to the defeat of daesh, support of iraq and not only are we committed ultimately to a political outcome in syria which sees in the end a transition to a government that is represented or is supported by the Syrian People that does not include Bashar Al Assad that does sometimes create tensions as some states view individual entities in the syrian battle space differently than other members of the coalition. And i think we have a strong common view that the political outcome is what we seek. The modalities of that outcome may differ from one partner to another, the alignments that had been formed early in the civil war in syria were strong alignments that supported various groups to seek to either liberate the Syrian People or to take action against the central regime regime, those assignments have been enduring. I think we have worked hard to manage those alignments so it doesnt create too great a tension or the potential for the dissolution. I have seen greater con grew answer in that regard, not less. I could follow one piece of this. You just mentioned you are just back obviously the role and the relationship with turkey has been complicated, its been vital, its been its been seen as quite tense at times, it seems like youre quite optimistic now. One of your questions there is you see the kurdish ypg being an effective force fighting within syria. But again, this is one of the specific areas where there are differences between potentially between Coalition Members on how to approach a particular on the ground partner. How do you see that kind of a dynamic playing out. Well its been pretty remarkable, what the kurdish elements and syria have done to eliminate daesh from a large segment of the war. There is still border which is in the hands of daesh. Its also important for us to take into account the very real concerns of the turks in this regard, were old friends with the turks allies with the turks, we have been in very constructive conversations with them for some period of time. My last opportunity to visit was i believe a continued affirmation of our commitment together to achieve important goals and strategic ends in the region. So i left ankora with a continued sense of the importance of our relationship with turkey in a bilateral relationship, my sense of the importance of turkeys relationship to the coalition. But also came away again once again convinced of turkeys importance to the solution to the difficulties both in the region and in syria in particular. In that sense were very attentive to turkeys concerns about the issues with which they deal with regard to the kurds. Were attentive to their relationship with the pkk and how they view the pkk, were attentive to their attention to what happened south of the border with the Kurdish Forces that were so successful against daesh, in that regard, weve been very clear on the issue that we do not support the disillusion of syria, we support a syria that is territorially in tact and the government that is the will of the Syrian People, and we dont want to see it broken into sectarian or ethnic fragments, in that regard we dont support. And i dont believe in fact the kurds support in Northern Syria a separate governmental entity. But we also have been very clear that the elements of the population that have found themselves liberated from daesh in the course of these military activities in the border have been very clear, the u. S. Has been very clear we expect that populations that have been liberated will return to their own system of administration. They will administer turkemem. It is important that as a partner that has ultimately been unable to defeat daesh, not become an Occupying Force but its become an enabler to defeat daesh, and those populations are able to return to the nature of their selfadministration that we have seen before. Were very tentive to how that has gone. Undeniably, its been successful in rolling daesh back, and in the course of doing that kobani has been stabilized. There was a large kurdish population there, there was a large free syrian fought inside kobani as well. The ability for us to motivate free syrians to be a credible sunni arab partner in the future. Weve taken off one of the principle crossing points for daesh. And that now denied to raaka has increased a lot of pressure on raaka, forces have moved down toward raaka, that has created immediate pressure on daesh. Were beginning to see the capacity ultimately for us to regionally synchronize military activities that can create a more comprehensive pressure strategy across daesh as an entity. Not just in one place, not just in ramadi tikrit, or the Syrian Border it is a unified comprehensive synchronized strategy, or synchronization, that is beginning to take shape thats why im optimistic. Can i squeeze in one more . One more. The thank you. The you mentioned commitment for the integrity of syria, politics in iraq is always a major question, and in this report, we come out saying it is important to not give up on the iraqi state, we need to see, as you said about syria and iraq theyre able to maintain its territorial integrity, that requires getting the sunnis in, you talked about there are sunni fighters that are actually being recruited and joining the fight, to retake ramadi but theres a sense and there are people in this town that would say, you know weve seen this show before. What is your thought on this concept of functional federalism and on the real the willingness for the hard political decisions to be made that could sustain this. I think this is one of the areas of the greatest skepticism when you step outside of iraq and people look at the situation. I can understand skepticism, i think we need to give this a chance. The Prime Minister has been in office since the 7th or 8th of september. He came into office at the moment that iraq was daesh was intent on destroying the integrity of iraq. Much of the territory was already under them. Thousands of iraqi troops and thousands of iraqi civilians had already been displaced or slaughter, so he came in under a very, very difficult moment, and i think in stark contrast to previous systems of government in iraq, he sees the future of iraq as one which divests authority from the center in order to empower reliable governance in the provinces, and hes talked about this, its functioning federalism. Hes been clear about his willingness to devolve power. He has a skeptical power base, that operates from a long history of concerns about what the other components within the Iraqi Society really intend to do over time. That skepticism is something that we have to recognize. Its a skepticism that by committing ourselves to the political process of iraq and supporting Prime Minister abaddys efforts at functioning federal inch at being quick in the process of stabilization, in the context of liberated populations, it creates the operationalization, the real physical operationalization of functioning federalism in a manner that ultimately achieves the Prime Ministers publicly announced and the council administers publicly announced objectives with respect to the recovery of large segments of sunni territories. First id say, look lets think about what happened politically in iraq now since the overthrow of the king, weve not seen democracy in action there, democracy as we would like to see it and as we have known it weve not seen it yet. And so as Prime Minister abaddy who is operating under some of the most difficult Political Economic very importantly its important to understand as well and military challenges as he seeks to make progress within that Pressure Cooker of political pressure in an economic environment that leaves iraq devoid in many respects of resources that it could apply otherwise, and under pressure to defeat daesh to unite iraq, i think we have to do what we can to support him, recognize this is going to be hard, its going to take a long time thats why the coalition when we get together whether its at 62 or at a small group level, whether its at the ministerial level the coalition has yet to walk away from a meeting without affirming the coalitions commitment to Prime Minister abaddy and the territorial integrity and the unification and unity of iraq. Thank you so much general allen, thank you for everything youre doing for your tireless dedication to this on behalf of the nation id like to ask everyone to thank general allen and remain seated. Well switch right into our panel. Thank you very much. Good morning. Thank all of you for coming. We want to thank general allen for sharing his wisdom and his thoughts on the status of the campaign. What we want to do here is have a bit of a discussion reflecting on what general allen said but then also talk about a report that the center released this morning that assesses the status of the campaign. My role today is just simply to moderate the discussion ill introduce the panel here, well have a couple remarks from first harden lang my colleague here senior fellow at the center for American Progress doctor steven wolt from harvard. And sarah margot, a former colleague of ours here at the center for American Progress, our goal in having this discussion is to be as wide ranging as possible. To stimulate about halfway through, ill draw you guys in, anyone who has questions into the dialogue and discussion well try to wrap up and get everybody off to lunch. First, where are we more than a year into this campaign . What does the report say, what are the highlights and what do you think about what general allen said . Thanks, brian. Before we get started i want to say, i want to commend folks on some of the work panelists have put out. Dr. Wolt has written an interesting peace. Captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2008 captioning performed by vitac