are on the ground that are able to identify targets, able to coordinate the air and ground activities. that will not be available. and then there is the issue of what will turkey do with the kurds. all of this is chaotic, and the president's arrival in iraq is just one more bit of chaos and all of the things that go with it. we really need to calm down here. let's get a strategy in place. let's understand what it is we're trying to accomplish, and then put in place plans to get it done rather than helter skelter. >> and, congressman, a secret administration official told cnn the national security decisionmaking process has basically stopped working, and this is happening as the defense secretary, jim mattis, his departure date has been moved up to january 1st and the president said today that he may just have this acting secretary serve in that role for who knows how long. are you hopeful that the president will approach some of