>> so colonel mansoor, you were on the ground for the commander of the first brigade, the first armored division, the ready first combat team. are you surprised about what is happening there right now? >> well, i was also there during the surge as executive officer to general david petraeus. you know, after the surge we had significantly tamped down ethnosectarian violence in iraq and the person that brought it back, quite frankly, is prime minister nouri al maliki. he has succeeded with his authoritarian and sectarian policies to alienate large swaths of the iraqi people, including most of the sunnis. so, no, i'm really not surprised given what has transpired since the withdrawal of u.s. forces at the end of 2011. >> you were there for the beginning of the invasion and also for the surge, maybe you can tell us about what options you heard our jim acosta at the white house talking about the president weighing some options. what do you think the president should do? >> i think the president said the right thing on the south lawn of the white house last