destruction and moving toward that goal. senior international correspondent arwa damon joins us with the latest from baghdad. up until now, arwa that s been almost a joke to suggest that isis could get that far. but now? reporter: now it clearly is a very different situation, chris. because the iraqi government according to the deputy provincial governor of anbar province is finally beginning to take this situation in iraq s sunni heartland seriously. as far back as november officials in ramadi were calling for reinforcements were warning that the provincial capital would fall without them. and then finally following relentless wave after wave of suicide bombers that city did fall. the iraqi forces that were trying to hold out there quite simply could not any longer to try to keep their positions. many of them say would have been suicidal. what is happening right now is that in an area where there is a military base this is located right between fallujah and ramadi both under isis co
the presence of iraqi security forces there to try to hold onto what little ground they have in al anbar province while they wait for more reinforcements while they wait for these iranian-backed shia paramilitary units, popular mobilization units to appear in significant numbers. while they also wait for the iraqi government to start an effort to arm the sunni tribes. until that happens they will not be able to even begin to push isis back. and the provincial governor was also saying the deputy provincial governor was also saying that at this stage the government the central government is taking the situation there seriously because if what little is left of anbar falls to isis the terrorist organization would be right at baghdad s doorstep. and no one can afford to see that happen. absolutely arwa. thanks so much for all that background. we want to bring in now our cnn military analyst major general james spider marks. he served in iraq as the senior intelligence officer in combat
artifacts there. arwa damon joins us with the latest live from baghdad. good morning, arwa. reporter: good morning, alisyn. and that is why the concern for palmyra is so sharp because exactly what we saw isis do when it took over a series of ancient sites here in iraq showing complete disregard of the value they hold for civilization for humanity s history. isis not just taking over palmyra but also making strategic significant gains in al anbar province with the capture of ramadi. the main front lines are located around an area where there is a military base and it s located right between ramadi and fallujah both under isis control. we spoke to an army commander there. he said they were beefing up their positions in the various towns towards ramadi to ensure that isis can t advance from ramadi to baghdad but they were
fallujah. they have been receiving in reinforcements. but the battle for ramadi is not going to be anything like the battle for tikrit. the lay of the land is very different. the dynamics in al anbar province are more complex. moving reinforcements out to those various different front lines is much more difficult as well because of the territory that isis controls in al anbar province. how long the units that are fighting along the front lines around ramadi are going to be able to hold out without additional reinforcements, that also remains to be seen. we re seeing the iraqi government calling for more volunteer units to move towards al anbar. the u.s. saying it s speeding up its shipment of weapons but it may at the end of the day be too little too late. isis is proving to be a much more formidable foe than many had anticipated. ar washes thank you very much. she spent a lot of time on the ground in recent weeks. covering isis. as she said, a more formidable foe than many gave it c
there in kobani. there have been other areas in which they ve lost territory. but it s hard to construct a narrative that a truthful full narrative that says they re in retreat at large. would you agree? the iraqi army and its shiite militia allies have more of a base in nearby baqubah and diyala province and then fighting on north they took tikrit and then the kurds will defend their homeland and kurdish area such as mt. sinjar. so the advances have come where the troops involved have been closer to a home base. ramadi is al anbar province is the capital. a largely sunni arab area. shiite troops of the iraqi government are aliens there they re far away from home and so it seems to be more difficult for them to make progress under those circumstances. there seems to be continuity in this respect, anbar province