with cnn s arwa damon, an iraqi soldier among the last to retreat from ramadi described the city s fall. we have to give you a warning. arwa s report contains graphic individually you may find disturbing. the chaotic final moments skap churd captured on a cell phone. this one of the last fire fights with isis before ramadi fell. a bed ody is seen in the dirt behind one of the berms used for cover.
errol, are more of a frustration. the united states has been providing weapons and training, yet still we have not been able to see the iraqi military go on the offensive. be a force that can stand up next to isis. although, you know, the question of will has been one raised many times. we heard from arwa dadamon s reporting, she talked to a soldier, not that they lacked the will. they have the will. they didn t have the structure, command, weapons to hold on and continue the fight. so there is a lot of questions surrounding why, first of all, iraqi troops pulled out of ramadi. and a lot of fingers being pointed. but right now, iraqi troops, along with shiite militias are preparing to retake the city. it is not going to be easy at as we have seen elsewhere in iraq. they tried to take ground from
the same time, while this is a cautious move to send in military advisors, anderson, senior administration officials explained they are going to be going in advisors and teams of 12 or so when they go out with iraqi forces to advice them and consult with them. that does potentially open them up to some danger and that is why senior administration officials were saying today that these advisors have been granted immunity unlike the situation that occurred between the u.s. and iraq back in 2011 and that if they need to, they can fire back in self-defense, anderson. arwa damon, as you know, the shia lead government wanted air strikes by the united states to help military on the battle field. i m wondering what the response up north was to the president s comments today and the idea of sending in advisors. well, the kurds are viewing
headquarters of the iraqi battalions where they will be based. as to when the air strikes are launched, the white house is not going to say when they will do that but you are right, and we ve been hearing this, i ve been hearing this from intelligence officials all week, as you say, that they felt that baghdad and the shia dominated areas were not as vulnerable because of the shiite populations there and shiite militia more loyal to the iraqi government and that does give them some time. the trouble is, i m told, by the same officials, without a comprehensive counter offensive from iraqi forces now with u.s. help, it s going to be very difficult and take time to rest back control of those areas in the north and west that have been taken over by isis and their sunni allies. very difficult, if not impossible, at least at this point to say the least. arwa damon, what are you hearing
the complexity of the task that they are assigned to do. kind of working on multiple fronts. what do you see as their key objective this time around here? well, i ll open the aperture a little bit, anderson, and say these guys are going to provide a lot more than people are talking about right now. they are certainly going to provide support to the iraqi security forces, that s what everyone is thinking about now but provide clarity to what is going on over there. i m listening to your reports with nick and arwa and they are talking about the numerous tribes and terrorist groups in the north and it brings back memories when she talks about them and 127 tribes that we once counted in the northern region, but those special forces and special operating forces will provide clarity as to what is going on. they will also have good communication packages. they will report not only to