Announcer this is a special edition of nightline. War on isis retaking raqqa. Good evening. Thank you for joining us. Tonight were taking you to the last stronghold of isis in syria where u. S. Backed forces are battling to retake raqqa. The citys fall would be a major defeat for the extremists trying to incite violence around the world, and the stakes couldnt be higher. Abcs ian pannell takes us into the streets where the war is raging from building to building and death is always just seconds away. Reporter one shot, one bullet, one kill. Perched on a rooftop in raqqa, an american man with isis in the crosshairs. This isnt really a mission of vengeance. Thats a dirty word. But this is more like justice. Reporter and somewhere on the streets below a fellow fighter, a syrian woman on a mission to reclaim her homeland. Translator if there is no determination on the ground, there will be no progress. Were moving forward. With the fighters of the ypg. These are the fighters of the u. S. C
Hey bee to hive for that honey you know a sweet tasty bowl of that get up and go put in the good and the good will grow good goes around and around and around hey honey to the o is the yum in yo bowl playing around thats how we roll start with the good and watch good flow good goes around and around around and around and around. Hey announcer this is a special edition of nightline. War on isis good evening. Thank you for joining us. Tonight were taking you to the last stronghold of isis in syria where u. S. Backed forces are battling to retake raqqa. The citys fall would be a major defeat for the extremists trying to incite violence around the world, and the stakes couldnt be higher. Abcs ian pannell takes us into the streets where the war is raging from building to building and death is always just seconds away. Reporter one shot, one bullet, one kill. Perched on a rooftop in raqqa, an american man with isis in the crosshairs. This isnt really a mission of vengeance. Thats a dirty wor
International Affairs Committee and the Bard International Affairs Program will commute to this session. We have had an incredibly interesting conversation about the state of the nation and we are moving into challenging territory which our chair cedric more will take you through. But let me mention something about the choice of today. Today being april first. There were a few chuckles, april fools day, why would you do it . But in fact april fools day is the perfect day for a conversation of this kind because as you know, the role of the full was to speak truth to power. And, it is not just speaking truth to the powerful but the power can reside in conventional ideas and assumptions. We won in to challenge it in a an open and respectful way. I am going to introduce the panel but i want to Say Something about the process. You notice there are two empty chairs. These chairs belong to you in the audience, at least temporarily. Because the process invite you to join me table at some point
International affairs and the globalization of the International Fears program. We welcome you to the session. Weve had an incredibly interesting conversation just before about the state of the nation and were now moving into some very challenging territory. Before we do that, let me mention something about the choice of the day. Today being april 1 when we announce this there were of few tackles. April fools day, why would you do it . April fools day is a perfect day for conversation of this kind. As you all know, the role of the fool that we see in place throughout medieval history was to speak truth to power. Its not just about speaking truth to the powerful but that power can reside in conventional ideas and assumptions, all of which we want to challenge today in an open and respectful way. Im going to introduce the panel in a second but i want to explain one thing about our process. If you notice here there are two empty chairs. These chairs belong to you. At least they belong to
Ding deeper into the conflict. The underurns from secretary of state lyrical affairs. Here it is, the New York Times. 51 u. S. Diplomats in dissent on assad. On a side on is a civic story . Nicholas we wanted our be creative and speak up when they see something they dont like. Richard and i worked on this over many decades. But what they are speaking about is the enormous frustration inside the u. S. Government. Think in many circles, new york, washington, other places, over the president s policy in the middle east. I admire president obama. He has been entirely riskaverse in the middle east. As i understand, reading the article, these people are not saying we should put a big American Land army into syria. That would be catastrophic. I think they are suggesting, and i certainly believe, we ought to play our traditional role, a diplomatic, kohlers role. Charlie you are arguing, that while president obama has had Foreign Policy successes, the middle east is a failure. Nicholas its impo