services and how quickly can they make it a safe and welcoming place for the sunni families that have been driven out. poppy? bob, in terms of this in the broader picture, what does, if they are able to retake ramadi, what does that mean for retaking fallujah? poppy, i think it s optimistic. the islamic state is not a true military force. it is it s a guerilla force, and with these air strikes and with new tactics against a city like this, and as kimberly said, they are pretty much going to have to destroy the city to take it back, it s a good sign. i think they can march up to mosul and eventually take it, but the problem is, that the iraqi army remains a shia army largely. the militias, yes, they are out of it, but most of the sunni residents of ramadi have fled to jordan, at least the tribal chiefs, and the same way when they took tikrit six months ago and fallujah would be the same
isis is claiming responsibility for suicide bombings at two baghdad hotels. and at a mosque in saudi arabia. even as its forces seize more cities in syria. all of it raising serious concerns right now about an expanding terrorist reach. let s get more on what s going on. joining us the former congresswoman, jane har mon, a leading intelligence expert. who heads the woodrow wilson international center for scholars here in washington. also joining us cnn national security analyst peter bergen. along with former c.i.a. operative and security analyst, robert baird. robert isis taking responsibility for the hotel bombings in baghdad. is this the beginning of a new assault on the iraqi capital? i don t know if it s a new assault, but you certainly see them on the move wolf. this is a guerilla force, they go where it s weak.
being a guerilla force, perhaps sending out messages of to civilians is an effort to what counterinsurgency efforts would say is to try to separate the fish from the water, trying to split the militants off from any civilian support. but of course, if this proves true, it could be a game changer. we know how hard israel tries to get either the bodies of its dead soldiers back from the battlefield or to get its live soldiers back and hamas will undoubtedly try and use this if it does prove true both for political and military leverage. it will also be a morale booster for a guerilla force like hamas and in their terms, this is a tremendous coup for them. i m sure they will look to try to press those gains on the battlefield. they won t sit idly by. israel could go both ways. it could back off some of the offensive operations to try and look for this soldier to see if