western world back in the middle east waging war with themselves. the true believers. right? yeah, a war with the shias, a war with iran and the revolutionary guards and the force, that gets you part of the way there and we now know that may already be under way. you don t just want a war with the shia heratics but a war with the western infidels, you want a war with the west. so now we have our own fight in our own country about whether or not we re going to give them more of war that they always wanted. nbc news chief foreign kor spornt richard engel, of course, spent several years reporting from baghdad during the war. he is back inside baghdad tonight. technical constraints notwithstanding, we think we re going to be hearing live from richard in just a moment. look at this report he just filed from inside baghdad. this is remarkable. reporter: these iraqi soldiers, prisoners of isis, in a video not verified by nbc news, are being forced to swear allegiance to the al qaeda
the air field if necessary. protect the routes of the u.s. embassy to ensure they get there. i don t know how many americans we have in baghdad or its environs, but if the situation would worsen, i think you could bring in more of the mv 20 ospreys that they have and even more marines if it requires a greater evacuation. general, we ve been talking about the situation at the embassy there. a lot of people are concerned about that and rightfully so. there are more marines that are now stationed at that u.s. embassy in baghdad. 200 military personnel are now guarding the military facility, what else do we need to do there? i think if the threat begins to materialize inside baghdad, if we begin to see suicide bombings and there is a threat of a large group of isis moving in, you could reinforce with more marines. it s a large complex. it s the largest embassy we have in the world, and these fleetant
nothing. they don t perform any of the duties apparently for which we have trained them? yeah. the question i guess is, what the forces right around prime minister maliki and inside baghdad and i think the assess meant is, it is people that he trusts most to protect the capital city. clearly he is concerned himself if he is bringing iranians and quds force to be a backup to the iraqi forces. the generals he set up on the outskirts of mosul that fell away, were said to be cronies, friends. they were said to be in line with his thinking and his religion but not good as training and keeping command over these iraqi forces. so they melted away as they were being challenged. the other thing that s a big part of this story is syria. because, remember, that a lot of these radical islamists are coming across from syria.
we re only a day away from a crucial primary that could determine where this republican marathon is headed. fresh off a run away win in puerto rico, mitt romney is now looking to score big in illinois. rick santorum needs a strong showing as he tries to deny romney the nomination. the two rivals have long since taken off the gloves, but now they have put on some brass knuckles as well. our national correspondent jim accosta is in chicago with the very latest. the top two gop contenders are practicing their own brand of chicago style politics on this day before the illinois primary and both rick santorum and mitt romney are proving to be untouchable. reporter: the battle for the gop nomination has come to illinois and in the land of lincoln the republican party is a house divided in an uncivil war of words. i m somewhat experienced in the economy, i m not an economic light weight. president obama is. we re not going to be successful replacing an economic light weight wit
some kind much a hit and run according to court documents and the charge was later drop by the town s municipal court, harris. case,reported the awards that bales won in the service. among them. national defense service medal. and the expert infan tree badge for skills as a fight yer three good conduct medals. and u.s. state department confirmed that an american was freed after being held captive for nine months. he said he is a former u.s. soldier and traveled to iraq last year when militia members captured him. i was taken inside baghdad and kept within different areas in the city. my release is more humanitarian and no exchange was involved. followers of the iraq