political compromise you and the administration say is necessary? well, it s the question. and i welcome it. because i think what i have found here is, first of all, the significant fact that 14 million iraqis went out and voted. very significant percentage of the population chose democracy. and there is a constitutional process. which we, in our strategic framework agreement, are pledged to be supportive of. and we are. that constitutional process is actually playing out right now. so while he says there s a new reality, the new reality is they re under attack from isil, and they ve realized that they cannot continue with this sectarian division. so part of the new reality is yet to be fully defined as they form this new government. and so that s the critical thing now. that s the mention that s so key now. and, you know, i think we have
just last night, we were being told by three independent sources that isis had, in fact, taken control of the refinery. this is a large facility. a 35-mile perimeter fence around it. four different refinery complexes within it. but today the government, the army spokesman said, once again, that the military was fighting for control of it. indeed, had control over parts of it. we re also hearing the same narrative about talafar, that important air base and town north of the country. again, not clear who controls it, fighting continuing there. the government also saying today it had taken control of a border crossing point into syria, and one goes into jordan, linked iraq to jordan. this, because isis militants have posted pictures online, indicating that they have taken control of it. again, impossible for us to get to these locations and determine exactly who s in control. it paints a very fluid picture
that they want to keep isis out of. the west of the city, it s a little different. isis forces are much closer to baghdad. but the hard bit, again, is for us to get independent information. we try to drive today to the western limits of baghdad. it s impossible for us to get there. it s impossible to get out, get that independent confirmation, wolf. nic robertson, be careful in baghdad, thanks very much. let s get to the political side. the secretary of state john kerry is now wrapped up talks with the iraqi government. he s trying to cobble together a compromise of sorts. he spoke with our own chief national security correspondent jim sciutto about the white house s message, the prospects of a new unity government in iraq. in your time here, have you seen any hard evidence of any of the parties involved willing to make compromises? what hard concessions have any of the sides offered to each other to bring about this
iraq. where sunni isis forces are rampaging against shiites and kurds. the secretary of state, john kerry, has been pushing the unification message over the past few days in iraq, where he also sat down with our chief national correspondent jim sciutto, to talk about the next steps for the united states and iraq. june 12th, the president said he was appearing with the australian prime minister, that my team is working around the clock on options to respond. during that 12 days since, we calculated, isis has captured an additional 11 cities and towns. a key refinery. crucial roadways and border crossings. hasn t the delay in the administration s response here on the ground, military action, strengthened isis during that time? i think i think the real question, jim, is not sort of what happened in those days, the question is what can happen going forward, a strategy that s really going to work. the reason the president sent me
to let that organic process work out a little bit. words are cheap. jim also pressed secretary kerry on his comments about strategy and the american response. you said sustained and intense would be u.s. military action would be sustained and intense if the president decides to go forward. wonder for you could better define the time frame but also the measure of success of military action. is it isis destroyed, isis retreating? is it a partial retreat? that s precisely the strategy that needs to be defined as we go forward. what i said would be intense would be the support to the government of iraq and our efforts to try to help build the rebuild the military structure, as well as, hopefully, support a new unity government. we re going to have more of jim s conversation with secretary kerry later this hour. stand by for that. while the u.s. considers its political options, it s also considering some military