two points. one is at this point, however, maliki isn t doing a stabilization operation in the sunni areas. right now he has been thrown on the defensive by an isis-led blitzkrieg that is now in baqubah to the north and to the south of baghdad, threatening shia areas. and that s more of a military than a long-term stabilization political diplomatic endeavor. and that s what the president has to face right now among other things. it involves iranians coming in and our own people on the ground right in the middle of this thing. so on paper you see that the iraqi military far outnumbers the isis forces and others 100 to 1 or 50 to 1. how can they be defeated? talk a little bit about how that is possible. my understanding is it s morale issues, it s leadership issues, and also a lot of shia forces stationed in mosul saw no reason to try to stand up and fight in a sunni-dominated area. is that accurate?
here. absolutely, anderson. at this point, however, maliki isn t doing a stabilization operation. he s been thrown on the defense sieve by an isis lead to the north and south of baghdad threatening shii areas. that s what the president has to face right now among other things it involves iranians coming in and our people on the ground in the middle of this. investor jeffrey went on paper, you see the iraqi military out numbers isis 100-1 or 50-1, how can they be defeated? talk about how that is possible. my understanding is it s a moral issue, leadership issue and also, a lot of shiia forces saw no reason to try to stand up and fight in a sunni dominated area.
exactly. we ve seen these armies collapse before. in 2003, in 1991. if these troops do not believe they are fighting for their own territory and their own people, their own families, they did hold and fight against the iranians in the 1980s. so they can fight if they think that they re motivated. they will fight for the shia areas, anderson. but the problem again is there are intertwined shia and sunni communities all around baghdad. that s why baghdad is so critical right now. ken, baghdad is because of the what went on here in 2006-2007, baghdad is overwhelmingly sunni excuse me, overwhelmingly shia dominated. so do you think it s unlikely that baghdad itself could possibly fall? because it does seem like iraqi security force, largely shia would be far more motived to actually protect this shia city. i think you ve hit on a number of very important point, anderson. and i think it is the case, as jim is already suggesting that
we can t get there to find out what is going on for ourselves. that s key this evening. we don t know how the fight is going. is isis on the verge of pushing through getting closer to baghdad? we just can t find out. arwa, one of the things that you and nick have both been emphasizing in your reporting is this is not just isis fighters. there are also other groups involved here, sunni militant groups. talk about that a little bit what you re seeing on the ground. well, anderson, this is one of the main reasons why isis has been able to make this dramatic advance towards the capital baghdad, and that is that it is not fighting on its own. it has the support of the sunni tribes, and it does also for the time being at least have the support of those sunni insurgent groups that were so prominent and so successful during the u.s.-led occupation of iraq. at this point, even though they do not share the same ideology in that these sunni groups do not want to see an islamic
taxi. this was a dangerous operation, they found their opportunity, and they went ahead. and what s going to happen to him? he will be tried in court? and do we know the charges? he is coming to court here in washington, d.c. and we know the charges. you know, you read them. this is a tough rap sheet. one, kill a person in the course of an attack on a federal facility, providing material support to terrorists, discharging a weapon during an attack, a crime of violence. and the list may be longer. and that first charge, killing a person in the course of an attack on federal facilities, that could carry the death penalty. are there others that they re looking for? they say there are others that they re looking for, that they are still building their case, and they re even still building their case against khatallah. that s why they make a point of mentioning that he could face more charges. but there are others they re still looking out there. and they say they have others that