plenty of food and water for employees to hunker down and ride the crisis out, but less people to take care of in baghdad does ease the burden on the embassy. this means the provisions could stretch longer. they say the u.s. will only move to a full evacuation of things really get out of hand, ana. elise labott, thank you. let s dive deeper. joining us now is former national security adviser for iraq and afghanistan under president george w. bush, megan o sullivan, now an international affairs professor at harvard s kennedy school. good morning to you. good morning. what, if anything, surprises you most about this deteriorating situation there in iraq? well, i think the most surprising element to people, even who have watched this very closely, is how rapidly the iraqi security forces seem to crumble when faced with isi threat in the north. this when we dig deeper is an entirely surprising when we see how much the force was politicized over the last two
megan o sullivan, we appreciate that. sorry, go ahead. i ll let you get the last word before we move on. i was simply just no, i was simply underscoring the difference between conversations about the political system and conversations about military assistance. and that s the distinction to make and critics shouldn t react so vehemently to the idea of speaking with iran about a conflict that is not just about iraq, but is also very, very much about syria. and, of course, the iranians are knee deep or neck deep in syria. it is a regional conflict. it is territorial conflict. also political, cultural, ethnic. so there are lots of layers to t megan o sullivan, thank you. let s take a closer look at what is happening on the ground in iraq. one by one militants are gobbling up villages and cities as they push toward baghdad. last tuesday, mosul was the terrorist made prize. it is iraq s second largest city in the far north, near syria. and by thursday, isis fighters
leiter. from london, founder of women for women international and former deputy national security advisor for iraq and afghanistan and professor of international affairs at harvard university, megan o sullivan. megan, let me start with you given your extensive experience in the region. the president was slightly opaque this afternoon or this morning about what the administration might do but there is the suggestion of air strikes. do you think that is the right call? i think that it obviously depends on a number of factors but it s potentially one of the very small number of things that could help stave off the progress that we have seen isis make in the last couple of days and it could help stave off even further bloodshed and more widespread conflict. you mentioned the mobilization of people in baghdad and that s not all in the context of the iraqi army. that s in the context of militias, shiite militias, al sadr s militia which we haven t
richard haass is the commissioner on foreign relations. from 2004 to 2007, megan o. sullivan was deply national security advisor. and peter bergen is cnn s national security analyst and the director of the securities program at the new america foundation. when you look at all this turmoil brewing in the middle east, what do you see as the cause? there are many causes, but one cause is that you have some sectarian issues that are working themselves out. another cause is a whole generation or so of american policies that i think exacerbated things. a third cause is american alliances with countries that
been six months since the election. we have no government and we re pulling the troops out anyway. does that bother you? look, it s worrying. the draw down, though, is consistent with the agreement that president bush and prime minister maliki developed that involved a withdraw of our troops between now and december 31, 2011. our military believe and said publicly that this could be done without undermining security there. i think we have to take that at face value but as megan said, it is very important the administration showed to the iraqis and to the world that they are committed over the long term to the success of this iraq experiment and our diplomats need to be helping the iraqis come and put together a truly national government including all groups. that is critical at this point to calm the situation both politically and i think from a security standpoint on the ground. megan, your main concern going forward in iraq and then in afghanistan?