the complexity of the task that they are assigned to do. kind of working on multiple fronts. what do you see as their key objective this time around here? well, i ll open the aperture a little bit, anderson, and say these guys are going to provide a lot more than people are talking about right now. they are certainly going to provide support to the iraqi security forces, that s what everyone is thinking about now but provide clarity to what is going on over there. i m listening to your reports with nick and arwa and they are talking about the numerous tribes and terrorist groups in the north and it brings back memories when she talks about them and 127 tribes that we once counted in the northern region, but those special forces and special operating forces will provide clarity as to what is going on. they will also have good communication packages. they will report not only to
the other question i had when i read that statement though, is how concerned would a terror group be about safely moving the material, i m not sure they would mind moving it if it s not that safe to do so. we ll have to wait and see. jim accost to, you were at the white house when the president was speaking. you pressed him about the possibility of mission creep, president obama saying 300 advisors, he said non-combat forces, probably green berets, navy saleeals, rangers going to baghdad. what did he say? anderson, another example of why president obama is a cautious commander in chief. he s really caught in a jam. he said american combat troops are not going to be fighting in iraq again but said it s in the national security interest of the u.s. to make sure iraq is not a safe haven for terrorists and he s keeping options open for air strikes but by the way, the options for air strikes could take place in iraq or syria. senior administration officials are not ruling that out and a
you point that out. everybody that said that to me is like a 22-year-old kid that has no military experience, no experience with the u.s. military and doesn t know what they are talking about. they are talking about pride and national pride but when you talk to iraqi personnel, military personnel who worked one on one, it s a completely different tune as you said. lieutenant general, appreciate you being on. thank you so much. thank you. up next in this hour, the u.s. supported maliki, no doubt about that. the man being blamed for the sunni backlash or does iraq s prime minister need to step down? is there a way for that to happen without the u.s. forcing that to happen? we ll talk about that and i ll talk to richard clark, the top counterterrorism officials his warnings about al qaeda were ignored before 9/11 and we re seeing exactly why. we ll talk to him ahead. you ve reached the age where you ve learned a thing or two.
proshiite and anti everybody else. bobby, to christiane s point, it s amazing to hear his name back in the mix. i remember a time, i think, it was 2004, u.s. troops almost arrested him for one of his aids, i think, giving information to iran, wasn t it? i think when you if the solution to the problem is him, then your country is in far greater trouble than you actually think. i think if you ran this down, you would find the person suggesting him is him. nobody in baghdad i have spoken to in the last 48 hours thinks of him as a serious of viable candidate. it s a sizable lead in iraq and a few years ago, nobody even heard the name nuri al-maliki. i wouldn t rule out the possibility of somebody whose name we are not considering emerging from the confusion as a possible candidate. what is important is to try and
they can utilize this. arwa, do they have intelligence how many other sunni groups or awakening groups are party groups are fighting? in terms of an exact number at this stage anderson, it s a mirky picture and connected to these various other sunni fighting sources. they will throw a couple familiar names out there, bundys, former other sunni groups quite prominent during the u.s. occupation of iraq. but at this stage, the situation is so polarized, that even if some of these former sunni groups are not directly involved in the fight, they are at the very least allowing it to happen. the sunnis who do not want to see an organization like isis take over and the creation at this stage feel as if they have no other choice but to make