that they got here to baghdad and i was up the day after the statue was pulled down just behind me. and there was a sense that the u.s. didn t know what to do next. fast forward to now. what he is saying about the u.s. is they have backed al maliki, which he says is fine. they have not put enough pressure on him to rein in the sectarianism. to be more inclusive. here s part of what he said about the u.s. they should support maliki. it s up to them. but they should also clarify to maliki that their support is conditional. on inclusivity of the political process and respecting the constitution and human rights. unfortunately, americans are not doing this. reporter: and he s a very worried man. you know, i ve had that sense since coming back this time. he s very worried this could slip down that road to all-out sectarian war. he says at the moment an
maliki, called him authoritarian, said he is leading a one-man band and completely isolating sunnis. he wasn t all that complimentary of the united states. they say their support for him has been without enough. i don t know. sort of suspicion about his motives. they say that the u.s. needs to apply more pressure. have a listen. they should support maliki. it is up to them. they should also clarify that their support is conditional. or inclusive with the process, respecting human rights. unfortunately, americans are not going to do this. he said that the u.s. needs to put the pressure on, as i said, put the screws on nuri al maliki, to bring sunnis into the fold more. he said the alternative, he hated to say it, is a potential all-out, sectarian civil war. carol?
and msnbc analyst. let s talk about this group. they are in syria, they are in iraq. how have we let them become so dominant and the maliki government so weak? the isis is an offchute of al qaeda and iraq. it has broken with al qaeda leadership because they are so extreme. the fight in syria, they became a very powerful force there, very armed and one of the most effective military groups fighting assad regime. second, with the maliki government being anti-sunni, they have opportunity for adherence and those combined and that s what we re seeing today. we re even seeing rohani saying would come to the help and support maliki, his fellow shiite and defend baghdad against these insurgents.