the number of iranian the amount of iranian support here and the number of shia militia in iraq is staggering right now. almost 150,000 mobilization wow. that s pretty significant. it actually shows how much influence iran has in iraq right now. all right. now the campaign against islamic state also making progress inside syria, where the fall of the headquarters in syria could also be heading that way. is that victory? that liberation imminent too? probably not imminent. i think if the liberation of mosul tells us anything, it s some of the villages and cities that sit south along the ewe euphrates river valley are going to be brutal, car bombs, children will be used as shields in the fighting. i think it is likely going to be intense. but i think in the end the americans will likely prevail
with their local allies and remove most of isis from these towns and villages. okay. let s assume that liberation does take place, you ve written for us this week that already the jihadists from islamic state are spreading out and returning in essentially to their insurgent strategy, blending into villages, smaller towns, waiting for another opportunity to regroup and no doubt committing terror along the way. what has to happen on the part of the iraqi government and the u.s. to make sure that isis doesn t revive? well, i think at the core we have to remember that this is primarily a political struggle going on, not a military one. and if we look at some of the anbar cities like fallujah and ramadi. fallujah was cleared by the u.s. in 03. right. then we had insurgents move back. it was recleared. the last decade and a half has been constantly reclearing some of these cities. so i think what has to happen is in particular in sunni areas,
some of the key issues that have disenfranchised sunnis have got to be better addressed. that is in part a heavy political effort by the u.s. and u.s. diplomats to push the iraqi government. this is going to put it really at loggerheads with iran to settle some of these sunni disenfranchisement issues and that is a large number of shia militia, more rapid reconstruction in cities like fallujah. now, mosul and ramadi. and then to treat this as a political rather than just a military struggle. so they can t seem to be the baghdad government or with the shiite forces that back iran can t seem to be imposing a new kind of tyranny on those sunni areas of anbar province in iraq. because that s the root, that s the base from which the insurgency grows. that s an important base of support. if one looks at the rise of the islamic state in 2014, certainly
or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. common side effects are dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain and swelling of hands, legs and feet. don t drink alcohol while taking lyrica. don t drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. those who have had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. with less pain, i can be more active. ask your doctor about lyrica. iraqi prime minister declared victory this week over the islamic state in mosul, where the terror group declared its so called caliphate in 2014. after a bloody three year struggle there, my next guest says the fight is far from over. seth jones is the director of the international security and
call, you know, expe diditioexp diplomacy and not having boots on the ground. mark kimmet was talking about that earlier in this particular case, there was a discussion with libya about, you know, some sort of security force to enhance them, and it was the libyans, themselves, they said, hey, we don t want any foreign forces here, and we will take care of our own transition, and when the state department as secretary did say today, normally, under the normal circumstances, thet line of security is provided by the host nation, and that is obviously a capability that libya didn t have, but we will en koucounter these kinds of situations where mark kimmette is standing right now, and you have iraq, yemen, syria, libya, and coming apart at the seam, and yet we need the diplomatic personnel there to