when they interrogate the suspect the one on the ground of the champs-elysees, that is the key. what they have to do is connect that person s relationships. they are going to have to look at his social media, his travel and what we are seeing here, potentially, is the kind of offensive that isis has warned of as the american coalition forces are closing in on raqqah, the capital of isis. we know we are going to see more and more of these kinds of attacks and i think the types of things we have seen in france and prior to the current situation in britain, the other attacks in britain. that shows isis is on the move. they are basically inspiring their people to do sole source attacks, single attacks or small group attacks. that s the kind of thing that is more dangerous because you don t know where and when these kind of attacks are going to take
baghdadi. but of course, mosul has been heavily bombarded. we are in the final stages of mosul being taken by iraqi ground forces, and that has resulted in isis being pushed out of mosul to, through the border into syria and up towards raqqah. and now that you re seeing the push on raqqah in syria in turn by coalition forces, by syrian defense forces, members of the syrian opposition coming in to push isis out of raqqah, you are also getting a squeeze on them into the south of the city and out to cities like pal meira. and so, it is no surprise that baghdadi may have been up in raqqah, but there is also reports from u.s. intelligence that he was, perhaps, in anbar province, which is now being pushed by which is fwhow basically dominated by shia militias. so, it is unclear, and of
hydroelectric facility in syria. and it was taken as a result of a two-week battle which culminated actually in a negotiated truce with those i.s. fighters inside, about 70 were allowed to leave provided they lay down their weapons and demind the facility. of course this is being seen in the wider context of the push on raqqah itself which is only about 30 miles to the east. the kurdish forces are saying that that operation will begin later this summer. this all comes ahead of course of president trump s inaugural foreign visit where he ll be going to israel and saudi arabia. of course the defeat of the islamic state is going to be very high up the agenda in both countries. it s something that he has campaigned on consistently. one of the issues that he ll have to confront is the announcement that they re going to arm america the kurdish forces in syria, which puts them on a collision path with their traditional ally in this area
well. the united states backing these rebels. at the same time the united states with forces enrolled on the ground assisting the locals in a planned taking on raqqah, the isis strong hold. so many different players in this same theoretical, to say that it s complicated might be if understatement of night. how do you manage all of that? that is a great, great question, and in fact, if you ve got the answer for that, then i m sure donald trump would really like to know that. remember that the united states for the longest time has talked about telling about how assad must go, now we ve had haley saying this is not something we are going to be choosing to do. we also know that isis is a threat both to the united states and also our europe allies. what is more important. what in the terms of what the united states wants to accomplish is it to destroy isis, take raqqah, destroy isis as an organization both syria and iraq? is it to pacify assad?
us at the pentagon the more responsibilities for these civilian casualties is on isis. the u.s. is not going to change their behavior. you hear back and forth have the rules of engagement changed? officials say officially the rules have not changed. but they do say culturally there s been a shift. the ground commanders have more authority, people calling in airstrikes have more authority, and the fight is naturally accelerating, because a, in syria, you re closing in on raqqah, and you re getting into more dense neighborhoods that require close support. you re here for general mattis here. tell me about the growing alliance for the secretary of state. he goes to tillerson s office on the seventh floor. they go to a secure room. right now in new york, mattis is meeting with henry kissinger, getting advice potentially from a former secretary of state. the line between mattis and tillerson, it s interesting. tillerson is from oil, right?