, neighboring syria and it's iraq first and then syria which syria is a little more complicated but think the key there is getting bashar al-assad out of the picture and now he is firmly in control and makes it very difficult to train and e equip the opposition in syria battling on i.s.i.l. on one front and assad forces on the other. so the u.s. strategy is sort of focus on iraq and not put u.s. troops in a ground combat role to use the u.s. to help the iraqis solve the political situation so that their forces will stand up and fight and then sort of pivot to syria and see what they can do there. there are no easy answers here and i think that is one of the things you will hear from the hearing is they don't have a quick fix for this problem. >> again we are watching washington where the hours armed services is about to hold its hearing concerning i.s.i.l., the two top military leaders expected to enter the room shortly and defense hagel and general martin dempsey and jamie one of the things that has emerged in this campaign against i.s.i.l. is what seem believe a divide between the top b

to act in syria. president obama was famously hesitant to intervene with poll numbers on his mind, memories of the u.s. invasion of iraq, has not done much to this date. isis has pushed the united states over the edge and we are now actively involved. that is my snapshot of the present. my talk is entitled the history of the future of syria. i want to tell you what i think tentatively as a historian what may be coming down the pipeline. not to be pessimistic but i think president obama has a tough road ahead of him. this is for many reasons, not least of them the fact that to my eyes the united states does not have a clear and robust sense of what our mission is. there are many conflicting statements over the past weeks and months to degrade the organization altogether. and our mission is not crystal clear as it should be but the appropriate military response to meet those various missions is also not clear. eradication of isis will require a commitment of military force far beyond anything we have pl

he said there would be iraqi groups on the ground in iraq and syria boots on the ground in syria. it sounds goods, but where are they? i've been reporting on this region for years and people i speak with tell me that this is one of the key problems with the u.s. strategy chlts it's disconnected from what's actually happening and seems, quite frankly, to be based on wishful thinkings. it imagines a middle east that digit exist. in less than six months, isis relar reerased the border and carved out an arable e area the size of mds m.d. washington calls this state a cancer. the cure, it says, is not o e to send in one army, but to prop up five armies. in central iraq, rebuilding and retraining if army. in western iraq, it's paying sunni tribes. in north earn iraq, it's sending guns to the kurds. in southern syria, the regime is still in power. in a wider reason e reel joon, the u.s. is counting on support from muslim regions. >> but they have, at time, supported radical groups like isis. the u.s. has tried to sort out the divisions between sunnis and kurds in the past. it did not go

in syria. we're seeing a very strange alliance against isis in iraq. clearly demonstrated in the u.s. air force coming isis checkpoints and vehicles. you have iranian revolutionary guard advisers on the ground directing iranian-backed shia militias who are assisting the federal forces who are being supported by the kurdish peshmerga. it was a couple months ago general petraeus warned that the u.s. air force shouldn't be the air force of the shia militias but at times recently it seemed the u.s. aforce was the air force of the iranians. they were being fed information from the iranians. north of baghdad, the alliance was even stranger because we saw the inclusion of sunni tribes who believe it or not were fighting alongside the shia militias. one tribal's leader said, and i quote, we are ready to deal with the devil to fight isis. i don't know if by devil he means the central government for the militias, but that is changing, and more and more sunni tribes are actually turning against isis. so i

syria's al qaeda affiliate. mohamed, a supporter of the president believes syria's choice is simple. assad or the jihadists. he showed me the basement where he said he was held 22 days with his wife and children and 60 neighbors a year ago. he says each day they were terrified of murder and rape. when problems broke out, the consequence, the so called arab spring was used to fool people. during 22 days even though i'm 40 years old, i feel i've aged 400 years. during last three or four years we were taken back to dinosaur era. i think dinosaurs were more civilized than rebels are. >> here in damascus and elsewhere, the president's points say he's created a stark choice between the regime and the jihadists. by targeting moderates and leaving the jihadists alone. the war is changing. the end is nowhere in sight. bbc damascus. >>> i should say try not to forget. part of our syria day, we have far more on the website on issues surrounding the region. for the latest features, analysis is, videos, interactive reports a

very moving piece about syria's disappeared. bbc.com/syria. >>> time to catch up now on the business news. aaron has it all. bad news for shell. >> yeah, could be bad news. big legal battle in the making here. thanks very much, david. hello there. let's start with the oil giant shell. and claims that it knew an aging pipeline in nigeria was unsafe long before two major oil spills in 2008, which certainly caused widespread environmental damage. they say poor maintenance was to blame and that they had internal company documents to prove it. shell says the leaks were caused by sabotage and people trying to steal from the pipeline. >> reporter: oil sprays into the air from a broken pipeline in nigeria in 2008. two spills spewed up to 500,000 barrels, according to a group of local people, including fishermen who are suing shell. they say 25 square miles of mangroves and waterways were affected. officials obtained a 2002 report six years before the spill by shell's nigeria operation spdc. in it, they say the company noted that the pip

turkey, iran, and syria. she specializes on the regional energy security and conflict state building. finally to my immediate left is joseph who has just joined us here in d.c. as a visiting scholar at the carnegie endowment. she is a researcher in paris and an adviser at the academy with that, i turn the floor. i am afraid it will be helpful, but hopefully it will be today and we will keep you with us until the end. then if that's okay with you. >> thank you very much. i would like to thank the endowment for inviting you today. it's a great pleasure to be on the distinguished panel. i was invited today to address the situation in iraq. the outlook with the new government. the engaged sunnis and the role of iran. by saying that's in the right direction. some of these have been symbolic and they have the use of the pictures in all government security check points and military establishments, but others such as the office of the commander in chief are serious attempts to break away the formality policies. many

in syria. i want to stay on the point with david cohen, tasked with finding the money and shutting it off. i asked if raising money through oil smuggling and other means puts i.s.i.l. in a separate category to other terror organizations we have seen. >> it is different, but not unique. it's different in the sense that it has amassed funds at a faster clip, i think, than any other territory organization that we have seen. setting aside state-sponsored terror organizations, it's the best funded in the world today. that being said, the mechanisms by which it raises money, some of them anyway, are mechanisms that we have seen before. external donor networks, kidnapping, and the extortion and criminal fundraising that i.s.i.l. is involved in, had its antecedence with al qaeda in iraq. they did essentially the same thing during the heyday, 5-7 years ago, longer. so we have seen what i.s.i.l. is doing today with other terrorist organizations. the oil smuggling is different. that is not something we ha

but syria, we have a muddled message. today, the free syrian army groups that america has been supporting maybe control 1% of syria, 2% eye don't know how much it is, but it's really nothing. and to imagine that america is going to somehow transform them into conquerors of half of syria or even the whole of syria begs the imagination-- >> woodruff: let me get andrew tabler for the last word here. why should americans believe there's any u.s. stake at this point? >> well, there is the terrorist threat. you know, that's for sure. the other problem is that this is about a regional war that's been going on by proxy, which the president has talked about on a number of occasions, between iranian-backed machines and the sunni-backed rebels inside of syria, and that's a marge larger issue, given energy prices and a whole slew of other things given our treaty obligations. unless you solve syria, you can't not only degrade isis but i can't destroy it and without doing a deal with syria, we can't deal with the jihadists. >> woodruff

implode,a begins to that pipeline reverses from iraq in two syria -- in two syria. syria. almost every jihadist is coming through turkey. it is the primary area homeland security is monitoring flights into. country, here is this which is a nato ally, is bringing -- we see so many foreign fighter pipelines coming through turkey. if there was a decision by some of these groups to start striking against our embassy, we have a very serious problem. the turks are clearly concerned about the direction their country is going in. >> the people or the government? >> i am talking about the government. >> he seems to believe he is somehow going to benefit from the creation of this islamic state and the revival of the .ttoman empire, unfortunately, can we take one more question from year? -- from here? no? we are finished. thank you very much for your attention. [applause] next, q&a with author david mark. live at 7:00, your calls and comments on washington journal. week, we will have interviews with retiring members of congress. tonight, we will talk with wisconsin republican. he is

syria is a whole new ball game. i don't think we've quite figured out how we're going to do this. >> all right, rick francona joining us. we appreciate it as always. good to see you. >>> ahead at this hour, a rock star, imagine a flight that he'll never forget. we'll tell you what happened on board bono's private jet ahead. >>> pictures like we have never seen before on earth. a spacecraft, a bouncing spacecraft riding a comet sends back a photo shoot. and are proven to taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. mmm... amazing. yeah, i get that a lot. alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. enjoy the relief. with my andi can...m tracfone, order more shaving cream. pay the electric bill. keep towels piping hot. get kids to sit still. play beard styling tunes. learn new razor tricks. hire a pro waxer. post before and after pics. i can do all that with my android from tracfone. 90-day plans start as low as $20. unbeatable nationwide coverage. no contract. for a limited time save $30 on the new lg optimus fuel. now ju

policy in syria. some of the u.s.'s most important allies, those moderate syrian fighters who get training and weapons, one of the major groups has lost its base to al-qaeda. it's called the revolutionary front, and we need them in order to fight against isil. and there's new video of their base being overrun by al-qaeda, the al-nusra front inside of syria, and those are u.s. weapons that al-qaeda group, the al-nusra fighters have taken over from the revolutionary front. and what subpoe-- is happening syria, and they are battling on three fronts, against the regime, isil, and the al-qaeda fighters. and they say there isn't enough help for them to defend themselves against al-qaeda and the syria regime. there is not enough coordination with the air strikes, for them to make any advances. so they ask this question, if we're going to overrun, fighting against al-qaeda, and fighting against the syrian regime at the same time, how can you expect us to defeat and degrade isil when isil fighters are using the american weapons

is the ground picture in syria is going to look like. obama has ruled out american boots on the ground in syria. it is hard to imagine he is going to go back on that during his final two years. if there is a military presence in syria, who will they be fighting and to what exdoes this extent of iran and the united states once again go an o collision course because assad remains at the center of the picture and in my mind, in the reporting i've seen, i still haven't figured out whatever force is being trained to be the boots on the dwround, the rebel force being trained in various places, what they're going to do. who they're going to fight and how that is going to be worked out. without american presence or the presence of another arab nation there. which is just a far more complicated project. >> let's open to the floor now for questions and comments. if speakers could please identify themselves, yes. diana first. >> thank you. >> announced earlier that they have -- eight new reactors in iran. whether this is bidding or an actual agreem

next two days we're bringing special reports from syria. we begin with this. >> a are heleppaleppo, one of t wars. large areas of this city are thousand firmly in government hands. the east is held by the rebels. it's ancient escape quarter, a world heritage site, is a battleground. the syrian army took us through narrow allies. snipers from both sides lay in wait. >> we were told this is one of the most dangerous areas. to go down this pathway, we have to run. the army is gaining ground against rebels fighting as much amongst themselves as against the regime. in the northeast, the industrial zone, what's left of it, was taken back in recent months. aleppo is serious industrial heart land. they want their city back. >> we asked the government to really finish their existence as quickly as possible. >> by any mean others possible? there's great concern in syria and abroad about the use of barrel bombs. >> the barrel bombs -- true unfortunately some civilian casualties, but they target militia presence, isis, target al qaeda, all these terror

after four years of civil war, much of syria has been reduced to rubble. it's a battle that rages in the country. >> early on in the war there were plenty of productions -- predictions that the syrian army would collapse. that has not happened. the soldiers' morale seems pretty strong and they are still fighting. >> as the death toll from ebola tops 5000, u.s. lawmakers are briefed on the response. we speak to a key senator. welcome to our viewers on public television in america and around the globe. it's not everyday we get to start this broadcast with good news, but today there certainly was cause for celebration. right now i european space probe is sitting on the surface of a speeding comet 300 million miles from earth. it is being hailed as one of the greatest successes in the history of space exploration. bbc's science editor david shukman reports. the news raced across space to waiting scientists who could not restrain themselves. professor monica grady has worked on this for 25 years. she was overwhelmed. in mission control, they could not quite bel

now those states aren't coming here to save syria. they are here to save themselves and to protect themselves and the security of their allies. and their approach to dealing with those groups isn't within a comprehensive project, but deals selectively, according to what serves their own interests. for us, if there's a convergence at the moment, it is the result of those states changing their positions and not because of common political goals. >> reporter: but we are at a perilous moment, aren't we, where the rise of this jihadist ideology is threatening not just you, but the west as well. is it time to put those old grudges to one side, to really find some kind of framework for a common purpose? what could hezbollah offer as part of that? >> translator: with the west, it's a different matter. because we don't trust western policies. honestly. due to a history of suffering from the colonial times to the presently existent position. even in the case of the jihadist groups, if it wasn't for the western policies, they would not have grow

how does that relate to your question about syria? i think it's also clear that assad, because of how he has governed, has brought this astounding instability on himself, on his people, on his country. and it has allowed groups like isil, al qaeda is still there, other terrorist organizations, to be strengthened for obvious reasons. but just alone dealing with assad, where we are now, maybe two years ago, three years ago, that's not going to put isil back in the box or the feet -- beginning with degrading or defeating isil. assad's part of the equation, of course. but when you look at what isil dominates now, the swath of control they have, eastern syria, much of north and western iraq, you can change assad today, and that's not going to change all the dynamics quickly, certainly, and in syria. but who are you going to replace assad with and what kind of an army would take on isil? so, yes, assad is part of it, yes, it is the longer-term part of this, defto find a stable government, leader ys syria to be able to bring some stability t

policy in syria. after realizing that defeating islamic terrorists in syria may be impossible without first ousting president bashar al assad. >>> new provocations from russia this morning, moscow says it plans to send long-range bombers to patrol the gulf of mexico and the caribbean, including near american waters it comes amid another uptick in violence in ukraine that's left at least four ukrainian soldiers dead. our senior international correspondent matthew chance has the latest live from moscow. matthew? >> well these are quite dramatic developments from moscow that russia will resume cold war era flights across the arctic from its base there is towards alaska, and more flights down the west coast of the, the western atlantic and the east coast towards the gulf of mexico. it hasn't done these kinds of flights, testing u.s. air defenses since the end of the cold war. they don't actually represent a military threat as such. in fact, think tanks that have been focusing on the upsurge in these kinds

russia's role in syria will be challenging. to have seem overlapping interests with iran outcomes our desired do not clearly align. we certainly do not have the ine overlapping interests syria. all of which is to say that these situations are going to be messy and require constant attention and management. fortunately, managed correctly, we have a real path toward the of degrading isil. denying them safe haven, eliminating their leadership, curtailing their ability to strike at our allies and at us. panelists here will help to explain to us and the american people the strategy. you, mr. chairman. con --sk unanimous it forward into the record. >> without objection, so ordered. mr. smith had ten days ago -- had surgery on his hip and he is recovering. i want to let you know he's fully engaged. had our big four meeting, working on the bill. he was -- technology made it possible that he was in the room with us and fully totally engaged. one other thing i would like to mention at the outset. several of our members will not next year

they basically raise it and spend it internally in iraq and syria. and one way to crack down on them is to crack down on the companies that are financing terrorism. the ranking lady waters and introduced a bill called the incorporation law enforcement assistance act which would require the disclosure of very basic information from corporations of who their benefit owners are. i was pleased in august when treasury proposed a rule to implement many parts of my bill. i would like to know what is the update on this. what is happening with the rule that you put into place? >> congresswoman, you highlight an important issue with the issue of shell companies. the rule that you are referring to we proposed a final rule in august. the comment period on that final rule actually i think the comment period expired in august. we are in the process of reviewing the comments that i think we received over 120 comments on that proposed rule. i should probably not get into anymore detail on where we are in terms of issuing the rule, but we are deeply committed and hav

but also carries over into eastern syria -- that also carries over into eastern syria. there are no borders when it comes to terrorism, especially with the ruthlessness of isis. we are doing what we can in syria to facilitate our anti-isil strategy, and that is eventually, as we degrade isil, to destroy. >> but i do not getting pressure to do more against assad? >> there are different views from different coalition partners. >> are there different views and secretary kerry? whether, if you defeat isil, it helps or hurts assad. >> i just explained what our strategy is regarding isil. is assad helped by what we are doing against isil? he is indirectly benefiting, but let's review the landscape. why has all of this occurred? this is all occurred because over the last three years, assad, his brutality, his lack of responsible government and legitimacy, what he has done to his own people has produced this. there will not be a military solution in syria. there only can be a diplomatic solution and people coming together enough. no one wants a completely failed government in s

the most likely outcome worthy of assad regime to fall in syria is the take of syria by the islamic state and/or the nusra front, the official al qaeda affiliate in syria, which sometimes gets lost in the talk about the islamic state, but is nonetheless the very real, official al qaeda affiliate in the country. so the politics in syria are just much, much more difficult. >> brangham: douglas ollivant, thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you, william. >> brangham: and now in tonight's signature story, the nationwide controversy over teachers and tenure. supporters say tenure provides important job protections, but opponents say tenure makes it hard to fire bad teachers and difficult to keep good teachers with less time on the job. last spring, the newshour traveled to california to talk to students, parents and advocates who went to court to change their state's tenure laws. tonight, we look at the outcome of that legal fight and how challenges to similar tenure laws are spreading to another state. megan thompson reports. >> reporter: sisters beatriz and elizabeth vergara attend pub

when we return more on the fight in syria and iraq against isil. what the next secretary will have on his or her desk from the first day on the job what a nuisance at leadership and large republican majorities in both houses mean for the day-to-day work of the pentagon, stay with us. ♪ ♪ >> we begin with the growing controversy. >> answers to the questions no one else will ask. >> real perspective, consider this on al jazeera america ♪ ♪ >>> you are watching "inside story" on al jazerra america, i am ray suarez, there will be a new u.s. secretary of defense before too long. former senator chuck hagel the first enlisted man to serve at the top civilian job at the pentagon will day on until a replacement is named. but the work of fighting isil, finishing the job in afghanistan and continuing the work of streamlining the forces will fall to someone else. we are looking at the job going forward with david, former deputy assistants secretary of defense for afghanistan and pakistan think heather of the new america foundation. and mark thompson, n

and what happened once she arrived in syria. i think that is the main interest of the authorities now, and i hope and i assume that after that, she most likely will be given help probably to reintegrate into society. but of course that depends on some of the answers she can give and the evidence that is available. >> she must have some very useful information that the authorities would like to hear about. you generally hear about foreign fighters joining isil. but how rare is a case like this? >>reporter: well, it used to be rare until a year ago but especially this year more and more girls have joined fighters in syria or went on their own or accompanied by some people to syria. and that number has grown dramatically. currently it's about 20% in the netherlands. same figures for, for instance, france. we're talking about not just one or two examples but probably dozens of girls and many of them are very young. only a week ago or two weeks ago, there was this girl, age 16, arrested in hungary on her way to syria. so we have more

against syria's women, children, and minority communities. [ explosion ] >>> meanwhile iraqi forces make progress against isil, forcing them from the oil town of beiji. >>> flying into political storm, the russian president, vladimir putin arrives for the g-20 summit, against a backdrop of conflict in ukraine, and warnings of a new cold war. >>> and i have all of the day's sport, including, ecuadoral guinea will host the african cup of nations. >>> u.n. investigators say the islamic state of iraq and the levant, isil is committing war crimes on a huge scale across syria. their report paints a bleak picture of life in isil-controlled areas. executions, amputations, and lashings in public places are pretty much a regular occurrence. mutilated bodies have been put on public display, and left people, of course particularly the children, completely terrorized traumatized. and the u.n. says they are targeting the children to try to foster a new generation of recruit. and girls are being forced into marriage with isil fighters. we are joined by one of the authors of the report from geneva.

they are talking about isis in iraq and syria. were along the way will be enough of a critical mass to employ. i do know what tomorrow, but will get more details. >> mr scott. >> thank you for being here. we know you have a lot on your plate. our national security and things are going on in the world. about try to be brief this, secretary kerry was to move or the ability into syria. which were the -- fronts to go into war. he was going to get back to me that he has not responded. we wanted to ask for this principle is to go into war. we in powell doctrine, do have a clear containable objective? again what ook at powell expended in that. nation is in en a danger, all resources should be used. why should we approve an give risation that doesn't you, general dempsey, the to lity to do what it takes win the war? >> congressman that is a great question. use of the military are state conflicts does go better with colin powell instructions than when we face something like isis. when we look at mass, it has a quality of its own. when it i

he went into syria, was picked up, i believe, in the prove incident in eastern syria and very little has been heard from him since other than pleas by his family and friends of his trying to get him released. >> ben hubbard, we wanted to ask you, a visit, a surprise visit by general martin dempsey there in iraq. tell us a little bit about the nature of this visit. >> well t seems like the main focus of the u.s. effort right now is trying to get advisors in place earlier this month that they were going to basically double the number of american military advisors here to about 3,000. so they are trying to get these in place mainly to arm, equip and training missions for the iraqi military and also trying to get some of the tribal fighters on board from some of the sunni tribes, particularly in anbar prove incident. these are groups that people remember hearing about the sunni awakening in iraq when u.s. forces were still here. this was -- these were -- these tribes ended up playing a large role in cooperating with american forces to get rid of al-qaeda in iraq, the predecessor of the g

the syrian doctor asked him and they were in syria at the time. just a few days before he was kidnapped. and he asked him your not afraid for your life and peter's response was my life is not more precious than yours and at this stage i feel as if i am a part of the syrian revolution. so, yes, he knew the risks but he had such a profound belief and need to actually go out there and do something himself that he put that behind him. he acknowledged the risks. he knew what he was getting into. he felt it was so important to help the syrian people and knowing what i know, what all of us know about peter at this point in time he wouldn't want the focus to be on what deor what's happened him to. he would want the focus to be on why what he was doing was so important. why it's so important to help the syrian people. and why despite what has happened to him and so many others, it's so important for us whether it's us as journalists or us as aid workers or us quite simply as members of the global community that happen to be more fortunate than others that

in the one in syria the verses that pipeline from iraqi -- iraq to syria. virtually every major jihadists comes into the region renowned by turkey. violin and or air is the primary era -- area we monitor air flights into. so the point is the we have seen so mini but for them to serve streaking there clearly concerned about the direction of the country. >> said different. and revival of the empire. but to stabilize the middle east. 10 or 15 years ago it may not be so stable. can we take one more question? no? okay. we are finished. [laughter] page you very much. [applause] [inaudible conversations] >> what will you miss the most? >> the people. making great friendships over the years. a lot of people that i know and like and respect are here because i will not come up here because i am not coming back up on the hill day after day. i will miss the staff. of very good staff. . . >> >> and the speaker in the parliament as well this so important. they have to remember to remember how disenfranchised they were under the maliki regime and it is so important not to

finally, with regard to syria, look. the problem that we face is that asaad has been a magnet for the very extremism we're fieging. its's hard to see how syria can be stable. including finding ways to preserve the basic military structures, the institutions of the state. that vacuum is filled by bad things. i think one of the things that's going to be critical is getting to a political transition that preserves all the different actors that their equities can be protected in a syrian state. that's ofly a big challenge. i think we now have a u.n. envoy that is focused and starting to make the rounds of the critical regional states. as people look out, i think all the sides can see that ultimately, this is going to exhaust them. and there's no military victory for anyone in the civil war. there should be a growing incentive to deal with the civil war. but part of that is the moderate opposition. building up, making it a counter weight. and, in effect, further underscoring the fact that the asaad regime cannot win this mili

policy on syria. the u.s. has been so focused on isis. little if any progress has been made in removing bashar al assad from power. is the president regretting his choice to go down that path? is it too late to call an audible? we have analysis this morning. >>> we have not talked about ebola for some time. it seems to have subsided in the u.s. we know the global outbreak is not over. is there some hope around the corner? we will have dr. sanjay gupta with us this morning. he will have details on the clinical trials of the drugs that helped americans beat the virus. we will talk to congress member ed royce. we will have a lot ahead on "new day" in a few minutes time. >> i look forward to seeing you there and later and all day. thanks, michaela. >>> here is a question for you. what does it look like on the surface of a comet? well, we have dramatic new pictures just in sent from 300 million miles away. we're live breaking it all down next. [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, we've always been at the forefront of advanced electronics. p

. >> the reality i have made a lot of people in syria. nobody has ever talked about getting back to bomb these countries as they try to make it sound like in the media. >> reporter: omar is 1 of 16 fighters to return. he did a very unradical thing. he contacted the danish police program for returning fighters, voluntarily. were you nervous about coming back home to denmark? >> no, i wasn't that nervous because i knew that i didn't do any kind of criminal act or something like that. >> reporter: here's how the program works, any returning fight ser eligible for help getting a job, a house, an education and psychological counseling but they must be screened by police, anyone found to have committed a crime will be put through the courts and possibly prison. their information is also passed to danish intelligence. >> this is not a gift shop. you have to be motivated. you have to really want to become a part of the danish society. we help them find a way through the system and what we've seen is that out of these 16 who have returned, 10 of t

is syria going to be like iraq was a decade ago? >> erin, we have never had a successful military conflict in which the united states is engaged, where we didn't put boots on the ground. boots on the ground are going to be required here. general dempsey has said that, in effect, and he's dead right. the president has committed an additional 1500 on top of the 1500 to 1700 we've already got there. i support that decision. now i don't support the united states going into syria or into iraq in a combat -- on a combat mission. but the fact of the matter is, everybody that is inside of iraq today is in the middle of a combat zone. so they have to be prepared. but what we've got to do is the united states is prepared to provide leadership from the standpoint of logistics, intelligence, supply and command and control, but we need the arab countries to put the boots on the ground that are going to be led by our folks. that is the type of involvement that we need to have from a boots on the ground standpoint. they are flying missions and thi

would pivot from iraq to syria. coalition allies asking for much more coherent syria strategy, something congressman ed royce spoke on "new day" recently when he talked about a shift in strategy. >> syria is saying, look, assad is not going to come to the table. he's not going to work out peace. if you want our engagement, let's have a plan to do something to remove assad and we can stop isil. i think that's what's driving it. >> now, diplomats tell me secretary of state kerry trying to get everyone in the region to try to reenergize efforts on a political roadmap that ultimately transitions assad from power. there is also talk about expanding the train and equip program for the rebels which they haven't even started vetting them yet. the problem with all this is, while i think everyone does want to get rid of assad, there's no viable alternative. the political opposition is still in disarray. you assad's main backers, russia and iran in particular, who aren't quite ready to cut him loose. this is going to take a lo

this is what syria would look like. syria would be stable. they would all have their own areas. >> allo -- the president is an alawite, and he dominates the day. you couldn't build an alawite enclave. people thought of that in the beginning, but it's indefensible. if bashar al assad, they'll conquer the coast. that's why he has kept these cities. >> the map of 1919 that the british and french drew was wrong. this is a map that reflects the realities of sectarianism and is possibly more stable. >> yes, it is. what we see today if you were to pan back and look at a map of what the islamic state has built from baghdad, which stretches from the edges of baghdad all the way to aleppo today is a sunni state, and it's already emerged. what america is doing by bombing it is trying to destroy this state that is there, and it's going to be a very hard thing to do. >> you think accept reality, don't -- >> accept reality. try to get better rulers for it. not isis. >> the single best solution to the syria problem i have heard. next on "gps" when the berli

next on "gps," syria. most people throw up their hands when asked what the solution is but my next guest is the country's leading syria scholar and he has a way out. when we come back. big day? ah, the usual. moved some new cars. hauled a bunch of steel. kept the supermarket shelves stocked. made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. what's up for the next shift? ah, nothing much. just keeping the lights on. (laugh) nice. doing the big things that move an economy. see you tomorrow, mac. see you tomorrow, sam. just another day at norfolk southern. this is kathleen. setting up the perfect wedding day starts with her minor arthritis pain, and two pills. afternoon arrives and feeling good, but her knee pain returns. that's two more pills. the evening's event brings laughter, joy, and more pain. what's that, like six pills today? yeah. .i could take two aleve for all day relief. really? for my arthritis pain, i now choose aleve. 2 pills. all day strong. all day long. and now introducing, aleve pm for a better

he had gone to syria to help victims of war-torn syria. that is what he was passionate about, what he was pursuing. he did work as an army ranger in 2007. he was deployed in iraq and decided to go back because he became passionate about the middle east and about -- and passionate as well about helping war-torn victims. if you're just joining us, we're getting pretty devastating breaking news into cnn that peter kassig, also known as abdul rahman, 26 years old, he had gone to syria to volunteer as an emt over there, helping victims of the war. that was what he was passionate about. we are getting pretty sad news right now, that he has been beheaded, that isis has released a video of his beheading. this is a man that people had just really admired for his compassion, for the fact that he was so desperate to go out to that part of the world and help other people, especially after being deployed there as a u.s. army ranger. he decided to go back there and live there, move there permanently. isis had been holding him for roughly around one year

as an emt has now been beheaded in syria by isis militants. this breaking news just coming to us within the last hour. isis in fact had threatened to behead him last month, but they did in fact behead him. we're just getting this breaking news within the last hour. he was captured about a year ago during a humanitarian mission in syria. his mother had actually been pleading in many videos for his release. she even took to twitter to plead with isis over twit to release her son. this is a man who had been described by a lot of people as being compassionate, so moved to help those who were suffering in the middle east, we know that he was deployed in iraq back in 2007 as an army ranger. he became passionate about the middle east and decided to go there to help. if you are just joining us, we're getting pretty big breaking news into cnn that the fifth u.s. -- or rather western hostage has been beheaded in syria. joining me now to talk about this is will gettys, an international security expert. will, obviously this is horrific news. my heart cert

i assume from syria. tell us what you're learning about the various smuggling operation of isis fighters into mainland europe? >> yeah. so this is a human trafficker based in turkey, who, for the last four years, has been sending refugees from turkey by boat to greece. he told me that over the summer, he struck up a friendship with someone in isis, who was posing as a refugee in one of his boats. the guy admitted he was an isis fighter and told him he was going over to europe to wait for orders. and the man, the smuggler himself is an isis supporter and he later received a phone call from him that said, send our brothers to. he said he sent an additional ten fighters into greece. >> do you know where these ten fighters may have wound up? >> the smuggler told me after greece, he believes they're moving deeper into europe. he just knows he sent them to greece. >> did they have a lot in their briefcase ready to go? >> i don't think so. he was only telling me what he knew. i think the details he got were scar

so this was about syria. so -- i mean, we're all here in a debate and we actually believe in reasoned deliberation and we believe that if you hear facts and well-expressed opinions based on facts, it can change your mind. that is the premise of this evening. i knew you would quote that against me and i did believe it when i wrote it. i absolutely thought this is critical in terms of sending a message to putin. i have since spent half the summer talking to russian experts talking about what in fact is driving putin and i absolutely think at this point that had we done what i was suggesting, it wouldn't have changed putin's calculation. >> so don't do what you're suggesting now. >> no. >> wait a minute. >> but equally -- equally importantly, it might have changed -- it might well have tore pea deed our negotiations with iran. much as we should be actings differently, i fully understand barack obama's calculus that says this is the single most important thing in the region and i am not going to do anything that

and i think they'll be become -- >> and syria. >> and syria. and they'll become more of an insurgent organization and they're a terrorist organization, and a terrorist organization, in thigh myjudgment, will turn its really serious focus of attention beyond the confines of iraq and syria. >> rose: if in fact airstrikes and other things do damage against isil, does that not help assad? >> you need to do several things, right. we need to, in the first instance here, charlie, deal with isil. we need to. >> rose: in the first instance. what does that mean about assad then? we just say we'll get back to assad but we've got to take care of this more urgent problem? is that what it means? >> let's go through it. you had an urgent problem-- have an urgent problem with respect to the isis threat to the government of iraq. >> rose: advancing on-- >> advancing on the -- >> on baghdad. >> on baghdad, you have baghdad airport. and that was a first-class challenge that needed to be addressed. the united states took action in terms of airstrikes to at least s