special operators. we didn t necessarily have the kind of robust forces that now secretary of defense esper is talking about. the mechanized forces gives us the ability a much more lethal capability so that when our forces have to go, if they have to go in harm s way against isis, we now have the mechanized capability to back them up so isis cannot reconstitute and we can crash them. charles: we ve been told this tentative arrangement with turkey would allow us to prevent isis from even reconstituting. does this acknowledge that there s still a degree or threat that maybe they could? i think everyone recognizes there s still a degree and a threat especially with the forces still being held captive, that if released they could reconstitute. having a coordinated effort because the russians, the turks or us don t want to have any isis reconstitution capability
isis will take advantage in this maelstrom. and just one more point, president trump tweeted today that he will not allow a reconstituted isis to take control of oilfields. the objective should be to ensure that isis cannot reconstitute. not just over the oil. so i think that we are in some trouble. let me ask you about secretary of state mike pompeo. he sat down for an interview with a kansas newspaper and he was asked if russia was able to fill a power vacuum in syria that was left by the withdrawal of u.s. troops. here is what he said. i m very familiar with this issue from my time in congress. i remember who invited the russians in to syria, it was president obama. he had them come in and pretend to be chemical weapons inspectors. he actively worked with the russian leadership, said no, come on in. come on into syria. what is your take on that? you know, at some point the trump administration has been in
we have taken isis, brought it down, been able to put it down to where it no longer has military capability to hold onto its caliphate territory. that is a positive development. we need to put in place as we withdraw our forces, ability of those who have fought isis, the kurds, syrian democratic forces and others, to make sure they have the intelligence, logistic support, training if necessary to make sure isis fighters cannot regenerate, cannot reconstitute as a fighter. if they suspect one village is taking over, to send a signal that this will not be allowed to happen. heather: what would that entail to ruthlessly stomp it out? keep the intelligence on the ground, to make sure we not have an active presence with troops
out but they are still a major problem, and in many ways that s why we need to continue to keep the pressure on and make sure the taliban cannot reconstitute and provide a safe haven, anybody that would plot against america. rhode island representative, thank you for your time on msnbc saturday. thank you, alex. bristol palin s new memoir is making waves in the lower 48 and stirring up controversy. not afraid of life, in part describes her on again/off again relationship with levi johnston, the father of her child who she claims lied to her about everything from how many fish he reeled in with friends to how many girls he cheemted with. talking about a camping trip when she had sex for the first time. so drunk didn t remember anything and only knew by overhearing levi telling friends outside the tent.
they sent to the president today. they are mostly democrats but a couple of republicans as well. they say the cost of prolonging the war outweighs the benefits. and they are calling for the united states to shift course. the defense secretary robert gates says he knows americans are frustrated after 10 years of war. but he also says we have to worry about what he calls the cost of failure. what we are trying to do is build the afghan national security forces to the point where they have the ability to defend that country and so that the taliban and al qaeda cannot reconstitute themselves in that country. and i think we are making considerable headway in that respect. shepard: not getting any help from that government, that s for sure. secretary gates says the transition to afghan control is said to be complete by 2014. he goes on to say thats afghan president harmid karzai has personally told him he plans to step down that same year. back here at home, police are releasing new pict