down on iraqis who aren't part of his coalition and focus on al qaeda's explosive growth there. is this version of al qaeda doing more than just randomly placed car bombs? >> they are naming campaigns, setting campaign objectives, militarily achieving those objectives. they have phased operations. the iraqi security forces don't. >> reporter: al qaeda in iraq has already exported fighters to syria and may not stop there. >> this is going to be something that is a security concern for us as well. >> reporter: what president obama meets with maliki friday neutralizing al qaeda in iraq will be near the top of the agenda. that could include additional military sales to iraq, as well as greater sharing of intelligence. chris lawrence, cnn, washington. the u.s. has spent billions and billions of dollars on iraq