Im martha raddatz. There are fastmoving developments in the battle against i. S. I. S. Including a breakthrough for the iraqi army against the terror group. The u. S. Launches another round of air strikes and humanitarian drops. Plus, new fears just 48 hours after the uk warned an attack there is highly likely. Were covering every angle. Lets start off with abc senior justice correspondent, pierre thomas. Good morning. Reporter good morning, martha. Threat level severe. Likelihood of a terror attack . High. Thats the blunt british assessment. In Great Britain, signs of stepped up police principals. Hard evidence that the islamic radicals are a direct threat to the uk, the u. S. , indeed all of the west. This is not some foreign conflict thousands of miles from home we can hope to ignore. Reporter according to u. S. Intelligence, an estimated 12,000 foreign fighters center gone to syria. More than a hundred from america, but more than a thousand from europe. Youre not dealing just with isil. Youre dealing with other Al Qaedalinked franchises in syria and potentially iraq. Thats the reason for the threat level change. Reporter american intelligence sources say they identified no specific plot. But british authorities are likely responding to chatter from radicals in syria and iraq talking about targeting england. Radicals whose travel documents give them easy access to europe and the United States. They are the most urgent threat. An american blowing hills up in syria. Another dying on the battlefield fighting alongside i. S. I. S. A brit beheading american journalist james foley. The threat officials have been warning about for months, now tangible. Homeland security secretary jay johnson. Syria has become a matter of Homeland Security. Reporter the fbi director. Theyre coming back. Theyre coming back to europe. To north america. Reporter attorney general eric holder. Its more frightening than anything i think i have seen as attorney general. Reporter we caught up with holder in london as he was sounding the alarm with his european counterparts. How concerned should americans at home be about i. S. I. S. . Its just a matter of time before they start looking outward. And start looking at the west. At the United States in particular. So this is something that we have to get on top of and get on top of now. Reporter those words are now more urgent by the day. And remember, you have two distinct threats flowing out of syria. Al qaedaaffiliated people that want to get a bomb on a commercial plane. And isis barbarians who appear capable of anything. Now lets go to london. The new terror warnings have a city on edge Jeffrey Kofman is there for us. Jeffrey. Reporter its been called fortress london. Police are deployed to defend the british capital against a terrorist strike. The problem here in the uk is this. What to do if some of the worlds most extreme terrorists carry british passports . As pierre just noted, 500 young british muslims are joining i. S. I. S. In iraq and syria. The fear is those militants will come home to the uk to inflict terror here. Its not an abstract concept. Britains well remember what they call 7 7. The july 7, 2005, suicide attacks that saw four british muslims detonate bombs simultaneously on three underground trains and a bus killing 52 civilians and injuring 700. In the london paper today, a fatwa was declared, forbidding british extremists from joining terrorist groups. Tomorrow, the British Parliament reconvenes after the summer recess. They want to block the passports of brits joining the ji had. Jihadis from returning home. Martha . Lets break all of this down with our expects. Dick clarke directed counterterrorism actions at the highest levels for several administrations. And jane hall loot was the deputy of security until last year. Jane, i want to start with you. Britain has not raised its terror alert in almost five years. There is clearly something specific going on. What kind of attacks do you suspect i. S. I. S. Could launch . There is something very specific going on. Hundreds of individuals have gone and become trained in syria and iraq with i. S. I. S. In a particular bloody kind of terrorism. They have the freedom to travel back home as we saw in those clips. And they will. So we could see all the kinds of thing that are terribly familiar to many of us. Too many of those in Great Britain who have experienced terrorist attacks, and they could bring them home. And britain is also hosting the nato summit later this week. And so everyone is on alert. Dick clarke, you heard the dire warnings. Yet, president obama said the other night at a fundraiser, were in much less danger than 20 or 30 years ago. Which is it . Well, i think hes wrong. Were much more capable of defending ourselves now. We have the department of Homeland Security. A lot of resources going into counterterrorism. But the threat has also increased. I think the threat has increased more than the defenses. This new group. I. S. I. S. Is highly capable. It has a lot of money. It has people from many, many countries. Our fear is it may have people in its ranks that we dont know about. We have the names of thousands of people and can stop them in they try to get into this country. If we dont know their names, we dont know theyre involved, they can get in. Jane, when you were at homeland, you knew the names of many of those people on the watch list. Just tagging on to what dick said there, how many were were they 80 that you worried about . How many so called clean skins, people who could get in without issues . What percentage . Dick knows more about this. There were many that we did know about, but many more that we didnt. This is a group with money and a message. Theyre drawing angry, mostly men from everywhere, who will travel anywhere, because they feel like they belong nowhere. What more can you do to prevent it in the homeland . If you had an unlimited budget, what do you think we could do . I dont think its about unlimited budget. In the United States, the public is an asset, not an obstacle to joining together for problems like this. If you see something, say something. Sure. The other thing the government should do. I was the lead negotiator for the United States with the European Union on passenger name record exchange, a big data agreement that shares terra bytes of travel information. We need to expand that system and that process to other countries in the region. Quickly, dick, what do you think more could be done to protect the homeland . I think working with the islamic communities in our major cities. As jane said, our best defense are our own american muslims who have been very cooperative. They dont want anything to happen like this again in this country. Thanks to you both. Now to the latest on the ground in iraq. Breaking developments. Word of a big breakthrough for the iraqi army in the battle against i. S. I. S. Alex marquardt is tracking it all from the region this morning. Good morning, alex. Reporter good morning, martha. Just a short time ago, iraqs military said it had broken through a more than twomonth siege by isis around a town where it was warned of a possible massacre. The town of amerly is home to more than 15,000 of a turkish shiite minority. Surrounded by the radical sunni militants of i. S. I. S. Who cut off food from water. The Iraqi Military had been trying to evacuate the desperate residents. Helped this weekend by u. S. Air strikes on i. S. I. S. Positions. And humanitarian aid was dropped on the town. Despite the set back, isis still controls a huge territory in syria and iraq. They are proven they are a growing, sophisticated, wealthy fighting force. Many of the commanders who were once in the army of saddam hussein. Martha. Lets take on the strategy against i. S. I. S. With our experts. Robert harward and steve ganyard. A former Deputy Commander of u. S. Central command. Welcome, gentlemen. I want to start with you, steve. We talk about the zealotry of i. S. I. S. The barberism. Onethird of the leadership are former saddam army members. What do you have here . Is that why its so dangerous . It looks very much like white infantry. They train, organize and equip very much like a conventional military. Al qaeda is focused on the far threat. Theyre focused on attacking western targets. I. S. I. S. Is thinking about creating a caliphate. That plays into our hands. Our strengths are in surveillance, air power, hitting precise targets. So admiral harward, you have done a lot of this in your career. You have been in iraq and afghanistan. You were the First Special forces into afghanistan. How do you fight this army, lets say for now, in iraq . The first thing you do is go back and reestablish those relationships we established over ten years. We have deep ties throughout the organization and with the people of iraq. Well go back with those guys who is are on the ground fighting, establishing those places. Those providing leadership, how do we mentor them, assess what they need . How do we we have been doing that for eight, ten years. No, remember we left. We left so you have to start over again. You dont start over. You get back in there, you reestablish the ties. Assess what they need. Share intelligence. Provide capabilities. Do you need special forces . Sure. Just exactly like you did in afghanistan . Yes. Special forces, indigenous forces and air power . Its going to take all the capacity we can help. Intelligence, political mentoring to help the new Prime Minister succeed. Operational. Guys on the ground fighting. What can we give them to help them to do their jobs . Lets talk about syria. What do you do there . We dont have indigenous forces in syria. Just air power . Does that work . It could work. If we look at iraq. Just step back to iraq. Think about what the admiral did in afghanistan. Using indigenous forces on the ground, special operations, air controllers, u. S. Air power. That model could work in iraq to push i. S. I. S. Back out of iraq. In syria, the president made it clear he has no intention of working with mr. Assad. The Free Syrian Army is not reliable. We would probably have to do something more like the early part of desert storm. Go in, pick targets, slowly get to i. S. I. S. On the ground. Not quite as effective but air power has a real role to play in both conflicts. You have heard people say, we have to get in there fast, we have to go. We have heard people on the hill say, we have to get into syria quickly. The president is taking his time. Does it matter that were going slowly now . Militarily . You want to be smart, first and foremost. Are we tied with the right folks . Getting them what they need . We want to be deliberate. Its ironic to think of syria as somewhat like the fattah. The enemy is using that as a safe haven. Where they know theyre safe somewhere and harder for us to get to. We have learned a lot in dealing with safe havens in the last ten years. You want to be smart in how you go into those areas. Very quickly, best case in syria right now, u. S. Involvement. Best case is we go in with a coalition. There are plenty of other countries that need to play in this. This is not just the u. S. s problem. Thank you for your expert analysis. Coming up, more of our indepth coverage of the i. S. I. S. Threat. The surprising recruiting techniques to lure americans to their side. Why is one midwest city a prime target. Plus, the fallout for president obama after those no strategy comments. 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So what were looking for is a way to plus our Accounting Firms mobile plan. And minus our expenses. Perfect timing. Were offering our bestever pricing on mobile plans for business. Run the numbers on that. Well, unlimited talk and text, and ten gigs of data for the five of you would be. Oneseventyfive a month. Good calculating kyle. Good job kyle. You just made partner. Our bestever pricing on mobile share value plans for business. Now with a 100 bill credit for every business line you add. Now our closer look at a new development alarming senior u. S. Law enforcement officials. The ability of i. S. I. S. Terrorists to recruit americans into the jihadist armys fold. Brian ross tells us, one American City has become a top target. Reporter this midwest city is reeling from whats happening in the mideast. Of the estimated 100 Young American men now fighting with syrias brutal terror groups, Authorities Say almost a dozen of them have been recruited in a pipeline from the minneapolis area. Theyre recruiting friends and friends and friends. Its becoming a Bigger Network of how to recruit young men. Reporter theyre described as vulnerable young men who have become angry. Often after runins with the law. Like doug mccain who was reported killed this week in syria. As a student in suburban minneapolis in the late 1990s, mccain became friends with troy castigar, who also became a jihadist with the al qaeda affiliate in somalia. He encouraged in this video other americans to join him. This is the real disneyland. Reporter castigar was later killed in battle, like his friend, mccain. Authorities say social media is a big part of the recruitment. And surprisingly, i. S. I. S. Also uses rap music appeals to foreign fighters, despite their rejection of all things western. Listen to this american voice. This goes out to all my soldiers, Freedom Fighters equalizers they slaughter us like animals now its time for the beast to bite back black flags reporter with increasing concern about the threat from the american recruits if they return home, the fbi in minnesota has issued a public plea in helping to identify them. A lot of times, these individuals are fairly adept at covering their tracks. Reporter now the recruitment has expanded to include women, who the group says make effective fighters. This week, one family in the twin cities reported their teenage daughter had gone missing and is now believed to be with i. S. I. S. In syria. For this week, brian ross, abc news, new york. Lets take this on with our experts. John cohen just stepped down in july as counterterrorism coordinator for the Homeland Security department. Brad gareth is a former fbi agent who has worked Numerous International terrorism cases. And muhim sheik. A former jihadist who went on to work with canadian intelligence agencies. Welcome. I want to start with you, john. Theyre recruiting like nobody before. Your concerns . Is it just social media . Why now . Why is this so huge . I think the tease illustrates one of the reasons were so concerned about i. S. I. S. And the other extremist organizations operating in syria. Theyre very sophisticated in their use of social media. Theyve westernized their message. Theyre seeking to recruit or inspire westerners and people in that rap music was incredible. They have americanized their message. So, we have to be concerned. And we have to take steps to neutralize that. Its not just countering their message. Its understanding why their message is resonating and what we can do in the community to lessen the impact that that message has. Police are a big part of it. But Police Working with faith leaders, community leaders, social service providers, Mental Health professionals. As we start to identify kids who may be going down the path of reacting to what theyre hearing from i. S. I. S. And from these other groups, that we can come together as a community to stop them from carrying on an act of violence. I want to go to you, mubin. You selfradicalized. 20 years ago . Close to 20 years ago. 1995. You went to pakistan. How did this happen . And then you recruited others. What was it about you that was willing to go along with this . I think the same case for many of these individuals. Identity crisis. You dont know. Youre trying to navigate the space in the west. How much of this am i supposed to be . How much western am i supposed to be . How much is that conflicting and contradicting with one another. You go to those that greet you with open arms. Thats what it comes down to. Youre dealing with angry, disenfranchised people. Or feel disenfranchised. They may not be discriminated against. Theyll feel that my people are under attack. And you have vicarious suffering. You start to feel that their suffering is my suffering. Brad jump in here. Youve seen this. Theres a difference between al qaeda and isis. Talk about that. Then once they find these young men or women, what do they do with them . Do they go from their computers and walk into syria . I know they do sometimes across the turkish border. How is this organized . There is a grooming period that occurs. Primarily it starts with the recruitment. A very slick multilingual, almost hollywoodstyle videos that promote excitement. Weaponry. Empowerment. All of these things. Revenge. And maybe the most important. Community. We have built a new society. Come to us. Mo matter where youre from. Canada, the u. S. , the brits. Its like every other radical extremist group, whether its a consult or otherwise, they narrow the trough. Thats all you hear, day in and day out. Eventually, that is your reality. Theyre so far ahead right now. 10,000 fighters. More than 10,000 fighters. This seems like a