Good day. Im Andrea Mitchel in washington. Where president obama and his National Security team are now in crisis mode. Tracking developments in iraq after the u. S. Launched its first air strikes this morning against isis. What we are apparently warning shots against an isis artillery piece outside erbil. It could be the first stage in a wider air operation. Joining me with the latest, nbc news chief pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski. Mik, this was not a big strike today but it was sending a signal to isis. Absolutely. And clearly its being described here pretty much as a target of opportunity. U. S. War planes were in the air along with drones keeping an eye on those isis forces. Poised just outside of erbil. You know, which is a key strategic city for the kurdistan area there in the north. When suddenly apparently the isis fighters started lobbing shells in the general direction of some peshmerga fighters. And then were told the two u. S. Navy fa18 bombers launched each a one guided 500pound bomb to the target which took out the artillery piece and the truck that towed it. The rationale and the justification for that was not that this artillery piece was aiming its fire at the u. S. Consulate or any americans, but the americans and the consulate were within range of any potential artillery shot from those isis rebels. So under the rules of engagement appare apparently, were told that the order was given and the artillery piece was taken out, andrea. And one of the things that seems so surprising, it seems as though u. S. Officials were almost caught off guard last saturday when the peshmerga forces, the kurdish military, the strongest fighters in the area, were so badly routed by the approaching isis forces and how effective and strategic the isis fighters were. And we are told that many u. S. Military analysts were absolutely stunned by the capabilities of those isis forces to launch this kind of operation with the precision and discipline that you would expect perhaps from a more advanced u. S. Military force advanced and trained military force. In some respects, weve had officials tell us that they conducted operations much better than the Iraqi Military ever could. So it took a lot of people by surprise and actually shocked the u. S. Military and the u. S. Government because all of a sudden, it appeared that, hey, they have a real chance to rout the peshmerga and perhaps seize erbil. Nobody thinks they would want to seize erbil because then theyd have to try to manage a 1. 5 million population city, but they certainly were sending a message that they are not going away any time soon. Well, thats the oil. The oil pipeline and the capital of the region. So theres no question that it would be an enormous defeat if that were to happen. Mik, i know youll be standing by and checking on your reporting and your sources throughout the hour. Thank you so much. Joining me for more on all of this, barry mccaffrey, msnbc military analyst and former u. S. Ambassador to iraq, chris hill joining us from denver. Ambassador, first to you, let me ask you about where are the allies . We saw the president was just now on the phone within the last hour with jordans King Abdullah, probably to reassure him, but this is a situation where we havent heard from the saudis. We dont have any other air forces going in. Where is the coalition here . Well, theres been a resounding silence on the issue of this sunni extremist group. And im not sure thats going to change as long as their targets are shia. Arab shia on the one hand and kurds on the other. So i think for the time being its going to be a fairly lonely fight, but i think its worth making because i think if the perception among the kurds were that the u. S. Didnt come to their help, i think that would change a lot of equations starting with the fact that the kurds have not gone ahead with independence, largely because the u. S. Didnt want them to. And i think that has been the major factor in preventing kurds from becoming or from going with unilateral declaration of independence. If theres a perception the u. S. Isnt there for them, i think that could change in a big way. Barry mccaffrey, are you surprised with how small this operation is at this point . Well, i think a lot of the latest announcement out of the pentagon sounds more like lawyer babble than military thinking. The end of the day, i would be astonished if the peshmerga loses their capital to what is a fairly modest isis force, even though they are now equipped with four divisions worth of Iraqi Military equipment that took off like hairs from mosul. So i think were making political gestures with minor military force. The whole notion that were bombing because the consulate in erbil is in range is nonsense. If we want to prevent genocide if were going to supply 50,000 people in the mountains with food and water you dont do it by air drops out of three aircraft flying out of italy or germany. A lot of this doesnt make any sense. What is the mission . Well, thats one of those questions is this Minority Group that have been just terrorized, ravaged by the isis force fighters. Tell us from your experience, chris hill, about these minorities and what they are up against. They are very much minorities, often surrounded by other minorities. The yazidis, its an ancient sect. Zoroastrian is probably the closest you can come to explaining their theology if that helps anybody. But, clearly, these people are endangered as are many of the other christian sects there, including the caldean. This is a tough proposition. I can see why the president uses that as the justification. But i would agree that two fa18s or two 500pound bombs does not a strategy make. I think we need to look more broadly at what isis means not only to these tiny religious minorities but also to the entire region. I mean, this isis crowd, they have a big ambition. And by the way, i think its useful to make the point that as much as we need to see a government in baghdad not led by anyone named maliki, this is so far beyond the foibles of mr. Maliki. This point has to do with the broader middle east, and we need a broad approach to what were going to do here. We havent done anything in syria. And by not anything i mean theres no kind of political or diplomatic way forward. Weve talked about arming certain groupss and not arming certain other groups. Thats not a strategy either. I think we need a little more deep thinking here as we go forward. But, you know, journey of many miles begins with a single step or a single 500pound bomb. So i think this was the right way to start. But it needs to be followed up with a lot more. Briefly, chris hill, speaking of maliki, though, is al jafaafi the next Prime Minister . Had there been progress overnight in getting a new Shiite Coalition leader to be Prime Minister . There are a number of names, and his is one of them. This is someone who didnt do too well a few years ago. But i think at this point theyll take anyone not named maliki who can garner some broad support. So i think that name is as good as any other. What id like to see and what has also been very much missing is where is the socalled moderate sunni population in iraq . Why arent they clearer about their concerns about isis . And just as they acquiesces in another sunni takeover of iraq by saddam hussein, i think they ought to be a little more forceful in their views of this isis effort to take over iraq. And just one last thought, barry mccaffrey, how much at risk do you think the mosul dam is and that would be a disastrous occurrence if isis were to blow that dam and threaten the south shiite cities. Good argument. Are they going to act like a terror group in which case theyll put 30 feet of water down the river. Or are they trying to govern and recognize thats water and power. Id like to dispute the notion that isis is an equivalent of a modern day the iraqi army took off and quit and i think the sunni groups rose up throughout the sunni areas in opposition to maliki. And not necessarily under the control of isis. So this is a giant as ambassador hill correctly said, this is a tenyear galactic shift in whats going on in the middle east. And the u. S. Military power modestly applied, is not going to be a major influence on all of this. Barry mccaffrey, ambassador chris hill, thank you general. Thank you, ambassador. Much more ahead this hour right here on Andrea Mitchell reports. Well continue to bring you the latest developments out of iraq. Coming up next, inside the isis threat with msnbcs counterterrorism expert michael leiter. Well be right back. son oh no. Can you fix it, dad . Yeah, i can fix that. dad i wanted a car that could handle anything. I fixed it dad thats why i got a subaru legacy. vo symmetrical allwheel drive plus 36 mpg. I gotta break more toys. vo introducing the allnew subaru legacy. Its not just a sedan. Its a subaru. Having a perfectly nice day, when out of nowhere a pickup truck slams into your brand new car. One second it wasnt there and the next second. Boom youve had your first accident. Now you have to make your first claim. So you talk to your Insurance Company and. Boom youre blindsided for a second time. They wont give you enough money to replace your brand new car. Dont those people know youre already shaken up . Liberty mutuals new car replacement will pay for the entire value of your car plus depreciation. 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With all due respect to the secretary of state who is in another part of the world right now, is this the wakeup call . Two fa18s dropping 500pound laser guided bombs . I really hope not. If we go back to 2012 it was really clear that there were several elements of the Syrian Opposition that were very problematic. The al nuzra front and isis. Isis has only grown in strength since then. Its power in syria is very significant, shrinking the more moderate opposition and four, five months ago, moving into iraq. So if this is a wakeup call, everyone has missed everything else. And i dont think this is really a failure of intelligence. The Intelligence Community might not have nailed the tactical warning about when isis was going to move in and take mosul and move now, but the strategic warning from boith inside the u. S. Government and outside the u. S. Government about the consequences of growing confligeration with isis at the forefront has been very, very clear for more than two years. Two years ago, i recalled vividly being at the state department and hearing that the saudis and the uae were really rooi angry at the qataris. And that our syrian strategy was messed up and there were people at the state department and people elsewhere in the government pushing and you heard it from the hill. Pushing for us to be more actively engaged in syria before this group got so out of control. I think thats absolutely right. The call now of where are the allies, i think, is a little bit confused. It is true that the saudis have been quite silent. Both the saudis and qataris have funded that opposition. Isis was part of that. This is blowback. Exactly. The opposition was getting money and isis was part of that opposition. As you also know, the jordanians, turks, emirate s and saudis have pushed the u. S. To be more involved over the past two years. And weve consistently said no. With some legitimate concerns. Where will the weapons go . Who is our ally in this . But we have not actually followed the lead of our allies in many of these cases. So, in fact, you know, and also today we should point out the faa has officially restricted the air space over iraq. This is potentially already weve seen two bombs dropped but we dont know when and where Something Like this could happen. No commercial flights will be going over iraq. This is officially a war zone from the faas perspective. But the next steps, are the allies going to come or stand back and say, wait a second. A year ago we thought you were going after assad. You didnt. Were not going to put ourselves on the line until we see, are you really ready to follow through . I think thats exactly right. I think secretary terrys Statement Today is good and strong and important. It sounds an awful lot like a statement about the red line in syria and then, of course, we backed off. And that was a huge blow to our allies in the region. Theyve said since then and before then, are you really going to be trusted to dedicate yourself to this . So my expectation is allies will stand back and we really have to determine, will this be pin prick strikes or will this be some broader effort to push back isis. And the fact is isis is a local threat. Were seeing that now. The yazidis in erbil. Its a regional threat. Incursions into lebanon. Instability in jordan. Its a global threat and americans have to understand that not just isis but other elements of the Syrian Opposition, they are targeting the United States. And isis may not be today but in the future, their agenda is very much aligned with al qaeda. That means attacking the apostates in the west and thats the homeland, too. To really eliminate that threat or reduce that threat, do we have to go after isis in syria . I think there is no way to separate isis in iraq and isis in syria. There is no way. We can tactically now push back isis in iraq, but until we have a concerted effort in syria in that civil war, were not going to stop the threat. Michael leiter, thank you, as always. Coming up, the burden of American Leadership as a reluctant president obama returns to the use of military force in iraq. Well have hardballs Chris Matthews and republican Steve Schmidt joining me next. When innocent civilians are in danger of being wiped out and we have the capacity to do something about it, we will take action. Thats our responsibility as americans. Thats a hallmarkof American Leadership. Thats who we are. One swish of scope kills millions of bad breath germs, freshening your breath. So you can be the girl who doesnt scare the moustache off someones face. Scope. The freshest fresh, guaranteed. So factors like diet canoustache negatively impact good bacteria . Even if youre healthy and active. 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