Isis North News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Proximity to baghdad. it's closer to baghdad. mosul is another 200 kilometers another many miles to the north from tikrit. >> reporter: the iraqi forces attacking from several directions in the effort to retake tikrit, engaging with isis north of the city at al alam and south at aldor. isis has its own versions of the event, claiming to show it is fighting back against the 30,000-man force iraq says it is fielding here. u.s. official are privately doubtful the iraqi numbers are that high. the u.s. is saying little about the operation, viewing it as a gauge of iraq's sectarian divide. tikrit is...

Providing? that's a big question right now. iraqi's prime minister says the fight to take back tikrit is on. saddam hussein's hometown fell to isis eight months ago. the battle is a crucial test of the willingness of iraqi troops to fight after months of u.s. training. easier terrain in tikrit than trying to recapture the biggest prize, mosul. >> the key thing in my mind is proximity to baghdad. it's closer to baghdad. mosul is another 200 kilometers another many miles to the north from tikrit. >> reporter: the iraqi forces attacking from several directions in the effort to retake tikrit, enga...

Going to be redrawn. so people's impressions about how this happened are being solidified now. and you have a group of republicans who are for this war in 2003, strongly for this war, who are now trying to get the american people to believe that somehow this is obama's fault. you can blame barack obama for a lot of things, but this mess that the world is in right now, particularly iraq is in, is a result of the u.s. invasion of iraq in 2003. remember, colin powell said at the time, it's like the pottery barn rule, you break it, you own it. we broke it. and now that state is shattering. we kept...

That position, they'll come back and attack american interests. >> that may be an important point there. they haven't transitioned to just having the aspirations right now. they haven't transitioned to having that motivation to want to come after the united states. it's been stated in some places, if you will, but it's like they're busy with their primary goal happening in iraq. >> you're right. the primary role is to establish an islamic state in iraq and greater syria. it also covers kuwait, jordan, lebanon and, of course, israel as well. that's aspirational, clearly, they're a long way afro...

I'm in for her. i'm t.j. holmes. still developing crieses in iraq today. some lawmakers in washington are warning that isis poses a direct threat to america. mike rodgers argued that the united states should fight the group abroad before it attacks the u.s. at home. >> we have to ask one single question. is al qaeda holding land the size of indiana a problem for the united states. well, it certainly was when they were in afghanistan, and had time to plan the 9/11 event. and i guarantee you, this is a problem that we will have to face. we're going to face it in new york city or we're going to...