Stay updated with breaking news from Isnt iraq. Get real-time updates on events, politics, business, and more. Visit us for reliable news and exclusive interviews.
facing questions on this for a week now. what do you think of that? >> this isn't iraq, we're not trying to create a premise for u.s. forces to do anything and in fact, the president said u.s. forces aren't going to be in this even if the russians do invade, not even rescue american citizens. that said, you could only expose russian disinformation and proposed activities for so many times wfr thebefore the russian back to say, we were going to do x and didn't do it. you heard the russian foreign minister try to do this over the weekend. i think they're on pretty solid ground but i think at some point, they're going to have to show their homework and explain why they think this is going to happen. >> here's a map showing how russian forces have been building up on three sides of ukraine to the south, east, and north of belarus and then also
they resist if the russians take control of the city? >> just my personal opinion, one, i don't think they brought enough to take, and definitely didn't bring enough to hold. to fight a counterinsurgency, the numbers you need are astronomical. this isn't iraq. like you said, i had two combat tours, experienced a lot of insurgency. but that was maybe 1% of the population. this is going to be a giant percent of the population that will resist. if russia, if they take kyiv and install a government, they're going to face years -- i don't think they can sustain being there with the insurgency they'll face. >> yeah. absolutely. i want to thank you, major john spencer. i am going to jump away from you for just a moment. i want to go back to ali velshi. that train has come in, ali. i'm going to try to grab you before we get to a break. >> i'm with nbc news.
in syria. why didn't any of the moderates challenge her. none of the other 11, including mayor pete, no one said what regime? she has been somebody who is seen to defend bashar al-assad. >> and not blame assad at all for this. >> this isn't iraq. syria is a completely different situation but she seemed to be merging it. i think a lot of us were opposed to the iraq war. >> every debate she's had an interesting dynamic. as the field narrows, it's not clear whether she'll qualify for the next debate. there's so many candidates in each debate we have sort of different personalities, marianne williamson, andrew wang, tulsi gabbard who can change the tone or the mood of the debates. they're thinning out. i think that will create less of a distraction on stage for what some of the core issues are that we see the candidates going
tonight. sorry, but no one thinks u.s. troops withdrawn by trump were there as part of a regime change war by the u.s. it's as untrue as anything from the president of the united states. and clint watts, shannon, tweeted tulsi gabbard's take on syria is completely false. the u.s. did not start the war in syria, nor did we initiate a regime change. the u.s. did not back al qaeda in syria. why didn't any candidates challenge her on those falsehoods? i was surprised that none of the other 11, including mayor pete, no one turned to tulsi gabbard, and said, regime change? what regime? because she has been somebody who has seemed to defend bashar al assad. this isn't iraq. syria is a completely different situation, but she seemed to be merging it with -- i think a lot of us opposed the iraq war. >> each debate she has had an interesting dynamic. as the field narrows, it's not clear whether she will qualify for the next debate. but there's been so many
is a conservative and he never will be. deploy 160,000 troops into iraq. he is not going to do that into syria. this isn't about our president. he has no desire to do nation building. that's the farthest thing from his mind. so that sentiment remains. and i find it really disappointing that whether you are on the left or on the right. i have been up on twitter all night arguing with people who say they are conservative. whether you are on the left or the right, you have to understand this is a different geopolitical reality and this isn't 2003. and this isn't iraq. this is a very different situation. but we have to act for multiple reasons. pete: dr. gorka today it's syria tomorrow could be the iran deal and getting scrapped and tomorrow north korea. this strike sent signals in all of those theaters. what is this white house most focused on as far as a threat to this country? is it assad and chemical
this isn't iraq, it's syria. syria is in control. i think whether we're there or not, syria and russia and iran will try to kill isis. if they want to kill isis and finish the job, oka i'm okay wih that. i don't know what we get by staying there. and if anything, i think this latest episode shows that it actually limits the freedom of action for the president because now he has to worry in response to this chemical attack whether the syrians will then attack those 2,000 u.s. troops. if those troops weren't there, he would have a broader freedom to take more robust action. so at the end of the day, if you're going to justify military intervention, you have to say what's your objective, what's it going to cost? the answers to some basic questions, and frankly i have not heard the answers to those question. >> rick: you know president trump criticized president obama for pulling the troops out of iraq because it created a vacuum that many say helped give isis that rise to power. there are critics who say if we
with less pain, i can be more active. ask your doctor about lyrica. three years after the u.s. started its war against isis in iraq and syria, a new front has opened against the extremist organization in the fill panes. nbc chief bill neely is on the front lines. >> reporter: it could be the middle east, the city under siege. under isis rule and under ferocious air strikes. but this isn't iraq or syria, it's the philippines and isis captured it three months ago. in spite of these air strikes and attacks by 3,000 troops with american help, isis still holds this city. american spy planes and special
desperation as the best unifying force here that these various parties fee they need help and they need to be together to save their country but those comments from barzani not a good sign. >> desperation might be all they have left. jim shut toe, thanks so much. i want to talk more about it this. the spokesman for president obama's national security council and now the founding partner of fenway strategies. william kristol is the founder and editor of the weekly standard. tommy, in the news we just heard massoud barzani the leader of the kurds saying he's going to leave it occupy to the kurdish people if they want to break away transport iraq. the peshmerga doctor, one of the only groups fighting effectively against isis. if the kurds sprit away, isn't the political discussion essentially over? isn't iraq for all intents and purposes divided? >> i agree with you, john, it
iraq has several different groups and each with a regional base. what you see are extreme sunnis essentially taking over the sunni parts of syria and iraq. but as they get closer to bagdad they start to, first of all, overextend themselves and second of all to push into the shia areas where the government forces are strong, where their population supports the government more and the government can draw on various militias. >> people are going to say syria is a mess at this moment. if this is bleeding into iraq, this isn't iraq, this is a syria problem, an iraq problem. why is this raising such an alarm for the u.s.? >> the interesting question is, first of all, the country's borders are somewhat porous, it's a large area of desert around here, it's not a neatly defined problem, syria or iraq. it's this whole area. the question becomes if this becomes a safe haven for jihadists, could they have their own little state like the taliban did in afghanistan and could that become a base not
responsible. this is a question of what the united states will do and whether we should wait for the u.n. or have him sign some treaty. that's on the table. >> the president is going to sit down with six journalists today and going to grant them interviews about syria and tomorrow address the american people. the american people are rightly skeptical of all of this because of our, you know, great track record in the middle east, so what does the president need to do to convince the american people that striking syria is the right thing to do? he has to contextualize this, look, not just that this isn't iraq and isn't vietnam, we are in a situation where if if we don't act now the united states will look not only weak but irresponsible. we can't go around and tell people you can't do this in israel, you can't do in in kosovo, can't do this in the middle east and don't back anything up. >> the american people are not going to care about that. >> they never care. >> the american people want to see a plan. they want to see a plan, hard core evidence, they want to see why we should fear syria, that's what they want to hear.