now to honolulu and ron allen. the president s taken a lot of grief, certainly over his isis strategy, certainly having faith in the iraqi army as well. i imagine, this is something the president and the administration are pleased with. reporter: yes, pleased. but they re not declaring victory. and because they re watching the situation still as courtney and chapman were pointing out, there s still a lot of fighting going on. but for the administration, this would be a big victory, because it s essentially the strategy working. u.s. air strikes, hundreds of them over the past few months, 600 or so, and local forces, most importantly, iraqi forces, taking the city. taking ramadi back. now, it also on another layer is important to note that these government forces are primarily shi ite forces and they re taking back a sunni town. so they can essentially say that isis is not winni ning in a sun area which is significant at that level, because that s been the big problem, trying to get
gentleman and take bath that city? that s where more u.s. support is needed. that s the bottom line. this was done with a minimal amount of united states support. if we provided more boots on the ground, provided more air straiks, more cover, training, just more, then including people to work and be side by side and help coordinate these strikes. there s no question that the sunnis in anbar will fight and fight with americans if we have sufficient numbers on the ground to do that. we could be doing a lot more if we put a lot more effort into the fight. bring us up sort of the effort into the fight. this is certainly good news for america, good news for the pentagon and for the white house as well. the white house is going to come out and say, our strategy is clearly working. so is it? well, ramadi was a huge loss in the first place. just 60 miles from baghdad, it was a surprise that ramadi was taken. it s great to get ramadi back.
potentially taking back wrup wards of 70% of ramadi. they are taking up the bombs just destroyed seven houses in the ramadi area. they will have to take back the entire city. they will have to be able to hold on to it. they will have to be able to defeat any sort of running gorilla attacks by whatever isis fighters may be left. as for mosul, that is a much larger city. certainly it is the next big goal to get mosul back from the grip of isis. if you can if the iraqis can achieve getting ramadi back, holding on to it, getting mosul back, that is a major strategic victory for them. they can t afford to lose this time they have run away in the past now after months of u.s.
six american nato forces and serves as a reminder that country is still in a state of chaos. and a wave of violence going on in iraq as insurgeants try to retake parts of ramadi back. the united states sending 200 special forces to iraq. but the big question is is that anywhere near enough troops? fox news contributor and former advisor to four ambassadors in the united nations. on christmas you never want to talk about sending troops into the harm s way. but is 200 troops enough? first of all merry christmas to you, leland. we have the make decisions about military troop numbers without politics involved. we have military experts who can evaluate whether we have enough
approaching the city center, working their way past, as we ve talked about, all of ieds, bombs, tunnels, houses wired to blow up. very tough slow dangerous work. but taking ramadi back, you know, it depends whether or not they will be able to hold it over the long term, will be able to deal with any isis insurgency in the city if you will and whether or not the sunni fighters who come in to hold it will be able to ensure that a new round of sectarian violence between shia and sunni does not break out in ramadi. that may be the real key to long term success. barbara is talking about the key to long term success there. what will the factors be in whether the iraqis be able to hold that city, general? well, i think barbara first of all, laid out what it s going to take to clear it. and then to some extent hold it. but the real issue is the build