Foreign Affairs committee  What would degrading ISIS look like? Obviously, it would mean having its military units obliterated. There are 30,000 to 40,000 people, which is not a lot in the big scheme of things. You need to stop the recruitment to add to that, because the recruitment, much of it foreign, is

Foreign Affairs committee  There aren't a lot of Syrian institutions left in the region. They've been gone for four years, and I dare say, they pretty much neglected that region when they did rule. On the Iraqi front, you asked about the police and the judiciary. I think they're a far cry from being profe

Foreign Affairs committee  It would be very useful, and I would just point out that Turkey is a NATO member. That's really important. That's a very valuable connection. The Turks are obviously very concerned, more on their western border with Syria, because that's the most populated in terms of both Turks

Foreign Affairs committee  I look at it this way. There is a danger in the narrative, because you have the Assad regime that has killed 200,000 people. It's responsible, I think, for the 200,000 or maybe it has blood on its hands for at least 150,000 of that. The reality is that there are many within the r

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, absolutely. I think we have a lot to give and I would also point out again, it's a shame, because the Americans did this once already to help the Iraqi army professionalize. How do you run a sophisticated army that lives in a multicultural society? That is one of our great c

Foreign Affairs committee  They're paying about $1,000 per month to their local forces, and there's everything from.... There are cheaper amounts if you're not in the high-risk force. There are some forces that may be called on to do suicide bombing or to do the grunt work. They're paid a lot more than som

Foreign Affairs committee  He's definitely done a lot better without a doubt. He's saying all the right things. He's definitely a better person in his thinking about Iraq. But the challenge is, and legitimately so, the Shias of Iraq have been screwed over for much of history. They paid a heavy price histor

Foreign Affairs committee  No, because frankly, the force of fighters ISIS has is global. They're coming from everywhere. They're coming from Tunisia. They're coming from Canada, dare I say. They're coming from Belgium. They're not coming from just Iraq and Syria. They're coming globally because the radica

Foreign Affairs committee  I think a lot has been said about the oil. The number one source of where ISIS gets its money is ransom paid by western governments and western companies. That's really important. You know, oil has been inflated. In fact, there's been a re-evaluation; that $1 million-a-day revenu

Foreign Affairs committee  I point out that this is already done, in the sense that the way in which the American forces were able to eventually overthrow al Qaeda in the first case, after the 2003 intervention, was by making a coalition with the Anbar province's locals, called sahwa or the awakening, in 2

Foreign Affairs committee  In terms of the political strategy, obviously Iraq is easier, because in Iraq you have the central government's authorization. We have been focusing more on the Iraqi tribes to do that—at least, that's the way the message has been portrayed by the coalition—because we are in esse

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. The Kurds are a formidable force, the peshmerga. They have a history of fighting. They would need to be empowered, definitely. Part of the challenge of the peshmerga, which are in the Kurdish region of Iraq, is getting Turkish permission, which is really hard to do, underst

Foreign Affairs committee  The quick response is that I think “ISIS” is legitimate. “ISIL” is a term that Barack Obama likes, and the administration, because it avoids the word Syria and we know that he is allergic to the concept of Syria. I think we shouldn't fall into that trap. As well, “Levant” does n

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. Thank you. Look, I think Assad for a very long time was interested in keeping control of Damascus, Aleppo, and the Latakia coast. That's his heartland. If we look at the map of what ISIS controls.... You know, I'm almost skeptical about using the words “ISIS”, “IS”, or “Is

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you very much. Thank you to the committee. I appreciate the invitation. It's always an honour to speak to you. By the title of the hearing today, I gather there is an important interest, and I think a vital one, in ISIS's role in kind of trying to reshape the region. Wit