Improving security within Iraq

After returning from a week-long trip to Iraq at the request of U.S. officials, General Barry R. McCaffrey (Ret.) testified before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Monday on improving the current security, political and economic situation in Iraq and sustaining progress for the future.

Before he testified, McCaffrey spoke with MSNBC's Randy Meier about the security situation in the country.

To read an excerpt of their conversation, continue to the text below. To watch the video, click on the "Launch" button to the right.

Randy Meier: If you look at this in layman's terms does it feel like (the insurgents are) getting more sophisticated and organized ... What's your view on how organized the insurgents are becoming or not?

McCaffrey:  Well, I think there are three groups we're fighting.  The most dangerous one is the Sunni Muslim extremist insurgents.  There's a huge criminal element.  Finally, then a rather modestly sized foreign jihadist group, a few hundred a month coming into Iraq.  They are a hundred percent of the suicide bombers.

One can argue and I think this is the case the suicide bombers with their indiscriminate slaughter of vulnerable Iraq civilians ... That strategy is bound to backfire on them in the short run.  It doesn't make sense.  It won't stop the political momentum and it certainly is a modest threat for U.S. fighters, at best.

Meier:  Is there something the U.S. could be doing or are we doing inside Syria to stop this flow of Syrian foreign fighters?

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

McCaffrey:  Well, I think the Syrians probably are supportive, in a very covert way, of the Sunni Muslim insurgency.  I'm not sure the Saudis are doing all they could to prevent it.  Nor are the Kuwaitis and I think the Iranians are intervening in the south in support of the Shia. So we've got six countries circling Iraq that do not in the long term support the emergence of a democratic state.  I think inside Iraq, though, the solution is going have to be Iraq policemen in large numbers who think it's worth fighting and dying for in this new state.  That is happening ... (they are) gradually creating security forces that will succeed in the end.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

Meier:  Radical Shiite Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is asking all Iraqis to stop the violence and Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most powerful Ayatolah in all Iraq, is echoing that this needs to be resolved by Iraqis. Do the calls of both of those men hold merit?  Do they have the key to ending this at all?

McCaffrey:  Well, I think its very encouraging being honest.  If the Shia took part in an uprising against the coalition authorities and the emerging government this thing will be an end game.  I think al-Sistani and others have been very responsible voices trying to avoid adding energy to what could turn into a civil war.  So I think voices of moderation like Shia and Kurdish communities are allowing this political momentum that Ambassador John Negroponte really set in motion and I think they're allowing that to continue. 

with and can be seen weekdays from 9 a.m.-Noon.