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On military battlefields, we have defeated radical Islamic forces every time we have seriously gone after them, from Iraq to Afghanistan.

It's a very unpleasant topic. But we are in an outright war against jihadist Islamic fascism. And this war is, is, I think, metastasizing, almost far quicker than governments can handle it... We have Boko Haram and other groups that will eventually partner with ISIS in this global war.

As much as we might look for opportunities to keep Iraq together, we need to be prepared for the reality that it's not going to stay together.

I'm afraid you're gonna have to see more American military involvement in order to keep ISIS from spreading even further.

We have to face the fact that ISIS and its army of like-minded jihadists are determined to win that war and believe they are on the path to victory. They may well be right.

During the surge in Iraq, we were able to roll back the tide of al-Qaeda and associated insurgents because we succeeded in mobilizing Iraqis - especially Sunni Arabs - to join us in fighting against the largely Sunni extremist networks in their midst.

In fact, things are moving along rather well in Iraq. Nothing is perfect, of course, and freedom is messy work. The cooperation of the three major interests in Iraq has been remarkable.

As far as Iraq, the important thing is that the Taliban is gone in Afghanistan, three-quarters of the al-Qaida leadership is either dead or in jail, and we now have Saudi Arabia working with us, Pakistan working with us.

Iraq... has also had contacts with al-Qaida. Their ties may be limited by divergent ideologies, but the two sides' mutual antipathy toward the United States and the Saudi royal family suggests that tactical cooperation between them is possible.

Iraq is falling apart.