Hillary Mann Leverett, co-author of Going to Tehran: Why America Must Accept the Islamic Republic of Iran, discusses why Washington policymakers can't see the connection between US support for the Syrian opposition and the surge of well-armed and trained ISIS fighters storming across Iraq.

Yousaf Butt, a former scientific consultant to the Federation of American Scientists, discusses the common US and Iranian interest in saving Iraq's government from an al-Qaeda takeover, and whether that can create enough goodwill to ensure a successful Iranian nuclear deal.

William Astore, a retired lieutenant colonel (USAF) and editor of The Contrary Perspective, discusses the militarized realities of fortress America where criticism of soldier-warriors or their war-planning superiors isn't tolerated.

Mitchell Prothero, a journalist with McClatchy DC, discusses ISIS's remarkable takeover of a large swath of Iraq where an upstart Islamic caliphate is being established.

Patrick Cockburn, an award-winning journalist with The Independent, discusses the Iraqi army's disorderly retreat when fundamentalist Islamic group Isis captured the cities of Mosul and Tikrit; and why the Syrian civil war primarily benefits al-Qaida type movements like Isis, Jabhat al-Nusra, and Ahrar al-Sham.

James Ridgeway, co-director of Solitary Watch, discusses the severe psychological damage suffered by an estimated 80,000 prisoners in solitary confinement in the US.

Dahr Jamail, an investigative journalist and author, discusses the capture of Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, by al-Qaeda affiliated ISIS fighters who are forming a new Islamic state across Iraq and Syria.