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.