[Feyerick:] The fight against the rampaging group ISIS is more than 50- countries strong. In just the past day, Denmark joined. So did Belgium. The United Kingdom is in. These two war planes did not drop bombs in Iraq. But they were armed. They flew recon missions looking for targets. The defense ministry says they are ready to strike. And now they are authorized to do so by the British parliament. The French air force is making bombing runs. And U.S. war planes are taking off and landing around the clock onboard a U.S. aircraft carrier stationed in the Persian Gulf. Between yesterday and today, the U.S.-led coalition launched 10 separate air strikes against ISIS targets in Syria and Iraq. Western leaders say that while the most dramatic advances by ISIS have been stopped, it could be years before the militant group is degraded to the point that it is no longer a threat and perhaps no longer relevant. The White House did not ask Syria's permission to hit ISIS. Damascus, Syria, didn't give it. It doesn't mean Syrian President Bashar al Assad wasn't thrilled to see the bombs falling on those militants. His forces have been fighting extremists for years without a lot of success. That has made a lot of his supporters upset. So is the U.S. doing President Assad a favor by destroying one of his biggest enemies? Retired Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona is a CNN military analyst; and also joining us, Michael Weiss, a columnist for "Foreign Policy" magazine. Michael, when you look at the spin that both sides are putting on this, the Syrian government is saying, hey, the U.S. and their partners are now fighting side by side with our generals. Are they helping Assad?
[Michael Weiss, Columnist, Foreign Policy Magazine:] My fear is that we are objectively helping him. We have said quite starkly we are not coordinating with him and didn't ask his permission, and nor did he give it. In the last week or so, officials have come out, including the Syrian ambassadors to the United Nations, saying we thought Obama's speech was great and, yes, this is we are effectively now a partner in counterterrorism with the United States. The other problem is we are coordinating with the Iraq government, which is almost entirely controlled by the Islamic Republic of Iran, Assad's number-one ally in the region.
[Weiss:] So I mean, the day the bombs started falling in Syria, Iraq's national security adviser met with Assad in Damascus and there was some coordination directly and some chatter about what was going on. And Assad said, we will help with all international counterterrorism measures. So, yes, I think there is kind of a de facto alliance.
[Feyerick:] Good point. So, Colonel, here is the issue. You have a multi-sided civil war. You have ISIS, the secular rebels, the extremist Islamic rebels, and the Free Syrian Army. There are so many people who are fighting this. Are the insurgents pretty upset right now that the U.S., whether they admit it or not, are essentially helping Assad wipe out one of his greatest enemies?
[Lt. Col. Rick Francona, Cnn Military Analyst:] It depends on which group, because if you are the Free Syrian Army, you don't have a problem with us taking on ISIS because you are fighting a group that they have been fighting. If you are the Islamic front, you probably don't have a problem with it. So nobody likes ISIS. ISIS is kind of this one group everybody would like to get rid of for different reasons, because it allows them a better playing field, than they hope to swoop in and fill that power vacuum for themselves. I don't think anybody is going to lament the demise of
[Isis. Feyerick:] What is interesting also, and we were speaking about this earlier, that is, that Assad may be playing a very strategic and very political game here, knowing that by allowing ISIS to fill that vacuum that was created, that now you have a coalition that is essentially going to help him. Are we suggesting that perhaps he knew exactly what was going to happen, that this was incredibly strategic? What do you think Lieutenant Colonel?
[Francona:] It was interesting. For months, before this even came about, we noticed that ISIS was not being hit very much by the Syrian air force or ground forces. They were concentrating efforts on other groups. It was almost like he was giving ISIS a free rein because he knew ISIS was keeping the other ones in check. Assad and Michael and I were talking earlier. I think we were surprised at how strategic and how smart Assad has become. We knew his father had this kind of intelligence but we were very surprised he has developed into the kind of Machiavellian leader that he has.
[Feyerick:] Michael, do you see it that way, as well? He was able to organize this strategically.
[Weiss:] We have questions. You remember, from day one, when peaceful protests started erupting in Syria, they were categorized as terrorists, this was am extremist plot hatch by Saudi Arabia and Qatar and, indeed, the United States. The idea was to essentially play the role of an arsonist and then come to everyone's rescue in the role of a firefighter. That is the sort of strategy. Remember, the Syrian intelligence services and military are trained by the Soviets, who specialized in this kind of thing. What we understand about Jihadism and the nature of terrorism in the Middle East, it is incredibly murky. To give you just one example, the Khorasan group
[Feyerick:] Right. The al Qaeda Khorasan.
[Weiss:] The commander of the Khorasan group was in Iran until a year ago. The Iranians say they had him under house arrest, which begs the question, why did you let him go? And how did he wind up in Syria? Again, Iran is Assad's number-one ally. There is without doubt in my mind, Damascus has been playing the double game. Indeed, look at how ISIS makes its money. It is selling Assad's oil back to Assad.
[Feyerick:] It's remarkable. The whole thing is remarkable. You feel like you are just looking at the tip of the iceberg, that everything else going on is so deep under the ocean that we can't even really get our heads around it. Michael Weiss, Colonel Rick Francona, thank you so much. We appreciate it.
[Weiss:] Thank you.
[Feyerick:] And we look at now the Oklahoma man who is accused of beheading a co-worker. He had a major run-in with police years ago. You will hear from a police lieutenant who says she wishes she would have killed him. Will he face terrorism charges? Plus, new details on the attempted suicide in Chicago that ground flights to a halt. The suspect was set to be transferred thousands of miles away from his home.