PETRAEUS TELLS ROSE, “WHAT WE NEED TO DO IS NOT JUST FOCUS ON THE MILITARY; YOU CAN’T KILL OR CAPTURE YOUR WAY OUT OF AN INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH INSURGENCY LIKE THIS”

            Former CIA Director and retired U.S. Army Gen. David Petraeus said “ISIS is clearly a threat to the United States” in in an interview with Charlie Rose that was broadcast tonight, June 3 on the CBS EVENING NEWS WITH SCOTT PELLEY (6:30-7:00 PM, ET) on the CBS Television Network and on CBSN, the first live-anchored streaming news network across all leading digital platforms. More of the interview will be broadcast tomorrow, June 4 on CBS THIS MORNING (7:00-9:00 AM).

            The U.S.-led coalition is keeping up air attacks on ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria, yet the Islamic terror group still controls important territory and cities including Palmyra in Syria, as well as Mosul and Ramadi in Iraq. Rose asked Petraeus, who has commanded U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, if the U.S. was winning or losing at this moment.

“These are fights where if you’re not winning, you’re probably losing because time is not on your side,” Petraeus said. “It’s arguable now in Iraq. We’ll turn it around. We will win again in Iraq. I do think that Iraq can definitely be handled. I think that it can be kept intact. We’ve got to do a lot more in Syria. This is already a long war. It’s become longer because of the advent of the Islamic State, and we have to recognize that.”

Click here to watch the interview broadcast on tonight’s CBS EVENING NEWS WITH SCOTT PELLEY.

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A transcript is below.

ROSE: How bad is the situation on the ground in Iraq and Syria today? The impression is ISIS is gaining ground and cities.

PETRAEUS: Well, it is worrisome. As we say, the enemy gets a vote. That’s what happened in Ramadi. So this is both an operational and a strategic setback— a significant one. But this is at a moment at which you need to sit back and ask what do we need to do in the military arena. What also do we need to do in the political arena.

ROSE: Is it a threat to the United States?

PETRAEUS: Well, ISIS is clearly a threat to the United States, to our allies and partners around the world, and of course, very much in the region where there is instability, violence and so forth and indeed far beyond just Iraq and Syria. It’s also into North Africa. It’s even trying to recruit in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

ROSE: When you look at what’s necessary to do, we need a new strategy. Does it mean more American participation at any level?

PETRAEUS: I think it does, and I don’t know that you need a whole new strategy. What you need to do is look at what you have. Figure out where you need to augment. Do we need to bring advisers down to brigade level, for example? Right now, they are just at division level, perhaps even to battalion level. Should there be teams of joint tactical air controllers on the ground with a lot of security?

ROSE: Should there be?

PETRAEUS: I think there probably should be.

ROSE: Is there a risk to losing lives if they do that?

PETRAEUS: Certainly there is risk, but there is also risk of not winning this fight.

ROSE: If push comes to shove, should we let Iraqi militia with connections to Iran participate in order to defeat ISIS?

PETRAEUS: Well, I think that is something we don’t want to do.

ROSE: But we might have to do it.

PETRAEUS: That would be a very last resort. What we need to do is not just focus on the military. You can’t kill or capture your way out of an industrial strength insurgency like this, Charlie, really an industrial strength conventional force because that’s what ISIL has become to be. You need to have the political component, and without that, you are not going to solve the problem.

ROSE: The political component is support in Baghdad that will enlist the support of Sunni Arab tribes in Iraq.

PETRAEUS: That’s exactly right.

ROSE: Are we winning or losing at this moment?

PETRAEUS: Well, these are fights if you are not winning, you are probably losing. Time is not on your side. It is arguable now in Iraq. We will turn it around, and we will win in Iraq. I do think that Iraq can definitely be handled and kept intact. We have to do a lot in Syria. This is already a long war and has become longer because of the advent of the Islamic State. We have to recognize that, and we have to be in it.”

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Press Contact:             Lance Frank                212-975-5959              FrankL@cbsnews.com