Iraqi Forces Aim to Take Back Tikrit
ROMANS: This morning, Iraqi forces reportedly making progress in a major offensive operation to retake the city of Tikrit from ISIS. Iraqi troops are said to be approaching the city from five directions to prevent ISIS militants from escaping or bringing in reinforcements. This, as ISIS releases a new propaganda video shot in the battle zone around Tikrit. That video aimed, of course, at including recruits to join ISIS in the fight. Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson following events for us this morning. Nic, what's the latest?</s>NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest from the front is that it is going relatively well. That some of the smaller villages around Tikrit have been taken. Tikrit of course not just strategically important because it's on the highway between Baghdad and Mosul to the north, but it's also psychologically important. It's, if you will, the sort of carp and part (ph), as the government would see it, the Sunni resistance against the government. This is the birth place of the former president Saddam Hussein. So it is important at many levels. They are saying they are attacking from five sides; they're trying to stop ISIS getting the recruits coming in. They say that the potential of problems of IEDs is a big one they have to be careful of. And I think if we look at the recent track record of the Iraqi army taking quite an amount of time to take a percentage of that village, al Bagdadi, in the west of the country, taking a long, long, long time to take control of the oil refinery to the north of where they are now, Tikrit, in the town of Beji. So success here is not expected to happen overnight. And part of the success will come in the composition, they say, of the 30,000 troops involved. It is not just Iraqi army. It's Shia militias, but perhaps most significantly, some Sunni tribesmen fighting alongside the government forces there. Why is that important? Because this is a Sunni heartland area. And unless there are Sunni elements on the government's side, this really gets perceived at the front line as a sectarian fight. And certainly there are sectarian elements there on the ground, we've seen them ourselves, in the Iraqi army. And that is a concern for human rights organizations, that the fear of retribution. Because for the Iraqi army here, they saw ISIS back in June last year single out and kill 1,700 Shia government forces by the Sunni group ISIS. So there's a lot at stake here psychologically, tactically, and of course cohesively. Can the government really be seen as non-sectarian on this? Christine?</s>BERMAN: Yes, an important, important point. Nic Robertson. Thank you, Nic. 54 minutes past the hour. College tuition soaring. Which schools give you the most bang for your buck, the best return on your education investment? An EARLY START on your money is next.