NBC correspondent Richard Engel called the unfolding violent attacks by insurgents in Iraq Thursday "a nightmare scenario" Thursday on Nightly News.
The march of the terrorist group ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), which captured the city of Mosul Tuesday, has created what Brian Williams called a "grave situation" in the country.
"This is a nightmare scenario that U.S. generals when they were here in Iraq never talked about," Engel said. "Not only is this country [Iraq] unstable, but large parts of the country are falling to a group that is hostile to the government and the United States."
Engel earlier called Iraq probably the Obama administration's "most complicated foreign policy challenge."
He explained that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are fleeing in search of safety. Several thousand American diplomats and contractors still are also escaping the violence in Iraq. Some of the contractors have already been given evacuation orders, while others have already begun to evacuate.
Fellow NBC reporter Andrea Mitchell added that after President Obama pulled troops out of Iraq, the growing violence in Syria and Baghdad "created the perfect storm in Iraq." She said members of Congress are upset with the President for his lack of attention to the escalating violence in Iraq. "Many in Congress say U.S. military aid should be conditioned on reforms by Iraq’s prime minister," Mitchell said.