ronald reagan, and the transformation of the modern conservative movement. the conversation continues on aljazeera.com/considerthis, google plus or twitter. we'll see you next time. hi everyone, this is al jazeera am. i'm john siegenthaler in new york. nut streets, outrage over a police shooting of a black teenager in missouri, the fbi is investigating. iraq, chaos in the skies. air strikes in the north. power struggle in baghdad. our special report, u.s. and iraq, unintendconsequences. >> i wouldn't say suicidal but i was thinking about it. >> the decembe desperation of p.

and the legacy of last, the work of comedian robin williams. we begin tonight with change and challenges in iraq. as fighters from the self declared islamic state push further north the government in baghdad is facing yet another crisis. iraq's president today nomentedd a new prime minister but nouri fleek sayal-maliki says he won'p his seat. >> a step towards foorming new governmenforming a newdeposit. earlier today vice president biden and i called hain haider

al-abadi. to congratulate him and encourage him to create a government inclusive of all rakes. >> john terret in washington. john. >> good evening john. the pentagon put up an operation is director in the form of lieutenant general bill mayville, over four nights the following has happened. 14 successful missions he said, 15 targeted air strikes, 310 bundles sent down to the stranded yazidis on mount sinjar. 75,000 meals ready to eat and 15,000 gallons of water. every day there are between 50 and 60 aircraft sorties. helicopters to aircraft to even drone.

lieutenant mayville is speaking to what the mission is going to achieve. >> we're going to do what we need to do to protect our facilities, protect our embassy. to protect our american citizens and to reduce the siege as well as protect those aircraft that are providing support to mount sinjar. >> and john late word this evening from cen centcom, add 1, 3 and 4:30 eastern daylight time according to u.s. jets, attacks on multiple checkpoints in defense of the internally displaced yazidi people on mt. sinjar, according to centcom, all aircraft returned safely to

control. >> a look at are baghdad and washington, how u.s. involvement in iraq has contributed to the current crisis. in the st. louis area tonight police and protesters are squaring off again. a police officer ordering one of the many news trucks in the area to get out. there are reports and social media photographs of riot police and residents in stlowz ar st. e outraged. diane eastabrook has more. diane. >> the st. louis county police department reports that police shot tear gas into a quick minute you mart in the town of

ferguson where all the rioting happened last night. this quick trip mini mart was a business that had been burned last night in the riots. people had been assembling there all day today, it had been somewhat peaceful but as the day wore on things gant t began to escalate. police wanted to fire the tear gas into the crowds. we were here earlier where there was a meeting with clergy, the community and law enforcement officials. it was a very peaceful gathering but apparently later on in the evening tensions escalated down the road at this mini mart, john. >> diane eastabrook, thank you. the family of michael brown hired an attorney who was the attorney in the trayvon martin case. the brown family wants to find out exactly what happened.

>> he was executed in broad daylight. and that's why people are so outraged, that's why people are frustrated. they are saying yet again one of our children executed before he even becomes a man. >> the reverend tracy blackman is a pastor and community activist in new jersey, welcome for joining us tonight. >> thank you for the invitation. >> can you tell us what you're hearing what's going on at this hour? >> well, right now, john, the community is indeed in an uproar. they're upset about the shooting of this unarmed teen. we are waiting, the police report, the final report, to find out exactly what they are saying happened. but there were many people in the community at the time that this happened. there are witnesses to this incident. and they are claiming that this unarmed teenager, it is already been documented he did not have a gun. he did not have a stick.

they are claiming that he was shot down in the street. not only was he gunned down, but he was left in the street for over four hours before his body was taken away, or even the paramedics were called. so understandably, the community is in an uproar. and it is being unfortunately played out in some of the violence that you see going on in the surrounding area now. >> what sort of violence are you hearing about tonight? >> well, similar to last night, there's quite a bit of rioting going on. quite a bit of breaking into buildings, and looting. once again as they did last night. and i fear this is meaning, not what the police are saying, but some of it is being mimicked by copy cats, happening in other areas as well. probably not the ferguson group that is doing this but people riding on the coat tails of this disaster. and we are fearful for our

youth. we are fearful for those who are out in the street, taking out their anger in this manner. this unfortunately is the result of people not being seen, not being cared for. and not being valued over a long period of time. so when the rage comes to the surface, it roars and it is kind of out of control here now. >> what can the leaders in this community do to resolve this, if anything? >> the leaders are stepping in to action in various ways. across faith communities, across denominations, we are coming together to say we cannot solve it like this. but we are demanding justice on behalf of michael brown and his family. i believe that if the community continues to be a force, a present force, in the neighborhoods that are being affected, if they see us continue to show up at the

police department, continue to press for justice, that they will believe that we are going to see this through. unfortunately, there have been so many black deaths across the united states, that there is not a whole lot of confidence that justice will come for michael brown. once they know that they can trust us and that they know that we're going to be with them throughout this whole ordeal, then i think you will see the violence s subside. what you have to realize here john, the people are rioting not just for michael brown, they're rioting for themselves as well. they think it could have been them that was shot down in the street. because it is not only them, to microphone their age are in this way cam, so they can be heard, they can be seen. i'm not justifying it it's a

horrible thing but there is a result of major oppression of a people over a long period of time. >> we've seen this in other places so why ferguson, why the spark and the explosion sort of in ferguson and why now? >> anything i say about that is a supposition. but i do have an idea of why this is happening. it's kind of like a perfect storm. you had just a month ago the young man who died by strangulation over choke hold. before that you had trayvon martin. we have black youth especially black men being gunned down not just by police officers but also by other black people. and in st. louis right now we have a major catastrophe going on with our education system. so people are just sick and tired of being sick and tired. and this happened at a time that created a perfect storm in this environment. >> reverend blackman it's good

to have you on the program. thank you very much for sharing your story. >> thank you john. >> tributes are pouring in in remembrance of the comedy legend robin williams. the sheriff in marin county said the oscar winning star died, and jennifer london has more on this story. jennifer. >> john, people say how is this possible? the news is being reacted with sadness. tribute to robin williams. earlier, i spoke with a gentleman who said he had a chance to meet robin williams in iraq in 2003. >> he surprised me, put his arm around me and startled me and i turned on my rifle and i said "note to self, do not startle

soldiers on guard duty." he said, i kind of looked like my son. i said dad, where is my allowance. it was just hilarious. >> robin williams was once dubbed the funniest man alive by entertainment weekly. he also hadding serious roles winning an oscar in goodwill hunting. president obama highlighted the many accomplishments in his career, saying he played an alien, he played a nanny, he had an amazing gift to make people cry and fans all over the world are crying and dpreeivin grievie loss of robin williams. his publicist said he had been

battling depression as of late. tiburon, california is in the san francisco bay area, norm california. the marin sheriff's department says the death is of suspiciousing means. but suicide by actio ax by asph. to make them laugh, make them smile, but he was battling depression so much he might have taken his own life. >> some remember him most as a is actor. other remember him as a comedian. >> god it's hot in here.

>> his style was manic, bizarre even, but above all like nothing we had ever seen. robin williams was born in 1951 and gained celebrity in the 1970s as mork from ork, in the 1970s. >> live be free. >> he was once considered the funniest man alive but he was a julliard trained actor and had serious side in roles like this. >> "good morning vietnam." >> roles like this won him three oscar nomination he. he won best supporting actor in his role of therapist in goodwill hunting. >> i bet you can't tell me how it smells in the sistine chapel.

>> he co-hosed eight comic relief telethons helping to raise $50 million for the homeless. but it was a style too often fueled by drugs and alcohol. a fact he made no secret of. there were two trips to rehab, including a stint just this summer. in 2009, williams had heart surgery. but he bounced back, making his broadway debut in 2011. that same year, he married his third wife, susan schneider, after his death she released this statement saying, "this morning, i lost my husband and my best friend. while the world lost one of its most beloved artists and beautiful human beings. i am utterly heartbroken." >> robin williams was 63 years old. brian ba ballthazar joins us. brian, when this news came through it sort of rapid fire

through the newsroom tonight. and it's almost like people felt like they'd lost a member of their family. >> yeah. >> it was so personal. >> yeah. >> talk about the impact he had on so many folks. >> i think people feel like we lost someone really special today. someone with an immense gift. you know very good things on television and the movies are public healtcompletely spontane. you would get him on the screen and let him go. without anyone telling him what to do he just did it. it was incredible. >> people thought he was a comedy guy but he was so much more than that. >> people say you can't get a comedy degree at julliard. that was really hard. but he study next to christopher

reeve. this sense of his roles came from that. he was a deep guy, considering the fact he could be a hurricane of comedy he could be an emotional being. >> i didn't realize you met him. >> i did. i was producing a morning show and i'd never met him before, i never knew whether he would be robin williams. you want that in an interview. he was quiet, polite, a true gentlemen. i thought o no, suddenly the cameras started rolling, and then hurricane robin williams. he's dripping with sweat, we've all seen it before. he's running around stage. then when it was done he got back to his thox kind self. you sathoughtful kind self.

>> he just loved it, seek seems. >> i don't say it was a high for him but it was afternoon adrenalin rush. because he had his addictions. but we were along for the ride. i think it was an adrenalin rush for us as we watched. >> what do you think is his best film? >> oh wow, i loved dead poets society but what he did for the animated film aladdin, i don't think anyone could have made aladdin a hit like robin williams did. just the sound of his voice made that amazing film. but the fisher king i thought that was fantastic too. it would be difficult to name just one and that was the beauty of his career. >> tough loss for entertainment for the country. brian it's good to see you. thank you very much. just ahead. pushing change in iraq. the white house fourth support w

prime minister. the defiance of the man who has the job. and families come home to see what's left as diplomats search for a longer, lasting peace.

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>> in gaza tonight the three day truce still holding. diplomats in cairo hoping to broker a longer solution. israeli media say there have been encouraging signs from both sides. jane ferguson is in jerusalem. >> the israelis who had initially said that they wanted hamas to be completely disarmed in the gaza strip are appearing to potentially be softening that stance. on the other side the palestinians who had called for a complete lifting of the blockade of gaza including the establishment of a sea port and an airport appear to be potentially relenting saying that the airport and the sea port may not be possible but we would be seeing instead an eegz of theasing of the blockade. none of that comes to anything, really huge developments in any potential peace deal but of course there are less than two days left in this ceasefire and

we've seen ceasefires like this come and go and run out of time. so it remains extremely fragile. also an announcement of u.n. body to investigate potential war crimes or crimes against humanity in gaza. that will be on both sides addressing the accusations that have been made. addressing the accusation he made by the israelis that the palestinians have been using human shields and also addressing accusations that the israelis were using excessive force and not taking enough care to avoid civilian casualties. u.n. themselves say over 70% of those killed in gaza were civilians. that commission will be some time before coming up with their report. israelis already have hit back, the israeli ministry of foreign affairs say the findings of this commission are already written and it's likely we'll see further israeli opposition to this group in the coming days and weeks.

>> that's jane ferguson in jerusalem. humanitarian help is also coming the people stropped b trapped bg on eastern ukraine. fighting between ukraine and pro-russian rebels have left some people without food or water for a week. multination aid group will include russian civilians not russian soldiers. vladimir putin will jus use a cy to bring in relief goods. liberia's government says it will be getting doses of experimental drug to treat doctors. they put liberian officials in contact with the company that makes z map. but the drug company says its supplies are exhausted. the ebola outbreak in wearveg wt

africa have killed almost a thousand people. under the microscope having to deal with one of its tragedies in racing. michael eaves has the story. >> nearly 48 hours after the death of kevin ward, tony stewart has yet to be charged for any criminal intent and according to ontario county schaeffer phillip prevaro it doesn't seem he will be. >> at this time there are no facts that exist that support any criminal behavior or conduct. this is an open investigation. what i have just said is not indicative that the investigation is over or

conclusions have been made. >> stewart did not race in nascar sprint cup race at watkins glen in wake of the accident and he's also cancelled his appearance at another dirt track race in indiana. he initially had planned to run that race on saturday then compete at michigan 400 at noon. some speculate that stewart intentionally hilt ward. but every nascar insider, including former drivers said there's no way stewart hit ward on purpose. instead it was just a tragic accident. but these type of driver altercations are not new in auto racing. take cale yarborough and tony allison as they clashed on the last lap of the race, the first daytona 500 ever broadcast live

on national television. and even as nascar has grown from a primarily southern sport, tony stewart has been involved in his fair share. there was this incident in bristol in 2012, with matt kinseth to throw his helmet at kinseth when he sped by. it's important to point out these are not regular incidents in auto racing but no doubt that such altercations are engrained in the sport's culture going all the way back to its inception. >> that's michael eaves reporting. up next, u.s. and iraq unintended consequences. our relations between the two countries help fuel rise of the group called the islamic state. and the u.s. throws its support behind a new iraqi prime minister. the current one warns he won't leave without a fight.

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self-declared islamic state? and what impact did a decade of intervention have on its leader? a man the u.s. once held and let go. >> these are difficult days in iraq, there will be difficult days ahead. >> tonight our special report: u.s. and iraq, unintended consequences. >> this is al jazeera america. i'm john siegenthaler. tonight with iraq in crisis we're taking a closer look at the unintended consequences of the u.s. intervention in that cup. iraq's government has been gridlocked by sectarian in-fighting. a new prime minister was named today 50 iraqi president. a changed welcome -- today by the iraqi president. a change welcomed by the white house. most of the islamic state, fighters taking advantage of a weak central government, emotional a million people forced from their homes. president obama says u.s. air strikes are not even close to

over as american military works with iraqi and kurdish forces to combat the islamic state. this map shows territory that the islamic state group has seized this year. the group moves to the edges of baghdad in january and took mosul in june. over the past the group says it's taken over 15 towns along with the mosul dam and two oil fields. the man leading the islamic state organization is abu bakr al-baghdadi said to be more powerful and resourceful than osama bashar al-assad ever was. morgan radford reports. >> u.s. forces in iraq arrested abu bakr al-baghdadi near fallujah in 2004 in a hunt for al qaeda fighters. he was locked up for at least ten months before the u.s. let him go. he was considered a low level threat. it is not clear how that

experience affected him, although a few facts are certain. in the years right after his release he was known as a preacher. he is thought to have a doctorate in islamic studies and claimed to be a descendant of the prophet mohamed. joining the al qaeda branch in iraq. >> al qaeda was a solid training grounds for him. i think he witnessed day by day the inability of iraqi leaders. he witnessed how the americans basically operated in iraq. >> reporter: and after the u.s. killed al qaeda's leader in iraq, abu massaad zawahiri, baghdadi's group has changed its

name twice. saiislamic state of iraq and the levant anding islamic state. some say baghdadi is more fearful and more tough than osama bin laden ever was. >> he is extremely calculating. i think he has both not only the vision but the political leadership. >> reporter: and he has the money. reportedly raking in $12 million a monday fund -- a month funding his organization through extortion and robbery. morgan radford, al jazeera, new york. christopher hill talked about the kind of threat these fighters have posed to the entire region. >> what we have seen is i.s.i.s. continues to confound the

experts in that it has proved to be a very effective fighting force and even signs that it was able to push back the peshmerga for a few days. that seems to be changing and u.s. air rates are decisive but the peshmerga is a highly dmind welhighlydisciplined force, andy get more weapons, there will be a difference. whether these sunni arabs are able to push out this i.s.i.s. extreme sunni organization. i think in the long run what you have to see long run, few weeks, months, we need to see the reconstituted iraqi army, an army that's well led and loyal to the government. i think when that happens, they will be able to push the i.s.i.s. out of places that they've occupied in fallujah.

you know these are a very sort of -- there are not a lot of people out there in these fights. i mean i.s.i.s. has several thousand soldiers to be sure. but you can see very quick reversals in these situation. we are not talking about million-man armies. we are talking about pretty light low density warfare here. and i think a lot of what you see in i.s.i.s. is not so much that maliki has not been a great prime minister. what you see really is a kind of melt-down in syria and to mix the metaphor, where the problems have metastasized into iraq. there were forces that kind of kept maliki under control. president talibani had the ability to hold together but he suffered a stroke a couple of years ago. there are a couple of things that took iraq in the wrong

direction. americans talk it solely in the terms of our withdrawal of troops but frankly speaking it's not just about us. it's about other things going on including the situation in syria. >> president obama is on vacation in massachusetts on martha's vineyard but he took a few minutes this afternoon to talk about iraq's rmings to of a new government. >> the only lasting solution is for iraqis to come together and form a legitimate government one that can unify the government's fight against i.s.i.l. last month the iraqi people named a new president. today president massoum named a new prime minister designate,

haider al-abadi. an important step that can eunte iraqi's various entities. today vice president biden and i called him, pledged our support to him as well as to president massoum and speaker jabouri as they work together to form this government. meanwhile i urge all political leaders to work peacefully through the political process in the days ahead. this new iraqi leadership has a difficult task. it has to regain the confidence of its citizens by governing conclusively. the ultimates stands ready to support a government that addresses the needs and grievances of all iraqi people. >> the pentagon says u.s. air strikes have slowed the islamic state group's advances towards erbil but officials say the

strikes may not weaken the group's overall capabilities. john terret is in washington with more on that story, john. is. >> reporter: yes, good evening john, you're absolutely right, we heard from the pentagon today that the islamic state group is very much a threat in the region. it may have been hobbled in the area around erbil at least for now but perfectly able to regroup itself elsewhere in the region. this according to lieutenant general bill mayville, and he had some interesting statistics which they've accrued since the operation began last thursday. according to the general there have been 14 successful missions 15 targeted air strikes and the numbers go on. including we are told 16,000 gallons of water, 75,000 meals ready to eat and according to the lieutenant general there are

50 to 60 sorties ever day. right now that's movement of aircraft of one kind or another. could be a transport aircraft could be a helicopter could even be a drone. here is the lieutenant general putting more bones on the story now about what is behind this operation. >> we're going odo what we need to do, to protect our facilities, protect our embassy. to protect our american citizens and to reduce this siege as well as protect those aircraft that are providing support to mount sinjar. >> so the lieutenant general's message the u.s. operation successful so far and helping but it is still limited in scope. but word today from the president that some of the yazidis are beginning to escape from the islamic group forces and according to the president the united states is now working with its international partners to try and lead them to some form of safety. john.

>> all right john terret in washington, john thank you. retired marine corps major general james williams stationed in rahmadi and fallujah, in dallas tonight. welcome. >> thank you john. >> so we heard the pentagon say that essentially that these strikes won't work for the bigger picture for iraq. so how much do -- how much will these strikes do, in your opinion? >> well, i think if you're talking about halting enemy forces and keeping them from advancing, that certainly is a mission that is appropriate. when you're talking about the humanitarian support that the general was talking about, delivering food, and water, and aid, is another aspect of it. but the question is, is how long can the yazidi people stay on the mountain?

you know, essentially what you have is a displaced person's problem. eventually you'll have to have some sort of refugee program if you will, just in the region but where are they going to go? if the i.s.i.l. forces are content if you will in terms of their mission to get rid of these different sects and faction he of nonislamic religious factions they're still going to be a formidable group to deal with. at some point i believe you're going to have to put boots on the ground. i know president doesn't want to do that but even if it's only special forces groups and limited action, as ambassador hill talked about earlier today, i think that's without a doubt something that will have to happen. you know you have -- >> let me just stop through because you have --

>> sure. >> this is what the president has been saying he would never do and he's been trying to get out of iraq but you're saying the united states has got to put boots on the ground to make a difference here? >> well, let me kind of put it this way. you know after world war ii we stayed in germany and we're still in germany to some degree. you know, and i think that is telling the world that we're committed to seeing a developing nation develop properly. i mean they were doing that prior to 2011. i understand what the president wants to do relative to reducing the cost. trying to make them independent. yk are and be a sovereign nation. but when that region is so important not only to us but to others in europe and in africa and around the world, i mean sooner or later we're going ohave to do something. i know we don't want to be the policemen of the world but at

some point we'll have to put our foot down and show the world that we're committed to helping in a proper way. >> the president praised the destinatiodesignation of the nee minister today, did the u.s. spend too much time supportin sg prime minister maliki? >> once we left we had elements with our state department and supporting the parliament and ensuring that he was going odo and the parliament was going to do the right thing from a governance perspective. i think once we stepped away maliki was always known as a shia purist and i don't think he had any love for sunnies and the last two years have been very challenging for sunnies and subsequently they had nothing tolls do but fight. and so the radicalization of the forces that came in just kind of

played in their hands and i'm sure there is plenty of tribal support out there for him. >> what role did the united states play in creating an atmosphere where the so-called islamic state could take over all these areas in iraq? >> well, i think when we pulled away and gave the impression that i think this starts you know back with the syrian conflict, you know when we said there was going to be a red line and, you know, we didn't do anything of significance, i think that gave them the indication that the united states was not going to respond. and they -- i think it emboldened them to becom be strd do what they have done and it's just gone to an extreme that is unconscionable. >> general williams thank you for being on the program tonight. >> thank you john. >> the warehouse is also calling for a political solution one that does not include current

prime minister nouri maliki. the president and parliament nominated haider al-abadi. but maliki says he will not stop down. abadi was born in baghdad but lived he entered politics after the u.s. led invasion of iraq in 2003. he went on to become head of the parliament's finance committee, the minister of communications and a political advisor to prime minister maliki. he was elected deputy speaker of parliament a few weeks ago but was considered a contendedde coo prime minister in the last two elections. coming up. who are the religious minorities

and what is done to help them?

>> advances in iraq in recent days prompted the u.s. military to act. the group had been called the islamic state of iraq and the levant. but dropped the last part of its name to just islamic state. the group wand to develop a state caliphate. where womsd ar women's are not o leave home. jetblue has more. >> the group is so feared that not even al qaeda will work with them. islamic state fighters are a growing threat to not just iraq but the world. >> whawhat we see is the most

serious threat to britain in all the world today. >> slaughtering people destroying shrines and demanding people of other faith convert to islam pay a tax or be killed. it's forced thousands of minorities including christians to flee. >> its targeted acts of violence show all the warning signs of genocide. >> reporter: its fighters are armed with american weapons abandoned by retreating iraqi forces and flush with millions of cash from looted iraqi banks. >> given all the advances that i.s.i.s. or i.s.i.l. has made i think their accounts have grown substantially above any other group. >> strict islamic state where mannequins' faces are covered. it uses beheadings.

its leader is abu bakr al-baghdadi, a mysterious force who was captured by american forces in 2005 but later released. >> soon enough you will find yourself with direct confrontation with the sons of islam who have prepared themselves well for the day we will fight you. >> reporter: he's been using slick social media campaigns to recruit foreign fighters. including hundreds of westerners. >> these are actually quite battle-hardened veterans who have real commitments to the jihadist cause. >> those fighters have already captured much of iraq around syria. but they don't want to stop here. the group has said they want to control all of this area within five years. it's probably more of a propaganda ploy but they have big ambitions beyond the border

of syria and iraq. john. since 2003, fighting shifts in iraq. 1.2 million people have been forced from their homes as the islamic state group forced people from their homes. in areas considered relatively safe. over the past two months islamic state fighters have pushed into kurdish territories, christians and other minorities have fled sometimes to nearby towns, some to other regions. mosul, erbil and kirkuk since the end of july. islamic state group wants them eliminated. just last week tens of thousands of minority yazidis were strand he on sinjar mountain after running from islamic state fighters. thousands of others have been led down the mountain by kurdish troops often on foot with very little food and water.

>> i came from the mountain by my foot. i'm walk, from sinjar mountain to syria p walking. just we have the bottle of water. >> over the weekend there were reports that some of the islamic state's victims were buried alive. until this crisis many people had not learned about the yazidis. our roxana saberi got to know some of them by reporting from northern iraq last year. >> many became trapped in the sinjar mountains with no food or water. many are heading 200 mild to the southeast to their holy city of lalish. all yazidis are expected to make the pilgrimage to this ain yent tomb once in their life. they believe the man who started

their faith dated back to adam. babachbesh is the guardian of the temple. the holes in this rock represent the good and evil that exists in each one of us. i asked him if the yazidi faith has similarities with other faiths like islam. >> our religion is a very old religion and we believe that other religions have come from ours. we haven't taken anything from them. >> these kids who introduced themselves to me are some of the estimated 600,000 yazidis in iraq. their numbers have dwindled. some have left the country to marry outside the faith and escape the 30% unemployment rate. they have been victims of massacres 72 times in history.

this yazidis have kept the religion alive, despite saddam hussein's violence before and after his fall. the islamic state thinks they are infidels and deserving to be eradicated. roxana saberi, iraq. >> simon, welcome. >> thank you john. >> how much do you think does the iraqi government care about yazidis and christians who are being held by the islamic state? >> well, i think one of the problems at the moment is of course we have an iraqi government under maliki which is sectarian and incompetent and it can't defeat the i.s.i.s. insurgency. they want to paint the world

black. >> the iraqi government doesn't care about 100,000 people you could say who might be murdered slaughtered, if they don't care why is anybody else going to care? >> i think it's a reasonable question but i think president obama, i'm not american obviously but president obama has said that you know he sees the issue of preventing genocide and preventing mass atrocities to be a moral responsibility of the united states and a core national security responsibility and i think what we've seen is the inability to deal with the situation in syria and the inability to deal with the underline sectarianism. the underlying iraqi government has exacerbated this situation and let i.s.i.s. grow. >> your group has been complaining about this much longer than yazidis have been on top of that mountain. this goes back clearly to syria. why hasn't the united states done more until now? >> well i mean it's tried to do so under international law,

obviously through the u.n. security council it's tried to force accountability upon the syrian government and the vetoes of russia and china have not allowed that. i think situation is much different now. they've been invited in by the iraqi government to try help, and that is what makes this legitimate and legal. i think that's much different than 2003 and president obama should be supported and applauded for it. >> how serious is the situation on the ground in iraq? >> i think it's extremely series for future iraqi state and for those 200,000 people who you mentioned in your report who have been displaced in the north of iraq. who have been completely scrubbed out as a culture in this part of the world. >> how is this from the 2003 invasion where the impacted

people there? >> speaking personally that was a disastrousing decision by the united states and illegal under international law. but it's actually being invited in to try and deal what is obviously a very desperate situation that needs urgent international help and support. >> what can the international community in addition to the united states do to help? >> i think the u.s. has a special responsibility probably because of its relationship with iraq since 2003. but that doesn't excuse the rest of the world. we've seen certain states particularly the u.k, there are still 20 to 40,000 people trapped on the mountain but i think more can be done by the international community, including the oppressive immediate humanitarian needs of people who are facing starvation and extermination by i.s.i.s,

but it needs to do more in terms of pressing maliki to form an inclusive and tolerant government that doesn't provide this kind of space where people like i.s.i.s. can find support and grow. >> another disturbing situation for us to watch. simon adams, we'll have you back. that's our program for tonight, thanks for watching, "america tonight" is next.

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>> on "america tonight," the fury in ferguson. protesters in the street of a st. louis suburb after an unarmed black teen is gunned down by police. >> hands this way, if the air, being compliant. >> there was a struggle over the officer's weapon. >> why it happened and how this shooting adds to a growing national debate. are the police going too far? also tonight, hell on the mountain.