term. starts now. -- "washington journal" starts now. host: good morning, just some of the scenes today in iraq when u.s. troops officially pulled out of baghdad and other cities. one headline says that the troops celebrate our poll that. on a front-page story with an interview of former vice president cheney, it expresses some of his fears what the u.s. pullout. good morning on this tuesday morning. here's a live it view of the capitol. u.s. soldiers killed in baghdad. the army says that the deaths

are combat-related. the house and senate are in recess. the u.s. supreme court has concluded its business. tomorrow the president will hold a town hall meeting on health care issues. for the next 30 minutes we will have just your phone calls in reaction to the withdrawal of u.s. troops from iraqi cities. we showed you some of the scenes from youtube from iraq and also want to show you some headlines. here is an interview from dick cheney conducted for the washington times radio. his concern that the pending below could reverse the military progress made by american and iraqi forces in the 2007 surge.

he is quoted as saying that he hopes the iraqis can deal with it. inside this paper one of the details is that the iraqi ackerman has declared today a day of sovereignty. the story can be found below the fold on "the washington post," concerning jubilation in iraq six years in three months after the u.s. invasion. it will turn over security to the iraqis. the paper points out that while there are still more than 130,000 remaining troops, patrols by heavily armed soldiers will largely disappear from baghdad and other urban centers. we will get to your phone calls, but first more from dick cheney. yesterday on the radio his interview became the front page of today. here's what he said.

>> if i am a great believer in him as he is one of the most confident people i have worked with in my years. what he says concerns. that there still is a continuing problem. he is doing what needs to be done and keeping the u.s. commitment to get out, but it would look like, one might speculate that the insurgents are waiting to launch more attacks as soon as they get an opportunity. i hope that the iraqis can do with it. at some point to have to stand on their own but i would not want to see us waste the tremendous sacrifice that has gotten us to this point. host: this is the subject of a front-page story in "the washington times." first up is a caller from alabama. welcome.

you're calling from lake martin? caller: yes, i am. this is just the running. i just got off the phone with my son who is in iraq and was in iraq in the beginning. i said son, were in the march to baghdad, and now they're having a celebration over there today, june 30. i am a c-span junkie in have called several times. i know that i have been emotional and sometimes i have just been another, but i'm so proud of my son who is with combat camera. i always get online to see all of his pictures he has taken. host: is he still there now? caller: yes, i just got off the phone with him. skype has been a godsend to parents and soldiers. every morning a look on the computer.

he is packing up. his base was camp war eagle. they're closing several bases and i'm hoping you had to baghdad on july 5 in be in kuwait july 20. he will be states side -- and, you know, he has been on several deployments and i'm just ready for him to host: come homcome h. host: how long has he been there? caller: he has been there 14 months of this last time. it has been extremely hot over there. i live in the south where it gets in the '90s, but he is enduring 130 degrees in temperature over there. there are no tears today because it was just great talking to him. even though we have different political views his boots on the

ground over there has given me the opportunity to not be shy and to call this program. with my motherly instincts i have been emotional time and time again on this program. i love him, am proud, but just want him to come home because i think -- every base i have been on from fort lewis in seattle to fort bragg to fort jackson he has done his training at fort mead. these soldiers -- everyone has to understand, they're so -- they love what they do in the duet for love of country. host: thank you. the video we're showing is scenes from baghdad and other cities. this is part of the day of dilution -- jubilation as

declared by the iraqi government. john is on the phone from north carolina. caller: good morning, it is a good day for the iraqis. the invaders are pulling out of their cities. it dick cheney, his daughter, and all the neocons want to keep the invasion's going forever let them put on the uniforms and go over there. host: jack is joining us from minnesota. good morning. caller: my thoughts are that it is just about time. please do not cut me off. i have waited for 30 days. it is about time. if we in fact a liberated them to use that quaint phrase that the bush administration used, we should have been able to leave in about -- two or three months after we invaded? this has been seven years.

the real reason of course the weak and then it was not for liberation bet for oil. let me state a few facts. the me emphasize that assertion. we have been using iraqi oil since 2003, 2004. that is the first fact. fact number tworay hunt, the son of the invidious h.l. hunt, the bigamist and oil autocrat has begun production in mosul. the third thing, now we have gotten our government in iraq to open outside contracts outside of the country at extremely favorable rates for u.s. firms and others. this was for oil.

that makes it a criminal offense in my view and in view of many, many others. this is no more than theft and murder. it is about time that we leave. host: here is a related peace and side "the new york times," -- s iraq symbolizes china's eyes its oilfields. the chinese of companies are expected to bid for the rights to develop their oil fields and options that are set to start on tuesday. iraq has the world's third largest proven reserves after saudi arabia and iran. many geologists said the troop resources of iraq for even greater because the oil industry has suffered from decades of destruction and under- investment. many fields have not been fully explored as a result. john is on the phone from seattle. good morning. caller: good morning, a want to

comment on the fact that i am an active duty military now. it is great that we're trying to turn it over to the iraqi government, but we still have hundreds of thousands of troops deployed all round the world on the basis of peacekeeping missions. what really is the overall goal of withdrawing troops from iraq? and putting into place a very unstable government? a non-democratic government? we put into place on the fact that we're trying to put in a minority regime. host: steve a sense in this tweet.

-- sends this tweet. here's another headline, this one from miami. it concerns the coup in honduras. and "this date" newspaper has politics on its pages with governor sanford said he will serve as best he can and of lt. bower is saying let's move forward. if the governor resigns -- but yesterday the governor says he has no intention of resigning. this late website has some of -- the slate website has some of the-mails from gov. sanford and maria in argentina, his mistress. caller: good morning, i did not think we're going into iraq to

win anything. i do not think relieving because it is a democracy or a place where people will no longer be a press. i think the obama administration realized it was pretty much a lost cause. we just wanted to conquer it and make it of an extended part of the american empire. i have the uncomfortable feeling that obama will just move troops into parts of iraq and afghanistan. what worries me is the way that obama soft-pedaled ahmadinejad's election. i have the uncomfortable feeling that these two will be big buddies after we leave and our

influence is removed from iraq. what is obama's foreign-policy banks now we have iran and iraq which could easily become hostile to us again. there would be a formidable alliance. i am confused. i think obama should have taken a stand and come out against ahmadinejad. i think he should offer really strong support for the freedom fighters. it is good that he is pulling troops out because we were not really accomplishing anything. when you study the history of that area it will resort to be metabolized area for the one with the most guns has the most power. -- it will be a tribalized area. host: here is a message from

twitter. ultimately change on about a friend, but the diversion from iraq to afghanistan could undo gains there in iraq. it says in the past several weeks quietly expressed concern has arisen that the removal of u.s. troops as soon is precipitous and a serious leak risks for return of the murderous conflict from 2004-two dozens of them. this writer is a resident scholar at the american enterprise institute. he said the power and prestige matter. withdrawal is good politics, but when premature it may very well condemn the iraqis to repeat their past. two point of view from the editorial pages. maryland, good morning. caller: i am glad -- well, i am

hoping that it is stable in iraq. a think america needs to really identify what is wrong with this country. we have got an economic system where large corporations control our government. they write the bills for congress. if the american public really understood how the government is run, there would be average. the fact we were lied into iraq by dick cheney and donald rumsfeld -- there was no justification at all -- the media, the media is an enabler

for these war criminals to continue with this fraud. the oil companies have been the beneficiaries of this industrial and into control of our government. the media does not pay attention to what the lower third of our country is going through because of this economic downturn. this was all created by congress in collusion with large corporations and financial, and these mega financial -- the wall

street' monstrosities. host: thank you for your comment from silver spring, maryland. the ap confirms the death of four u.s. soldiers in combat- related injuries. this is on the eve of the withdrawal of troops. it is our subject this first half-hour. we will check in in a couple of minutes jane arraf wit who was with -- we will check in with jane arraf from the christian science monitor. caller: i think we should be out of iraq and should never have been there. but obama is missing around over there just like bush did and he will begin world war iii. host: from inside "the new york

post close " he writes that the cradle of civilization is rising from the grave again. here is another twitter message asking why the mainstream media keep talking to dick cheney. michigan, good morning. here are some associated press photograph from the last 24 hours. caller: good morning. i hope it is not premature. to those wonderful patriots who keep criticizing dick cheney and others, i spent four years in the military and never have we lost 3000 people. we went through a second world war and never lost 3000 people. you had nearly half a million americans killed over there in the second world war.

those people forget about 3000 people being killed here. i have no use for it. host: the next call is from dallas, texas. caller: good morning. i think that we should withdraw and get out of there because it was under false pretenses. my prayers and thoughts are with the young men and women who are fighting force over there. although i am the working poor i thank the president for the races he has given to the working poor since he has been in office. by his generosity i have been searching the web to help the military families with some money. then not only need our prayers to get out of there -- it is not just the president will, but there are other people.

the iraqi government wants us out of there. we should honor that. host: a couple of e-mails from arkansas. also, here is a comment from new hampshire. more of your calls. jonathan from spokane, washington, good morning. caller: i just wanted to say -- i served over in iraq in 2006,

2007 and the navy or marine corps. while many are quick to point out that the president made mistakes and that politicians make mistakes, i believe it is only fair to stand by and listen to what they have to say. they are our leaders first and foremost. second, the commander in chief does not have an easy job. i would invite any american citizen to go one day in whose shoes, or for that matter go one day in any of those -- of those who have served their there. i think that we have done a wonderful job and have trained iraqi policemen. it is time to finalize stepping up to take control of the country. as with any conflict or war throughout this nation's history of believe that they all come to an end. that is just history.

host: thank you, we will go to defiance, ohio. caller: good morning, i stand corrected. i am a republican but i was definitely against the war, the invasion, the whole thing. but that was a horrible movie and i am starting to stand corrected. and stepping back in being pragmatic and realizing that my goodness, if democracy can be a foothold in the region and can step up to be independent, it would be an absolute, wonderful turnaround. people willwill look good george bush with a favorable attitude and realize he had the courage and strength and was not led by political winds. the only thing that really disturbs me is when we think about, ok, we have done the same thing with kuwait. here we are thinking that china

will go in there and take a discounted oil. i think that we should get a coupon. we give 50% off on oil for the rest of our existence since we saved in rescued your country. i think that it is a turnaround. i think that it will spread. look what has happened in iran, the way things are going. at that was a horrible move, but i stand corrected and unpleasantly surprised. i hope that mr. obama stays the course and hollister. there will be some bumps in the red. there might be some -- for think that he stays the course. we should stay and finish the job. it would be a horrible mistake after some soldiers have the lost their lives to let it be ruined. host: we're looking at scenes around iraqi cities s iraqi troops moved in and u.s. troops

moved out. there were a number of riot exercise is taking place. this uses both troops, part of that effort to train the iraqi soldiers to police their communities. as we listen to new york, good morning. caller: i'm calling to respond to the caller who says we have to listen to our readers regardless. because they're doing such a hard job. the bush family, if you look at any reasonable history of the bush family get us into wars and time again to power. you have press got bush treading openly with though nazis when he was a senator. a myriad of illegal activity they're pretty much like the gambino crime family and should

be prosecuted under the rico statutes. host: thank you. here is a headline. we're also focusing on the issue of health care. president obama is during the health debate of the capital. she writes that with democrats deeply divided, president obama is trying to enlist the governors and grassroots supporters to increase pressure on lawmakers without getting mired in a messy battle plane out on capitol hill. in a session in the roosevelt room in a meeting last week with some governors he tried to steer the debate away from government in washington to the states. he will travel to wednesday tomorrow. it will be a town hall meeting including questions from online communities. good morning, maryland. caller: yes, this war was a lie.

how dare we invoke our views on any other country? if anyone had stepped in during our civil war -- how? i'm just appalled. that we were even there. and why isn't bush being tried with some sort of treasonous acts for line to the american public? i have to go. i'm so disgusted. thank you. host: the decision yesterday was off5-4 by the supreme court on the hartford fire fighters. it was 5-4. sonia sotomayor's decision was overturned. she is the supreme court nominee whose confirmation hearing begins july 13. this is the headline from the home town newspaper. a slim majority finds the bias -- pictured on the front page are some of those firefighters

who brought the lawsuit up. it was a decision yesterday by justice kennedy, writing for the majority. new jersey, on the phone. caller: great show, guys. what i am disturbed is about all these naysayers calling and talking about the iraq war. no matter where you are or what country you live in, everybody wants to be free. i think what happened over there, we did for those people from what was going on. there is going to be democracy there, but you know what really stuns me about a lot of american people? the forget about what the soviet union tried to do to the world during the cold war with communist domination of the world. it is a terrible thing, but sometimes you have to go and fight. sometimes it turns up good, but sometimes it does not. regardless of what anyone says

about george bush and how much they still hate him, he will be remembered for this. it will turn out good. have a nice day. host: the front page here has the situation in the new york city courtroom yesterday, tears as madoff is still for 150 years. this concerns dick cheney during the u.s. troop pullout. he says he hopes that troops can deal with. he says he would not want to see the u.s. waste the tremendous sacrifice that has gotten us to this point. we want to share with you one of the moment we were able to obtain from inside iraq overnight. the iraqi government is calling this the national day of jubilation.

♪ host: u.s. and iraqi troops marching side by side in baghdad. jane arraf joins us from inside iraq. she is a reporter for christian science monitor. thank you for being with us