the al appalling high levels of youth plent. >> we're seeing the youth consider the, people getting work through our work scheme. it is more successful than the futures jobs fund but six times as little through the youth contract. we've also seen over 20,000 young people get work opportunities. that ask why we see the youth unemployment coming down in our country. there is far more to do to get young people into work. the fact we backed over 1 1/2 million apprenticeships is sign showing how much we care about getting young people back to work. >> thank you, mr. speaker. does the prime minister agree with president obama that there needs to be additional constraints how we gather new intelligence? we need to more effectively weigh the risk and rewards of our activities? will the prime minister follow the president's lead? >> what i said in the house before and i repeat again, obviously we listen to what other countries have to say about these issues but i believe in britain we have a good way of

having intelligence and security services, having them overseen by parliamentary committee, having their work examined by intelligence commissioners and insure they act under proper legal basis. i take those responsibilities very, very seriously but i believe we have a good system in this country and we can be proud of people that work in it and proud of the people that oversee it. >> david anderson. >> mr. speaker, we mentioned the energy companies have been outsourced to china, french, lights may go out, pensions will freeze this year and we have -- big six. does the prime minister have any regrets -- by former tory movement and defamation of the -- in the world? >> what i would say, to the honorable gentleman in terms of energy security that he back ad government that in 13 years never built a single nuclear power station. oh they talked about it, boy,

did they talk about, but they never actually got it done. in terms of chinese and french investment, i think we should welcome foreign investment into our country, building these important utilities so we can use our fire power for the schools and the hospitals and roads and railways we need. >> andrew percy. >> there are, in my constituency, sure to be over 100 wind turbines and 30 or 40 in the planning system. these turbines are paid for by my constituents but not restricteded to concreting jobsn my constituency. can he assure changeses to green subsidies, that the jobs in that sector of energy are actually here in the united kingdom? >> well, i know how hard my honorable friend has worked with other mps on a cross-party basis across the region to try to attract investment into our country and we should continue

to target that investment. >> will the prime minister join me paying tribute to the positive role played by trade unions in the work of the automotive council which has brought the renaissance in the u.k. car industry? >> i think the automotive council has been extremely successful. where trade unions play a positive role i will be the first to praise them but where, where, frankly, where frankly we have a real problem with a rogue trade union that who nearly brought the petrochemical industry to its knees we need to have a proper inquiry, a labour inquiry of if they had any courage, any vision, any strength of decision-making they recognize they need to have the and again on sunday night at 9

p.m. eastern and pacific on c- span. you can find video of past programs. nd other next, remarks by iraqi prime ki.ister al malik he been a hearing with the veterans administration. >> one of the tenants that is incredibly important is the universal service, allthat is the idea that americans should have access to health services.

as we have gone from being telephone service to a broadband world to an ip world, how do we ensure they have access to those services? focusas been the egg talking about how important it of been to maintain tenants universal service, and what that have services.to >> making the jump to fiber six -- fiber optics in rule america. thursday iraqi prime minister nouri al-maliki talked about the transition at the institute of these. some say the prime minister is not doing enough to stop the kerry and violence. the malik he -- to stop

terry and violence. -- sectarian violence. an hour.ust over >> ladies, the prime minister of iraq. please be seated. we apologize for the slight delay. it is secretary hagel's fall. fault. for those of you who do not know, the institute, putting it simply, stops fights around the world, and doing so in partnership with governmental and nongovernmental organizations, domestic and foreign. we work closely with the state department, usaid, defense

department, with the government of iraq, and many others in order to prevent and resolve violent conflicts. i would like to recognize some of the folks here today. of course, prime minister maliki, thank you for returning to the institute. we have the minister of foreign affairs, the minister of defense, the national security advisor, and both members of the council of representatives. the ambassador to the united states, the chief staff to the prime minister, the chief media adviser in the office of the prime minister, head of counterterrorism bureau, deputy chief of mission for the embassy of iraq, and the military general who is the attach? for the embassy of iraq. also joining us today, former secretary of state and the first woman secretary of state for the united states, madeleine albright. i am listing her as part of the usip team, which includes steve hadley, george moose, jeremy

rabkin, dr. kristin lord, our executive vice president. i would like to recognize a couple of special state department guest, ambassador jones, the assistant secretary of state for near east affairs, the u.s. ambassador to iraq, and the deputy assistant secretary of state for iraqi and iran.

if you would come forward, i would like to recognize bill taylor who is our vice president for the middle east and africa and leads our efforts in support of iraq's success and is a great asset to the institute, to the united states, to the world. she has done a perfect amount of work where iraq is concerned. she has published a book, and she is an important part of the institute and has led for years our work. she was big about the u.s. institute's work in iraq. >> thank you for such a warm

introduction. i would like to welcome his excellency prime minister maliki, his accompanying delegation, and our guests. usip has been working in iraq since 2003. we have shared its high moments as well as its difficult ones. we worked hard with our partners in government and civil society to overcome the violence in 2006 and 2007. usip takes pride in that we have maintained an office in baghdad during the difficult days. our purpose is to strengthen capacity to prevent and resolve conflicts. we work with partners to develop the tools and the institutions

necessary to resolve disputes. we have been doing so by working with facilitators and mediators, supporting dialogue, working with youth, women, and minorities as well as working with immediate to prevent incitement to violence, and a crucial summit of working with religious and tribal leaders. our partnership in relationship to the government of iraq has grown stronger over the years. we engage with the executive branch and the council of representatives, the judiciary, the regional and local governments, as well as a vast number of civil society organizations. we have many joint success stories to point to, such as a local group we have supported. some of them are provincial leaders and other organizations critical to advancing the transition toward peace and stability. we have mitigated disputes across iraq.

we also put a foundation of civic education, human rights, and religious moderation for the institutions of education. usip and its partners are proud of the progress we have made. we also recognize a lot remains to be done in iraq, and we see from the unfortunate tragic violence that has still cost many lives the road ahead will not be easy. your excellency, we assure you and the iraqi people that as iraq prepare for the 2014 elections and faces challenges to a secure better future for the people, iraq and kept on the support of the u.s. institute for peace for a partner on all levels, starting with the community, two local councils, to international dialogue.

thank you. >> i would like to ask the ambassador to come forward. the format today will be an introduction -- it will be an introduction of the prime minister by the ambassador, and then the prime minister will speak and then sit and take questions. the audience already knows this. if you have questions, perhaps you have already written them out, we will not have time for a great number of questions, and hopefully the prime minister will find questions interesting, hopefully not too provocative, and with that let me turn it over. >> mr. prime minister, welcome to the delegation. some of my longtime associates are especially welcome. it is wonderful to be here with secretary albright. it is wonderful to be here at usip. i want to thank them for the great work that they have been involved with since last year, and the work that usip has done

for so long in iraq. i'm delighted to introduce nouri al-maliki, the prime minister of iraq. he also strives to find solutions that will provide greater opportunity and stability for the iraqi people. the prime minister will meet with obama and vice president biden tomorrow to further strengthen ties. they will discuss how we can confront these challenges and discuss ways to enhance our two countries under the strategic framework agreement. this is an important time for u.s.-iraqi relations. we must never forget the thousands of americans and many more iraqis who lost their lives in the struggle for a new, free iraq.

iraq has moved on many issues, and its future looks bright. it is blessed with natural resources. it has improved relations with its neighbors, particularly kuwait, and it's deepening ties with jordan and turkey. as iraq has worked to agree integrate itself into the region, you have seen 17 arab countries open embassies in baghdad. we have seen increased opportunity for american business. major corporations are now invested in iraqi. in may of this year the united states and iraq signed an agreement that paves the ground for future generations of iraqi leaders. thousands of iraqi students and scholarships come to the united states to research and study in a writing appeals, and every year this number increases. iraq still faces challenges. we share their deep concern over the increasing number of terrorist attacks that have claimed over 6000 innocent

victims this year. this includes the deplorable, heartbreaking attacks on schools, religious sites, marketplaces, weddings, and funerals. most of these attacks have been conducted by an al qaeda affiliate. this affiliate has a base of operations in syria. its leader is subject to un security council sanctions and is a specially designated terrorist. we continue to discuss security with iraqi government, although this is only one aspect of our cooperation. political and economic tools must also be used to drain the recruiting pool of all extremist roots. we welcome the commitment to holding elections on april 30,

2014. we call on all political blocs to finalize the law to govern those elections as soon as possible. the framework agreement gives the united states a unique role in fostering a iraq's democratic development. we will work with leaders to ensure that all requirements are in place. it will have a committed partner in the united states. in relationship is rooted mutual respect. i think you for this opportunity, and i asked that you will please help me welcome prime minister malik he.

maliki. [applause] >> in the name of god, may the blessing of god be upon you. i want to express my gratitude and esteemed to former congressman mr. jim marshall for his speech. i also want to give my thanks to ambassador beth jones for her warm words, and i want to extend to the u.s. ip my greetings and gratitude for their words. -- because of the development of the mechanism and the new techniques used by terrorists who undermine interests and institutions in all countries. we are here in a strategic important institute.

i want to thank you for allowing me to be here. i want to discuss the relationship between iraq and the united states. we cooperated with our partners, and fight terrorist. this allows us to win over terrorist in iraq. all of the people of iraq were victims of the terrorist attacks led by al qaeda and the remnants of the regime in iraq.

we are starting a new round of reconstruction after defeating al qaeda, who at some point stop stopped explosive in our resources. at some point, life came back to iraq. the economy started recovering. the construction developed. the security and economic level, and the political level, despite a diss balance we witnessed. we were able to defeat al qaeda,

and this brought life and union back to the rack. why do we see what we are seeing today? why did we see the massacres? a genocide of iraqis. some believe that one component is fighting another component. this is not true. all of the iraqi people, the sunnis and shiites, are all killed. it is relating to the morale of al qaeda, who work to reach the goal by shedding the blood of

iraqis and spreading terror. the cooperation between our forces in the united states of america, why is terrorism back in the region? what are the main reasons why terrorism isn't moving in iraq? it is a vision of the reality been impacted by the region. after the arab spring, which we support because they targeted dictatorships, no single regime can remain acceptable loss governing in such a wrong way for so many years.

hence the revolutions, necessary to rebuild these countries and the people and societies on a sound basis, because they were misgoverned for many years. regretfully, they were able to get rid of the dictatorships, but not able to fill the void in the right way. a vacuum was created and al qaeda and others were able to exploit it and gain ground.

they benefited from the fall of the state structure. now, we are seeing the region that allows terrorism to the back. it benefited some of the vacuum. you know perfectly well it is happening in libya and tunisia, and lebanon, and other countries that may have the same problem that all the countries are facing. al qaeda is clearly far by all countries and societies. we want an international war against terror. if we had tools to wage war, we would have a war against those who are killing people, calling for bloodshed, for ignorance, and do not want logic to govern our daily lives. we are calling all countries to international conferences, and by counterterrorism, i don't mean fighting terrorism only in iraq.

terrorism is worldwide. terrorism is not anymore a local production. but it international production. this is why we want [indiscernible] it is coming back because of the political situation. we have two political tracks. the political track and the regime in charge of some countries of the region. if we do not have political

regimes based on freedom, on democracy, regimes to listen to the will of the people, and to go back to the constitution, iraq at some point in not have a constitution but a single leader who spoke for the constitution. now we have a constitution and a constitutional democratic institution. we have separation of powers. and independent executive power. independent do just repower. and other independent powers, such as high commission from

elections. we do not knock democratic institutions. but democratic exercise needs maturity and learning, and training. we have to en route the legacy of the corrupted regime is used. we need ongoing training and development. thank god we were able to have five rounds of elections. the last one a few days ago in order to listen to the will of the people. this is how local government and the federal governments were formed. the next element [indiscernible] we will not be postponing the elections. they will be held according to the legislations.

we are facing terror. this is costing us money, effort, and lives. we are building democratic institutions and infrastructure, developing services. had we not faced terror, we would have moved forward more than we did in building the iraqi states. nonetheless, we moved forward. iraq is one of the main countries in developing and rebuilding exports and so on. without terrorism, we leap forward in providing to our people. the situation in the middle east

has given a new chance for terrorists, who came back to rack on the situation started in syria. terrorist organizations found another chance to develop, to be armed. the terrorists found a second fence. we support the syrian people and what it wants, what it aims for. a democratic regime based on the will of the people. we do not want the syrian people to lose freedom, democracy. we are warning, and we are fearing, and we are worrying of the potential success of

terrorist organizations in syria. if they win, we in the world should do everything to prevent this. in any country, in libya or other countries. all of our efforts should aim at preventing the success of al qaeda and other organizations because they would have a platform, a safe haven, and environment, and more capabilities. it will be harder for them to ix the problems that they will be causing. facing terror is not only about military force. of coarse, military force is important.

security forces are at the forefront of this. the developing of capabilities. destroying all this is necessary, but not enough. we need a sound structure. this allows for al qaeda errorist to develop. e are working on containing al qaeda any rack by enhancing social peace and finding onstitutional solutions to problems. of course we have problems in iraq. it is a new democracy. democracies are still facing

problems. these problems are under control through the constitution. we may get angry, but eventually we reach a solution that is constitutional and that is adaptable. this is what you always see. you will hear voices, angry, differences. eventually we reach an agreement. internally, as we are preparing o fight terror at the military level, getting weapons, buying intelligence area did we are working on having harmony. you may ask who are you kidding? some of the ones killing iraqis

are coming from other countries. they are also iraqis or assisting them. i cannot say iraqis, sunnis, shiites, are ignorant and can be supportive of al qaeda. these exists, but we have terror is coming from abroad. this is why the situation is deteriorating. the situation as a whole is good. here is no problem between sunnis and shiites. the shiites -- who is killing them? it is al qaeda killing all of he iraqis. ectarian banners and

propagation of division. with the will of god we will remain united. we defeated al qaeda reviously. today, once again, the sons of iraqi are with us. eople again are seeing the situation is deteriorating because a qaeda and its rganizations are back. those supporting it are ack. it is leading to more unity. we will defeat the terrorists. we came to washington to consolidate the partnership and cooperation which removed

forward -- and the cooperation in which we move forward. we support the idea of moderation. we have meetings with other countries that are also seeking moderation in the region against extremism. we'll have other meetings. in each meeting, more countries are joining because they want to be moderated. we want to mobilize to face difficulties we are facing. rankly, we need to say that al qaeda benefited from the international contradictions, and from experiences and expertise they gained, so the develop their methods the way they hide. this is why we also should find new ways and new means to counter the means that al qaeda is using in the region.

help for us in iraq. iraq is very close to syria. the relations between the countries are stored. only talk about the american role in iraq, it starts in iraq. it ends anywhere in the region where we can find strongholds of terrorists. we are creating a strategy, new one based on the development. we have a new strategy based on mobilizing the security forces and the people, the sons of iraq, and enhancing intelligence expertise.

we are talking with americans and telling them that we need to benefit from their experience, from training for those who are defeating al qaeda in a technical way. iraq needs the benefit of training. the weapons necessary for counterterrorism, which has specific needs, it is not about artillery's. it is specific weaponry. aside from the political forces, we need intelligence information that will help us to target the trongholds and groups of terrorists.

we're not saying the world should support says. of course we should, we are part of it. if iraq is not well treated, it will be disastrous for the whole world. this applies to syria as well. the international community, it is their responsibility as ell. terrorism carries weapons, ideas, everywhere. they carry ideas instead of flowers. we want to carry flowers, to expand them at the international level, to enhance cooperation.

we have a request. it is only about iraq. it is about the country uffering from terrorism. any wars, internal crises in the region are proxy wars for regional countries. the most dangerous of these are the wars that are waged under sectarian banners. people are free to choose their religion. no one has the right, no one can force a belief on people. if someone wants to force what they believe on people, to force

people to eat and drink, to think in the way they see fit, and according to their own ignorance. this is dangerous. this has its own school, its own institute. >> the whole world is suffering from terror and support all the countries and the people who are suffering from al qaeda and now for people in countries to live in peace. raq today ladies and gentlemen is witnessing an economic

recovery despite everything you hear about terror attacks and threats. but this is not having an impact on companies coming and working in iraq on construction and rebuilding. the e were able to contain decasters that we would have suffered had the security forces not faced al qaeda. are our suffering in iraq due to those people wearing bomb bells and entering cafes or funerals and other gatherings and blowing themselves up. this is what is leading to the huge kass alties. otherwise they cannot control one inch of the iraqis and with kill as they can't many people this is why they

wear belt bombs and explosives and target gatherings killing as many people as possible. our plan and our you? strategy that we are now discussing in iraq is to don't a new policy, a strategy that on the one hand mobilizes the people of iraq and on the other hand is security forces to target terrorists and arrest them. and also we need a scientific study on using intelligence because intelligence is the best prevention against terror, even better than weapons. i don't want to be lengthy. i'll stop here. but let me say ha the relations between us and the united states is something we are proud of. and we came here in order to consolidate this strategy framework agreement at all

levels and we are talking about consolidating the strategies not only at the security level and at the counter terrorism level despite our very important need at this level, but in education, in economy, in reconstruction, in energy and every other possible dimension that can enhance the relations between our two countries, consolidate this relation and bring our opinions closer together and lead us into a genuine partnership to face the challenge that is the middle east is facing and because the middle east is facing it, the world as well is facing it. again, we she had blood together and we paid the price and we want to continue our bilateral mutual relations, our partnership in order to hopefully reach all of the goals we set in the strategy framework agreement signed by both sides. thank you very much. [applause]

>> that was a very impressive and very informative and very frank speech. and thank you for it. we all thank you for it. lots as listening, i have f memories, i probably visited during my 20 times

ten neuroin congress. i was on the armed services committee. and when i was a much younger man i fought in vietnam and i spent a fair amount of time studying the problems of terrorism and counter terrorism efforts. and everything seems to come back to the pop lass. if the pop pew lass in a given area is opposed to the terrorist, opposed to those who would do harm, then they are pretty good at being able to identify where the problem is and then get in touch with the authorities and let the authorities know so they can go deal with the problem. and as i was listening to your remarks, i was thinking in iraq, particularly with assistance from the united states, the armed services are in a position

to deal with the terrorists once they know where they are and who they are. you describe the kind of tools that are slable. >> are you getting in different parts of the country the support that you need from the people to identify the terrorist that you can attack them? and if not, could you maybe describe why you don't think you're getting the support from the population and what could be done about that? >> well, i said that previously we got the support of the people and their direct contribution with the security forces to fight al qaeda. and today once again the population is supporting the security force. they are providing us with information, determining who the terrorists are and informing us. al qaeda did something that helped us mobilize the people because they targeted all

iraqis. all of them. now very few iraqis such as gangs and militias have interest in being al qaeda. as a whole the people are suffering from al qaeda and this is giving us a new chance in mobilizing all of the people of iraq to support the security forces. i'm very optimistic because practically at this point many of our operations against al their cells ting are the results of information and cooperation and intelligence information we have from the iraqi people, all of the people because they targeted all of the iraqis. all of the iraqis are supporting the security forces in defeating al qaeda. and there are other demands

because their priorities is to get rid of al qaeda. i'm very optimistic. they are fighting al qaeda. >> let me go to the questions that have been asked by the audience. what do you consider your key achievements as prime minister of iraq for two terms and where do you think you've had failures. hat did not work well and why? >> it's a question that is not very easy to answer quickly. i cannot say that i realize anything. the government had achievements in iraq. the iraqi institutions, the parliament, the cooperation between the institutions. so we, all of us achieved what we achieved because iraq was about to collapse as you know. baghdad was besieged.

people were not able to move from baghdad to the provepbses of the west or north or south and in baghdad some of the regions were controlled by the terrorists. and there were many talks about dividing iraq, internal strife and civil war and we had militia that is were abducting people and killing people and we had al qaeda and there was a huge battle going on and we had on daily basis 25 car bombs, beheaded people, unknown corpses, destruction of the infrastructure. everything was about to collapse and mainly the social structure and the national unity of iraq. so our main achievement was to reunite the iraqis and to start again work base on our being iraqis not based on our

confessional and sectarian allegiances. some of the people still believe in their confessions but we are not thinking like curds or soon niss because iraq comes first and this is our main achievement. and the second best achievement is defeating al qaeda in iraq because al qaeda wanted to make transform iraq into the islamic state of iraq but it failed because we were able to fight it and to mobilize the people to resist, to get stronger. and we would have defeated al qaeda completely had the situation not deteriorated in sib i can't and libya because of the vacuum i mentioned following the fall of the regimes in al qaeda was able to thrive. extremism developed and secretaryism developed.

our universities are back. our students who came to the united states by the thousands to specialize came back. we also had the old contracts that increase our production and moved our budget from $25 million to $100 billion this year. these all are achovements. because when we came to power, iraq was a compleelt disaster, war, weapons, destruction every wrfment no kind of reconstruction. but we stopped the deterioration and we stood again on our feet. and iraq once again was able to reintegrate it's environment. embassy came back to iraq because under the previous regime and following the fall of the regime we did not have one embassy. iraq was isolated regionally and

was fought because of wrong policies. now 17 countries have embassies in iraq and we have good relations with all countries to the exception of very few. and we are working on these relations. we have wonderful relations with neighboring countries, european and americans and so on. we found our role again. and we adopted a policy of non-interference in other country's affairs. we are looking for common interests. we do not want to use force against others. we are looking for cooperation between us and countries worldwide this. is the best thing that we achieved. as for the details, once again, we are still suffering from terrorism, lack of infrastructures, school, housing for the poor.

despite the fact that we progressed a lot but to rebuild what is destroyed needs lot of time. one thing to mention in iraq, we were able to build security forces, army, police and so on with went thans can defend the iraqi sovreignty and with the ideologies that do not talk about wars and interferences in other country's affairs but a state that only wants to protect itself and open up and engage other countries. our army is an army for our defense and our security forces are aiming at defending iraq and not at targeting any country in the region as happened in the previous regime. >> as somebody who is a politician at some point in his life i should have known not to open such an open ended question about achievements. is there a common vision for

governing iraq shared by the major political blocks and if the answer is no what could be done about this? >> the answer is yes, definitely yes to the exception of those who do not want to work in the interest of iraq and those who have specific agendas. but all the iraqis say yes. we have a common ground. we have a common vision based on the constitution institution that is we build. but if you want to ask me why do you have problems i would say of course democracy as i said previously needs lots of time, needs solution and we have a ery heavy legacy moving from central harsh single party government based on one single

nationality and one single confession into a democracy is not something easy, one democracy, pleuralism, democracy and national identity and all of this needs time. none of the iraqis want the return of the single party or needs a country without constitution. the problem is about solutions to the many problems that we to in moving from democracy. this needs time. >> is there any coordination between iraq and syria on security especially preventing the flow of fighters and weapons? >> no nothing between iraqi and syrian government because we

decided to be neutral and not support the regime or support the opposition. we wanted to support the interest of the syrian people. we do not support the regime or the opposition. we do not want to provide or to e equip the opposition or the regime with weapons. what we want is a peaceful olution to a crisis that if it lasts endangers the region and the world. any bilateral relations do not exist between the two regimes but we are trying to talk about solution and we give our initiative about the solution hat we submitted to the league and to all friendly countries. at this point following all the suffering, we believe that the world is now convinced that the political solution is the only possible one to the crisis that on all. repercussions

>> iraq is seeking friendship. we wanted to don't a policy of open door toward all countries in the world. we do not want to have differences with any country in single n, not any country anywhere. this is our policy.

so when we have friendly relation with any country it should not be at the expenses of the interest of other countries. but i want to say not from an isolationist point of view, i want to say that we need to make re that the iraqi interest come first. each person has it's own agendas but our interest is not to have any difference with any country. if we have differences with one country we will find solutions and as i said, we are calling, we are about to hold a new meeting for the mother nation countries. we are moving forward into solving problems as happened between us and our neighboring turkey and some countries of the

gulf states. we had problems with kuwait but we worked them out. o our relation with iran and other countries is important but will never come at the expense of iran or at the expense of friendship with other countries. if you follow iraq's foreign policy you would see iraq is acting independently and freely according to its own interest and not according to the interest of any other country. we have a partnership and agreement with the united states but this is something some countries do not like but we like it because we believe nits our interest to have relationship with the united states. if others do not agree that's their problem. they cannot impose anything on iraqis. if they want to be our friend. our friendship does not impose on us being enmies of others.

>> how do you respond to critics -- this is a question asked by somebody else -- who say you are consolidating power around you and this has adversely affected iraq's democratic process? >> the constitution is in iraq. it gives peroggatives and i state let me know when i act in an unconstitutional way. if i act in a way that is not accept to believe some of our partners this is something else. as long as i'm committed to respecting the constitution and as long as i use my prerogatives in a constitutional way there shouldn't be a problem f. i act in an unconstitutional way let me know when and how and tell me to go back to the constitution.

but sometimes there are disagreements with some partners and then they start accusing us but we need to be wise. we need to go back to the constitution to work out our differences. >> i never ever stepped on the constitution. and one of the american leaders or officials when talking with some of our partners told them this is your constitution and you wrote the constitution and the constitution gives these prerogatives to the commander in chief of the armed forces and he does not have for instance a deputy and he has open prerogatives as is the case with the united states. if you don't like this, change the constitution. but you cannot ask someone who is responsible for something that the constitution allows. >> i'm glad you are the one that is answering these questions and not me. here is another one.

many soonny leaders have faced charges. at the same time many leaders who faced charges have been very successful in lecks. what does that say or mean for the country that they have this sort of popular support? >> yes, of course everyone has the right to be a candidate to the election fits according to the constitution and if they are elected so be it. now some of the former leaders are candidate being elected but not all those members of the party still have the mentality and still approve the policies of the bass party. in the security forces, we have officers that in their huge

majority were officers of the bass army because the former being forced everyone to be part of the party. so if some people are supported by the people and can win according to the constitution when they are welcome. now if the constitution do not allow them to be candidates they will not be. if their cand si interfears with the constitution. let me say at any rate, iraq used to be a single party regime, a regime that forced on everyone, anyone who was not in the party was excluded or sometimes targeted and killed. no, if some of those people are candidates, they can get votes but none of them was a candidate and stated officially

that he was from the party. we know that the party cannot at a certain level some people have a certain rank in the party do not have the right to be candidate according to the constitution and also to the high independent commission for the election because it has to approve the candidacy. otherwise we have no problem with any candidate. >> could you elaborate on the means used by the iraqi government and the efforts it ll make to ensure that christian minorities have a future in iraq and are not forced to leave the country or being faced with terrorist threats and blatant discrimination? targets every

single component including the christian ideology. but al qaeda use the same ideology of fear against muslims and christians. they kill everybody including christians and the christians are part of our history, of our country. her good peaceful citizens. they love their nation. they are committed to supporting it but al qaeda believes they should kill all those who do not think alike. and many of them were victimmed but this say case of all the iraqi people. they targeted churches and mosques and religious places. .hey killed christian leaders but because the number