on the road to bass for this morning the u.s. army is beginning to withdraw from iraq. in december twentieth after nine years of occupation the last american troops are finally leaving the country. every car got in it but if you have

a little bit of the iraqis anger towards the departing invaders who once dreamed of being liberators their departure resembles abandonment and escape despite the optimistic speeches. if you sleep. a. little.

april twenty twelve and i'm back in iraq and so on the border with turkey. i have an appointment this morning with khaled and his taxi. family in the united states that they would make a democracy out of iraq in the heart of the arab world but iraq i see today is a country on the brink of chaos torn between three groups sunny's and shias. it is a country divided a stranger to peace that i'm about to cross

a taxi ride to the heart of iraqi history. from the hole in the north of travel down through l.b. little ammonia. tikrit volusia baghdad babylon. and. a road map of the iraqi tragedy. so obviously i'm delighted the americans have finally left iraq as much as we are rockies are very happy not to see it or hear anymore enough was enough the americans occupied us so we hate them like they lean here in iraq raid killed in creating the conditions for chaos they are responsible for the whole tragedy because we were living in peace and they came to destroy our country and also what all of us thought of the. journey begins on the mountains of iraqi kurdistan. an army of two hundred thousand

soldiers called peshmerga watch over this rather particular region of a country. that . was. my first stop is an l.b.o. the capital of iraqi kurdistan is the only region of iraq today that is seeing peace and an economic boom the miracle of being made possible by the discovery of oil. on kurdish territory. for a long time dominated by baghdad and saddam hussein kurdistan dreams of achieving autonomy. the first customer the first passenger on our trip is a member of the new kurdish parliament. but

just you know in iraq we can say that oil has always been a curse. but today in kurdistan that's changing. foreign oil companies are coming here to work with. the revenues of finally being used for reconstruction of what negative it's a huge difference for us as in saddam's times we never benefited from the oil money or. that he had any of this. and that if he went. it's quite simple we could spend for we're iraqis and where the maoists i think they're very rapidly as soon as we have been able to create a stable basis for building a country ninety nine percent of people will vote for independence because the. you know what the what the people want their own country a country called kurdistan are looking at it as that they want their own passport but there's no kurdish one i spoke to could stand.

a land of triplets kurdistan is discovering well through its oil a nightmare for baghdad which had long controlled with the resources and riches. without driver khalid we had east towards the mountains along the border with around. driving through abandoned villages i feel like i'm visiting cemeteries. passenger ahmed is a survivor today he's on a pilgrimage paying tribute to the dead. so i started in one thousand nine hundred eight during the al and i follow a military campaign waged by saddam against the kurds my village was completely destroyed. and that some of the inhabitants would be ported to southern iraq and

locked up in the terrible new grass on one prison counter. that. many women children and men were nasica in thrown into mass graves. the kurds have always dreamed of independence saddam hussein decided to eliminate the problem once and for all. his cousin to go down in history as chemical ali was in charge of the repression. on march sixteenth one thousand nine hundred eighty eight his helicopters dropped bombs loaded with toxic gas of a kurdish villages. one hundred thousand civilians were killed and three thousand villages were raised the kurds rebellion was crushed.

here in the villages the peshmerga who didn't built up supply. anyone opposed to saddam could seek refuge here. so the regime began by attacking their villages. burning gassing and destroying the villages meant controlling kurdistan. lunches like a homage to the victims on the menu adama stuffed vegetables prepared by a midwife. a sunny like saddam hussein my driver. he didn't know or didn't want to know the terrible truth. look i'll show you the house where i was born yeah here on this hill where we're sitting is like a memorial to the village as it was before the tragedy it was here that the villagers came together every evening to talk to play backgammon and listen to the radio. i leave a comment to mourn and commemorate his loved ones. we continue towards the east and

kirkuk the former capital of kurdistan today on iraqi territory. so what if that god be praised i'm not scared when the region was under american control i was afraid about it but as soon as the iraqi police and army took over things got much better if the americans didn't know the region they were afraid and trigger happy that they didn't hesitate to fire at anyone who approached them like the passenger foreigner anyone. on this road has seen a lot of drama how many times do the american shoot down iraqis here for no reason gotta go. through the windscreen the first iraqi checkpoint appears it's time to lower the camera and film or discreetly. that. the soldiers here are regularly targeted by armed groups and are also quick to

shoot what to do and about the attacks and kidnappings are frequent in the area. and there is no checking our identity an itinerary takes too long hours. but at last we can hit the road again a road that is more than dangerous. to be honest no one took this road before al qaeda basically all the terrorists control the region and everyone is afraid of venturing out on this road today we feel a bit safer at getting there but it. the constant road blocks me now two hundred kilometer journey takes eight hours. night has fallen when i reach her coke and the sky is lit up by flast tanks the city floats on a vast sea of oil. for centuries pilgrims came here to gather around the eternal flames.

the kurds would dearly love to reclaim the city the former capital of baghdad. he's unwilling to lose such a profitable treasure. one term to a majority of kids today is a mix of turkmen arabs kurds and christians a veritable ethnic powder keg. so i want to find out what this morning's plant is around could but in africa who can kurdistan's independence he would pay with his own blood. so i would have. got a book. that has to become part of kurdistan and that leaves its vital we're bonded by blood had to go to them but them they can kill us and shoot at us but he won't change anything we are linked to kurdistan let them in syria we mean we

cannot live outside of kurdistan it would be like dying. my brother we invite you to a restaurant. my i cannot let you go without inviting you i am a kurd and hospitality is a custom with us. you can continue your journey after the may. i swear before god when i come to the restaurant with me you are welcome but. a way of course. for khaled it's time to pray. and for us to eat. as we enter the village a few peace men appear as an escort. i would say to watch as they say to protect us . and so i pay for everyone's meal was a kind of friendly tax and that was. it said that kirkuk could be one of the world's richest cities it is certainly one of the most dangerous.

discreet and ordinary heroines. who is a kurd investor are opposed and fortune in the opening of a private school a generous act which has attracted envious attention. i'm terrified so little if i do the day after or not that was broadcast to promote the school to physio and so i got a telephone call and i'm with you old enough to join without know your first. hello about any hello you are you know a nothing a hobby that is simple. a man introduced himself as a member of a terrorist organisation and demanded money for my colleagues were terrorized through. the night i close the school for a month and then i said we have to open it again we can't just give him. michael but we have to we're still life has to go on. that. neither the terrorists nor

anyone else can stop me from working as a mystical only god is the master of my destiny. admission free accreditation three guns for charges free. range minsk three. three stooges free. download free broadcast quality video for your media projects a free media dog to our teeth on tom. wealthy british style it's time to. market why not come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike's cars or for

a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kinds a report on our cheek. when we reach must soon be the second biggest city in iraq it has been locked down by the army. the previous night two bombs went off in the suit. i have to negotiate with the military chiefs for three hours before they let me and. across what appears to be a dead sitting and yet today mosul is in party mode. my name is ahmed on about i'm a little student today is

a festival the university day that's why we can see all the troops they have to protect us. the situation is very difficult. he's undergoing a wave of anonymous attacks and assassination my dream is quite simple i just want to live in an iraq that's safe and peace it's a magnificent country mustn't forget that it was once respectfully known as mesopotamia the land between two rivers i dream of peace. but peace seems impossible. the americans have gone but now kurds shias and sunnis battle for control of the city even the mosques are under military protection the internet in killing goes on in the name of allah. a leave muscle with no regrets. this road fraught with danger can also hold certain surprises and. stops to help a friend even in iraq one can run out of petrol. it's hilarious we have the world's

second biggest oil reserves and were short of petrol and gas. were reduced to filling up on the black market at exorbitant prices. common sense would suggest that petrol was available in quantity and free perhaps not free but not too expensive anyway. but john. as soon as we arrived on the outskirts of tikrit saddam hussein's former stronghold were arrested by the police i have the feeling we were expected. after a few hours of questioning were put under house arrest in a hotel and forbidden from going out. and the situation eases the following afternoon when we're granted two hours of

freedom but we're still under close surveillance. the next man who joins us in the taxi is in mourning his name's fi deal he's a journalist and he lost his best friends just two days ago. but god will save iraq a little. sorry. we had to draw your they want to make iraq a wretched country a glow get there not be. a glow in the assassinate the best among us the terrorist who kills a journalist like my colleague at the news channel who kills a religious man behind an academic or teacher certainly doesn't do it for religious reasons it's obvious he does it mostly for money because our religion does not tolerate all these crimes the only motive for these crimes is money and they're ordered from outside to kill our best people have any of us.

in the city center the mosque still bears the name of the man who built it was saddam hussein an. idealist come to pay a final homage to his murdered friend i am on april second two thousand and twelve kemi runs a holiday in a journalist for a local t.v. station was killed instantly when his car exploded i and my. i am a relaxing evening along the banks of the tigris overseen by the palace of the local hero saddam. saddam was always surrounded by members of his own tribe and many here miss the man who built a sunni state much to their advantage. to kill injure or kill the americans didn't come here to look for weapons of mass destruction nor to hunt down certain are saying they came to rob us and to kill us asian iraq it was

a unified country but at the moment when they arrived at the americans that triggered divisions by creating ethnic conflicts. you know this very well. they destroyed everything and then they left but they don't but in reality they're still here they make people think they've gone but they're still present their aim is to create discord in iraq that all muslims are the self that. as we leave tikrit we come to a village the heart of saddam hussein's kingdom where he was finally caught. on december fourteenth two thousand and three saddam was captured at dawn in his hideout in a farmyard a miserable rattle two meters underground. disheveled

and distraught he surrendered to the american forces. in his possession with two kalashnikovs and seven hundred fifty thousand dollars. by. colorado's taxis a gas guzzler and we need more petrol. but it was here. we seek out the black market and the parallel business which fills the coffers of a few politicians civil servants and terrorist groups to. the oil money benefits everyone apart from the iraqi people. you know of. the temperature hits more than forty degrees on the machines a cool down with a hose. for the men it's time to wash and pray before sitting down for a meal. that

surprised by my presence but soon open up. for the sony customers the whole affair was an american manipulation. mover the greek word kuwait plays a key role in the arab world and. the americans used the country to trap saddam of them fearing i mean. how did the horde they set the bait up and he took it it was a prearranged ambush. it's time to leave and head for lucia khaled doesn't like stopping for too long. kidnappings are frequent here and for the criminal gangs everyone has a price probably including me. at the killing in the kidnappings may be motivated by political or religious convictions but increasingly

simply for profit. and. i've lost count of the checkpoints along the way but the controls this morning seem interminable. i don't know who this fever victory sign is aimed at once we finally enter the ravaged city of fallujah. and the lurd you know joe was the scene of one of the most violent american offensives. from the g.i.'s summerlee killed youngsters and whole families here yani. kalisch recover. all of those blew up cars and caused a lot of fatalities. our fallujah is the

most ravaged city in iraq of them annoying. oh yes that's the america it's a legit. the heat is unbearable and motor is overheating the local grocer helps us to cool it. he's a man driven by anger he experienced the battle of fallujah at first hand and heard what it was what i was how they are you could not democracy no it's quite simply about killing and stealing our well our lands were burnt from the effects of the white phosphorous bombs and now our children are gone disfigured one of the gullible heads that are not what they are so beloved all the god living with us go and see the hospitals and you'll see mothers throwing away their babies deformed by all the chemical weapons that saddam the only good know if there is justice in the world bush will have to answer for his war crimes and crimes against humanity he claimed iraq had weapons of mass destruction but where were they these weapons. let

me although i do know that there was a killer using white phosphorous bomb while i'm on one side and not even the mosque was safe from his barbarity when i look at the ruined minaret well now that's bush's democracy and the job holier than what the other bullshit i be at. on nov seventh two thousand for a deluge of on fire rains down on the city of two hundred mosques. to die it was a last stronghold for al qaeda he didn't. twelve thousand marines three hundred tanks and a hundred or so helicopters were launched against pollution. the biggest urban battle in iraq was underway. the american victory was total the casualty figures speak for themselves one hundred american soldiers were killed and on the iraqi side it's estimated there

were between four and five thousand victims most of them civilians. the battle left a city in ruins where death continue to take its toll. in their offensive it's thought the u.s. troops used white phosphorus bombs and depleted uranium weapons banned by all international conventions. so our new passenger is not administrator at the general hospital. since the battle of fallujah ended has kept records of the children born with congenital malformation. for him there's no doubt the americans were responsible for this

tragedy. for me the administrator's office becomes an empty chamber of horrors. that i looked at the war is far from over in fact it's still going on for the stigmata rivera and their evolving in two thousand and five we noted the spectacular increase in genetic malformations in newborn babies how large the. voters only show a tiny part of the reality just for the month of january we recorded forty three cases.

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