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. that everybody got to know but it only had a little bit of the iraqis anger towards the departing innovators who once dreamed of being liberators the departure resembles abandonment and escape despite the optimistic speeches. a. cease.

a full twenty twelve and i'm back in iraq in soho on the border with turkey. i have an appointment this morning with a lebanese taxi. family the united

states said 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 sunni's and shia's. it is a country divided a stranger to peace the town about to cross a taxi ride to the heart of iraqi history. from a hole in the north travelled down through l.b. little ammonia. tikrit volusia baghdad babylon. bathroom and. a road map of the iraqi tragedy. so obviously i'm delighted the americans have finally left iraq as much of what we're rocky's 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 they killed in

creating the conditions for chaos they're responsible for the whole tragedy of them and of course we were living in peace and they came to destroy our country and us over it all of us out 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. here but just you know what 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 would he have any of this that i don't know that yet he went so it's quite simple we could spend for we're iraqis and can wear them out so 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 with. no one to one or the people who want their own country a country called could stand looking at himself as that they want their own passport but there's no kurdish one i suppose you could stand. a land of trafford's kurdistan is discovering well through its oil a nightmare for baghdad which had long controlled with the resources and riches. with our 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. in a school. so early as i don't know so i started in one thousand nine hundred eight doing the allen file a military campaign waged by saddam against the kurds my village was completely destroyed. and that some of the inhabitants were deported to southern iraq and locked up in the terrible new grass on one prison counter. many women children and men women last weekend and 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 eight his helicopters dropped bombs loaded with toxic gas over kurdish villages. one hundred thousand civilians were killed and three thousand villages were raised the kurds rebellion was crossed. over 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 the villages for saddam burning gassing and destroying the villages meant controlling kurdistan. lunches like a homage to the victims on the menu adama stuffed vegetables prepared by that wife . a sunny like saddam hussein my driver hell it is. 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 passenger foreign or anyone. on this road has seen a lot of drama how many times did the american shut down iraqis here for no reason got out of the. 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 a journal about the attacks and kidnappings are frequent in the area. at the moment 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 that out of our budget. the constant roadblocks me now two hundred kilometer journey takes eight hours.

night has fallen when i reach her cook in 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 went to. this morning's planters around occurred but do not work out who can kurdistan's independence he would pay with his own blood. so i would.

kind of cook. has to become part of kurdistan and that leaves it's vital we are bonded by blood 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. might i cannot let you go without inviting me 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 when you're. away 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 as a kind of friendly tax. 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 a puzzling fortune and the opening of a private school a generous act which has attracted m.p.'s attention. i'm terrified so little if i do the day after not thought it was broadcast to promote the school to physio and so i got a telephone call and i'm with you old enough to join he said oh yes. hobby hello about any hello how do you know a nothing about hobby fit is someone bought it. and then introduced himself as a member of a terrorist organisation and demanded money for that and my colleagues were

terrorized through. the night so the school for a month and then i said we have to open it again we can't just give him. we have to work still life has to go on. the fifth night of the terrorists you or anyone else can stop me from working as a pistol only god is the master of my destiny.

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to find out more visit arabic t.v. dot com. when we reach must soon 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 in. across what appears to be a dead city and yet today mosul is in party mode. my

name is ahmed and about i'm a law student today is a festival the university day that's why we can see all the troops they're here to protect us jade. the situation is very difficult the country is 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 at 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 could. 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 in the trial of 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 we're 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 and what. john. as soon as we arrived on the outskirts of tikrit saddam hussein's former stronghold where 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 fire deal he's a journalist and he lost his best friends just two days ago. but god will save iraq . sorry. your draw your they want to make iraq a wretched country at the nice be. but how would they assassinate the best among us the terrorist who kills a journalist like my colleague at the new shanel who kills a religious man in economic 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 that any of us. in the city center the mosque still bears the name of the man who built it was saddam hussein. delist come to pay a final homage to his murdered friend. 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. was. a relaxing evening along the banks of the tigris overseen by the palace of the local hero sadam. 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. they can just 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 the americans that triggered divisions by creating ethnic conflicts just you know this very well. they destroyed everything and then they left but they don't know 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. 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. right. now there are no taxis a gas guzzler and we need more petrol. but it was here. we seek out the black market power 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. from all parts. 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 opened up. for the sunny customers the whole affair was an american manipulation. movement that referred to weight plays a key role in the arab world and. the americans use the country to trap sadovnik on a theory on the. hoggard the horde they set the bait up and he took it up well 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. the killing in the kidnappings may be motivated by political or religious convictions but increasingly simply for profit. 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 as we finally enter the ravaged city of fallujah. and polluted you know joe was the scene of one of the most violent american offensives. from a g.i. summerlee killed youngsters i'm told families here you know any time last carrier

collision recover. all of their 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 americans allergic ok. the heat is on bearable and our 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 how do i was i was how they are you could not democracy that it now is quite simply about killing and stealing our wealth our lands with hurt from the effects of the white. phosphorous bombs and now our children are gone disfigured. heads 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. before 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 that's bush's democracy and the job is only a little more about the other bullshit i be at. on november seventh two thousand for a deluge of fire rains down on the city of two hundred mosques. to die it was a last stronghold for al qaeda. twelve thousand marines three hundred tanks and one hundred also helicopters were launched against. the biggest urban battle in iraq was under way.

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. and their offensive it's thought the u.s. troops used white phosphorous bombs and depleted uranium weapons 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. 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 know to a spectacular increase in genetic malformations a new born babies how large the. voters only show a tiny part of their reality just for the month of january we recorded forty three

cases. when you have no way to live. when you don't have a family. when you have no one to ask for help you can always count on. this man is respected by criminals and also it is a like fields out it's complex and i was people like he used to be. for the homeless i know it's a. little bit. older. i live on.

the street. you. wish. me good. luck. and i'm. fine i'm a little. fifth.