that he wants to u.s. troops in iraq to quote watch iran obviously that's caused an uproar in baghdad was iraqi politicians condemning trump in unison but can you act really do anything about it can they dictate terms to washington. who well is this is a very unfortunate because there is an understanding and agreement that they exist since of foreign troops including u.s. forces here in iraq is to help the iraqi government fight terrorism its no i job or foreign troops to spy on our neighbors or who is iraq a springboard against our neighbors this is not in our constitution iraqi constitution this is not part of the whole of this operation the number of u.s. troops in iraq are limited they don't have free movement in iraq they have to move with that concept of the iraqi government they don't have for their own they

don't control the sky and if light in iraq or outside iraq should be given to figure out of the government so i think the whole thing is outside the scope of that issue should be true to do two countries is very unfortunate kin iraqi forces maintain security on their own if i die it shows america the door. well iraq is giving up of sacrifices to fight die should the people who fought on the ground are all iraqis yes we receive support to see so far from our allies from international coalition and from the rest of our friends in terms of the just take in terms of training and in terms of providing some air cover to support our forces but in actual fact the only forces who are fighting on the ground are iraqis yes we can sustain this bio on our own but. i think this is not right toes and is an international phenomenon is an international terrorist organization

or not only have faith in iraq but for that second region of the whole world so it is right for the countries to cooperate to face this in me and to question them and i think we have to work together so yes we have to work with others in order to get rid of this thirst organisational together so they had a shia militia groups out that the iraq has capital letters to expel u.s. troops if needed are the iraqi militias fired up enough to actually come to blows with the u.s. forces in the country. well according to the iraqi constitution there's no place for militias in the country by militias i mean groups who are outside the control of the state this is against the state i guess they are key people should not be allowed we didn't i would not i would if they are right give them a swat out acting outside of this did they will be they name is all fair they should not be allowed this idea aczel post to the other on the groups who are

within the state we have the me we have the police we have the public mobilized titian force who have been now organized by the law which is just that by parliament which is applicable now to the. public will but as dition force within the framework of the iraqi security update this. they are answerable to the commander in chief and to the rest of the screwed up i just if you ask me do we give them an order to ms to outside the control of the state to act in iraq no we shouldn't this is outside their record against their acquisition against the will of the people is not out in iraq so the calls for the u.s. withdrawal were also sparked by the fact that during his surprise visit in late december president trunk didn't bother to meet any iraqi officials is this insult something that could have long term repercussions for u.s. or rocky ties well i guess. it is i mean if according to mr

trump is this is his will he wanted to visit his troops during christmas. this is his own decision on the other side they rock a government gave permission to mr trump to visit his troops. and i said in west and that. in my opinion this was not good as properly i think from day one it should be and it had been organized in a way for of fish. iraqi government officials to meet the president of the us when he comes to iraq the meeting could have been done in baghdad but i think. it may be mismanagement which has yet to this this was a necessity at all it has poisoned the relationship slightly but i hope we should move forward and forget about it so at the same time during the crucial stages of

the war against isis united states air power came to iraq's aid and they helped iraq retake muscle juicing that it's a bit ungrateful from the iraqi politicians to be blaming the americans now and bragging about iraqi independence i mean what everyone was so happy to receive in its time of crisis now what i wanted them out back then. i mean this is a habit of politicians in every country i mean they look at the day to day running of the country. of course they were trying to support from their constituents i think of the time it is true that. they stood with us to fight that. doesn't mean that you give a blank a blank check to who. has helped us yes we have to be grateful for those who stood with us but of the same time over this very important. the war the war is

over if there is no need for the troops to stay in iraq then there is no need but if there is a need we should think we should discuss it in our parliament with the government with our political blocs decide what is the best for iraq. what we're going to apply is what is the best for iraq we don't have any hostility to those who helped us to get to. turkey has bases in northern iraq set up during the fight against isis from which it fights to kurds now we hear iraqi politicians protesting america's presence loud and clear but they're not so vocal about the turkish bases worst outcry from the shia militias about that i mean is to iraqi restaurant condemning americans just an attempt to look tough and anti us for voters maybe well i think it's has become like a war of proxies you know there is hostility between the u.s. . it is a matter of proxies here in iraq where every side is using their proxies and if i

think his speech of that yes i agree there are a few turkish military bases that they did so some of them they did back to that time or the days of saddam hussein when he was in power in the eighty's during the iran iraq war and later on. of course we should not accept any military the existence of foreign forces without the consent of the iraqi government i think in my opinion i agree with you we must be partial on this issue to be double standards . after all we are part of this region. disagreement between states oh it's especially between iran and the states it has its impact on us might call on my colleagues and posy for establishment here in iraq is we should confine our. interests. for the interest for

the people that's over to iraq we should not be part of any proxy towards this or that so back in two thousand and seventeen you announced to make syria over isis in iraq but i says have still happen every day in the country and the group still holds a chunk of desert in the northwest was your optimism a little premature how long is it before i rooted out completely if that's ever possible. yes if you go back to two says us of you know i was very careful i said we crushed that militarily we liberated or however. that doesn't hold any targets of its idea rock and they don't have that holding that holding some target in and it's in the north east in syria which is bordering iraq which is very dangerous because if given the chance they can go back to terrorism at the moment the extreme of the danger of the irish is that they're trying to wait. some. terrorist attacks

against the civilians inside iraq's haven't succeeded yet we question them we say from our intelligence at the time. there is if you have to. go on another of a campaign of terrorist attacks against civilians and i hope our military and our security and intelligence are up to it's they were up to it and if they should carry on with dismantling this is very dangerous to discipline as it should this is not only against iraq is against the holy jihad against the world if they are given a chance so should stay focus until we eliminate this terror so good as. to go so he didn't states has a relationship with iraq and neighboring iran has a ration relationship with iraq but united states and iran are rivals can iraq maneuver between these two centers of power and. its own independent tact or will it have to choose sooner or later. well i have

a single choice as. we have the longest border with iran the u.s. doesn't have a border with with a.o.l. and i'm sure if they had they were with were they would have thought differently how to deal with iran when you are a neighbor state you have to look at your interests the common interest between the two nations we cannot move away from or away from us so there's a. trade. a lot of. trust between our two nations and two states we have to safeguard our own interests we shouldn't be part of this. disagreement. with us to be honest with you this is a nuclear agreement between the five plus one members of the world community. has decided to walk outof it. we why should we do this.

we should be for our interest i want to share with you as a very important for us a war with us is very important for us if we can achieve a common interest between the two who should be very much focused on this norm not to allow any part you to drug us along their own. right thank you very much we'll take a short break right now we'll be back with the former prime minister of iraq discussing the past present and future of the country and its fragile relations with the united states stay with us.

because the swarms of the blue of them so million. viewers who are local was before. much of those who heard it's a preview of few other movies to see him with the north we hope will. move. move. move show you this new video of the live i mean it's going to look for a good. movie muslim also these girls will give you films for good girls. the british will say look but look at your simu belonging to show the story of two should go. to startups to. get to meet until it was the littlest they'd say look it is it's. your stash now understand statistics not

it's the mashed old truck to stop the president and the speech from this project until. the three of petitions to go through this were to sleep with someone you have because that is the cousin with you swear your supporters to your machine station shouldn't feel you should cook door for one whose job is a request to. join me every thursday on the alex simon show and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics sport that's less i'm show business i'll see that. and. you could still

see it. was in this way got to dog. in the dissipated. and i'm pleased that. this is the only thing we do is music because everybody fights his way. to. the floor you can be. what i think is this is the. come.

back with higher body former prime minister of iraq talking about the current situation in iraq so the militias fought ices whether help advisors military equipment all of that and the americans keep saying that this is all iran's influence tools in the country is that so. we didn't have any i have to be all of this we didn't have any fighting force iranian fighting force on iraq each other it's all we have we dealt with the countries we just. what advise us and train of twelve forces we needed that because if you remember two thousand and fourteen into iraq which led to then gaining control over the large coach over there are some of our army are suited additions

has collapsed so we have to seek support we have to seek training other logistical support from other countries and we did this this doesn't give influence to this country or about and we hope it doesn't we have to be careful he did in iraq we don't want to lose ourselves. by fighting daschle did try darvish we want to get back i was seventeen and we have to state that this is for the best interests. and for the best interests of our neighbors and the rest of the community we are very focused on this now if the u.s. sees this as an iranian influence i disagree with them this is none of us there are any unfortunately look at the u.s. presence in iraq and again this is u.s. interests i'm trying to drag iraq into the other direction of being against iran we shouldn't be against iran one i guess they were as we are against defeating into

our own affairs and we're out of pro iraq interest or mutual interest between iraq and the rest of the world so the rise of isis was largely fueled by the current population against a government could the current empowerment largely shia armed force one that's difficult to control result in more sunni outrage. well we should revert back to six million ism which was a disease. which has to be gambled to run over the last two or three for one country i think we have succeeded to reestablish our security forces and the armed forces as a national force which are now trusted by our population of a the population and their liberty to the area where happy with this and we should continue along this now i need deviation from this is very dangerous this damage in our own national unity and county to another i people.

we have been very careful and during my term as a prime minister our commander in chief to make sure that the screws the forces on forces are serving the population protecting the population are they belong to the population there is no sectarianism or ethnicity in our armed forces they belong to the country the protector of the country validation of yours will liberate the. should stay as they are i deal with you if they are militias outside the state on trying to act outside the state this is very dangerous because this will give rise to another of those organizations we should old united be united against it. recently united kingdom pledged to forty million dollars in the assistance package to iraq to bolster its economy and reduce its reliance on iran and that's how the u.k.'s middle east minister put it but trade between iraq and iran runs into the

tens of billions of dollars can forty million make a difference as are true to that i mean how dependent is iraq on iran in terms of its economy. well it is no dependence i think. today of other countries that is an order benefit and the benefit drive of trade between the two countries we cannot stop this trade the majority of this trade is by private sector of and i don't think is the job of the government to stop the private sector from being active this is a benefit to our own citizens thought on private sector of the benefit to the again to the population of iran this is a mutual interest we should encourage it as through the pain and of course as i said in my press conference when i was prime minister of we can all deal in dollars because the thought of is a us currency and the us federal is controlling the currency is so neither of us nor the opinions can use that currency between us we can use other currencies european has but we developed some tools which can we can utilize to avoid the

sanctions against iran i think well abiding by our own interests of the interest of the rest of the states we don't want it sanctions to be applied to guess iraq because this would be very helpful we have to pay for our interest on this but at the same time we're not acting proxies for this country to apply sanctions i guess and other countries were not party to this and we shouldn't why are iraq iran and economic ties such a concern for. the united states why do they care so much. well i think they have a problem with iran iran use of illusion from day one. although this. is a go though there's a problem that i think have a problem with the on they want to curtail iran they want to contain iran they think and have an issue with the on it is harmful to them but of course every country is right to look at this on its eyes they're looking at their own it's us

we should look at what i wanted to say as well so i think it countries compete towards achieving their interests and we should compete with other states to achieve our interests. but when you look at it on the other hand do you think iraq actually benefits from this tensions between iran and the west from a situation where everyone is interested in buying influence i mean those subsidies will come in handy at some point one day who is well i'm not sure about this i know competition is good but conflicts are bads conflicts will lead to the loss of your own resources look at what country it was at each it was developed look what the previous regime has done has involved us into wars into regional conflicts and we lost a lot of that our wealth was lost yesterday to our own wealth was your story our own country we don't believe in conflicts we we believe in competition competition

is healthy and good if is that done according to the right. to buy that sort of issue ship and to respect the sovereignty we don't mind competition of fact we have welcome it but we're out against i guess conflicts of his causes war causes loss of of resources and we don't want to be in that camp we're not party to this so iraq is still considered one of the most corrupt countries in the world and former iraqi national security advisor. told me that corruption taints all levels of government all areas of politics. right now the current prime minister i did he has the supreme anti-corruption council what are the guarantees that this body. and corruption itself. well i think this is very important this council which it leader was established during my term i had the last meeting in two thousand and eighteen

and i think it is the prime minister carried on with it with someone if it is a straight which i think is very good is important to have some approaches which would oversee how we should compact corruption corruption is it you have to combat it by making people aware by indictment by education by in acting in euros by bringing all resources to fight corruption i think the most dangerous corruption is both go corruption where pulls the folk parties they take part in that corruption they use their position in the state to advance their own interests against the people this is very dangerous we have to i think we have to make sure that we are on acts i suppose of the shins in iraq and we should do that to stop this corruption corruption is a culture if you don't stop this culture you cannot fight corruption you have to put the right procedures to fight corruption it shouldn't be used used against

political enemies this will lead to the wrong thing and in actual fact if it did lead to more corruption i think we should very partial those who are paolo they should be very profitable in fact of corruption they have to fight the essence of corruption not to disperse each of it to take time till it shows as it is old i hope the kind of government will be successful in fighting corruption the core of corruption and the results will appear playthings. so it was during your two newer one kurdistan voted to become independent from iraq in two thousand and seventeen you called the referendum results void and imposed a slight ban over the region back then and so the declaration kind of just fizzled out if the independence talk makes a comeback in arab real will iraq commit to military action to bring the kurds back into line well is i think we are a part of us in this country and we when you take decision as of this you have to

consult the other party is not right. that you take that selection we're living in the same country where i was living in the same region we have many ties my my my my answer to our. partners in this country is that we should wait to get. if you want to achieve positions and get power and get benefits so that you would walk towards independence it doesn't work because this will not establish trust between the kids region and the rest of our we have to establish trust you have to decide you are part of this nation part of this country you have to take that final decision and then in the forward then we are part of those in everything but kurdistan's prime minister natura man barzani told me that baghdad neglects the needs of the kurds and that it doesn't treat them fairly in the

federal state should the kurds expect any change in baghdad's attitude towards them now. well i think this is the solution as i said i think is there is no way other than coming back to back that for our kids citizens i think they have been very ego to build that issue with it or neighboring countries but you know the neighbors they don't stop issuing i could just state because they don't allow independent or even seen the scimitar to most attend almost they could just share a region in their own country so but in europe where our affairs are part of our country they have the utmost region where we're to with them within the framework of for the state the federal state has put this its own authority on the regions they have their own authority we should and we can the federal authority on that count over the region and we should know we can the region with

a count of the federal state that's how we're put out how we work out and i think we have been very successful at the end of two thousand and thirteen of two thousand they'd seen we as a relationship we opened the airports of the region of kurdistan we opened the trade again and i think it we have to build on these trains going back to the referendum on trying again it will backfire i can tell you. all right thank you very much for the send site we were talking to hi there are a lot about a former prime minister of iraq discussing the fragile balance of powers in the country that's it for this edition of show fan call see you next time.

outside force regime change going in venezuela a few snags a few bumps in the road and can we believe some u.s. troops will leave the middle east and much much more on this edition of crossfire. still dependent miles from. that day to. day. or the year. those. now at the five the. money for that

matter. i see let him make the war you have the authority of the marrow have got to grab me as. what holds a sense to me that. they put themselves on the line to get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president or injury. or somehow want to be rich. that you'd like to be approached this is what it looks like three of the boys can't believe. i'm interested always in the water. there should.

be the case defense secretary says he will count to russia and china minutes how really pace breaks it if he delivers a pounce appears the british army's global presence. with that it's to rebuild the war torn iraq a city of mosul and the way the situation on the grounds remains grim locals told us the city is the.