in iraq, afghanistan, the contingencies going forward. the specialist victor general for the overseas contingency would save taxpayer dollars. we've done that in iraq. it's being done in afghanistan. would be done in the future contingency operations. but we take very quickly the three objections to it that have been raised. one, it would be a layer of additional oversight. the opposite is true. the experience of sigr in iraq has been that we have coalesced and focused oversight of the iraq reconstruction mission, and as a result of generated more effective work, more output, work that would have been more difficult to accomplish there had been three, four, five inspector general's office is operating, and we triet the iraq inspector general counsel and as was pointed out we worked very closely from the beginning and with the states and with the dod over time through the process to generate better work. it has been a effective catalyst to sinner jul is oversight efforts in country, not the layer. .. finally, and this is the most important

in iraq, afghanistan, the contingencies going forward. the specialist victor general for the overseas contingency would save taxpayer dollars. we've done that in iraq. it's being done in afghanistan. would be done in the future contingency operations. but we take very quickly the three objections to it that have been raised. one, it would be a layer of additional oversight. the opposite is true. the experience of sigr in iraq has been that we have coalesced and focused oversight of the iraq reconstruction mission, and as a result of generated more effective work, more output, work that would have been more difficult to accomplish there had been three, four, five inspector general's office is operating, and we triet the iraq inspector general counsel and as was pointed out we worked very closely from the beginning and with the states and with the dod over time through the process to generate better work. it has been a effective catalyst to sinner jul is oversight efforts in country, not the layer. .. we've submitted a budget that could oper

in iraq, afghanistan, the contingencies going forward. the specialist victor general for the overseas contingency would save taxpayer dollars. we've done that in iraq. it's being done in afghanistan. would be done in the future contingency operations. but we take very quickly the three objections to it that have been raised. one, it would be a layer of additional oversight. the opposite is true. the experience of sigr in iraq has been that we have coalesced and focused oversight of the iraq reconstruction mission, and as a result of generated more effective work, more output, work that would have been more difficult to accomplish there had been three, four, five inspector general's office is operating, and we triet the iraq inspector general counsel and as was pointed out we worked very closely from the beginning and with the states and with the dod over time through the process to generate better work. it has been a effective catalyst to sinner jul is oversight efforts in country, not the layer. .. >> and finally, and this is the most imp

numbers have been increasing since the beginning of the wars in iraq and afghanistan. chris christie ending in about two thousand and nine starting to subside a little bit but still way too many military and veteran deaths since the start of the iraq and afghanistan wars now is this something that we see more in one branch of the armed services than the other because some of the research that i was looking at showed that marines for example in two thousand and nine had the highest rate and so you know why might that be is that part of the puzzle and in figuring out why this is happening well i believe the problem is pervasive in all branches of the military and one death from suicide is one too maybe so looking at how the problem can be tackled and sold especially a candidate. i think the key to the effort to bring these numbers down are also tell me what exactly has been done because one of the main critiques that's been out there for a long time is that there just isn't this the attitude within the armed forces is not that you can go out and seek help because that mak

in iraq, afghanistan, the contingencies going forward. he specialist victor general for the overseas contingency would save taxpayer dollars. we've done that in iraq. it's being done in afghanistan. would be done in the future contingency operations. but we take very quickly the three objections to it that have been raised. one, it would be a layer of additional oversight. the opposite is true. the experience of sigr in iraq has been that we have coalesced and focused oversight of the iraq reconstruction mission, and as a result of generated more effective work, more output, work that would have been more difficult to accomplish there had been three, four, five inspector general's office is operating, and we triet the iraq inspector general counsel and as was pointed out we worked very closely from the beginning and with the states and with the dod over time through the process to generate better work. it has been a effective catalyst to sinner jul is oversight efforts in country, not the layer. .. we've submitted a budget that could opera

it's a great question and it's it's definitely unique to iraq and afghanistan it's unique to the fact that there have been multiple deployments and keep in mind there is not a draft ok there has not been a draft in which people have been sent to war this is an all volunteer army that has been out there and they've been deployed three four different times. to both theaters iraq and afghanistan so it is it is absolutely unique and returning home is you know i have to tell you i've spoken to many many soldiers and the stories that they tell me of of what they've experienced have just been horrific they are fearful of speaking out publicly for a wide range of reasons but what they have communicated is it's very sad to see the suffering that they're going through and how fearful they are about actually seeking help for what they've experienced because they feel that it will reflect negatively on them. they're embarrassed by it and also they also feel that if they were to talk about what they were involved in that they'd actually be brought up on charges you know another interesting thing a

>>maureen: the four women you see are mothers of soldiers that have fought in iraq, afghanistan or both. if you have sons still on active duty and all have mixed emotions about troops pulling out. none of them feel 100 percent relieved. >> for me it was anticlimactic. our men and women of the best in the world. >> i have a feeling that many of them will get some other places. there is a concern that things will fall apart. >> i think about how much our country has lost in terms of military personnel who have lost lives, lambs or are suffering. i am concerned about those who are stirred into the veterans to. >> i hope the american people and never forget the lives lost if the employees that have suffered. >>vicki: the nine year war took its toll on americans and iraqis. dozens of residents remain without a home, 63 apartments were damaged in a fire in alameda county. the cost of the damage is estimated at 1.5 million. >> people were running, there were carrying their heads colored kid sphere were screaming trying to find their parents. it was crazy. >>maureen: her mother had just arrived

iraq, afghanistan, pakistan and iran will loom large as the presidential race promises to make the coming 12 months more politically dysfunctional than ever. what should the pentagon military personnel and defense contractors expect to see in the year ahead? will see questerration become a reality and force the pentagon to cut twice as deeply as it expected to cut, will we finally see a real defense budget or will congress continue to force d.o.d. to live off of continuing resolutions. here to prognosticate are rick mays, lauren thompson of the lexington institute, john barry, formerly of newsweek after 26 laudable years and tom bowman national pentagon's radio reporter. ;v program. >> glad to be hee. >> -- glad to be here. >> tom, u.s. forces will have withdrawn from the end of the year from iraq, there will be troops based as a regional premise. how will it evolve if iraq comes off the rail? >> it's unlikely you'll see u.s. forces going back into iraq. they may go back as trainers, if prime minister nouri al- maliki and president obama can work out some sort of a deal next year. but at

to overthrow the regimes and syria iraq afghanistan and libya and i think even saudi arabia. and we may simply be watching this as it works its way through. when syria syria goes iran is in the target sights and lebanon and so there will be knocking all of these countries one by one while they stand there and don't unite in fact they can't unite and that's why they're so vulnerable so you think that there is much more behind this than the justification of going in there for humanitarian purposes when they stir up the uprising and that then becomes an excuse for saving the people of course who got saved in libya. and i think i think on the whole what what what's involved here is the russians have a naval base in syria and the americans don't want a russian they will presence in the mediterranean. and just as in linear the problem was the chinese all investments. washington doesn't wall independent all supplies for china and so there are many deep feigns going on that don't get into the news they don't get to discuss. and want to ask you about that about. why isn't the us media

serviceman were killed in iraq and afghanistan.ir force spokespersons say it will be difficult to determine which remains were sent to the landfill. >>> in japan, concerns on energy safety since the accident at the fukushima daiichi power plant in march have led to demand for cleaner power. a new law takes effect next year that will require utilities to buy energy from renewable sources. companies here and abroad are trying to get a piece of this growing market. here is our report. >> reporter: they are promoting cutting edge technology. firms show case their product at international affair in tokyo. >> this generates more power than other solar panels. >> in general terms, the market is looking attractive for solar and alternative energy. >> a new rule takes effect in july. it will require utilities to buy power from renewable sources such as solar power and wind. firms here are banking on some new customers. people are hoping to cash in. the firm has the largest market share in solar cells. they were the japanese manufacturer fiv

assange posted a fraction of the many thousands of classified documents it was given about the iraq and afghanistan wars, and a trove of state department cables. >> this is bushmaster 7. roger. engage. >> suarez: among the most incendiary releases-- video from a u.s. attack helicopter over baghdad in 2007. >> oh, yeah, look at that, right through the windshield. ( laughs ) >> suarez: the gun crew killed 11 men they deemed a threat. it turned out one of the dead was a cameraman for the reuters news service. then, there were the state department cables showing u.s. efforts to curb iran's influence, and offering blunt appraisals of corrupt middle- east regimes. top u.s. officials gave no details, but insisted the leaks caused severe damage to national security. secretary of state hillary clinton was out front then, and again yesterday. >> it was a very unfortunate and damaging actions... action that

. >> the maryland national guard has people defloyd kuwait, iraq, afghanistan and africa. >>> there's more on the shooting yesterday. they have leverage -- linked the suspect to a robbery. detectives put out a description of the suspect in surrounding counties. recount recount police located the -- anne arundel police located the car. officers say they shot the man after he pointed a gun at them. >>> taking a look at tonight's top stories, two penn state official also go to trial after lying to a grand jury. the judge ruled there was probable cause to move forward with tim curley and gary schultz. the two are charged with not properly reporting what graduate statute mike mcqueary told them about jerry sandusky. sandusky said he's innocent of the more than 50 charges, all sexual assault charges over a 12-year span. >>> a cold case is being reopened by the fbi in hopes of catching a killer and rapist. d.c. police are sending out sketches of the potomac river rapist. he's the suspect in eight rapes and one murder a $25,000 reward is being offered. >>> more legal troubles now for the anna

things in iraq, but not in afghanistan. >> yeah. the short answer is the iraq war was not about us, it was about iraqis. and it was the iraqi tribes becoming fed up with al qaeda that turned into a boom for us. their partnership and their patriotism is what sustained us through that campaign. i have yet to see that kind of nationalism and patriotism overtake the afghan population. i think until we see that, it will be difficult to solidify our gains there. >> do you agree with, i mean i was talking to one flag officer who is very familiar with it, he was recently skeptical saying we are making progress on the grounds. do you see that in the last 15 seconds we've got left? >> i think we are making progress on the ground. my concern is whether afghans are going to sustain that progress. it's easy to make progress where americans put boots on the ground. it's much more difficult for the afghans to sustain it once we move out of there. >> colonel, thank you very much for joining us, >>> for years asian nations worry about china's increas

to legislation that would create millions of american jobs here and instead of rebuilding iraq and afghanistan rebuild the united states that thirty years or reaganomics is supervised the essential destruction of all the filibuster or voted down bill after bill for example on october eleventh one hundred percent of senate republicans one hundred percent of the senate republicans voted against millions of american jobs on october twentieth one hundred percent of senate republicans voted against nearly four hundred thousand jobs are teachers firefighters and cops. on november third one hundred percent of the republicans in the united states senate said no no way they voted against four hundred fifty thousand jobs for americans rebuilding our infrastructure and then with the payroll tax cut ninety eight percent of senate republicans voted to raise taxes on one hundred sixty million working americans again on december eighth ninety eight percent of senate republicans voted to raise taxes on over one hundred sixty million americans they did all of this for just one reason to protect the millionaire

they are based in pittsburg and has been serving in iraq afghanistan since february. for many this was their third and fourth deployment. they have seen not seen their children since back in june. >> she understands me more, that is kind of weird. >> she is different? >> she is a like a little princess. >> we're in california. >> what are you looking forward to doing? >> -- oh, my gosh, i don't on know where to start. i wanted to eat. that is for sure. >> the soldiers plan to go back to the full time civilian jobs after their military responsibilities which consist of one week back home, they won't have report for that until 90 days from now. lilian kim, "abc 7 news." >>> meanwhile, there was little fanfare as the last u.s. combat troops pulled out of iraq overnight. part of convoy that made a midnight run for the border. >> it was just before sundown in southern iraq when the troops made final preparations for the mission that would be the last for u.s. military forces here. there were more than 100 vehicles and nearly 500 soldiers anxious in so many ways to make his

iraq, afghanistan, leaving home, returning, medals, maybe a parade.k modern american warfare looks like. but there's another kind of american warfare. this kind never comes with a ticker tape parade. you won't see tearful scenes at the airport, no surprising the kids at schools with an early return for the holidays. you might not even see much news about it. this other kind of war is the one our country is waging with unmanned drones. we send remote-controlled drones with names like predator and reaper to hunt for terrorism suspects. we send our drones out from bases in several countries on missions in several countries, some of which we are not ç officially declared war against. we send them out to kill. sometimes drones gather intelligence. but they're really great at killing. robotic warfare is weird and more than a little disquieting. it's secretive. so we end up with stories about suspects believed to have been killed in american drone strikes. we don't necessarily know how many or when or where or who. in a strictly tactical sense it's entirely

take that as an opportunity to also bring scripture to them, because i have had calls from iraq and afghanistan, where soldiers are struggling, so to bring them the story, a disciple of krishna tells themn the battlefield, when conflicted about going to war, and krishna says it is your duty, and that is beautifully explained, that we should, that one shouldn't raise our calling as a duty -- that one should embrace are calling as a duty. -- our calling. >> the army captain there on her experience as being the first team the chaplain in the u.s. military. that brings today's show to a close. of course, you can get updates on all of our stories on the website, and for me and the rest of the team, we are on twitter. thanks so much for watching. i will see you back here tomorrow. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. he

. >> i have been to iraq and afghanistan. i come home -- >> how he got more than he bargained for. >> and maryland state senator calls for action following the arrests of two abortion >> iac call in pennsylvania could force a corner to move dozens of graves. he must decide whether to move at least 54 grave sitter now being threatened by the approaching water. families own each individual spot so they are not sure where the braves could be moved. five columns have been declared structurally unsafe because of the sinkhole. it formed thursday morning. a marine survives in some of the most dangerous spots in the world, only to find his most life-threatening danger here at home in deerfield beach, florida. he meant to men who were supposed to buy a gold chain. he advertised on craigslist. when he arrived, one of the men took off with a necklace. the marine chased after. the suspect opened fire at him. >> i of been in iraq, afghanistan. i come home, and i am full of holes. >> he is my hero. he is a hero to the country. i love them.

the united states. >> monica: here is the issue, this administration has been opposed to the iraq and afghanistaney have been looking for every opportunity to get out. now obama is completely out of iraq. now with afghanistan, announcing the withdrawal. so what they are doing here by talking to the taliban and trying to get a political resolution to this is just an excuse to get out. this is not about protecting the united states. >> why wouldn't we want to get out? isn't the whole point to get out. >> to kill and destroy the enemy. >> the objective is to protect the united states, period. that is the only objective we've had. >> the negotiations with a terrorist adversary, are is no negotiation to be had, do you think that is wise thing? >> i do think it's wise. because after the began government has been secretly negotiating with the taliban, the united states is aware of that. i think per se comes in with the vice president. the taliban does have power over people in more rural areas. the people have allegiance to some of the areas with the taliban. that is the reason the afghan government wor

iraq and afghanistan are two places where he is failing.n he's pulling out troops out so fast he's putting the mission at risk. this president's performance means we may well lose both wars and the only reason that is not getting covered is because his performance so business mal. this is the third big theme that the president has tried out this year first it was win the future and state of the union speech the adult in the room during the debate over the debt ceiling now he's champion of the middle class. none of it has taken voter's minds off for unfortunately for him bill clinton called a lousy economy. >> everybody is talking about the economy. there is no way to ignore reality. that's the reality. we havenwe have a lousy economy. hopefully proichling slightly you have better jobless numbers unemployment has gone down. with regard to the numbers when it comes to national security they feel he has done a horrific job. >> look at iraq and afghanistan. >> if you look at afghanistan and iraq we have been there ten years. time to come home.

it is a extraordinary preoccupation and many believe were not for iraq afghanistan would have been settled long ago and took our eye off of the ball that we had on osama bin laden's back. and you know, it is what it is. and petraeus came along and he engineered the architect of the surge. and took the momentum and many commentators said we lost the war. and the surge was successful in turning the tide back to the guy thes. it as a long bitter and bloody struggle. >> one more shot. that is a hum vee. what geraldo and i road around. that means it has a lot of the protection. but it was soft skinned and very dangerous for the folks here. >> we were driving around in convertibles and so easy for the terrorist to heave a grenade inside. it is what it is. >> and we have learned and our forces are better than they have been. >> it is a long hard road and today we saw it end. and the united states forces in iraq, they are long gone. i can see those waiting to have the kids come out and clear their guns and head on to camp virginia and head home. >> remembe the returning gi's. they need jobs and fa

the documents included sensitive diplomatic cables and files on the wars in iraq' afghanistan. >> the people should be prosecuted. not bradley manning. he is accused of letting the truth out. he is not accused of doing any criminal activity. he is accused of letting the truth out. he should be given appear award for that, not prosecuted. >> the article 32 hearing determines if there is enough evidence to court-martial manning. it's expected to last several days. >>> arizona sheriff joe arpaio is known for his crackdown on illegal immigration, but the justice department says his department is guilty of racial profiling. arpaio's work has turned him into a national figure. the government says his office committed a wide range of civil rights violations, including the use of excessive force and unlawful stops. >> we are not talking about isolated incidents. we found discriminatory policing that was deeply rooted in the culture of the department. a culture that breeds a systemic disregard for basic constitutional protections. >> arpaio says this is a political attack. and says the obama a

. >>> coming up on news 4, a marine who survived tours in iraq and afghanistan finds himself dodging bullets here at home. >>> will you need to bundle up for the new year? doug's forecast is coming up next. follow news 4 online. search nbc washington on facebook and twitter. >>> we have some breaking news out of southeast d.c. police blocked off the investigation of half street and m. they are investigating a suspicious package near the navy yard metro stop. if you see commotion there, that's what you are looking at. >>> we have been looking at nice weather today. ending on a nice note. >> the year 2011 is going to end on a nice note. one of the warmest summers we have ever seen here in d.c. >> summers? >> yeah, i'm doing a whole year. i will tell you this, it is going to be warm tomorrow just like today and warm early on sunday before everything comes down. i'm talking about those temperatures. they are going to come down in a big way. out there right now, it is simply gorgeous. 53 degrees. winds out of the southeast at eight miles per hour, a spectacular afternoon and beautiful eve

walter berghart routinely gets videos from handlers in iraq and afghanistan who want to know why their dogs are no longer performing as trained. in one video the dog cowers when he sees uniformed iraqi soldiers. in another, a dog trained to sit after sniffing a bomb instead tucks his tail between his legs and runs away. >> if the dog misses one of these explosives, that could have really bad consequences not only for the dog but for the individuals the dog's working with. >> reporter: which brings us back to buck, u.s. marine corps, retired. >> see, he's backing up there. >> exactly. >> is that from something that happened in afghanistan? >> i suspect that something happened to him in terms of bombs. >> reporter: larry and lynette sargent adopted buck when doctors could not treat his canine ptsd. >> you can't help but love him when you look at him. >> he's just afraid. >> reporter: the family says, unlike most labs, buck doesn't like to be around people. the best medicine, just like that for humans. understanding, love, patience, and sometimes these dogs are even prescribed puppy proza

sufficient security and protection to christians and other religious minorities in countries like iraq and afghanistanould or could we possibly do along those lines? >> well, at this point with our withdrawal from iraq, it's very hard to do much of anything. and, unfortunately, in afghanistan when we had the opportunity to reform the afghan constitution in ways that would have protected religious minorities, we didn't quite do that. so at this point in time it's going to be very hard to put the kind of pressure we have to on the afghan and iraqi governments. we have to urge them to investigate, prosecute and bring to justice the kind of violence that is plaguing these christian communities, and in countries like egypt where we still give considerable foreign assistance and aid, we have to try to condition that aid on proper protection of religious minority communities. remember, egypt has right now probably the largest christian minority population still standing in the middle east, and we really need to be very vigilant in urging the egyptian government to provide security and protection for those co

but they have been attacking the soldiers in american interest in iraq and afghanistan. will iran ultimately close strait of hormuz? i don't think they probably will. you had unnamed iranian official tell the "washington post" it would be economic suicide for iran. what you are seeing is regime doesn't know what to do next. they are seeking to expand influence and making headway like iraq and afghanistan. >> this is not in economic interest unless they don't want to sell more oil. it doesn't seem like something they would do. there is posturing going on right now. the administration will do whatever is needed if there is a conflict. if iran decided to keep upping the ante. i think they are playing a game of chicken. >> and the question i guess charles what is the point. if they are raising them, trying to scare the obama administration out of sanctioning the central bank. trying to get the european allies to stop buying oil from iran? >> there is a logical one, it could be threatened and i think iran could be making a huge mistake here. if the bluff is called, if it actu

but iraq and afghanistan is where he is failing.n afghanistan he is fulling out troops so fast he is putting people at risk. his performance may mean we may lose the wars. the only reason it is not covered is because of the economy. >> chris: this is it the third big theme that the president tried out. win the future in the state of the union speech and let's invest in education and infrastructure and then the adult in the room in the debate over the debt ceiling and now the champion of the middle class and none of it is taking voters minds off what infortunately bill clinton called a lousy economy. >> i think everybody is talking about the economy. there is no way to ignore reality. hopefully it is better numbers in terms of jobless numbers and unemployment rate is going down. but that is it the big issue. with regard to the number that is we are just looking for, for cps. none theless. when it comes to national security, liz, people think he has done a terrific job. >> chris: i am looking at iraq. >> that's what the polls are sayi

is it really just still iraq and afghanistan?hanistan in particular, the growth really is in training because -- >> police forces and -- >> police forces because, as you kind of alluded to is he wants to take all of the security forces inside the government. there's no infrastructure, not enough infrastructure and people trained inside the government, so the biggest opportunity for us is training. >> i'm curious in some of these countries when i've traveled there there's a lot of skepticism about what you do. you lobby so well in the united states to get ge or cnn, in order to get insurance to travel in these countries we have to have security. it just creates an automatic business for you. and people say, but it's really not that dangerous there. you really don't need all these convoice and all this private security. >> yes. >> what do you say to that criticism? >> i would say they're wrong. there is a great need for security in that country. you can watch the news or read a newspaper any day of the week and see what's going on