that supports iraq. this coalition proved that we can fight together terrorism. we all have common interests. iraq is not begging for support and is not asking for support from a position of weakness, but we all are asking for it all together all in the same boat, all on the same ship facing this terrorism and we fight side-by-side on the ground and we benefit from all the logistical support and all the air support that is being given to us and to our forces as we move forward to the next phase to protect our boarders and rebuild our countries -- our country. we have the mean to deal with that. we are working with the components of iraq. i can't pretend we have resolved our issues, but these problems go back to many years in the past when regime opressed the people and the attacks by the terrorists on iraq who came from around 100 counties from all over the world. we have to corporate to contain these and destroy these terrorism and these terrorists and prevent them from expanding their efforts and, agai

we know he's been charged with defeating isis in iraq. we know the two were traveling together in iraq, what we don't know are some of the key details, any time a senior official visits iraq some of the key details are kept secret. the bigger question is that when there are visits like this and some details kept secret usually we know why the visits took place in the first place, in this case we don't know why jared kushner was in iraq, what it does show is the continuing descending -- of trump family members, we see on the ground is a convergence of all of those three things, primarily military operations, there are decisions being made by american generals every day in terms of how the fighting is going, so how does jared kushner fit into that? that's the question a lot of the people are wanting the answers for. >>> fighting harder than ever before, it might be jared kushner has the ear to have president. or make sure the chairman view even more directly. >> that makes more sense because to go to the american office of innovation to a s

petraeus: iraq, the situation improving.help, the iraqi security forces have been retrained and equipped. we are enabling them with intelligence assets, drones, precision strikes, industrial-strength facilities. gradually taking back from the islamic state those areas they seized. we will eventually defeat the islamic state with army in iraq. we then have to help iraqi security forces on the residual insurgents and elements and terrorist cells. but the issue is not these battles. i have said for two years, even in the darkest days, ultimately the iraqis would prevail with our assistance and that of our coalition partners. the real battle is the battle after the battle. it is not just sunni arabs or kurds. all of those have to field their representatives in the new government. -- have to feel they are represented in the new government. that new government has to be within means, responsive to their needs. most importantly, minority rights are guaranteed as well as majority rule. that is a tall order. the prime minister, no qu

david: how matrix and we have in iraq that many troops did we have in iraq at the time? gen.etraeus: we had about 140,000 u.s. shoulders -- soldiers, and added about 25,000-30,000 additional forces during the insurgents. the surge that mattered most was not the surge of forces, but one of ideas. it was the change in strategy, complete change. it was a 180 degrees shift from to goingting on bases back and living in the neighborhood with the people, because that is the only way you can secure them. you cannot kill or capture your way out of an industrial-strength insurgency. lovecould not handle the -- level of violence in 2006. he created 77 additional just in the baghdad divisional area of responsibility alone during the course of the surge. 130,000o we had about -- 140,000 american troops, and aat was enough to bring it to stable position, relatively speaking. gen. petraeus: violence was reduced to some 80-85% during the course of a three -- 18 month stretch. 19.5 months,bout some of the half after that and started in central command. david: so that is in charge of operation

is the vacuum you had in iraq during the iraq war and during the u.s. pullout where you wind up with massive sunni population disenfranchised led to the rise of the islamic d state. i remember being on the syria border with turkey in the fall of 2013 and right across the board i remember watching fighting going on in there is a question of who's fighting up there. it was one of the very firststth liberated towns in the brigade of the -- that held it for months and months. it was the islamic state fighting the free syrian army. this was a time when islamic state was [inaudible] the radara so why are the rebels fighting each other? again it seems -- to say now but the first realization where the goals of the islamic state were not to topple assad but create their caliphate. while we have in syria now, even this is an oversimplification but you have a three sided war with the free syrian army, the regime and islamic state. the islamic state is a partner linked to the history of the iraq war. one last point to make, i think we as americans have the senseee

the backside focuses on iraq and syria. red blots highlight where we think isis is located currently. distinguished members of the committee, good morning, and thank you for the opportunity to appear to discuss the state of readiness of u.s. central command. i come on behalf of the outstanding men and women of the command -- military, civilians and contractors, along with coalitions and partners from 60 patients. our people are the best in the world. could not be more proud of themi or their families. without question, they are the strength of our central command team. over the past 12 months we have dealt with significant challenges in afghanistan, pakistan, yemen, egypt, sinai, and elsewhere throughout our area of responsibility. we are making progress in many areas. but much work remains. we are also dealing with maligned activities by iran and its proxies operating in the region. it is my view that iran poses the greatest long-term threat to stability in this part of the world. generally speaking, the central reason rem

that you have in iraq during the iraq war and during the us pullout where we have a massive pseudo-populationthat was disenfranchised and led to the rise of the islamic state. i remember being on the syrian border with turkey, fall of 2013 in a place called tillis, and i remember we were watching the fighting going on. the question was who was fighting out there ? that of the first liberated towns and the northern storm had held it for months and months. it was the islamic state fighting against the free syrian army. it is a time when the islamic state wasn't on anybody's greater and amongst us was a question why are the rebels fighting each other. again, this is their first realization where the goals of the islamic state were not too obviously, toppled assad but to create their own state. what we have in syria is as an over publication believe he recited for with free syrian army, the regime, an islamic state. the islamic state is a partner partner directly linked to the history of the iraq war. one less point i would make, when i spent time in that part of the world, we we as americans hav

now you can add iraq to the list.g with the chairman of joint chiefs, on us-led coalition on the fight against isis. ben wheatman has more for us what's the essential mission of this trip to iraq? >> reporter: i think in the case of the 36-year-old jared kushner is get to know the place, he done have any military or diplomatic experience so being companied by the chairman over the joint chief of staff and general who coordinates the coalition against isis. yesterday they were in baghdad meeting with senior iraqi officials meeting with the prime minister. we understand part of the trip will include a visit to the northern part of the country where they may be meeting with u.s. forces involved in the offensive against isis in mosul where that battle at the moment is proving to be quite difficult really house to house, street to street fighting particularly in the old city. this is a fight in the western part of mosul where we've seen mounting civilian casualties in which of course it's believed the united states may hav

no iraq and no iraqis. i get why the chairman of the joint chiefs would want him there because he knows that curber cur kushner has the president's ear. but is it weird that the secretary of state's not involved in this? >> i don't want to comment on that, but i will say that if i were chairman of the joint chiefs, i would do exactly what general dunford has done. i would ask kushner to go with me not only to iraq but to other places because he does have the trust and confidence of the president. this is something in the military we call leading up. you get to the principal through other people by informing them and helping them become part of your argument. and i think since mr. trump, mr. tillerson and jared have not been to iraq, just the very visit to baghdad, meeting with prime minister al-abadi, and it's interesting seeing some of the pictures, i know some of those guys, and they are going to say, is this the guy we deal with? and kushner will suddenly get some real quick information in a very short p

i didn't want to go into iraq and i fought it. >> are you for invading iraq? >> yeah, i guess so. you know, i wish it was -- i wish the first time it was done correctly. >> that was trump on iraq. here he is on libya. >> gadhafi in libya is killing thousands of people. nobody knows how bad it is. now we should go in. we should stop this guy, which would be very easy and very quick. we could do it surgically. stop him from doing it and save these lives. >> he said he was in favor of libya. i never discussed that subject. i was in favor of lib gentleman? we would be so much better off if gadhafi were in charge right now. >> what's constant about donald trump and has been since the beginning is that he is very, very easily swayed by whatever the conventional wisdom of the pundant class is at the time. the same conventional wisdom he is now watching on the cable news broadcasts that he monitors so religiously. now after launching 59 cruz missiles in syria trump is being praised for being decisive and showing strength. what lesson do you think he's going to learn? joining me reuben gal

family in iraq or syria today?ily in iraq or syria today? it is difficult to know. if i was alone as a celibate monk, i would probably stay. if i had to look after a family with vulnerable people, children, the elderly, i would look after their interests. that is why i say it is a particular personal decision that we can't take away from people. they need to make those decisions for themselves and to be able to ensure the lights... we live in freedom, dignity and safety, and i don't think i should expect less of anybody in the world. thank you very much for being on hardtalk. thank you. hello. spring, thus far, has been marked by pretty settled fare. and i suspect that is going to be the overriding theme of the next few days, with a quiet spell of weather set to continue. not just for the next few days, but right on into the forthcoming weekend. but gardeners and growers take note: night—time frost will still be a consideration. not so much for the first part of wednesday, across the northern parts of scotland, you

military action in iraq. it's all part of the deterioration and the vanishing of those hopes of a better relationship and the deterioration in the relationship between the two countries. >> all right. bringing us up to date on the situation from moscow in russia, just after 10:30 in the morning. >> in the meantime, the u.s. house and senate committees are investigating alleged meddling by russia in the u.s. presidential election. >> last week experts told the u.s. senate intelligence committee that the russian government had an army of internet trolls active during the campaign. as brian reports, they aimed to push fake news in the run up to november's vote. >> it started with several tweets alleging a terrorist attack at the air base in turkey last summer. russian state media outlets posted variations of the story. soon even donald trump's campaign manager apparently thought it was true, repeating it on cnn. >> there's plenty of news to cover this week. i haven't seen covered. you had nato base turkey being

there's mexico, canada, palestine, iraq. >> on iraq, don't go too far there. he was invited by the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. to e see the work that's being done there firsthand. i don't think let that translate into seeing iraq. he was invited to go see something by the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff and he's doing it. >> i appreciate how he's in such a unique position and entrusted by the president, but people would look at the situation and say the white house isn't meant to be run as a family business. there are institutions with with experienced diplomats who have years and decades of experience on the ground. >> you just -- can you be clear because you said with years of experience. what situation are you referring to? >> partly why i was asking what's in the portfolio. it's our understanding that he's involved with mexico. he's involved with saudi arabia. he's involve d with canada. he's involved with a number of different issues, china. >> i think there's been, as he's made clear initially during the transition, he played a key role

has it been as direct and as dramatic as iraq? no. we will security forces and mailitia forces that you could rely on. we had a direct role in training, advising and assisting iraqi security forces. there was a partnbetter partner ground. it's difficult to get that cohesive partners on the ground this syria. there has been progress. president obama's decision to insert a small number of special operations forces on the ground in syria, to do advising and assisting, i think has given that some momentum. >> what about donald trump? as president, has he -- he talked about kind of tasking his na military planners to look at this. has he laid out a clear agenda on how he wants to battle isis? >> at least not publically. i think internally, they're going through some mass nations about what that plan looks like, from everything i can tell. they have done some interesting things, those of us who were wanting the obama administration to free up the rules of engagement for our special forces. this was a debate we had for years inside. should w

now he's in iraq at the request of the joint chiefs of staff. if you're wondering where this leaves the secretaries of state and defense, you're not alone. first the background from michelle kaczynski. >> reporter: more than a seat at the table, trump's son-in-law and senior advisor jared kushner, seems to be at the head of every table at the white house from streamlining government in the white house to middle east peace. president trump says jared is such a good kid, and he'll make a deal with israel. to get an update on the fight against isis, prompting this bewildered tweet from president obama's deputy national security advisor ben rhodes, kushner in iraq before the national security advisor or secretary of state, totally normal. but it's not just iraq, but the president appointed kushner on a list of other issues, including trade deals, communicating with china, heading up the office of american innovation which includes updating the entire government's technology structure and tackling the opiod epidemic crisis. today the president was as

to invade and occupy iraq. remember, maybe some of you remember, at this counsel decided at the end of 2008, after investigation into weapons of mass distraction were disclosed that they decided to area the reports. reports andked the buried them in the so that no one could reach, except for the secretary general . they buried them in faults and they said that the faults would only opened after 60 years. secretsimagine the inside of these faults? they may have incurred a new rule forward in the world by using an irrational and extreme position. this reminds us of the criminal rule of tony blair in the invasion in iraq after fabricating allies of weapons of mass instructions. pushing the american hiphant to destroy the iraq china shop. deliver mydent, i statement after being absent for ire than three months and dialogue toerious solution led by the syrians without any external interference that would unify counterterrorism efforts. would ago, we thought we inform you about the progress give this to his worked to

made prior to the iraq war in 2003.not turn out to be, as claimed, also, this continued sense from moscow, the russian government suggesting that the united states is presenti ining eviden that it was a syrian chemical weapons attack and that evidence might not be sound. >> indeed, we're waiting for u.s. secretary of state, rex tillerson as he has just arrived in moscow, after these very pointed comments that he made at the g-7 summit in italy. we're going to continue to follow this and monitor this and bring you the latest. >> and again, steven cohen, a professor ehmeritus saying this is the most tense moment in u.s./russian relations that he's seen since the cuban missile crisis. obviously, a hyperbolic statement, but from a man who's been watching u.s./russian relations for some time, sees this as very tense, particularly with russian troops on the ground in syria and now these u.s. strikes over that same region. >> and secretary of state rex tillerson in those comments at the g-7, not just saying that russia is eith

so why jared in iraq? >> you're right. it's striking he's visiting before the secretary of state, steph. a couple of takeaways i think here, first of all, he's made it clear he's visiting on behalf of the president. as we know the president trying to cultivate a plan to fight isis as they try to ramp up that fight. so i think it underscores the fact that kushner is someone who the president trusts impolilici. we know loyalty is a key issue for this president. and jared kushner is family. so he trusts no one more than jared and his daughter ivanka. but he's clearly there to help determine how to ramp up this fight against isis and to bring back that critical information. as you say he's also engaged in other foreign policy efforts including in talks with mexico's president and laying the groundwork for that big visit at the end of the week for president xi, steph. >> i also want to ask you about that interview president trump did with the "financial times" ahead of xi jinping's visit. he said, if china is not going to solve

in 1952, iraq's king, iraq's teenage king, came to visit the united states. he was a teenager. he was only 17 years old. he apparently loved baseball. while he was here, he met jackie robinson. he also met the u.s. secretary of state. he met president truman. he had been king since he was a little kid. but he came to the u.s. at the age of 17. he became officially an adult the following year at which point from 1953 on, the more or less worldly teenage king of iraq, he assumed his position as the ruler of his country. it didn't last. he was only 23 years old when a coup was launched against him in july 1958. in that coup, he was murdered along with much of his family. july 1958. the monarchy was deposed. nationalists in the iraqi military took over. they overthrew the iraqi monarchy. that didn't last either. five years after they killed the king and the military took over, the military was overthrown as well or at least the faction of them that had been in charge. by then it was 1963, february 1963. the group that took over iraq then and ruled it for 40 years thereafter, that w

jared kushner landing in baghdad, iraq, a short time ago. the pentagon general dunford's office putting out a statement about why he is there. let me read you part of it, the statement saying about mr. kushner, "as well as receiving braefr i briefings and updates mr. kushner is traveling on behalf of the president to express the president's support and commitment to the government of iraq, and u.s. personnel engaged in the campaign." we are told jared kushner as a senior adviser to the president will attend many if not all of the same meetings that general dunford will be in. he will get a chance at least to see what happens in the complex that houses the u.s. embassy and the u.s. military mission there. whether he actually gets out in the field to see troops, where they are living and working and fighting remains to be seen. we have not yet been given general dunford's full schedule. jared kushner, as the senior adviser to the president, will have had a bit of a chance to see something very unique for someone in the position and experience

elsewhere in the middle east, in syria and iraq, the plight of christians is even worse.y guest today is the general bishop of the coptic church in the uk, bishop angaelos. do christians have any future at all in the middle east? bishop angaelos, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. do you think there is something substantively different about the nature of the threat faced by coptic christians in egypt today? because they have faced threats for many, many years... yes. we have faced threats for centuries, and particularly over the past decades, but to have suicide bombers in churches is — is a shift, and it looks like the mirroring of attacks in other parts of the world. and think that is why it has shocked the egyptian community generally, so much, christians and muslims. we haven't seen this level of aggression and violence. we've had attacks, which have been equally painful, but this does mark a very new chapter. and does that mean, i mean, since we saw the suicide bomb attacks on two churches, a cathedral in alexandra, and the church in tanta, does that mean that christia

i didn't want to go into iraq and i fought it. >> are you for invading iraq? >> yeah, i guess so. you know, i wish it was -- i wish the first time it was done correctly. >> that was trump on iraq. here he is on libya. >> gadhafi in libya is killing thousands of people. nobody knows how bad it is. now we should go in. we should stop this guy, which would be very easy and very quick. we could do it surgically. stop him from doing it and save these lives. >> he said he was in favor of libya. i never discussed that subject. i was in favor of lib gentleman? we would be so much better off if gadhafi were in charge right now. >> what's constant about donald trump and has been since the beginning is that he is very, very easily swayed by whatever the conventional wisdom of the pundant class is at the time. the same conventional wisdom he is now watching on the cable news broadcasts that he monitors so religiously. now after launching 59 cruz missiles in syria trump is being praised for being decisive and showing strength. what lesson do you think he's going to learn? joining me reuben gal

. >>> in 1952 we've got some great images of this. 1952 iraq's king, 1952 iraq's teenage king came to visit the united states. he loved baseball. he met jackie robinson. also met the u.s. secretary of state. he met president truman. he had been king since he was a little kid technically speaking but he came to the u.s. at age 17. he he became an adult the following year so from 1959 the more or less worldly teenage king of iraq. he assumed his position as the ruler of his country. it didn't last. he was only 23 years old when a coup was launched against him in july 1958. in that coup he was murdered along with much of his family. in 1958 the monarchy was taken over. you know what, that didn't last either. about five years after they killed the king and the military took over, the military was overthrown as well. or at least the faction of them that had been in charge. by then it was 1963, february 1963 and the group that took over iraq then and ruled it for 40 years thereafter, that was the baath party. we think of saddam hussein as the personification of the baath party. he, in fact,

he took over iraq in 1979. the bath party itself, they took over iraq all the way back in 1963, which was basically the exact same time that the bath party also took over next door in syria. the batharty mounted their coup in baghdad by the 8th of march 1963, one month later, they mound their coup in damascus as well in syria. the bath party took over in iraq in february, they took over in syria in march. in syria as in iraq, thereafter they had a few different stops and starts in terms of what their new govern nance would look like. they had a couple more up heavals in terms of their leadership in syria. but by 1970 in syria, they had their leader forlife. his life was had a fez al assad. hafez. he took over in 1970 and never gave up power. in iraq, saddam ruled for a long time, 24 years. saddam's rule in iraq only ended when the united states military ininvaded iraq and overthrew him and then the occupied iraqi government executed saddam. had a fez had a heart attack in the summer of 2000. and syria technical

date, onago, to the 2000 three, april the day of the invasion of iraq, a couple of days before, i wassitting in the place of the italian ambassador along with the ambassador of my country at the time. i attended the meeting where .our foreign minister spoke he talked about weapons of mass destruction in iraq. i was there in that session. everyone remembers what the head of the investigated delegation set about weapons of mass destruction in iraq. they said that there were no weapons of mass destruction in iraq and these accusations were a pretext to invade and occupy iraq. , maybe of you remember some of you remember, that this counsel decided at the end of 2008 after investigation into so-called iraq w indies was wased decided -- wmd's close, decided to bury the report to overlook these reports and area them in the ground so for no one can reach except the secretary general. thatburied them and said these boats would only be opened after 60 years. can you imagine the secrets and these votes? brexit from the european union might have encouraged it to look for a new using anhe world by

a pretext to invade and occupy iraq. and all of you remember -- maybe some of you remember -- that this council decided at the end after investigation into so-called iraq wmds was closed, decided to bury the reports, to overlook these reports and bury them in the ground so that no one can reach except for the secretary-general. they buried them in vaults, and they said that these vaults would only be opened after 60 years. can you imagine the secrets in these vaults? britain's brexit from the european union might have encouraged it to look for a new byl forward in the world using an irrational and extreme , statements and positions in this council. this reminds us of the criminal role of tony blair, his role in iraq 14 yearsf ago after fabricating the lie of iraqi wmd's and after pushing the american elephant to destroy the iraqi chinaware with the brutality that the iraqi people continues to pay the price for to this day. madam president, i deliver my statement today after i've been absent for more than three months. as

and he is going to iraq. he is going over there and it proves how much clout this guy has with his father-in-law, the president of the united states. >> yeah. you wrote about this. it was a fascinating article. how many things in his portfolio? >> yeah. there's middle east peace, fixing the united states government, trade deals with china. >> china, canada and mexico. there's the opioid crisis. there was a funny story of the onion, folks had a do have government experience, career washington types who think, who is this 36-year-old kid coming in to get in this huge portfolio and telling us what to do some the onion article said that kushner would push back, fixing the mideast to next week his calendar, on his outlook calendar and that got a lot of sort of chuckles among white house staff. my sources tell me that he didn't see it. whether that's true or not, it does speak to the way in which he has blocked out a lot of the criticism. from inside the white house and from washington more generally, questioning h

ryan crocker, former abbasid or to iraq. one of your posts from 2007 to 2009 in the washington post. the iraqi prime minister. "my country needs more help from the u.s." weeks ago io visited iraqi troops in western to liberate the city. by any standard they are heroes. i did not ask their religious, regional or ethnic origins. i saw them for what they were. together.nding having spilled our blood together to win this war, we want to work together to win the peace." then about visiting president trump at the conference in washington. spokedent trump and i about how to build on the rategic amewk our country signed in 2008. that strategic framework." what did that the fine? guest: that was negotiated during my time in baghdad. agreementry broad es forutlines bas cooperation, obviously in the security field or on economic issues and so forth. .t is a very good touchstone i don't say that just because i'm the one who signed it. it is a way of shaping our relationship with an iraq that is a strategic partner. iraq has never been t

i didn't want to go into iraq and i fought it. >> are you for invading iraq? here he is on libya. >> it is killing thousands of people. nobody knows how bad it is. we should go in. it would be very easy and very quick. we could do it surgically and save these lives. >> he said i was in fay very of libya? we would be so much better off in gadhafi were in charge right now. >> what is constant about donald trump is he is very easily w wayed. >>> now trump is being praised for being decisive and showing strength. what less son do you think he is going to learn from that? >> look, what happened was horrible. i think we could have done a lot of things before we actually went to strikes. we should have tried on assad and russia. if and when there was no other measures left then we could have considered doing this. i don't know what's going to happen. i don't know what the strategic next step is going to be. what happens when it gets escalated where syria starting attacks that are operating with some of our rebel allies. it can get pretty quickly out of hand. trump ow

our country is active in iraq and afghanistan. i think that the stabilization work will be decisive, the stabilization work of iraq after the military defeat we expect for daesh. we know this action against terrorism must take place within our own individual countries in andpe, with the social cultural commitment against radicalization, by cooperating with islamic communities. italy contributes to peace and stability in the mediterranean. where i believe the u.s. choice to react to the use of chemical weapons by bashir a negotiatedere solution is more necessary than ever. in libya, and we discussed this, where we need to work against the division of the country in order to stabilize it. this is a very decisive task. if we want to manage the migratory flows. values giving up on our and our humanitarian principles. and we need to contrast the horrible traffic of people and refugees. about commonspoken statements in nato and the goals that were identified in 2014 and the commitments on military expenses and the contribution that each

we didn't do it in iraq.and we realized it would take a long time and a lot of troops and we didn't want to make the commitment. and we ain't doing it in syria either. >> all right, guys. i want to ask you to stick around because i want to go over to london real quick and bring in the chair of contemporary middle eastern studies at the london school of political science. great to have you with us. let's talk a little bit what we were just discussing and that is the implications of what we saw tonight on some of the multiple threads, if you will, that are unfold manage the battle inside syria. do you envision tonight as being a tipping point of some sorts? does it change the dynamic? does it change the battlefield whatsoever andus closer to an end game in this syrian civil war? >> no, i don't. i take it any particular military action should be part of a broader strategy. part of a strategic vision. if you ask me what's the strategic vision of the trump administration, i would say his vision or his result is is

iraq were us personnel are outnumbered 50—1?onnel are outnumbered 50—1? —— wherelj iraq were us personnel are outnumbered 50-1? -- where. i am sure you have thought about the a nswer of sure you have thought about the answer of russia. that is the biggest question. iran sent out a message today that is very important. they condemned bashar al—assad's use of chemical weapons. that is telling. they are worried about this new push towards pulling russia away from iran. and they are the odd man out tonight. so, how do you expect them to respond? well, in syria, they have limited opportunity to respond. in iraq, and iraqi proxy leaders, like two iranian proxy leaders, like two iranian proxy leaders, if you go against iranian interests in syria we will attack and kill americans. we have known about this for 18 months. we have taken precautions about this for 18 months. we have ta ken precautions hopefully about this for 18 months. we have taken precautions hopefully to make sure we are on a high alert and intelligence services are loo

there are 5,000 to 7,000 americans in iraq?rican troops working with the iraqi forces, in iraq, the flight islamic state, especially around mosul at the moment. —— to fight. if the shia militias, backed by iran, start to target them, that would be a throwback to the worst days of the occupation, when these militias were targeted by either iranian proxies are by sunni islamists. that's certainly something that the americans wouldn't want to revive. we will see if that happens that's a possible scenario. i not aware that it has been threatened, but it's a possibility. we do have some state m e nts possibility. we do have some statements from the us official. i was listening to you talking about russia with ben.. it is now apparent that russia has failed to uphold the commitments it made in 2013 to ensure the elimination of the syrian chemical weapons programme. russia faces a choice. either it takes responsibility for ensuring that assad complies with the removal of these weapons, as russia committed it would do, or it admits tha

we see a completely new approach to north korea and syria and also the rock. -- iraq. a strong message regarding the iranian regime and we are satisfied and have enough patience to wait for concrete steps. >> thank you, everyone. >> tomorrow is earth day and then washington, d.c., protesters will begat bring for the march for science rally with speeches from scientists and activists as well as musical performances. you can watch our live coverage on c-span and c-span.org. or you can listen live with the c-span radio app. mcculloughk, david on his book the american spirit. a selection of the speeches going back to 1989. books about a dozen joe mccarthy. there was no biography of the senator who had the backbone to stand up to them first. >> do you remember how you went about preparing for that speech? >> hardest i've ever worked on anything i've ever delivered from a podium. sunday night at 8:00 on c-span's q&a. c-span, where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies. it is brought to you today by your

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no iraq, there are no iraqis.ner sees things, talks iraq's prime minister, that's to the better. >> exactly. also, places like iraq and syria, anderson, american diplomats have very little role. essentially, the military has taken on almost the entirety of american foreign policy. they're the ones that are there on the ground. they're the ones that are interacting on a day by day basis with local officials and local military. whether it's the future of syria we're talking about or the future of iraq, it's really the american military that is -- that represents and holds the cards for the united states. again, from where i sit, this is a useful trip. >> is it clear to you where foreign policy decisions are being made in this administration? obviously, secretaries of state, defense have gone overseas and said things which contradict trump in iraq the last time saying we're not going to take iraq's oil. how concerning is it that the secretary of state may not be in on some of the meetings, may not have the ear of the

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much of iraq's infrastructure destroyed. iraq said hundreds of troops and civilians were killed. it wasn't the first strike to punish the regime. in 1993, two years after the first gulf war, 23 cruise missiles were launched into downtown baghdad, a warning after an assassination plot was discover against george bush. colin powell was the joint chief of staffs at the time. >> should mr. hussein dream of retaliate, we have enough force to deal with it. >> reporter: punitive attacks have been used in retaliation for murders of americans. in 1986, libyan strongman moammar ghadafi was said to be behind a bombing of a disco. two servicemen were killed. 60 rounds of munition rained down on ghadafi's compound in tripoli. >> at 7:00 eastern time, air and naval forces of the united states, launched a series of strikes against the headquarters, terrorist facilities and military assets that support moammar ghadafi's military facilities. >> the smallest child, an adopted daughter, was killed. >> today, we have done what we had to do. if necessary, we shall do it again. >> reporter: ghadafi su

congressman reuben gallegos, representing arizona, and an iraq war veteran. he sits on house armed services, congressman, thank you very much for coming in. you were against this particular use of force, i must say, when a lot of americans woke up this morning and saw what was admittedly propaganda video of planes taking off from this relatively very small compact airport. they wondered what that was all about the night before. what was that attack about in your view? >> well, that is the problem, we don't know. it was an impulsive attack. we have no strategy about what is the next step or what is the strategy of the overall strategy in syria. we're playing with too many sides right now. and you know as somebody who has fought in the iraq war i don't want us to trip into another war in the middle east. this is the danger of praising this type of attack when in the end there is no military goal right now. and we can essentially cause ourselves a lot of damage and even really destabilize the regime worse than it is now. >> the critics of the sean spicer briefin

president sent his son-in-law to visit troops in iraq to meet with u.s. advisers, u.s. troops, iraqi leaders, and get an update on how the battle against the jihadists is going. one of his photos has created a stir online. he looks hilariously preppy. he is dressed in a suit and tie with some nice-looking shades. this twitter user says how to -- whileattlefield another says the pyramid it is fashion week in baghdad. anchor: stick around for more headlines s coming up in just a moment. 04/07/17 04/07/17 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! pres. trump: tonight i ordered a targeted military strike on the airfield in syria from where the chemical attack was launched. , national this vital security interest of the united states to prevent editor the spread and use of deadly chemical weapons

they are trying to as i mentioned to undermine the stability even in yemen and iraq. their effort to create more proxies. i think it is selling that. i think that iran is clear that exist as their position it is is crucial to place more pressure and more sanctions on the regime. >> the next question will be from bob burns. can you confirm that israel estimates that the syrians retain between one and 3 tons of chemical weapons and can you provide any evidence that the is a case and a question in question for secretary matus. -- mattis will be the implication for this large quantity of chemical weapons still been in syria. it has moved the aircraft. what that might imply for future u.s. options. with the intelligence information. i clarified my position. sometimes that we had 100% permission at the regime that they used chemical weapons i think it was very clear position. and i strongly support the last one. it was very strong in a new message of this region. >> the bottom li is there can be no doubt in the international community that they had retained the violation. t