bush picked to run iraq, l. paul bremer, gave him one. >> and those who were on high before, in particular the baathists... >> narrator: he promised to purge the iraqi government. >> ...will be removed from office. >> narrator: he also issued an order that disbanded the entire iraqi military. >> you had something on the order of 250,000 iraqi men, military age, all trained in using weapons. suddenly, they were all out of a job. >> narrator: the powerful message: saddam and his sunni-controlled army were no longer in charge. >> army was the central instrument of saddam's repression of the kurds and the shia. i think the decision not to recall saddam's army, from a political point of view, is the single most important correct decision that we made in the 14 months we were there. >> narrator: but on the ground, the american military commanders could feel the effects. >> the effect, frankly, was devastating. i think that's where the seeds of what became the sunni insurgency were largely planted. >> we had, you know,

in iraq alone, in the biggest sunni province in iraq they killed 250 sunni scholars to evacuate iraq and sunni towns from any religious scholars. most of the hinge men were from north africa. it didn't start after the arab spring but was always there. al-qaeda established a committee in afghanistan just to focus on the actions. they sent him a letter saying what are you doing. take it easy about the killing like this and guess what? why do you behead people? a bullet can do the job. they are not arguing with him about the killing. they are all for the killing. but how do you do it? beheading? man, it makes people just don't like us. think about the brand. we are brand for that. so, the difference between the leadership in afghanistan is actually the root of the division and the global jihad movement we see later on between al-qaeda and isis; right? because isis is the group that was established in iraq. hopefully after you read the chapter, you know everything about the iraq war and then you can make our own judgment was the iraq war worth it or not because i look at it from their pe

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

i remember in northern iraq where i spend a lot of time in the buildup to the iraq war i wanted to hang out with these fishmonger fighters. he said bring a goat. it is a sign of respect and they will take you in on it so it is things like that go a long way. i would like to bring the conversation back. this is true there is a bottle of debate. that's one conversation we can have, but a lot of people in the middle east find it hard to believe that it is incompetent. whether or not that is true ise another debate. but a lot of people over there think it is by design and that has to be relevant to the conversation we are having here and if it is incompetent or by design that is little comfort to the people on the ground and that are living their lives against these simplistic modes. it's not just the latest. these are the analysis of the conflict. this is how they see it and it should have relevance. >> they are just kind of incompetence. they don't necessarily know buth then what does that mean to them. are you telling us if they didn't want him gone for example he wouldn't be gone beats

the only time we got iraq right was 2007 and 2008.nd thatt, we left, led to the security void that led to isis. even know we have been there for 10 to 13 years, if you'd change strategy every year, you'll never get anywhere. >> to talk about the situation now, the weakening of the islamic state group, to what extent would you say diverted interest have been able to align in a common fight against the islamic state group? >> there are so many conflicting interests in the region and global players. >> iran, russia, and syria are not fighting isis. they are trying to keep them out of power, and every now and then they will hit isis, but they are hitting the al qaeda affiliate with a new name. -- in iraq, iran is fighting isis. they want to make sure there isn't a sunni threat from iraq, they label everybody isis. you have all of these groups saying they are fighting isis, but very few actually are. >> quickly can you give us a sense of the outlook? where things going to go from here, the stabilization of syria and iraq? >> the day after

when we went to iraq the second time, we did not go into iraq understanding the implications of gulf. we did need to do it. don't know anyone that thought there were nukes there, but we all thought that there were met-- weapons of mass destruction in the form of chemical weapons and if you read the iraqi documents they wanted us to think that. why would they do that? so they look like they guys standing up to the gringos which was kind of saddam's thing. if you are bullied you have two look like you the tools to back it up, so how do you learn from that? you only learn from it if you recognize that first and foremost problem was bad termination decisions made in 91 and nor war termination planning and 2003. we never should have terminated by saying hey, it's over let's let the iraqis rebuild themselves. excusing, that's not how it works and if you take the army out the only thing controlling anything you will probably not get a good outcome and we have not got a good outcome. we could've gone to afghanistan, not the taliban that xavier leaving, but if you do this again we are coming b

happening in iraq no. no. you heard about civilian casualties in iraq oh. i think i have heard something about we have a video of someone talking about it here it is just the at the little when the war planes come they strike multi-storied buildings where the terrorists are but they're also civilians in that house how can the plane strike then more civilians die than terrorists so civilians were. there are helping eisel or being used as hostages or as protection against u.s. armed forces so that they wouldn't attack that house in order to get to ice so how are we supposed to take care of that and not kill innocent civilians if indeed they're innocent secretary of defense matters he says that two billion cattle thieves are a fact of life in this sort of situation do you agree with that oh no not at all you know all life is precious you know and nobody does really but that's the line they use always and it's in reality there will always be some civilian casualty but it shouldn't be if that life you know for

syria and iraq matter a lot to iran. yemen and bahrain matter quite a bit to iran but don't matter in quite the same way. whereas yemen and bahrain matter an awful lot to our partners in the gulf council and the gcc. and particularly to saudi arabia. and so even though iran has certain strategic interests in both those areas, they have ideological interests in those areas. they have certain religious interests with the shia populations in those areas that they want to outreach to and build relationships with and influence kind of missionary work as i call it. funnel fundamentally it doesn't follow the needs theys have for hezbollah and lebanon and relationship with assad and the need to protect their interests and investments they have in iraq. their investments in yemen and bahrain is based on the saudis. the saudis feel like they have to respond in those situations. and the iranians only need to invest a little bit in those places to drive very significant reactions from the saudis and to lesser degree the others. when

so that was iraq. so we went to afghanistan, and when you read history in afghanistan from 1823 to 1923, the british tried to civilize the place and got continuously murdered on the way out when they were leaving the place saying they were leaving the place, and then they'd come back and try it again. and then the russians tried it. so the question is, in the human condition can we learn from history in and that's your purpose in writing. and i gave you two examples that one guy did and the other, the whole united states didn't know a damn thing about afghanistan. and we still don't. we're trying to civilize the place. it works like north american natives. it's tribal. and we want to make a democracy? so anyway, my question is, do you really believe what you wrote can make a difference to the human condition? >> well, that's an easy question. [laughter] i do believe or -- [laughter] the whole thing is, you know, first of all, i would say -- it's nice to talk about tactics and that kind of thing, but th

equally in iraq, iran's role in iraq has been, over the years, essentially buttressed by the war americaoing better in our relations with the government in iraq. quite successful in mosul, in rolling back isis. i don't know where to begin to respond first time here in london, part of a group called united against nuclear iran. we are focused on businesses in 2008. to observe the economic sanctions, not doing business in iran. since the iran nuclear agreement, we have been saying to businesses do not rush in there. it is a high risk situation for any business. a lot of the other sanctions are still there. you may suffer economically. it remains a place where there is not really rule of law. tremendous corruption. a dominant influence by the iranian revolutionary guard corps, which as been designated a terrorist organisation. any business doing business with it may subject itself to crippling sanctions. we don't have much time left. quickfire thoughts on the role america in the world today under trump. trump said he would rip up the deal with the iranians. it is quite clear he will not. he

on the ground the government of iraq sorry the government of burma released over sixty children from its ranks just last friday and there are continued new reports of children being recruited by the national armed forces and human rights watch has documented recruitment of children by militia units in iraq throughout two thousand and sixteen and the united nations has said itself that children fighting in these military units have been killed while fighting against isis so the new list is unfortunately a lie it's saying that burma and iraq have no child soldiers when in fact we know that it's a continuing problem a continuing problem why are they trying to brush it under the carpet and she think . it's hard to say political calculations are probably at play here and we're emerging congress to ask questions about what the process is that state department used to come up with the list this year reports are that secretary chiller son actually over his own diplomats and his own staff to take burma and iraq off the list this year. joe you able to do the job is just going to be you able to

air strikes over iraq, delivering 1,900 weapons into iraq and syria. let's not forget, mr. speaker, that it was this prime minister who altered our approach to targeting enemy combatants in syria and iraq, so that our forces are empowered to act against isis in iraq and syria, no matter where they are or where what they are doing. so long as they belong to the group of terrorists that we seek to eliminate. in response to a nato request, the australian government has agreed to increase the australian defense force's mission to afghanistan by 30 personnel for around 270 do around 300. these additional personnel will further development the long-term capabilities of the afghan security forces as part of our current train, advise and assist mission. they will not be in combat roles and we remain in discussion request nato officials -- with nato officials. an increase of contribution to the resolute support mission is part of australia not just being a supporter of the war on terror, but being capable of taking part in it. in an effective and meaningful way. i thank the oppositi

back then, is controlled vast regions of iraq neighbouring syria.prolonged battles and countless military offensives in both countries, is has been pushed back to the cities of raqqa in syria and mosul in iraq. in both places, they are now surrounded and fighting for survival. we'll be reporting from syria in a moment, but first this report from our correspondent orla guerin, and cameraman nicolas hameon in the old city of mosul. on the front line. gunfire. covering fire, as troops dart into position. wejoined them, pushing forward but keeping low. there's an is sniper ahead. they can see his hiding place, and he can see them. a heavily armed brigade from iraq's emergency response division, held up by the sniper‘s creed. one shot, one kill. but they manage to press on across the rubble of a hospital complex, treacherous terrain, closing in on the last remaining is fighters. this was their main base in mosul. some are in the next building. but not for long. "please warn unit two that those is guys are on the move", he says. "thank god we don't have a

iraq and syria. and let's not forget, mr. speaker, it was this prime minister who altered our approach to argentinaing enemy combatant in syria and iraq so that our forces are empowered to act against isis in iraq and syria no matter where they as long as they belong to group of terrorists we seek to eliminate. also in australia's national interest to ensure afghanistan is nor again a haven for terrorist. in spontaneity to request the australian government has agreed continue crease the special forces mission by 30 personnel to around 300. these additional personnel with develop a long-term camability of the afghan security forces ace part our advice and assist mission. they will not be in combat rolls and the chief of defense force is in discussion with the navy officials regarding the allocation for additional forces. increase in the support mission is part of australia not just bag supporter of the war on terror but being capable of taking part in it in an effective meaningful way and i thank the

in syria iraq and syria.hat is still the key mission. there is still some evidence that isis sees this as a training center for the export of terrorism. it is certainly not something where you can say there are any guarantees that you are going to achieve stability. there is no clear way that you can win this war without winning , as the last caller pointed out, in the civil dimension. there is far less planning their then there is in the military planning. what i do think deserves serious consideration, the costs are way down. i think the previous callers hit on an issue that is rather strange for our country. iraq, been at war in syria, and afghanistan since 2003. or in the case of syria, 2012. we have never once officially reported on the costs of those wars. the only estimates come from what is being done by a congressional research service which are not official. one of the reasons that callers were quoting those high figures -- and they should be higher if you are looking at the total amount -- those fi

he teaches us affairs and was a colonel in iraq, speaking to us was a colonel in iraq, speaking to us group and the battle for masul. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news. the united states has urged china to put more pressure on north korea over its nuclear and missile programmes. the secretary of state rex tillerson said beijing had a diplomatic responsibility to act if it wanted to ease tension in the region. police in chile have used tear gas and water cannons to disperse a group of students protesting over education reforms. hundreds marched in the capital, santiago, arguing that president bachelet has not done enough to improve the quality and access to higher education. hundreds of mourners, including portugal's president and prime minister, have attended the funeral of a firefighter killed, battling deadly forest fires that swept the country this week. in castanheira de pera, he was laid to rest, one of the worst affected areas. the fires which broke out in central portugal on saturday have killed 64 people and injured 150 others. buckingham palace sa

some of the civilians caught up in the fighting in iraq. we know that the fighting in iraq.e fighting in iraq. we know that the fighting in iraq and neighbouring syria has led to millions of people fleeing into neighbouring countries like lebanon. we are going to look at the experience of one family which has had to do that and look at the issue of medical care. the un says covering all of the costs of medical ca re covering all of the costs of medical care that refugees need is proving incredibly hard. the bbc‘s lina sinjab spoke with one family of syrian refugees, whose son is being treated for cancer. it is playtime for ammash ammash, but his playground is a hospital ward. at four years old, he has been receiving chemotherapy for most of his life for leukaemia. the doctor tries to cheer him up, while doing a regular checkup. but it is still too painful. ammash and his family come from minbij, in war—torn aleppo. his father works as a handyman and hardly makes enough to feed his family. he tells me that the un doesn't cover cancer treatment and he has been seeking ngos‘ he

iraq has paid a high price for this bottle. losing many young brothers in arms yeah i'm a public official ida casada we lost many months is here. all of them young. i miss them. the families met them. and the company misses them them but they didn't die for nothing. they died for this country. lunch today another fallen soldier carried from the battlefield. after troops reached what's left of the al nuri mosque. twelfth century treasure. it was here the i. s. leader proclaimed himself ruler of all muslims. i s. blew up the mosque last week. the liberation of most sold may be at hand but it won't free everyone here. at least not from their memories. go hide i felt how mohammed abdel karim was held at this makeshift i. s. prison right behind his own house. just for repairing mobile phones energize you want a job it will play in the machine hadi they brought a prisoner here and tied him to a tee. you my good and i should i love. that i can usually they put water all over his body. my guilty so we got a book then they brought to a

ince october 2014, there have been more than 2300 air strikes iraq, delivering 1900 syria.intoes iraq and let's not forget, mr. speaker, this prime minister halted our targeting enemy combatant necessary syria and forces will act against isis in iraq and syria no matter where they are or what doing, so long as they belong to the group of terrorists that we seek to eliminate. it was -- also in australia ational interest to ensure afghanistan never again becomes haven for terrorists. another request, the australian government agreed to increase strained defense to afghanistan by 30 personnel for around 270 to 300. additional personnel will urther develop long-term capabilities of the afghan security forces as part of assist mission that will not be in combat role and chief discussion se is in with officials regarding the past allegation for additional we confirmed in coming weeks. increase in contribution to is part pport mission of australia, not just being supporter of the war on terror, capable of taking part in an effective and meaningful way and opposition, the opposition and the m

since october 14 there's been more than 3000 airstrikes over iraq delivering 1900 weapons into iraq and syria. let's not forget it was this prime minister who opened her approach so our forces are power to act against isis and iraq and syria no matter where they areri what they're doing slowing as they belong to the group of terrorists that we seek to eliminate. it's also the national interest to ensure afghanistan never again becomes a haven for terrorists. ninte in response to a request the government has agreed to increase the mission to afghanistan by 30 personnel for around 300. additional personnel will develop long-term capabilities of the afghan security forces as part of a group trade company advise and assist position. w they will not be combat roles. in increase in a sterling contribution as part of australia not just in the support of the war on terror but incapable of taking part of it. i think the opposition for their continued bipartisan approach to these matters in support. >> despite having committed to the full suite of the coalition measures on border patrol, the coal

and so, things could have been very different in iraq without that. think more recently it seems like we certainly explore that in places like syria. but our enemies do seem to be catching on and have become more careful in using encryption, other means to hide they are doing. some of our enemies or using drones against his peers some of our adversaries are getting better at cyber warfare. i think in terms of what special forces do, it is hard to say because we don't know what the next conflict, goods argument conventional war, we could easily i think see war with north korea or iran or possibly even china. and in those wars you have technology that we probably did not anticipate. i think in the brushfire wars in the middle east we will probably maintain an edge but it seems that we are not going to necessarily solve any of these problems through our technological superiority. >> thank you doctor mark moyar for coming to the discussion today and leading us. thinking to the audience for coming to the heritage foundation. a reminder that this is on our

coalition is more than willing to update the world on its activities against the islamic state in iraq and syria who have successfully been able to take ground from isis already in rocca i recently walked the streets of east and west mosul and i saw for myself that markets and their businesses are reopening so things are moving around the city and living their lives however u.n. investigators paint a very different picture of rock intensification of strikes we each have behaved at the ground for the events in iraq has resulted not to all the staggering loss of see if you don't life but because also led to two hundred hundred sixty thousand civilians fleeing their homes. in devon to displease the united states insists that less than five hundred civilians have been killed throughout the entire campaign over the last three years in iraq and syria however the united nations points out that three hundred civilians have been killed in the last four months in iraq alone and the situation in mosul is even worse this is just one example one of these strikes in the area that somewhere between f

us later strikes have killed hundreds of civilians in the area surrounding iraq in syria according to a u.n. panel the islamic state stronghold is under siege by us by local forces with the support of western warplanes across the border in iraq. also rising in mosul which being under a similar seats for months not rights groups queues the u.s. coalition of using incendiary weapons near civilians in boats in what could potentially a month to war crimes kill it mocked in our reports the u.s. coalition is more than willing to update the world on its activities against the islamic state in iraq and syria who have successfully been able to take ground from isis already in rocca i recently walked the streets of east and west mosul i saw for myself that markets and their businesses are reopening so things are moving around the city and living their lives however u.n. investigators paint a very different picture of rock intensification of the strikes we each have believe that the ground for the advances in iraq has resulted not only staggering loss of see if you don't live but because also le

one us general describes it as a crime against all the people of iraq.rica's secretary of state insists china has a responsibility to try to force north korea to scrap its nuclear weapons. i'm babita sharma in london. also in the programme: this is the scene live in iowa where president trump is looking to kickstart his agenda after victory for the republicans. and the hug that wasn't. senator marco rubio misses the mark when he tries to embrace ivanka trump. the iraqi military is reporting that so called islamic state have blown up one of the most famous landmarks in the city of mosul. the announcement came from iraqi forces who were very close to the mosque as they pushed ahead with their offensive to retake the is stronghold. an image of the past. the al—nuri mosque in most all which had stood nearly eight centuries with its famous minarets. from above, drone footage shows it's now flattened one of them old city's most famous historical sites, a shadow of its former self. u.s.—led coalition forces claim: however, is claims us aircraft destroyed the mo

around the province of dohuk in northern iraq. hundreds of thousands of yazidis have fled to this kurdish region to escape the so-called islamic state. this camp, called sharia, provides refuge to yazidi women and their children. sewing courses offer a welcome diversion, at least for a few hours. we talk to susanne. she escaped with her four children just a few months ago. other family members are still missing. while in captivity, susanne was raped repeatedly. >> they were disgusting -- so dirty, with matted hair, dirty weapons, barefoot, sometimes with just one arm. we were a group of 25 women. they sold us to the fighters. i tried to kill myself, but it didn't work. >> for the past two and half years, german-kurdish psychotherapist jan kizilhan has come to northern iraq regularly to visit the refugees. >> the psychiatric problems have gotten much, much worse. many of the refugees are severely traumatized. they've been mistreated and raped for three years. women in particular and young children who've been forced to fight just a

it as a crime against all the people of iraq.responsibility to try to force north korea to scrap its nuclear weapons. and shots have been fired by two teenagers in germany targeting the king of thailand. the king, who spends much of his time in germany, was cycling late at night with his entourage near munich airport. that story is popular on bbc.com. let's ta ke let's take a look at some of the front pages from around the world, now. the japan times is reporting on the electronics giant toshiba, which is due to sell its computer memory chip business. it's chosen a japanese government—led conglomerate formed ofjapanese, south korean and us investors as the preferred bidder for the sale which the paper says will quell fears of technology being leaked to china. more on uberfrom the financial times, saying the company is facing a leadership vacuum after the departure of travis kalanic. the newspaper reports the move has divided investors after it left the tech group with its top three executive posts vacant. and the south china morn

on the ground in iraq in syria fighting against isis aided by coalition forces in iraq there's iraqi coalition forces that some are shia some looking towards iran but we're using those as allies that's in our interest so courtney let me ask you this how does this and syria has been engaged in this civil war civil conflict since twenty eleven far longer than anyone predicted is there a diplomatic solution or is this just going to be a fight to the death well it is a fight to the death and has been a fight it's not going to end with any bad news it's there still going on but if you've ever been endure an airstrike which i hope you haven't been this is out of booms enough to terrorize the population major jets u.s. fighter jets screaming over syria is not what anybody wants but they also don't want to see u.s. special forces how does it how does it end it and eventually first with isis that's the u.s. is goal to get rid of isis but then they have to figure out some to pull out a magic solution and it has to and you have to get into the table with the iranians you have to come to the tab

it's been the gateway from syria to iraq for over ten years. >> glor: you talk about the i.s.i.s. propaganda, part of it is the russian propaganda. >> yes. >> glor: their involvement and their willingness to be seen involved is big. >> yes, and a part of the russia military doctrine is information war fair pre-seeds kinetic measure. they lie and lie very well -- well, sometimes not so well -- but this would be a piece of what is the russian strategy at the moment particularly with the donald trump presidency which is to bring the united states into the russian camp or russian orbit in their definition of a so-called war on terror. so america stop with democracy promotion and regime change, let's link arms and go after the terrorist, namely islamic terrorists. so for them to take credit and pound their chest and say we got the world's number one bad guy is a piece of that. but they're already walking back their own assessment, he's dead to "we may have killed him." there was a russian airstrike, the pentagon confirmed that, but what and who they were hitting, we have no idea. >> gl

in mosul, iraq. wherever you're watching from around the world thanks very much for joining us. >>> up first, trying to bput th breaks on north korea. the south korean leader and president trump spoke in the rose garden just a little while ago. president trump saying the art ra of strategic patient with north korea has failed and is now over. >> we're working closely with south korea and japan as well as partners around the world on a range of differentmatic security and economic measures to protect our allies and our own citizens from this menace known as north korea. the united states calls on other regional powers and all responsible nations to join us in implementing sanctions and demanding that the north korean regime choose a better path and do it quickly. >>> go to our senior white house reporter jim acosta. jim, sounds like the president wants new sanctions, tougher action against north korea right now? >> reporter: sure sounds like it, wolf. you heard there in the rose garden with the south

one general calls it a "crime against all iraq." queen's speech dominated by brexit and missing some key conservative manifesto pledges. re—drawing the saudi line of succession. king salman replaces his nephew with his son as heir to the throne. and fighting to preserve the future of our planet. scientists in bolivia are storing ice from ancient glaciers before it's too late. the iraqi and us military say islamic state militants have blown up the great al—nuri mosque in mosul and its famous leaning minaret. the mosque is where abu bakr al—baghdadi made his only public appearance as the leader of is, after announcing a new caliphate three years ago. the us military described it as a crime against the people of mosul and of all iraq. it has denied an allegation by the jihadists that an american air strike was to blame. frankie mccamley reports. an image of the past: the grand al—nuri mosque in mosul, which had stood for over eight centuries with its famous leaning minaret. from above, drone footage shows it's now flattened. one of the

i've been speaking to lisa grande — the un humanitarian co—ordinator in iraq.e 100- 150,000 i think it's very clear that the 100—150,000 civilians who are still trapped in the old city of mosul are facing extreme risk. it includes being used as human shields and we know that families who are trying to escape from the old city to safety are being directly targeted. we estimate that at least 30% of all the people who have been shot at women and children. we also know that people trapped inside mosul asked suffering from food deprivation. it's very hot right now in mosul and we know water supply has been cut for a long time and that means families don't have saved rikki water. do you think the immediate challenge will be in cabinet your team scope on the ground? -- drinking water. we estimate 750,000 people would flee. already, even before the old city has been reta ken, already, even before the old city has been retaken, 900,000 civilians have left mosul. in other words, we have left mosul. in other words, we have surpassed the worst case. having said that, we ha