were arrested and accused by the fbi of plotting to send weapons and money to al qaeda in iraq. one of the men arrested had openly discussed his prior experience as an insurgent in iraq and the ied attacks he participated against u.s. troops. the fingerprints of the other iraqi refugee charged were traced by the fbi to a component of an unexploded ied that was recovered by u.s. forces in northern iraq. in the wake of these arrests, dhs secretary janet napolitano and others have publicly acknowledged that security checks have been expanded to the more than 58,000 iraqi refugees who had already been settled in the united states. according to press reports this past february, intelligence indicates that the threat posed by refugees with ties to al qaeda is much broader than was previously believed. fbi director robert mueller stated last year during congressional testimony before the house intelligence committee that he continues to be concerned with "individuals who may have been resettled here in the united states that have some association with al qaeda in iraq." there are also r

one fact i want to point out is al-qaeda in iraq, which is an affiliate of al-qaeda central and was a big threat in iraq, is now heavily involved in the syria con thright under the front, and one reason it's able to do that is because we took our forces out of iraq in 2011. if we had just several thousand forces there working with iraqi special operations forces, i believe we could have attenuated the growth of al-qaeda in iraq, this iraq, and its influence in syria. it's an inadvertent consequence of the removal of all american forces at the end of 2011. >> host: your book gave insight into the syria connection as you call it, general david petraeus at the time repeatedly sought to visit damascus during the bush administration over the war in iraq. talk a little about that. >> guest: yeah, i mean, in the book i had to assess the generalship of general petraeus and his predecessor, general casey and those who followed him, and i actually got access, not through petraeus, certainly, but to some of the communications he sent back to the pentagon, his sort of weekly letters, and i came t

he had already started to build an al qaeda in iraq infrastructure that leveraged sunni fear. it is pretty important to view how we saw it. i took over in the fall of 2003. i went to iraq. i got there in october. immediately, it was obvious to me that the situation in iraq was much worse than it appeared from from afar. i was coming out of the pentagon. it was clearly unsettled. it looked much worse than we had thought. the first hope was that if we got saddam hussein, that would solve the problem. we made an effort to do that. in december, we picked up saddam. it became obvious that, as one of my guys described, a bunch of former miss -- regime guys were not really running the beginning of the resistance, the beginning of the insurgency. zarqawi had started to build a network that took trained people, or iraqi sunnis -- trained people, iraqi sunnis, who had been dislocated from their position in society, sometimes government, sometimes military might and they were terrified of the shia, which was going to be dominant in the future. you had this combination of factors that was

one fact i would like to point out as al qaeda in iraq, which is initially at of al qaeda central and was a big threat in iraq is now heavily involved in the syrian conflict under the moniker on this front. and one reason it is able to do that is that we took all of our forces out of iraq and 2011. if we had just several thousand forces working with the iraqi special operations forces, i believe we could have attenuated the growth of al qaeda and iraq and its influence and syria so this is another who consequence of the removal and all of the american forces at the end of 2011. >> host: you've offered more insight into the connection as you call it. the general david petraeus at time to consult to visit damascus. talk a little bit about that. >> guest: in the book iss general petraeus and his predecessor general casey and those that followed him and got access notte through petraeus certainly but some of the communications sent back to the pentagon, his sort of weekly letters, and i've come to the conclusion general petraeus did a very good job and the surge he oversaw work to militar

in common for all of these organizations. calling them al qaeda is loose association. a few years earlier, they invited the city terrorists in iraq to join them as well. so you get these offshoots that are only loosely connected organizations. but they do have a similar theological and political agenda. >> how much of a threat do they represent to americans here? >> of algeria is an important energy exporter and an important country. this is a threat to of jury out. we see the expansion of rebels and these groups coming in, this is a potent threat and a huge area that needs to be dealt with. >> to syria where the bbc team has found evidence of a massacre that takes place on the edge of palms. our international correspondent has just returned from the village and it contains images some viewers might find distressing. >> of the army took the stand. the villages just around the corner from -- the army took us in. the village is just around the corner. there is a powerful sense of shock. one woman starts telling her story as soon as she sees us. they stormed into my house, she told me. they slapped my face, they stripped me and my d

in common for all of these organizations. calling them al qaeda is loose association. a few years earlier, they invited the city terrorists in iraq to join them as well. so you get these offshoots that are only loosely connected organizations. but they do have a similar theological and political agenda. >> how much of a threat do they represent to americans here? >> of algeria is an important energy exporter and an important country. this is a threat to of jury out. we see the expansion of rebels and these groups coming in, this is a potent threat and a huge area that needs to be dealt with. >> to syria where the bbc team has found evidence of a massacre that takes place on the edge of palms. our international correspondent has just returned from the village and it contains images some viewers might find distressing. >> of the army took the stand. the villages just around the corner from -- the army took us in. the village is just around the corner. there is a powerful sense of shock. one woman starts telling her story as soon as she sees us. they stormed into my house, she told me. they slapped my face, they stripped me and my d

in a jury is a self-described eco-ti of abu musab al-zarqawi. he sees himself as very much an acolyte of the late zarqawi. and zarqawi's organization, al qaeda in iraq, has today produced an offshoot, the front in syria which promises i think to be one of the most dangerous al qaeda fronts we've ever seen. so he may be dead but his legacy is still with us. so i'd like to start the conversation, general, by asking you for your impressions of zarqawi looking back now, how serious and dangerous figure he was have a decade ago, and why he was at the top of the list of people to go after during the war in iraq. >> let me first thank michael hanlon. thanks for being here. and it's great, bruce, to see you. one heroes in terms of intelligence. and to be interrogated by the cia. i'll try not to break. yeah, abu musab al-zarqawi was a relatively young jordanian from a lower, or upper, lower upper class background our lord middle-class background i guess you'd say, upper lower class, who became radicalized while in prison, and then became associated with al qaeda, right to the end of the period in afghanistan. he then later when he appeared after the invasion

he had already started to build an al qaeda in iraq infrastructure that leveraged sunni fear. is pretty important to view how we saw it. i took over in the fall of 2003. i went to iraq. i got there in october. immediately, it was obvious to me that the situation in iraq was much worse than it appeared from from afar. i was coming out of the pentagon. it was clearly unsettled. it looked much worse than we had thought. the first hope was that if we got saddam hussein, that would solve the problem. we made an effort to do that. appeared from from afar. in december, we picked up saddam. it became obvious that, as one of my guys described, a bunch of former miss -- regime guys were not really running the beginning of the resistance, the beginning of the insurgency. zarqawi had started to build a network that took trained people, or iraqi sunnis -- trained people, iraqi sunnis, who had been dislocated from their position in society, sometimes government, sometimes military might and they were terrified of the shia, which was going to be dominant in the future. you had this combinati

united states were arrested and accused by the fbi of plotting to send weapons and money to al-qaeda in iraq one of the men arrested had openly discussed his prior experience as an insurgent in iraq and the ied attacks he participated in against u.s. troops. the fingerprints of the other iraqi refugee who was charged were traced by the fbi to a component of an unexploded ied that was recovered by u.s. forces in northern iraq. in the wake of these arrests, dhs secretary janet napolitano and others have publicly acknowledged security screenings have been expanded to more than 58,000 iraqi refugees who have already been settled in the united states. and according to press reports this february, intelligence indicates that the threat posed by refugees with ties to al-qaeda is much broader than previously believed. fbi director robert mueller stated last year during congressional testimony before the house intelligence committee that he continues to be concerned with, quote, individuals who have been resettled here in the united states that have some association with al-qaeda in iraq. there are a

in iraq. and, he oversaw the hunt for abu masab al-zarqawi, the leader of al qaeda in iraq who eventually died in a 2006 air strike. in afghanistan, mcchrystal was in charge of a broader strategy of counter-insurgency, using military and civilian means to try to reverse the taliban's momentum. a major test came with an offensive to retake and hold marjah, in helmand province, in early 2010. militarily, it looked like a success. but by may, he faced questions about how well it was going when it came to helping establish a competent, honest local government. >> does that now seem a little overly optimistic? >> no, it seems to me that it's a process. i think not even-- we are now at about 90 days. i expect it will take many months into the future before it becomes durable and permanent. >> warner: from the early days in 2009, the general had run into resistance over how many u.s. troops should be committed to the afghan war. there were 56,000 when he arrived, and he urged another 40,000 be sent. but in december, president obama announced a lower number in a speech at west point introducing the su

blair that the intervention in afghanistan and iraq would spread the threat of terrorism not reduce it that warning has proved sadly absolutely correct there was no al qaeda in iraq before we invaded there it's now had not spread to pakistan in the way that it has now since the invasion of afghanistan and the intervention in libya has led directly to the spread of al-qaeda in mali and we should at least have learnt by now but this is not the way in which you reduce the threat of terrorism which is actually a way in which you both straight in which you increase attractiveness to young people in the region it is something that identify with perhaps if they want to better relations with the muslim world they can start by bettering the relations with the muslim community in france itself that would be a far more significant step forward then bombing yet another muslim country has been for decades as the last was drew from vietnam ending its involvement in a war that cost both sides did both financially and physically the price paid to high for similar mistakes to be repeated but is also in a fortnight explains washington's foreign policy in recent years as ma

mcchrystal once led the hunt for terrorists in iraq and he told david martin about his decision to call in anisio air strike that killed the head of al qaeda in iraq, abu musab al-zarqawi. >> i had every expectation that his wife and children were there with him. >> reporter: getting him was just worth the price of killing innocents? >> this was a man who had notnot only personally been involved in killing but had literally precipitated thousands and thousands of deaths in iraq. his cruelty en masse was stunning. it was so necessary to stop him i didn't hesitate. >> pelley: mcchrystal now runs a consulting group and has just published a memoir. since the real estate implosion five years ago, major banks have been accused of fraudulentaccu tactics to foreclose on thousands of americans. well, today the u.s. government reached a settlement with ten banks who will pay eight and a half billion dollars and ben tracy found out about four million homeowners will be getting checks. >> reporter: 200 people showed up at this workshop at south losrt angeles last month trying to figure out if their banks improperly foreclosed on their homes. now many

blair that the intervention in afghanistan and iraq would spread the threat of terrorism not reduce it that warning has proved sadly absolutely correct there was no al qaeda in iraq before we invaded there it's not al-qaeda had not spread to pakistan in the way that it has now since the invasion of afghanistan and the intervention in libya has led directly to the spread of al-qaeda in mali and we should at least have learnt by now but this is not the way in which you reduce the threat of terrorism which is actually a way in which you both straight in which you increase attractiveness to young people in the region it is something that identify with it's been four decades since the us was. meant in a war that cost size dearly financially and physically the price paid was too high for similar mistakes to be repeated that as a park ny explains washington's foreign policy in recent years is making many doubt if the lessons were properly. sixty one year old ken dolls and is a husband father and retired firefighter four decades ago he was a member of the u.s. navy serving in vietnam every year we were there every day was like nine eleven for those people every d

blair that the intervention in afghanistan and iraq would spread the threat of terrorism not reduce it that warning has proved sadly absolutely correct there was no al qaeda in iraq before we invaded that there is no al qaeda had not spread to pakistan in the way that it has since the invasion of afghanistan and the intervention in libya has led directly to the spread of al qaida in mali and we should at least have learned by now but this is not the way in which to reduce the threat of terrorism which is actually a way in which you bolster it in which you increase attractiveness to young people in the region it is something that identify with perhaps if they want to better relations with the muslim world they can start by bettering the relations with the muslim community in france itself that would be a far more significant step forward than bombing yet another muslim country. the hostage crisis in algeria ask cause the british prime minister to postpone a much anticipated speech on the u.k.'s membership of the european union but a preview revealed david cameron's warning that c.k. may leave the blog and europe may fail more analysis of this in just a few

blair that the intervention in afghanistan and iraq would spread the threat of terrorism not reduce it that warning has proved sadly absolutely correct there was no al qaeda in iraq before we invaded there is no al qaeda had not spread to pakistan in the way that it has now since the invasion of afghanistan the intervention in libya has led directly to the spread of al-qaeda in mali now we should at least have learnt by know but this is not the way in which to reduce the threat of terrorism which is actually a way in which you both stricklin which increases attractiveness to young people in the region it is something that identify with. the funeral of freedom of information activists aaron swartz has been held in chicago a talented twenty six year old was facing a long jail sentence and huge fines when he took his own life coming up in just a minute from now we've got more live from new york on health sports was viewed within the hacking community and its legacy stay with us from the. world to the. science technology innovation hall believes developments from around russia we've got the future covered. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so fo

blair that the intervention in afghanistan and iraq would spread the threat of terrorism not reduce it that warning has proved sadly absolutely correct there was no al qaeda in iraq before we invaded there it's now al-qaeda had not spread to pakistan in the way that it has now since the invasion of afghanistan the intervention in libya has led directly to the spread of al-qaeda in mali now we should at least have learnt by now but this is not the way in which you reduce the threat of terrorism we can actually way in which you both for it in which you increase its attractiveness to young people in the region it is something that identify with in exactly one week israelis will head to the polls as the country holds a snap parliamentary election with the situation in the turbulent middle east heavily dependent on the outcome the whole world will be watching the vote closely then mrs arty's special coverage next tuesday. how will she with to really develop all settlement expansion isolate can there be peace with gaza what's next in relations with america will listen you know who survive his snuff election on january twenty second. israel decides on our. it's

blair that the intervention in afghanistan and iraq would spread the threat of terrorism not reduce it that warning has proved sadly absolutely correct there was no al qaeda in iraq before we invaded there is no al qaeda had not spread to pakistan in the way that it has now since the invasion of afghanistan the intervention in libya has led directly to the spread of al-qaeda in mali now we should at least have learnt by now but this is not the way in which to reduce the threat of terrorism we actually a way in which you both strictly increases attractiveness to young people in the region it is something that identify with. stripping protesters of the citizenship police brutality and the rest save a twitter posts already has seen it all and in the make sense of the. inhaling tear gas during a demonstration we reveal how he hadn't felt safe for some time even in his own home. u.s. state prosecutor was one freedom of information activist aaron swartz could kill himself stay with us for more on the life and legacy of the twenty six year old in just a minute along with some live analysis this is. a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you

and zarqawi's organization, al qaeda in iraq, has today produced an offshoot in syria which promises think to be one of the most dangerous al qaeda fronts we've ever seen. so he may be dead but his legacy is still with us. so i'd like to start the conversation, general, by asking you for your impressions of zarqawi looking back now. how serious and dangerous a figure he was half a decade ago and why he was at the top of the list of people to go after during the war in iraq. >> bruce, thanks. it's a pleasure, let me just first thank michael. i'm a devotee of michael and a friend for a long time. it's great to see you, bruce, one of my heros in terms of intelligence. and to be interrogated by the c.i.a. this morning. i'll try not to break. yeah, zarqawi was a relatively young jordanian from a lower or upper -- lower-upper class background or lower middle class background i guess you'd say, upper lower class, who became radicalized while in prison and then became a -- became associated with al qaeda right around the mujaheddin period in afghanistan. he then later, when he appeared after

in common for all of these organizations. calling them al qaeda is loose association. a few years earlier, they invited the city terrorists in iraq get these offshoots that are only loosely connected organizations. but they do have a similar theological and political agenda. >> how much of a threat do they represent to americans here? >> of algeria is an important energy exporter and an important country. this is a threat to of jury out. we see the expansion of rebels and these groups coming in, this is a potent threat and a huge area that needs to be dealt with. >> to syria where the bbc team has found evidence of a massacre that takes place on the edge of palms. our international correspondent has just returned from the village and it contains images some viewers might find distressing. >> of the army took the stand. the villages just around the corner from -- the army took us in. the village is just around the corner. there is a powerful sense of shock. one woman starts telling her story as soon as she sees us. they stormed into my house, she told me. they slapped my face they stripped me and my daughters. most of the killings

individuals who may have resettled here in the united states that have some association with al-qaeda in iraq. the report indicated that there were some 300 names of iraqi refugees for further investigation. mr. bartlett and then the other panelists, can you update this committee on the status of rii'' screening process and explain what steps were taken in the event of a person with refugee status having some sort of association with al-qaeda? >> i can assure you that there is close cooperation with all law enforcement agencies like the fbi. the data we hold in our systems is shared with them on these types of cases. our cooperation with the department home in security to further these kind of information sharing. i would need to return defer to dhs with more specificity. >> in that regard, and mentioned to the retroactive checks we have under way, drawing upon a host of intelligence and other data and intelligence we have available on individuals who had been -- who had entered the country before the security checks were in place. if any derogatory information comes to light, the re-checked

al qaeda and other worldwide groups? >> one of the insurgency groups al qaeda and the islamic ma greb was the first al qaeda franchise outside of south asia in afghanistan, pakistan and al qaeda in iraq. it's connected to al qaeda and very well resourced because the last decade they've been make making a lot of money kidnapping for ransom. earlier this year, last year, excuse me, they obtained close to $10 million in ransom for several european hostages. they've also made a lot of money assisting drug traffickers. it's the preferred route through the areas they control for cocaine smugglers to europe. they've got money. with that money they purchase arms that have been looted from libyan arsenals after the fall of the khadaffi regime. you have arms, money and fighters. >> brown: and you have a malian government that is clearly very weak at this point. >> very weak especially after the overthrow of the elected government. mali is a great 20-year tradition of democracy. unfortunately in recent years that democracy was being eaten up at the roots with corruption. some of the leadership was involved in drug smuggling and other criminal activities. so there was an overthrow of the regime

al-qaeda. >> seems to be a family tie. according to sources, tareq, there's a picture there, this is from the iraqi interior ministry. sources tell us he was involved with the group al-qaeda in iraq the interior ministry, he was one of about 100 detainees who escaped from a prison in iraq in september. he was being jailed and was sentenced to death for his role in attacks in iraq, so there's apparently a family connection between these two brothers and militant groups. again, very frustrating that this man has been released. >> thanks very much to brian todd. >>> and now, the master of disaster. that's what "time" magazine calls chris christie. his approval ratings have surged since hurricane sandy and he is still not done making his case. he needs more money, he says. here he is again today. >> sandy is and was above politics. in every other element except for what happened in the congress a week ago and so what i was trying to point out very clearly was there are people suffering in new jersey, in new york, and they need to be taken care of. remember this, matt. we've now waited seven times longer than the victims of katrina waited for federal aid. >> above politics. steve swee

comments on "washington journal," then general stanley a crystal talks about the fight against al-qaeda in iraq and live it 12:15 p.m., a discussion and health care costs. >> we've created a platform that we call a digital healthy back of the main component of that platform are a sense or that turns on when you swallows it that goes through your body. it sends information to a wearable patch that creates information about the in -- the medicine you take and your metabolism it gives you a panel of physiological wellness efforts and transmits it for yourself on and allows us to take that dated to the cloud and process it and send it back as an application to manage your own health. >> we are at an inflection point. we have called -- we have had all these incremental changes are the last five years and now we are really poised to make some great leaps and these complex diseases. our understanding of cancer in the last five years has dwarfed the last 25 years and the next 10 years will take us to some amazing advances. >> the latest developments and held technology from this year's consumer electro

her convoy was ambushed while she was leaving the iraqi headquarters and al qaeda in iraq took responsibility as a side note, the vice president has an arrest warrant out for him. it is hashemi's group that was involved in her killing. c-span: how did that first book go? >> guest: i wrote it in, i was so screwed up when i wrote that vote. it was a love letter to her, my final love letter and i felt it was the best way i could honor her. i was angry. i was really angry and it was raw and it was angry. it was about young love, about being in a relationship in your 20s, very strange time in having this very unique relationship where the person you are in love with decides to come over to baghdad and join you and take a job there. c-span: you have since married? >> guest: yes, i am very fortunate. c-span: where did you meet her? >> guest: she have also actually been in iraq and my aunt and uncle -- my aunt and uncle said you have to meet this girl. she just came from iraq, working for the government and they introduced us in washington d.c.. it was years before we started seeing each other. c-spa

. >> as tom fuentes was just explaining to us, paul, they were actually trained by al qaeda in iraq during >> absolutely. but not only trained by al qaeda in iraq, they are being trained in other areas as well, including southern libya, including northern mali. this terrorist is based to be based in northern mali. so different parts of the region where these training camps now are. it's a more complex threat in many ways than ever before, wolf. >> a lot of us thought with the arab spring in north africa, these horrendous stories were history and it seems to be getting worse right now. what's going on? >> well, a number of these jihadist groups have taken advantage of the political turmoil to expand their safe havens in the region, to boost the number of people who are joining their groups. we have seen that in libya where there really is a lot of political chaos in the country, where significant areas in the country which are not really under government control and so the militias in libya have really been able to establish quasi safe hafhavens in certain parts of the country and it's poss

that core al qaeda can really be almost degraded to the point that it's that is no longer the threat. the threat; however, has augmented in al qaeda and the arabian peninsula, al qaeda in iraq, which is now playing in syria, and al qaeda in the -- and i think that's why the united states and the president made the decision to support the efforts of the french in mali and that's why there's been a focused effort included going after al-awlaki and the other two focused on that part of the world. there's a success story even as talk about that increased threat. somalia. somalia where the al-shabaab became associated with al qaeda, we have in fact been able and concert with others not alone, to drive al-shabaab back and see a government emerge which we recognize and we're in a position to help, hopefully, stablize and move to a better relationship. we can change these things, but it takes a focused effort, it takes piers sensor, doesn't happen overnight. i would also argue it takes something more than just drone effort and the other effort it takes that effort to develop a government like we did in somalia, we have to be prepared to do that in the. >> we talked yesterday about

solvers and my period in joint special operations command for almost five years, my mission was to help tear apart the al-qaeda network, across the region. most violently in iraq but also other areas as well. so what i had to do to do my share of the task was to go after that network as efficiently as i could, dismantel it and let other things do their part as we go forward. in iraq we did that for several years and we were remarkably effective, excuse me, we were remarkably lethal, we were, we got up in 2006 to 300 raids a month. ten a night. just extraordinary. but it really wasn't until the other part of emm5 or the mission the counterinsurgency part holding terrain that our operations really started to have their full effect. before that we would do things but we were back. when we had the complementary effort of conventional forces and other government agencies -- >> rose: that includes petraeus and the surge as well as the awakening. >> that's correct. >> rose: all of those things. >> and also some better diplomatic things. ryan -- all those pieces. suddenly what we did made a big difference strategically. >> rose: so you had, because what i'm interested

>>brian: these insurgencies, when they take power, like morsi, the brotherhood, the al qaeda in iraq,always make the same mistakes. they are too brutal. it's easy to be a revolutionary. it is not easy to govern. >> it is not harder to seize power. you've got to keep paep. they don't know how to keep people happy and so they always use force. i thought president morsi might be different. elected guy. but he's turning out to be something of an authoritarian. he's the one who is going to eventually pay for this. >>brian: as you write in your book, people rise up, they protest like they say because they want to stay in this whole thing. maybe the future could look brighter. leaving without losing. professor, thank you so much. i wish i had you as a professor in school. those are lucky students at george mason. dr. mark katz. 20 after the hour. did santa get you something you don't want? up next, easy ways to turn bad gifts into cash. who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? we have the video proving that's wrong. i need you. i feel so alone. but you're not alone. i knew you'd come.

we've met that responsibility over the last four years, the war in iraq, beginning a transition in afghanistan, by decimating the al qaedae and taking out osama bin laden. by disrupting terrorist plots and saving countless american lives. among an outstanding national security team i am especially grateful to leon panetta, who has led the cia and our military with incredible skill. leon, after nearly five decades of service, you have more than earned the right to return to civilian life. i'll have much more to say about leon's distinguished service in the days ahead. today i simply want to convey both to you and to sylvia the eternal gratitude of the nation. thank you so much. i also want to thank michael morel, who has earned the admiration of all of us who has worked with him across the government and here in the white house. in moments of transition, he has guided the cia with a steady hand as acting director not once but twice. and he is a consummate professional. everyone in the white house who works with him, everybody across agencies who works with him considers him to truly be one of the most outstanding national

they couldn't negotiate a status of forces agreement and now you have al-qaeda coming, we have the al-qaeda activity in iraq and as well as iran playing a greater role. we are seeing the same thing in afghanistan right now. the problem is that the light footprint if you don't leave the proper follow-on in afghanistan and we have seen a pattern of where he wants to withdraw remember during the fighting season, during the election is season when no military commander recommended it. we are seeing the same thing now with the recent discussions with president karzai and the worry is that the light footprint approach can leave us in a situation where the taliban come back in power, where al-qaeda is give and launching pad to commit attacks against our country. i am concerned about this approach. >> chris: and senator blumenthal generally speaking light footprint, less boots on the ground, less intervention, more drones, small commando operations, multilateral operations. >> a lean agile very effective special operations force is america ms future in many parts of the world in fighting terrorism. and the special