to talk about that i am joined by the journalist alexander buehler.ood to have you back on the show. let me just ask you u for yourr assessment. the u.s. staff anorak basically being evacuated. reporter: the nonvital parts are being sent back. it's a dangerous situation. it shows there is some danger. we don't know how dangerous it is. they have been accused, meaning the shia militia in iraq, of trying to may be stage attacks, although that's not very clear. but he's been talking about a threat all the time. brent: just yesterday we had iran's supreme leader, the president of the united states both saying we do not want a war. that's the official line. yet every day it seems like things are ratcheting up and up and up. reporter: on one hand it looks a bit like 2003 where you had weird things happening at the mention of the wmd threat, which then led to the invasion. on the other hand, i heard the theory that both are playing for position in the negotiations on the trade sanctions, which can also be true. it's a very risky game. brent: the more things