allawi took umbrage at something maliki had said in an interview when he dismissed allawi's coalition as nothing but a, quote, sunni bloc. allawi just said, "i've had it for now." he's walked. now i do know that negotiations still continue fast and furious. i don't think that has stopped today. i have no indication it has. so there's a lot going on behind the scenes. but certainly they are not close to a resolution from what i understand. >> ifill: margaret warner on the ground for us in baghdad, thank you. >> warner: thanks, gwen. >> ifill: president obama packed his portable bully pulpit this week for a coast-to-coast campaign swing designed to build support for democratic candidates, and for his own economic policies. judy woodruff has the story. >> woodruff: with this fall's elections drawing closer, president obama has hit the road to raise excitement-- and right now, more important, money-- for the democratic party. overall, democrats have out- raised the g.o.p., but they need to keep it up, since polls consistently give republicans the advantage. so the president is returning t

was claimed by the americans although people are talking about forming a government whether it's allawi whether it's mali kid what have you that is really not the situation iraq has been dismantled there is no government there is no. in iraq the prime minister cannot leave the green zone there is no military or police in iraq because there are all militias who have been recruited to wear the same uniform but there are legions is not a national one but their allegiance to their faction or to their group or to their tribe now trying to establish democracy by military force is a hopeless task so says political theorist john donne he believes the process of change peaceful you can watch the full interview next hour but here's a quick preview. the process of democratization you could say is progress towards a very good outcome which hasn't actually come out anywhere in the world so far so if you have an ambitious goal of democratization what those two experiences taken together of taught us is that it's absolutely hopeless to try to move fast in direction of that kind. bombing countries. inv

was claimed by the americans although people are talking about forming a government whether it's allawi whether it's my leaky and what have you that is really not the situation iraq has been dismantled there is no government there is no you. thought a t. in iraq the prime minister cannot leave the green zone there is no military or police in iraq because they are all militias who have been recruited to wear the same uniform but there are legions is not a national one but their allegiance either to their faction or to their group or to their tribe. despite casts discrimination being illegal in india and the face harassment and hostility on a daily basis because of their social status those choosing to tie the knot with a member of a different cast can find themselves be jetted by both their community and family as artie's charan singh reports more and more young people are trying to break with tradition. prakash have upset their families were all in two different castes they were expected to marry one of their own but they have broken what is considered a who and intercourse marriage is

was playing by the americans although people are talking about forming a government whether it's allawi whether it's mighty king and what have you that is really not the situation in iraq has been dismantled there is no government there is no authority in iraq the prime minister cannot leave the green zone there is no military or police in iraq because they are all militias who have been recruited to wear the same uniform but there are legions is not a national one but their allegiance either to their faction or group or to their tribe. new york mayor michael bloomberg says plans to build a mosque two blocks from the nine eleven slights shows a commitment to american values that's what he told gaston an annual ramadan dinner attended by muslim community leaders new yorkers though are bitterly divided over the project with some claiming the issue is driven by politicians hoping to gain votes in upcoming elections. if there had to be a dirty word this summer that word would arguably be mosque the government my we have all of the island we have new all over the united states who are really

we saw a breakdown between allawi and others. this seems to me to be a big part of the reconciliation, and the stuff that goes on what bombs going on, that can be overcome eventually. but that tension at the center does not look like to me it is going to resolve itself very easily without modification of the constitution. can you comment? >> i think they can achieve a new government without modifying the constitution. one of the issues that has come up is the question of whether the constitution, which inventions of council of ministers, whether there is too much authority that has gravitated to the prime ministership instead of the council. their situations where some security structures that should be on the the ministry of inrior moved to the prime minister. now what you are nuri al-maliki , you would say that you do not want security structures under me. but we were facing a life and death insurgency and we had to move fast and deal with a tough situation. but i want them back in the ministries where they belong. and what i a

former prime minister allawi and his sunni-backed alliance formally called off talks with current prime minister nouri al-maliki and his shiite bloc. it's been five months since iraq's elections left no one group with a majority in parliament. violence has increased. there was word today of a u.s. soldier killed northeast of baghdad. defense secretary robert gates may retire sometime next year. in an interview published today in foreign policy magazine he said the timing makes sense. he would still oversee a major offensive in afghanistan but be gone before the next presidential election. gates has been defense secretary since late 2006. former house majority leader tom delay will not face federal criminal charges. a lawyer for the texas republican said today the justice department has ended its probe after six years. it investigated delay's ties to lobbyist jack abramoff. he went to prison for fraud and corruption. delay still faces state charges of money laupdering and conspiracy involving legislative elections in 2002. a new shrimping season a officially began in louisiana today. the

we saw a breakdown between allawi and others. thiseems to me to be a big part of the reconciliation, and the stuff that goes on what bombs going on, that can be overcome eventually. but that tension at the center does not look like to me it is going to resolve itself very easily without modification of the constitution. can you comment? >> i think they can achieve a new government without modifying the constitution. one of the issues that has come up is the question of whether the constitution, which inventions of council of ministers, whether there is too much authority that has gravitated to the prime ministership instead of the council. their situations where some security structures that should be on the the ministry of interior moved to the prime minister. now what you are nuri al-maliki ,ou would say that you do not want security structures under me. but we were facing a life and death insurgency and we had to move fast and deal with a tough situation. but i want them back in the ministries where they belong. and what i als

we saw a breakdown between allawi and others. be a big part of the reconciliation, and the stuff that goes on what bombs going on, that can be overcome eventually. but that tension at the center does not look like to me it is going to resolve itself very easily without modification of the constitution. can you comment? >> i think they can achieve a new government without modifying the constitution. one of the issues that has come up is the question of whether the constitution, which inventions of council of ministers, whether there is too much authority that has gravitated to the prime ministership instead of the council. their situations where some security structures that should be on the the ministry of interior moved to the prime minister. now what you are nuri al-maliki , you would say that you do not want security structures under me. but we were facing a life and death insurgency and we had to move fast and deal with a tough situation. but i want them back in the ministries where they belong. and what i also want, if you a

paul lally -- allawi, traveling from damascus to iran, and what do you say about that in terms of the meaning of that? i know that he his followers won 39 seats in the parliamentary elections. is that significant, not significant, or is it something you cannot quite assess yet? >> it is significant, senator. it turns out to be representing 10% of the above, almost exactly what he received in 2006. his popularity is staying about the same. it is not insignificant because of the fact of the nature of the parties, it is one of the largest single groups in the parliament. what we have seen is a transition -- when i was there in 2004, we were engaged in heavy fighting, and in some sent -- subsequent engagement, and several times since then. but our hope is that while we disagree with many of his views including his views about us, that he can become integrated into the political system fully. that is, we do not think it is good to have people who on the one hand run for office and said in the parliament and on the other hand threaten to use extra parliamentary and militant means to carry o

definitely shi'a, and where most of the sunnis voted disputes that concept as you heard from the shi'a allawi yesterday who disputed the notion that iraqiya is actually a sunni party. but i say that it is an identity issue. it is probably a reality there. but sectarianism is not on the rise in iraq. if you look good some of the clerical-type parties, they have not done well in iraq. there is the tendency for more secular parties. the iraqiya claims to be very secular, state of law coalition aims to be more secular than sectarian. i think it is a question of how the political process will develop in the coming years, and i think overall you will see iraq do what it has often done in history, which is to be more secular than sectarian. >> just a follow-up, you say how the political process will develop. had you see it developing because you used -- they used sunni moderates to cut their roots of the senate jihadists, and so what is the next we are doing? -- the sunni jihadists, so what is the next we're doing? >> my own personal view of the tendency in iraq is more toward secular parties. what