. >> reporter: these three friend grew up and went to basra and iraq. they lived in bad conditions, slept on the floor and were beaten by iraqi employers, and had a gun to the head if they complained. then the latest conflict in iraq began. we returned from work to have lunch and found a bomb that fell into the camp. someone called the owner. they called the police. they returned home after the fighting came closer. they owe employment agencies between $1,000 and $3,000. problem is there's no work in the village. villages with limited employment opportunities are targeted by agents looking for skilled and unskilled labour. from this village, 500 of 4,000 residents have gone to the middle east for work. returnees are burdened with debt and scars of abuse. those that we spoke to say they had no idea where they were being sent. not imagining it would be to a conflict zone. those sending workers operate in the shadows, transporting people. >> they are getting a larger service. paying 2,000, $3,000. >> the head of the village assess the problem is ongoing. a

. >> these three friend grew up and went to basra and iraq. they lived in bad conditions, slept on the floor and were beaten by iraqi neighbours. the latest conflict in iraq began. >> translation: we returned from work to have lunch and found a bomb that fell into the camp. someone called the owner who had it collected by the police. >> reporter: as the fighting drew closer, they returned home. they owe local employment agents between 1,000 and $3,000. there's no work in the village. villages like these with limited employment opportunities are looking for skilled and unskilled labour. 500 of 4,000 residents have gone to the middle east. some are burdened with debt and scars of abuse. they had no idea where they were sent. not imagining it was to a conflict zone. those sending workers to iraq operated in the shadows. willing to take risks. >> it is creating a larger service, paying $2,000, $3,000. the head of the village says the problem is ongoing. ads promising high-paying jobs regularly appear in local newspapers. we spoke to an employment

or go to basra and evacuate by ship. and have a convoy people fleeing 200 miles long.you call for he close air support, and would you do what you is have to do to hang on to the airport n that case, i probably would do what i had to do to hang on to the airport. that's why i say, i know he doesn't want to, but he wants to, he knows it's not, you can't win with u.s. ground troops. you may have to avoide0 losing. >> i have been backing up in this conversation. and giving the first answer that you gave and all the points i want to follow-up on. with that notion, you raised that we do not live under a monarchy, we live in a democracy. how do we create a strategy for american growth and global leadership? >> first of all, we have to have people talking about a strategy. so you have to stop the lurch from crisis to crisis, to crisis, of course, the news organization, and tavis, there's a sign on this building that says digital media. i cannot exclude you on that. but news organizations thrive on what's the latest thing. that is what drives the news media. but a country can't

there's a large air force base down south they could use, even going to basra. and if everything went to heck there, they could ground move all the way into kuwait. but the regional security office at the embassy and the military leadership there and with centcom, they've looked at these and had these in place for years. they've had second dare and tertiary plans -- >> only our c-130s can do that down in. those at the embassy can get out. in terms of normal international commerce bringing in the turkish flights, the emirates flights, there's the concern that could stop that commerce and set baghdad and all of iraq back. >> that's a real concern as we watch what's going on. isis is still gaining power. douglas, thanks very much for joining us. colonel, thanks to you as well. >>> let's get to politics. the midterm elections only a week away from tomorrow. a new cnn opinion research poll shows president obama's approval rating remains stuck in the mid-40s where it's been basically most of this year. 30% of americans say they're very angry about the way things are g

soldiers of saddam's security forces smashing the front door of his family home in basra and his mother watched as they dragged away his father who was suspected of betraying saddam and was wanted for information. the second shot came in the days and months that followed his father's disappearance when his teacher royal follower of saddam turned against him. if the school that i spend it easy for a good game now with his teachers brutal ritual of trashing his hand with a stick and then whipping his back in a pursuit of facts about his father or brother. this was information that could lead to the teacher's promotion but the boy insisted he knew nothing and that was the truth. only really knew was that fact he kept to himself. he was the first during a patriot he had ever felt there was strong enough to shape the rest of his life. and let's see. there's a chapter called and now the debate. so this is a chapter where interview for people in washington and with the hopes that someday those poor people would like to participate in a public discourse on the topic so we would get deeply into

decade about very different middle eastern map the independent kurdistan that she has been built around basra the assad regime retreating to the alawites and what to see is the future that middle eastern map? >> i think we see de facto partition of the middle east already. it will be interesting to see what the international community does to formalize or not formalize those borders but there have been various appellations leaping to this. that's probably not the case with the notion that there'll be a de facto partition between western syria under the control of the assad regime versus this kind of wild wild west or the wild white -- wild wild east as the case may be. i can certainly see that happening in iraq. what i find fascinating as an historian as many of these regimes in the middle east including those in iraq and syria and elsewhere have spent much of the past decades the agreement of this colonial at venture of the french and british according to their telling of the borders are not able to reflect the real committees on the ground. in many ways the exact people that decried colonia

he was popular in the streets, he was popular in najaf, he was popular in basra, he wasopular in babil, popular in baghdad. and when he moved against sunnis, he found himself getting more popular. so there was no real disincentive at that point to discontinue doing what he was doing. (explosion) >> smith: back in syria, al qaeda was steadily gaining ground. in its early months, the group relied on donations from wealthy sunnis in the region. >> the saudis, the kuwaitis, the emiratis, all of the gulf states and a whole variety of other countries began to provide support to a whole variety of sunni opposition groups, and they weren't terribly careful about which groups got the aid. >> smith: and soon, al qaeda needed fewer donations. as they gained territory, they became self-sustaining, robbing banks, running extortion rackets, seizing syrian transportation routes and syrian oil fields. >> allahu akbar! >> they were very smart. they understood, "if we can control those oil wells, we'll be able to sell the oil on the black market and get cash." and they went about that in a very conscien

when i was there in 2007 out there in basra trying to organize the withdrawal from basra, i had a police chief who just got sent in and he suffered about three death threats assassination attempts in as many weeks. i said what can we do to help? he said this isn't about training or equipment. it's about loyalty. and you can't touch that. i think that's a lesson we just need to learn very hard. we can give these people the best weapons in the world we can train them but fundamentally the moral component -- if the moral component is weak it isn't any good. that's why 30,000 ran away against 3,000. because isil believed in what they're doing and these guys don't. >> when these same guys are fighting, they've got a moral component then. >> because they're fighting for their own. >> exactly. that's the point you're trying to make. isn't it? are we sort of slightly deluded that we get the sunni awakening again, whether that was meant to be and some way magically all of these different a pings will cohere into formed army? >> there's really not a yes or no to that. i still think if we're lookin

i don't think they have combat power to get in the south where the shiite oil fields are around basra those oil fields. my conjecture at this point is that they have about shot their bullet. they have about climaxed into what they can take in terms of ground notwithstanding places in anbar province further to the west but i don't think they have combat power to go farther so consolidating what they have gained is more likely action in the coming weeks and months. >> looping all of the way back to your point about ultimately there may be a need to have this american voice on the ground to communicate and to be integral in this dismantling and destroying of isis but i go back to the majority of americans, 73% of americans say they favor the air strikes. 60% oppose sending in ground combat troops. i know it is the president's job to be the commander in chief to lead. what message, if he ultimately decides to send in those troops, what message is he sending to america who at the moment is not interested in that? >> brooke, i would say two or three things. one, he sends a message i hear yo

we can do what we want, when way was in 2007 trying to organize withdrawal from basra, police chief suffered assassination attempts in as many weeks. he said what can we do to help? this isn't about training or equipment, it is about loyalty. you can't touch. that that is lesson we need to learn very hard. we can give these people the best weapons in the world and fundamentally the moral component, the moral component is weak they won't be any good. that is why 30,000 run away in mosul against 3,000. isil believed in what they were doing and these guys didn't. >> the same guys fighting badr militia or al-sadr and all rest of it they have moral component then. they didn't run away. >> they -- >> exactly. that is the point you're trying to make. are we slightly deluded assuming we get the sunni awakening whatever it is again, whatever that was meant to be? in some way magically all these different groupings will cohere into a formal iraqi army? is that going to happen? >> there is sort of a yes and no to that. >> yeah. >> i still think that if we're looking for an answer to do about isil i thi