this is the beginning of hezbollah. in 1983, hezbollah did not really exist. there was a shadowy breakoff group that formed right after the massacre of september 1982. this really precipitated the formation of hezbollah and the force representing the shiites of southern lebanon and south beirut. all love the intrigue of the middle east so much? >> as the israelis constantly tell us, and they live in a dangerous neighborhood all stop -- neighborhood. and it is true. but it is a complicated and intriguing neighborhood filled with a complex mosaic of cultures and religions. it is fascinating. mostly fascinating. ames fell in love with the middle east, even though it is a difficult case to work. >> he wanted to learn. he studied the language. >> he could joke in the language. he could read the literature, read a newspaper, and carry on political conversation. this is very rare, i have to say, for an intelligence officer. even today, there are very few cia officers who can do what he did back in the 1980's. >> the book is called "the goods by kaithe good spy" bird.

this is the beginning of hezbollah.n 1983, hezbollah didn't really exist but there was a shadowy break off group that formed0rigf september 82. and this really precipitated the formation of hezbollah as a political force representing the shiites of southern lebanon and beirut. >> rose: why do we love the intrigue of the middle east so much. >> well as the israelis constantly tell us, it's a neighborhood filled with a complex mosaic of cultures and religion. aims fell in love with the middle east even though it was a difficult place to work. >> rose: he wanted to learn. >> he wanted to learn. >> rose: he studied. >> he studied arabic, he could joke in the language, he could read the literature, he could read the newspaper and carry on a political conversation. this is very rare i have to say for an intelligence officer. even today there are very few c.i.a. officers who can do what he did back in the 80's. >> rose: the book is called the good spy, the life and death of robert aims by kai bird. back in a moment, stay with

we have hezbollah in '82 in lebanon. we have the alawites in syria coming to the fore once america invaded iraq, a country ruled by sunnies over the shiite majority, and really reverse 180 degrees the social order, casting the sunnies down from the top to the bottom, and cat putting the shiites from the bottom to the top giving an entire lock on the government. america, of course, talked about power sharing, but they had no include of what they were doing. they created a shiite power in the mis midst of the sunni world. they were marginal group, they could ignore them and in a sense speak down to them because they were not powerful today they are powerful. in lebanon we have seen hezbollah come before syria, and there is this shiite crescent as has been talked to, stretching from lebanon all the way to iran today. that has made the sunnies feel very weak, and this isil is coming to champion. it's so violent. it's been crucifying people in syria. it's a form of islam which horrifies many sunnies. on the other hand someone

they are heavily engaged with hezbollah. he is taken two trips to iraq in the last two weeks. he is trying to find out to what extent iran can help. >> before that, he went to damascus. >> he spent a lot of time there. himhat is interesting about is that he was open to a better relationship with the united. there have been conversations taking place. they reported that conversation as soon as the speech calling them the axis of evil happened, he set it down. he felt like he had been betrayed. that sulat believe money had any interest in a better relationship with the united states. >> he only looked at that as a way for the iranians to treat their objective? >> he understands that their fundamental objective, which is --er and influence, will be we will try to constrain it. we will try to stop it. it comes at our expense stop >> you are right. you believe that? >> yes. suppose you are in baghdad now. and we had a conversation. what would you try to change? what conversation would you want to have? >> i would want to have a conversation, the same kind of conversation that i hav

hezbollah is no good. so let's help whoever is fighting them, al qaeda. no. okay. that definitely rings a bell. let's help al qaeda's nemesis instead, bob bashara. oh. oh, oh, a little too gassy-his-own-people-y. let's help the syrian rebels fighting him. how about those guys in al-nusra. i'm being told that's al qaeda again. maybe we should give weapons to al-nusra's enemy, iran. okay. that's not good. we need find a well-armed, well-trained militia out there willing to fight iran. i know, isis. those guys look like winners. they are kickings ass and taking names. [cheering and applause] here to tell me how we can best help isis defeat themselves is the managing editor of the iraq oil report ben van heuvelen. thank you so much, ben. all right, ben. [cheering and applause] how bad is this situation over there? should we be concerned that lebanon is now the stable middle eastern country? [laughter] >> it's very bad. [laughter] >> stephen: all right. that's good enough. okay. so what do we do? can we just ignore it? do we have to pay attention to it? because the amer

at the same time the united states, saudi arabia, russia, iran, hezbollah have though agree as well thatre is no battlefield option. only if those two things take place, can there be a negotiated settlement. >> bashar al-assad will include members of the opposition in the new government. what do you think that will look like? >> there's an internal opposition that is in syria. there was the national coordination committee. there are old-time dissidents. some are leftists. they were the ones who fundamentally stayed behind when members worked in the syrian national council. they are people who will probably be the ones integrated into a form of transition government or phoney transition government. they know very well what the limits of their capabilities are in syria. they'll keep within the limits. >> is the re-election a grim outlook for the syrians? >> i'm not sure if it's deprip, but as shaims -- grim, but as james said, it shrines bashar al-assad more in power, giving him a statement saying "i'm not going anywhere." so the u.s. called for his ouster for years, and he is more entrenc

they're engaged in syria and hezbollah.king now two trips to iraq in the last two weeks in order to find out to what extent iran could help maliki. >> rose: before that he went to damascus. >> yes. >> rose: here's what's interesting about him. this is according to dexter filkins who wrote a piece about him in the "new york" magazine. there's been conversations taken place between some of6gw3 his e and his people into what depth it was i don't know. but dexter reported that conversation. asthem the axis of evil happene, he shut it down and felt like they had been betrayed. >> so i don't believe that he has any interest in a better relationship with the united states. >> rose: or ever did. >> or ever did. >> rose: because he saw that as a way for the iranians to achieve>> because he understandt their fundmental objective, right, which is power and influence in the middle east will be, we will try to constrain that, we will try to stop that because it comes at1oy right. >> rose: you believe that's what the ayatollah believes

syria's third-largest city back under the control, not least thanks to the firepower of the lebanese hezbollahitia. another christian parish in the center of town. a midday meall -- donated by other neighborhoods that were not so badly affected. so far, not many christians have come back. to haps 500 people -- perhaps 500 people. those who could not imagine a life outside of homs. those who feel life in ruins is better than life in exile. those who hope for victory by bashar assad. she says her family now depends on food aid. but she does not think that will be for long. as soon as they have gas and water again, they will be able to cook for themselves. life is slowly returning to the streets of homs. for 30 years, only bomb explosions and gunfire could be heard. she is looking for work. she meets more returnees carrying all their worldly goods strapped to their vehicles. even though fighting continues elsewhere, christians are returning to homs them at forces loyal to assad have won itxÑ [soft exotic flute music] ♪ captioning and audio description provided by the u.s. department of education

the last thing i would note in the case of syria, you have groups like hezbollah very, very active. some of the sources of hezbollah's funding with regard to international drug trafficking and so forth, we talk about reputational risk. having the opportunity to publicize some of that sources of their funding, which are very much cast a -- raise a lot of questions about their state d - poke a lot of holes in their rhetoric, shall we say, in terms of what they are trying to do in the region. i think this is an enabler for law enforcement, for helping our military understand these networks and partner building and reputation risk. whether it's syria or afghanistan, these elements are common across the various cases. >> you talked about before the utility in dealing with the chinese on weapons proliferation. tell us in the terrorist case if you track something back and it ended up in saudi arabia or some other country where there's obviously been a lot of funding going on of medrases, how did that same dynamic you described with the chinese, for example, translate when doing this in the

you have the iranian and hezbollah and friends in the rest of the country. a total mess.that this blew up in his face. the way he figures it, americans are more weary, whatever hit he's taking in the polls and the criticism from conservatives of this is short-lived. he thinks that americans are saying to hell with this, all of this, we're out. >> look, he's going out of a trauma of benghazi, it's not over yet. the trauma of releasing five generals of the taliban who are going to be directing the taliban return into the area. the trauma of promising to intervene in syria and descending into hell. he's not going to go into iraq, he's not going unleash american force in iraq. he's urging the iraqi leadership to get together, he's sending strong messages to the iranians to help a bit. i wouldn't be in his shoes in this situation. neil: you are telling me it's over, iraq is vietnam, done. >> i hate to say, it i don't see iraq short of a massive change of foreign policy which our administrator is not going to do. neil: thank you, my friend. >> thank you. neil: and you wonder wh

a lot tv has to do with the large amounts of support that he is getting from hezbollah, who played anmportant role in battles, from iran, keeping a steady supply of armaments. as i said, syria will be a state in name only. it will be a paper state that bashar al-assad is never going to control the entirety of the country. >> you speak with the syrian people. is there a message with the u.s. >> i think the message is we need help. that's a message that the syrian national coalition, the opposition has been begging for for a few years. more weapons, more money, more support. na is something that president obama really refused, at least the kinds of weapons, and the extent of the help that they want, and the syrian refugees, the people, the normal people, civilians - they need a lot of help too, and what the u.s. is trying to do is trying to infuse the u.n., and ipp fuse the neighbouring countries with money. secretary of state john kerry was in beirut giving them $50 million. the u.s. is trying, there's a sense of abandonment. >> what long-term role do you see the u.s. playing? >> none.

just like iran has hezbollah. those three nations all have hybrid paramilitary groups to do much the same thing, operating with the benefit of both decentralized decision-making and deniability for the state, but with access to sophisticated cyber stay like capabilities. capabilities. what is scary about the russians theirre hackers -- hackers are the same guys that cut their teeth in criminal syndicates. if they are given the nod by the it will be much more effective and much more lethal to the future of our american banks and financial institutions. as cyber transforms, our marines and soldiers must learn how to bring cyber operations and to everything that they do, suppressing their own electronic and cyber signature while raising the enemies. that is going to need three things. the same adversaries that are hitting our private sector today are the asymmetrical adversaries that will be hitting our government tomorrow. in the government, we cloak ourselves with clearances and need to know, but it is us that shou

. >> john kerry had something to say about the election next door in syria calling on iran, hezbollah and syria to end the conflict. >> that is right. he called on them to stop helping the regime. it is a conflict against its own people. there is a word that will likely fall on deaf ears. it is not likely they will heed those words. he called the presidential elections a great big zero. we are hearing the incumbent president has, as expected, won the election by 88% of the vote. kerry says that election was meaningless and millions were unable to vote. the millions who have been displaced outside syria or within syria and also the fact that a lot of people have not been able to contest the elections. there was no serious opposition in this election. the result was widely expected. >> lucy fielder, thank you very much. all of the latest there from beirut. and let's move on to germany. prosecutors have opened up a criminal investigation into the merkel's pping of mobile phone. it is sure to complicate relations between the allies. last year documents leaked by edward snowden indicated u

instances there are that late osama bin laden and others within hezbollah, they love the game.he otherample of piece is another current leader has said that it distances religious people from their religious practices. some clerics and leaders are using it to recruit for their cause, football as an attraction. others are saying it is --picable and a for quality and a frivolity of our enemies. football feveror throughout france. adaresay it might have given spring into the step of many french people. >> we got a great french team here. have noticed in the cafÉs and the streets, people are smiling. france has had eight goals in two games. is reporting on this, saying that we've got a hero now. of course, he is the coach for eu, and others are saying he is getting everything right, including his strategy. he will only confirm his decision to hours before. comes up for him. page of onefront paper. these paid -- these players are all over the page. they are brilliant and quick and speedy and everything. a great feel in france at the moment. >> we will see if it continues. thank you

's you think of hezbollah initial involvement, a major reason for that was because there were islamic fighters involved in the war in syria, and now we see something possibly similar happening here. localhave been reports in media citing iranian security forces saying that three units of the iranian revolutionary guard had deployed to iraq, so that is a very strong parallel. again, to combat sunni extremists, isis, because effort by shia military forces and iran, but other parallels, if you look at how isis originally fought alongside them, they then .ell out with them in syria likewise, some of the allies isis potentially has here may find that they ended the day they do not have a lot in common which is grounds for both possible falling out of further trouble in the future. >> thank you. ukraine'sorld news, prime minister ordered the energy sector to prepare for russian gas cuts for monday after moscow and kiev failed to resolve a gas price dispute. moscow said monday, june 16 as a deadline for ukraine to pay off part of its gas debt of $1.95 billion. meanwhile, violence continued i

the past, just in april, an israeli soldier was injured in an explosion, and the israelis blamed hezbollah, operating in syria for the incident. there are many incidents are ordanances and explosions falling across the border by intense fighting by accident. if it's an explosion in a vehicle, it may not be an accident at all. >> thank you, jane. bring us up to date for the search in the occupied west bank for the missing israeli teenagers. >> well, of course, other massive news in this part of the world is the ongoing israeli military operation in the occupied west bank. 10 days ago three israeli teenagers went missing in the occupied west bank. the israeli government blamed hamas, saying that they are going in to somp for the teegage -- search for the teenagers. there has been night raids. 420 arrests, many hamas figures, and there has been four palestinians have been killed. at least three were in clashes with the israeli army. confrontations with the israeli army. the fourth death that hammed in ram -- happened in ramallah is contested. it's not clear whether the palestinianian man was

. >> well, the particular group is listed as a talibani organisation, and so is hezbollah in lebanon which held captives in the '80s, and we negotiated with them. >> moving forward, do you see any fallout from this decision? >> i think the release of the p.o.w. bowe bergdahl will be so popular with the american public, that playing politics with it, which is distasteful, is a little unlikely to succeed. >> i'll get your final thought before we take a quick break. >> i think the united states public should be aware that the afghanistan war is the longest war we thought. it is winding down. we'll be out of that country in two years. new politics is going to have to emerge. the last time things fell into chaos, it was bad for the united states, eventuting in 9/11. i think the united states is doing the right thing to stand up an afghan army, and to clamp down the radicalism. >> thank you. that will do it for this hour. i'll be back in a couple of minutes with a recap. stay with us. >>> hello, welcome. this is al jazeera america live from new york city. i'm thomas drayton. let's get you

syria's third-largest city back under their control, not least angst of the firepower of the lebanese hezbollaha. parish in theian center of town. needy,y meal for the donated by other neighborhoods which were not so badly affected. so far, not very many christians have come back. perhaps 500 people. those who could not imagine a life outside of homs. those who feel that life in the ruins is better than life in exile. byse who hope for a victory bashar al-assad. diana says her family now depends on food aid, but she does not think that will be for long. as soon as they have gas and water again, they will be able to cook for themselves. life is slowly returning to the streets of homs, wherefore 30 years only gunfire and bombs explosions could be heard. she needs more and more returnees carrying all of their worldly goods strapped to their vehicles. even though fighting continues elsewhere, christians are thatning to homs now forces loyal to bashar al-assad have won it bagzñpgsws

they carried outacts under the pro syrian hezbollah of. >>> a human trafficking report today. thailand, downgraded to the lowest in their insufficient efforts to combat trafficking. >> if the cries around the world today were an earthquake, the tremors would be felt in every single nation on the continent, on every continent simulsly. > simulsally -- simultaneously. >> it's believed that 10,000 people are forced into slavery, and there are 8,000 estimated victims in the east and the pacific, and 1500 in the near east. >>> thousands are fleeing areas in the travel regions of northwest pakistan, over 80,000 leaving in the last two days. that exodus after the military launched a new offensive against the pakistani taliban. many are now seeking safety in afghanistan. >> 20 kilometers from the border in pakistan's host province, a new refugee camp is taking shape. tents are just the beginning as the afghans prepare for an influx of people. >> so far we have registered thousands of families, thousands have fled, but they're scattered, living in houses some in the mountainsful. >> th

. >> reporter: this is at the end of beirut, hezbollah's stronghold. here it's mostly shia, supporters of the speaker of the parliament. the explosion took place right here. the suicide bomber blew himself up. he wept against traffic. it was such a strong explosion that the body of the suicide bomber was thrown up to the fourth floor of that building. it's a residential area, and a commercial area. many of the people would have been on the streets, but most people were watching the world cup inside their homes. there's a very close by coffee shop. dozens of people were there. young men watching the world cup, otherwise casualties would have been higher. it was not a surprising attack. it's the second terrorist attack in four days of lebanon. security forces believe it's a direct fall out of what is happening in iraq. increasing the violence, it has encouraged and emboldened al qaeda groups in lebanon, starting again. security forces believe they are trying to pre-empt more plans to attack shiite areas. >> to ukraine where pro-russian separatists in the

in lebanon, those that support hezbollah, will feel it's necessary to support the terrorist group. if you look at march 14th supporters, the future-led movement, as i said, on one hand they feel a bit satisfied that iran got this blow. they feel it's in the just a blow against the iraqi government, but the alliance between rain, the iraqi government and that of bashar al-assad. we heart people in beirut talking about a sunni revolution against the alliance of iraq and nouri al-maliki alliance. they are already perceiving this as a rift, and in no way rejoicing at the fact that the sunni groups are threatening baghdad and overthrowing the government of nouri al-maliki. any statement like this from the iranian officials would help and enforce the versions, two different versions of perspective of how people follow the developments in iraq. >> we have seen a huge number of refugees. internally displaced moving out of the province, looking for sanctuary. perhaps moving into your direction. lebanon is strained really. even just coming from syria. more from iraq is a real twb. >> yes, bu

. >> we saw that happen in syria, when we saw hezbollah forces fighting. we saw that it escalated the situation, it did not improve it. it could lead for the conflict to spill over. if iran enters the sectarian conflict and turns it into a shiite war on terror, supported by the united states, the levant, region, syria, iraq and spreading beyond that could spill over and lead to a cross regional war. now, the idea of originalisation of the syrian conflict and iraqi syrian conflict with the islamic state crossing borders and rad ukal forces feeling they don't have a stake, all of that could lead to a major disaster for the middle east region. >> these are delicate days ahead. >> yes. thank you for clarifying it for us. >>> now the world cup kicks off in sao paulo in less than 12 hours. it ceases 32 nations compete for a place in the finals. there has been protests across brazil. it's feared ta sao paulo's metro system will be crippled. the union says it will hold a street protest. workers demand a 12% rise. >> four years ago it was south africa that was in t

a key supporters of the government, hezbollah, the iraqi branch, is believed to have 40,000. the badder core is an important group founded in iran, thought to have 12,000 fighters. iraq's highest shia authority, ia tolla al-sistany is supporting the fight and is calling for political dialogue. his spokesman read a statement, calling for an effective government to be formed, one that represents all iraqis. nouri al-maliki showed little signs of engaging in dialogue with sunni and kurdish leaders. there has been signs of support from sunni groups. two tribal sunni leaders announced cooperation with the government forces. highly influential north of baghdad. they promised to work with the army to fight against terrorists. that's a marked contrast to iraq's former vice president, he's calling for nouri al-maliki's removal. he has been living in exile since sentenced to death, accused of involvement with sunni death squads. we spoke to him in islamabad. >> i think now the time comes for the international community communities, relations, security council to step in and help the ir

so the behavior of the iranians, they are helping hezbollah and assad's forces against sunni uprising syria. to them, they're going to be doing the same thing in iraq, against the same guys, you know, the border is less relevant to the fact that these guys are their enemy. >> janine davidson, from the council on foreign relations, thanks so much. >> my pleasure. >>> in ukraine today, pro-russian separatists shot down a government military transport plane and all 49 people aboard were killed. it was the single deadliest incident since violence erupted in the eastern part of the country four months ago. in the aftermath of the incident, anti-russian demonstrators turned over cars and threw paint and eggs outside the russian embassy in kiev. ukraine's new president declared a day of mourning. >>> an estimated seven million people turned out to vote today in afghanistan's presidential election, about 60% of those eligible. it pits abdullah abdullah against former finance minister and ex-world bank official. preliminary results are not expected for several weeks. the election was marred by

iran has its own front against isis made up of the syrian government, hezbollah, and shiite militias. an unlikely alliance. in baghdad, there's tension. isis militants are on the edge of the city. the military says it has captured two sleeper cells and believes there are more. baghdad has been exceptionally calm since these troubles began. in fact, quieter than usual. it could be because of the roughly 100,000 soldiers and police the government has deployed here in the capital, or it's just the calm before the storm. at the shabandr cafe, an old baghdad haunt, we found only one customer, engineer ahmed redda. like many iraqis, he's lost confidence in prime minister malaki. >> the strength of isis comes from the weakness of government. >> reporter: baghdad is on edge trying to keep out a terrorist group bent on creating its own state in the heart of the middle east. now that the armed drones and planes are here, brian, there will be a lot of pressure to use them. iraqi military generals and the american military advisers are now working in the same control rooms shoulder to shoulder. a

they've made that's against hezbollah in lebanon. it doesn't take much top push niece countries into violent conflict. i think that's where we are now. >> feels so much that way right now. jim, thank you so much. next in, passions are running high over a stunning supreme court decision involving religious freedom. obamacare and birth control. what the ruling by the deeply divided justices could mean for you. >>> and a furious president obama blaming republican inaction for a surge of undocumented children on the border. >> they've proven again and again that they're unwilling to stand up to the tea party in order to do what's best for the country. ♪ ♪ fill their bowl with the meaty tastes they're looking for, with friskies grillers. tender meaty pieces and crunchy bites. in delicious chicken, beef, turkey, and garden veggie flavors. friskies grillers. that's why i take doctor recommended colace capsules. [ male announcer ] for certain medical conditions where straining should be avoided, colace softens the stool for effective relief

you have to be uniquely unpopular to the hezbollah, israel, the syrian rebels, the u.s., russia and iran all ending up against you. but hated or not, isis has carved out a safe haven in the heart of the middle east that may now be the most dangerous terrorist sanctuary in the world. u.s. officials say about 70 americans have also traveled at some stage to fight in syria and that about a dozen are there right now. u.s. officials are also very concerned about the hundreds of fighters with european passports which could potentially make it easier for them to make it into the united states and carry out some sort of attack. >> richard engle starting us off again tonight from baghdad. richard, thank you. >>> elsewhere in the middle east today, the bodies of three israeli teenage boys were found near the west bank town of hebron where they were abducted while hitchhikes two weeks ago. president obama was among those who expressed outrage over the killings. the abjusts were praised by the palestinian group hamas. and after the bodies were discovered the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu

you can liken that militia group, pretty in touch hezbollah in lebanon in which case almost governmentction this, certainly a very powerful group. not talking rag tag brigades, we are talking structure that have command and control. however, this is a problem with all of this because the iraqi army right now are being massively criticized. the prime minister's media spokesman said very publicly, they have deserted, any deserters that will be caught -- will be caught, will be treated as did certificators. a lot of people are asking the question. what i are we going for militias when we already have an army. >> thank you for bringing us latest. >>> the men ex-escaped after forced shot at them in pakistan. two days ago the airport was the scene of an all-night siege. the pakistani taliban has claimed responsibility for both attacks. flights have now resumed. this is an update on the situation. >> reporter: even though the local media was reporting a fresh attack o on karachi airpo, the security air forces were quick to say it was not an attack but a fighting incidents in which unidentifie

if isis stays in iraq with the support of iran who supports hezbollah and hamas among other things thenyou have a country where they can train and plan. also they are the second largest oil producer, iraq in the region second only to saudi arabia. >> and with them having all of this oil, i mean, how is that going to affect our price is? how is that going to effect what happens in this country, immediate effect. behind saudi arabia, it's an immediate effect. what you have now is a group that was too nasty to be in al qaeda. who is in effect taken the top third of 400 square miles of territory in a very troubling area between syria and iraq. the one winner in this is going to be out iran who is supporting assad in syria and the only way this thing gets turned around in iraq is people on the ground. it's not going to be us. we can bomb them all day if we want. it's going to be people on the ground. that's iran. >> the president talked about convening his military people to consider what options are out there. what options do you think should be considered? >> i don't think we ought owe get

they are not only threatening shiites, iran, and al-maliki, or hezbollah, now they are threatening turkeyream sodastream -- is kuwait. >> what a story. all right. you will come back and we'll talk about cyber crime, but i couldn't not discuss this with you because of your expertise in the area. good to see you. >> thank you, ali. >>> all states are not created equal. that's one of the unavoidable confusions we saw from a report we got this week. it is literally all over the map. take a look, the states shaded in dark blue have had growth rates above 3%. that's higher than the country's total gdp growth. north dakota's economy grew at 9.7%, 9.7%, making it the fasest-growing state of all of them. you know why, right? i'm going to talk about the energy boom that is pumping up the economies of many of these dark blue states. but the states in yellow are the middle of the pack. that includes big states like california and florida. and bringing up the rear are the states in red that grew no more than 1.5% last year. also some northeast states like new jersey, new york, and connecticut are in t

weapons, artillery, rpg's, syria and iran are pining for north korea and much of it is going to hezbollah, which of course is a terrorist organization. so when people ask me why these dank north korea should be on the support of terrorism, it's because they support terrorism. pretty simple to me. we can expect to see a lot of proliferation because that raises probably anywhere from one to $3 billion for the machine every year. proliferation is. something else i'd like to consider is if something were to happen like that happen with november 2013, it is likely some might not come and not likely possible something like that could bring down the regime because this really brought north korea. internally it? their foreign affairs, for example in history most important ally, china and as everybody knows what the point man for china was? and they killed him and they killed his cronies join with china comest await the vacuum for a few months at least for north korea had difficulties in china at least for a while because of the fact they had purged. so this was a trade off. i'm quite sure kim jon