policy in iraq since 2004, advising every u.s. ambassador at post in iraq. he has an intimate understanding of the political players and history of iraq as well as the role of the u.s., the role since 2004. his unique experience across two administrations is very good preparation to establish a leadership vision for the embassy that reflects u.s. diplomatic security and economic interests. mr. mcgurk is the right choice at the right time in u.s./iraq diplomatic relations. mr. mcgurk, welcome, and we'll hear from you in a moment. if sri lanka's three years after the end of more than a quarter century of devastating civil war, we also see a mixed picture. on the one hand, the end of the conflict has led to strong economic growth. driven by large-scale reconstruction and development projects. increasing commodity exports, and a growing tourist industry. however, the war left sri lanka with a legacy of internal displacement. also, mistrust among ethnic groups and, of course, insufficient protection for human rights that have yet to be adequately addressed. accord

policies in iraq and throughout the region. in the political area, iraq is scheduled to hold elections, provincial elections in 2013, national elections in 2014. if confirmed it will be a central focus of our mission to work in coordination with the u.n. to ensure that these elections are held freely, fairly and on time. energy and economics, four most priorities. if confirmed, it will be among my highest priorities to connect u.s. businesses with emerging opportunities in iraq, and to refocus iraq on the urgent necessity of diversifying their economy and grappling with national hydrocarbons legislation. as a ch the u.s. purchase sewers its interests in iraq we must not lose sight of values, rights of women and vulnerable minorities. this is an ambitious say agenda. if confirmed i pledge to work with the congress to establish a diplomatic presence in iraq that is secure, strategic, effective and sustainable. a focus u.s. mission with prioritized lines of operation organized around the sfa can enhance our influence and ensure the

quite frankly, our presence in iraq right now is too large. there's no proportionalty also between our size and our influence. in fact, we spent a lot of diplomatic capital to sustain our presence. so there's a process underway now as you may know to cut our presence by about 25% next fall. i fully agree with that approach. and i think we can do more. it's important to keep in mind, the reason we're so big now, is that the transition was planned -- it was all con tins enscy planning. the department wasn't quite sure what we would face in the early months of this year. and so we planned for every possible contingency. where we are now, i think we need to really focus. are we secure? are people safe. is it strategic? that means, is it a core priority to advance our national interest. we need to ask that directly, because we're institutionalizing our long-term presence now. is it effective? that means they have adequate buy-in from the iraqis. is it sustainable, something we can do long term. if i'm confirmed as the next a.m. bass store, i will pu

ambassadors to iraq. in july 2004 raised the american flag to open the embassy in baghdad for the first time since 1991. eight years later i was with jeffrey as he led for the first time since the topping. i have served along side our military commanders. the opportunities that are now before us in iraq exist only because of the leadership of these individuals and more than 1 million americans who have served there including nearly 4,500 who have paid the ultimate price. like too many americans i have lost friends in iraq. if confirmed i will do everything in my power drawing all the tools of our foreign policy to build a lasting policy with iraq worthy of their memory and sacrifice. i believe such a partnership is possible and i believe we are not there yet. there is so much the u.s. must do to mitigate risks and increase prospects for consolidating the many gains we have seen. iraq today is slowly emerging from decades of war, isolation and dictatorship. more recently a war that left tens of thousands of i

that is the stats tell you in iraq. notwithstanding whatever those numbers are, the requirements for personnel to note about the country are the same as they were essentially in 2006, 2007. it is expensive and that is where the largest single expense in iraq right now for the embassy of security. as ambassador kennedy pointed out an excess of 6000 contractors are security contract is in most of the money is going to pay their salaries. the opposite security cooperation in iraq is spending about 8 billion half dollars in iraq's security forces. congress appropriate for training and equipping the iraqi army and iraqi police. we've issued an audit in april about the progress there making and making that money and the fms program for some concern about the obligation rate, the meetings of general cousin who runs the program assuaged our concerns will have a follow-up report in july. it gives concrete points on the progress made regarding the use of that money. the continuing issue addressed over the years since the transfer

with you not in the next five years at least but in the specifically iraq they're stationed in iraq so that's the place they know firsthand and they strongly discouraged anyone from writing to iraq. would that be your advice for everyone else is it just vice or and what about cars. do you see they have a complicated situation in iraq as far as foreigners are concerned christians particularly tough times. there are plenty of extremists in their country willing to take lives we arrived at a time when they had taken security there i'm not sure whether our rest actually saved their lives that were if it was just a bad trip. what's your assessment of the way the russian diplomats deformed in this situation because in fact the russian foreign ministry is rather often criticized for being less than efficient in assisting our citizens abroad or do you believe they did everything they could for you. guys and myself we only saw the situation from behind bars we had no idea what was going on here in russia. i for one have not figured out yet has for the efforts contributed on the ground for a r

the group recently became famous after being jailed in iraq detained on a visa for three charges based spent a week in prison where they were allegedly beaten and threatened with death bed but when the russian foreign ministry intervened the easier riders were released and flown back so how could this happen did they really enter iraq with fake visas or was it all fixed cost one of the travellers moxy mcknight's he and his uncle guinea put helped organize the trip oh. my cheering crowd welcomed full russian bikers on monday when they returned home from iraq they were detained in new baghdad on the twenty eighth of may in charged with espionage and these a forgery the men are actually very experienced mood of bike tourists who previously traveled from the whole world latin america the united states mexico europe and china in the iraqi jail demand would beaten and even threatened with the death penalty found guilty the whole situation caused a diplomatic row now the russian korean ministry spokesman admitted at the bike isn't a direct from turkey valid iraqi visas most school did. everyt

the water situation in iraq in the region is very serious. if you look at iraq's agriculture, it used to be the great basket of the world. today agriculture is at best 20% of gdp. but agriculture in iraq uses 90% of iraq's water. that is not sustainable. and it's to the point where if they get the agriculture going again, they're going to have a serious water problem. maliki and the government hosted a conference to this discuss this with some of the regional neighbors in baghdad. maliki said we face a real crisis. we have a common way forward within the strategic framework agreement. it calls on cooperation between the u.s. and iraq to address issues like this. and to call on the expertise. i know there's some in new mexico. to call on the expertise to help the iraqis think in systematized way. do they need dams? do they need to redirect some water supplies? and to work with turkey in particular, to address this problem over the long term. all i will say is it's been overlooked. it's been overlooked because iraq has been involved in a serious

s are banned in iraq. that media spies. ok so you're saying the warden got upset when he found out you'd already spoken to the consul. are you suggesting that the iraqis had intended to snatch you quietly in the jail you or execute you or something because otherwise if you did that why would he be upset. and i have no idea what their intentions had been but when he learned were in touch with the consular families his disappointment was all but apparent on the streets of government provided while in jail where you literally exposed to physical violence the only time was that late night interrogation. was it exactly did the beach you or a tie you down one of the guys get beaten up. for or was it meant to make you more cooperative. the iraqi police peculiar method for interrogating people looks more like i don't know. he told us there's this seem meaningless question over and over again up sort of the flash absurd well that's what it looked like to us maybe you were giving it something i don't know finally they told him we have

and play a leadership role in the region. iraq recently hosted a meeting of the arab league in baghdad, a symbol that it is a key player in the region after years of isolation under sudhussain. while i understand the violence over the past year perpetrated by assad's forces is inexcusable. iraq should join with others and use its position in the arab being to bring increased diplomatic pressure to bear on mr. assad. i also continue to have significant concerns about iran's efforts to exert influence in iraq. i look forward to hearing the nominee's thoughts on this issue and an assessment of the u.s.'s ability to diplomatically mitigate the negative effects of iranian influence in iraq. despite the continuing challenges there is positive news to build upon. this was reflected in a recent public opinion survey by the national democrat institute. found that 48% of iraqys believed that iraq was headed into right direction. oil exports have increased by 20% this year to nearly 2.5 million barrels a day. american companies have increase

in addition to considerable acumen o., iraq has great oil wealth. revenues in the industry has yet to reach its full potential supplied at all of the government's budget. sadly the country's institution and ability to deliver services has been graded by decades of war and other fact yours. rebuilding the structure and effectiveness in the turin society where iraq's sunnis hope. programs are focused on improving capacity of iraqi government institutions for technical assistance that requires iraqis to match the contributions on a dollar for dollar bas technical assistance that requires iraqis to match the contributions on a dollar for dollar basis. efforts and in contrast with the larger infrastructure for stabilization projects earlier engaged every work of the government should first establish object is for new activities and then come to an agreement with the gao on matching contributions and plans for ultimate responsibility for projects to the government. run implementation of a monitor and the prize is. these steps help ensure long-term iraq inv

in iraq, a pair of bombs exploded in a crowded market in baghdad. at least 14 people died and more than 100 others were wounded. the bombs went off within minutes of each other in a largely shiite muslim neighborhood in the northeastern part of the capital. so far this month, attacks in iraq have killed more than 160 people, mostly shiites and iraqi security forces.

is cutting its presence in iraq removing about a third of its diplomatic staff and it plans to spend around one hundred million dollars upgrading the fortified embassy compound in baghdad terrorist attack. since american troops left the country six months ago have escalated dramatically to discuss the situation let's join former u.s. diplomat george kenney now joining us live here on the program my thanks for coming on today good to see you over there as i'm sure you've been listening here the u.s. compound in baghdad it's already the most expensive american embassy in the world why spend another one hundred million dollars if asked washington has said iraq is now enjoying peace and prosperity since the civilian presence transition in iraq well i think you may have noticed the report in the washington post by walter pincus and it's interesting to give you a little bit of insider baseball in washington it's interesting that walter pincus wrote this he's he's sort of one of the grand old men of the washington post who specialized in. in reporting scandals he's an investigative reporter

the missions in afghanistan and iraq did not have a mission they were a military deployment they have destroyed a portion of the know terry their weakened us we're in a situation really. similar to where we were in the vietnam war we haven't lost a war because there is no mission to actually carry out any power see in iraq or afghanistan and military right now is fighting back and defending itself the united states if it goes into a country to carry out we change which we carried out in iraq and we carried out in afghanistan then the military is stuck in a horrible position because they're not trained for this the point is that the president right states first president bush and then in afghanistan president obama did not define a clear mission for the military and did not appear to find it clear american powell see mission for the development of these countries and therefore the military were from the very beginning thrown in to make up for this vacuum and that's the problem that we have today. well more of the world's manes news and now there's been a spate of a deadly bombings targ

military has admitted that major mistakes were made during its wars in iraq and afghanistan pentacle report points to training and policy flaws say strategic leadership repeatedly failed where once a freeman from executive intelligence review magazine says the mission's whenever a clearly defined. the missions in afghanistan and iraq did not have a mission they were a military deployment they have destroyed a portion of the know terry they are weakened us we're in a situation really. similar to what we were in the vietnam war although we haven't lost the war because there is no mission to actually carry out any power see in iraq or afghanistan and nor do right now is fighting back in defending itself the united states if it goes into a country to carry out change which we carried out in iraq and we carried out in afghanistan then the military stuck in a horrible position because they're not trained for this the point is that the president i'd stay up first president bush and then in afghanistan president obama did not find a clear mission for the no terry and did not find it clear ame

at least 62 people have been killed in bomb blasts across iraq. and now homs can now be considered a civil war. >> and coming up in sports in about half an hour, poland held the high-flying russians in contention through euro 2012. it's make or break for the netherlands. they must avoid defeat against germany to stay in the competition? >> and in the last few minutes a military court in tunisia is reportedly said to have sentenced the former president to 20 years in about century shea. the son faces various charges including incitement to murder. and the ex-president is living in tunisia. it is day 26 of the olympic torch's 8,000-mime tour of the united kingdom. today it began in the scottish town. our correspondent is in scotland. the torch hasn't quite reached you, yet, sophie, has it? but it's been on the beach, and the pictures look amazing. >> yes. welcome in scotland. we're expecting the olympic flame to arrive here just before lunchtime. and it is a real key day in the tour of scotland. it stabbeds in stante andrew's home of golf, home of sc

iraq. its neighbors and beyond. in that regard, iraq is at a very critical juncture. the relative security and stability that iraq achieved at that very high price is still fragile. in order to meet the challenges it is facing, iraq needs to make meaningful progress in two main areas, power sharing and revenue sharing. our iraqi brothers have suffered dramatically from ethnic and sectarian agendas as well as authoritarian policies in the past. no other country in the region has the humanitarian and natural wealth that iraq has and it's this wealth can only be beneficial if all iraqis have an equal and fair say in the way their country to be run. turkey will continue to engage actively with all the segments of iraqi society to help iraq successfully navigate this volatile period. in our eyes, there is only one iraq to basra. and regardless of the backgrounds, our goal is to help all iraqis. our policy towards iraq is drive by principles such as inclusiveness, power sharing, and a functioning free market economy that is integrated with the region and international marke

he was military veteran who had served in iraq, and he died making a routine traffic stop on campus in virginia tech. his brother darius asked me to read something at memorial service for him and he wrote these words. he said derek worked and lived his life to serve other whose were in need. i would say to you, we need more derek crouses in virginia. another remarkable story of a virginian. heath calhoun. heath followed in his family's tradition and joined the army. eventually went off to serve in iraq with the 101st airborne division. while on patrol his hum vip was hit by a rocket pro pepped grenade. he lost both of his legs below the knee. i met him at the governor's mansion a couple years ago and he told about the months of recovery and what he thought would be a prospect of life in a wheelchair. but heath chose a different path. he taught himself how to monoski, became a spoets persson for wounded veterans around the country and through sheer willpower he got out of that wheelchair every day, competed in multiple sports events using prosthetic legs and eventually won numerous mode

few minutes every first he said to my father in four days i'm leaving for iraq. as an invented journalist in his unit i met his views on the very first day of the war going to go back. he was part of a two man sniper team just hours before the invasion he climbed a guard tower in the kuwaiti iraq border search for a rocky mine layers on the other side. of his beat up the store. you get your. guy did. exactly one week after we shot this video zeus was killed when he stepped on an unexploded u.s. artillery. place but today i want to tell you about my son hey source or so i did you might identify with that. unless you're he was born here and t o y n a s d went to los alamos grade school in a file a month after that he enlisted with the marines before september eleventh of mighty . good to have defeated i had to give my written consent because he was just seventeen and a half he made up a nice get out and he got that's the legal age for a roman in the us army he made the iraq war began on march twentieth and you don. on the twenty eighth just eight days later the sold

military has admitted to mistakes committed during its wars in iraq and afghanistan a pentagon report says quote the strategic leadership repeatedly failed in its training and policies colin powells former chief of staff colonel larry wilkerson says things were going so badly in iraq that president bush took direct control over the conflict. i think there is a lot of soul searching going on a lot of post action analysis after action review if you will. and the military does this and the british military does it quite well to better than anyone in our government and one of the things they try to look at is where things were done poorly where they were done badly where operations failed where particular actions weren't productive weren't successful and so forth so it's not surprising to me that we're now finding some analysis that shows what we all knew in zero four zero five in zero six that things were going very well in iraq and for that matter and afghanistan to working for a day i never would have invaded iraq things were going awry and badly in iraq that's why in two thousand and

that correspond to the winddown of the war in iraq and eventually afghanistan. so, those are the numbers with which we are dealing and the moment in which we find ourselves, to deal with those two forces we know, we knew we needed to do several things. the first and most important one is to put strategy first and then budget. president, secretary of defense t chief, service secretaries, all of the department of leadership and so forth spent much of the fall meeting. we met again and again, building off the work that secretary gates had begun the summer before. and culminating in decisions made by the opportunity try to scope out what the defense strategy of the united states should be in this new strategic era. and you saw the strategy we put out first in early january, then a little bit later the budget. and the reason for that was the strategy was our guide as we made this large budget adjustment. and a sequence was critical. second thing. second rule we observed, i'll put it secretary panetta's terms, everything on the table. everything on the table, no sacred

you going to give me my sony if marine died in iraq and diesel fuel original films. sorry about your size but he will always be remembered to bring call yes. i repeat . independent i support of the war in my opinion to work in the necessary that i support the marine corps says specifically but belief. in what you call a feeling for through the boys. and we will serve to ensure you will often feel what i felt for the rest of us. think you are. if his source was an ordinary boy. after years he was mischievous. like to tease his sisters but he loved them a lot. less good he. wanted to be a policeman until when he was thirteen he met the military recruiters in san diego . and you. a little later told him that if he and rolled in the u.s. army later he could join the drug enforcement agency and become an international police officer in the. division doing we made the decision to move to the us under pressure from pesos and olivier the only way. you could get it wanted to join the u.s. army. i just thought of this you see we sold our home and our laundering business in tiju

were to be overthrown the united states would create in syria a proxy client regime as they have in iraq and as they have in libya ok if i go to you and i ask the question who would be the winners and losers when considering what we just heard here only the syrian people lose. a loser. the syrian people and this is very upset because yes there are international dimensions of the crisis but all of the more than more than ten thousand people killed so this is enough to see. the ning but in my view of the world of this started fortunately and people are dying there for four or four months and then i look from the from from a to you know push back to i am afraid that implored internally explode because there are countries late to the syrian crisis in the first member. to lebanon which is already had experienced terrible civil war which can repeat again because. well it looks like it looks i'm going to fire for the entire region joshua if i can go to you it seems to me that it's very simplistic in western media if assad goes it's all over well that overt a civil war that will end the civil wa

were to be overthrown the united states would create in syria a proxy client regime as they have in iraq and as they have in libya ok if i go to you and i ask the question who would be the winners and losers when considering what we just heard here only the syrian people lose. the syrian people and this is it is said because. of the crisis but all of the more than more than ten thousand people killed so this is you know to see. is the name. in my view the civil war all of this unfortunately and people. for four or four months and from the from the from header you know the person who i am afraid that implored internally and explode because there are countries with the crisis in the first. to lebanon which is all the experience. we can gain because. well it looks like it looks i'm going to fire for the entire region joshua if i can go to you it seems to me that it's very simplistic in western media if assad goes it's all over well not overt the civil war that will end the civil war just because assad leaves and i don't think he will go ahead no it won't no it's not going to end the civil w

he counted wrong as two hours ago allied air forces began an attack on military targets in iraq in kuwait today our armed forces joined our nato allies in airstrikes against serbian forces responsible for the brutality in kosovo on my orders coalition forces have begun striking selective targets on military importance to undermine saddam hussein's ability to wage war the u.n. security council passed a strong resolution that demands and to the violence against citizens that authorize the use of force irrespective of which party holds the white house the scene geopolitical agenda has been in place no single bomb were all set of powers would be tolerated on the global stage to challenge them merican empire such a policy has been costly and care was was it tremendous burdens for the global economy and the american taxpayer in two thousand and eleven alone over seven hundred billion dollars was spent on the military an increase of more than forty billion dollars from two thousand and these has greater political blowback at home young people right now have no hope in our society i just want to

engaged in trying to contribute to iraq's stability. because the fact is in different ways every one of iraq's neighbors, iran, turkey, syria, jordan, saudi arabia will be afflicted negatively if iraq explodes upon our departure. >> your first book april 2, 1989. here's the last clip where you talked about capitalism. >> struging signs came to life, are they to maturity, would that mean that capitalism was its own victim? >> well, it could. but that i doubt because the one area where capitalism is really successful is in ratifying material wants and desire for the satisfaction of material wants is still a very major source of social motivation. so i don't think it's going to be a crisis of capitalism as much because of these cultural difficulties. it could be simply a crisis of social commitments, social virility. we could become a decadent society. it's not a crisis of capital im. if we become a decadent society we could be vulnerable. >> have we become a decadent society? >> no, but i fully subscribe to what i said then. i think the ma

our a straight a twin bombings in iraq now starts off the r.t. world the bombings have killed at least eight people and injured nineteen across the country the first blast went off outside at the house of a shiite cleric in a baghdad suburb a second explosion came just minutes later as neighbors gathered at the scene june has been a violent month in iraq with over one hundred forty people mostly shia pilgrims dying in insurgent attacks. the u.s. commander in afghanistan is meeting with pakistan's top general today focus on reopening key military supply lines which were closed to nato convoys in november after an airstrike by the military alliance killed twenty four pakistani soldiers and no progress has been made on the issue since then ahead of the meeting though another u.s. drone attack killed four in the country. libyan officials have denied claims that the last prime minister to serve under moammar gadhafi was abused in jail on sunday two newsier extradited. back to libya human rights groups say he faces a very real risk of being tortured and

syria is going to affect iraq in a very clear way. >> anytime there is an attack like this in iraq, we ask that set blip or aberration or if it is a more serious trend toward instability. you are suggesting it is the latter? >> in the last 50 years, there has been a decline in those incidents. the state has a stronger security and police force and all of the indications are good. but what is happening now is there is an external factor, a serious one, and that is giving a new lease on life to the insurgency in iraq. it is worrying for the politicians and they need to get their act together. >> can they do that? there is clearly aced -- a vacuum of making security harder to achieve. >> up until now, the process is holding, people are holding to procedures. despite the rhetoric, people are sticking to the procedures, but it is fragile. politicians want to show their muscles and they're trying to incite the public. that is easy in an environment like iraq. >> when you look at how the country has fired since the american troop withdrawal, is iraq doing better or worse than you might have e

in february. and it immediately increased iraq's barrels of oil by 200 barrels a day. other moorings in the gulf are scheduled to open over the course of this year. it's a major engineering feat. there will be setbacks. but it could produce, increase iraq's oil, just the sing 8-point mooring by millions of barrels a day. the second piece were the bidding rounds in 2009, where iraq for the first time invited international companies in to bid for their fields. and it was a successful. it was very difficult because i used to hear from iraqis in '04, '05 that you really need to get international companies in here. there was a fear if they got companies to drill and helped the iraqis to produce their oil. it happened in 2009. they drove a very hard bargain. because of those contracts, there is now international companies, bp, exxonmobil, occidental, the chinese luke oil are helping drill and develop resources. so very quickly, where do we go from here in the iraqis still are not thinking in terms of a system in how to really get their oil going. sometimes they don't have the