leaders in iraq. think the most recent shipment of weapons reaffirms this strategic alliance between the u.s. and iran inside iraq, betting on the same courses. i think in addition to the most recent agreement between the u.s. and the syrian government and the u.s. and the iranian government, are sending an alarming message to the region that the u.s. will continue to take sides within domestic conflict. and in iraq, seems u.s. will continue to support the iraqi government as it has been accused for years of being behind torture and assassination and the killing of its own people. >> what do you make of the issue of the neighboring civil war in syria and its impact on the escalating violence in iraq? >> i mean, the situation in syria is so close to iraq that i don't think the word "neighboring" explains it anymore. it is all the same conflict now. this is turning into one huge regional conflict. as your other guest indicated, the events in syria are affecting the bordering areas in iraq. because of ma

it's really plans which made clear the balkanization of surrounding countries in particular in iraq if we go to zero did you know plan for israel in the one nine hundred eighty s. it lays out very clearly a strategy of destabilizing all of the surrounding areas of israel this includes syria lebanon jordan iraq and even egypt and saudi arabia and this long term goal is part of the greater israel project so in terms of the sectarian divide you see happening in iraq today it's actually all part of a very well designed plan to try and secure the goal this fantasy goal of the greater israel project ok why would israel benefits from an unstable middle east and stable arab nations because what we see that this instability actually is followed by a fundamental islam. and people who are lonely or if there are either they're replaced by fundamentalist powers or there's just more sectarian violence that grows yes and it would seem on the surface from a sane point of view that everything is going wrong but in fact when you fracture a country along sectarian divide divide ultimately we can the coun

al qaeda in iraq has taken advantage of the discontent both in iraq and in syria against their government and they have directly attacked the states of syria and iran and this has been since april in iran from your point of view why this situation in iraq got so much worse case here. the situation is this. after the americans left at the end of two thousand and eleven. the prime minister in iraq who had tried to be cross a tarion up to that point started to have to swing the policies and the soon as were more and more distrustful of the government and the end of two thousand and twelve the start of protest the got more and more frequent and of the twenty third of april of this year the iraqi security forces actually are tucked protesters and killed forty nine. people who were just protesting and that was when the violence started to increase and has now reached the levels of two thousand and eight. but in two thousand and eight that was a decrease the ten thousand civilians and now it is an increase so these this is definitely a government insurgency. all right and if there's one main con

would be trying to get rid of al qaeda in iraq when in fact the al-qaeda in iraq is one of the bases of the so-called insurgency in syria that the u.s. is backing and others another of the new message to the iraqi government is. going to say the all you are not just for iraqi government is you know we'll deal with this let us deal with it. so a bit of a delay the judge on another front i would say washington at the same time what's negotiate doesn't it with the islamic front in syria an extremist group of rebels while at the same time so you also fight al qaeda really mixed messages over. yeah i think that if we were more i think what we're dealing with here in sin iraq is iraq is to be one of the bases of the insurgency in syria because it's been almost impossible for the syrian government to stop the terrorists from crossing over the border now we should bear in mind that because iraq is now in a strategic ally of syria and iran a lot of those terrorists are actually being caught by the u.s. trained iraqi forces who obviously believe their job is to catch. these these groups now the

>> well, it's doing well, unfortunately in iraq and syria. the pakistan border it's in terrible shape. you had the segment in the program about about weinstein who has been kidnapped by al qaeda in pakistan. that's really the kind of -- that capability's not very large, they're able to kidnap an american citizen in pakistan, like mr. weinstein, but not able to do what they want to do reach out and attack the united states. al qaeda central's in bad shape, but you know, some of its affiliates are doing better for the moment. >> all right. peter, wish we could chat longer. peter bergen, thank so much. >>> ice breaks are racing to rescue a ship stranded off the coast of antarctica. why the passengers might not be seeing help soon. >> they didn't want this white of a christmas. [ sniffles, coughs ] shhhh! i have a cold with this annoying runny nose. [ sniffles ] i better take something. [ male announcer ] dayquil cold and flu doesn't treat all that. it doesn't? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms plus has a fast-ac

longer occupation of the country president bush's top are staying in iraq for fifty years. maybe a hundred. is is that part is that when we've been in south korea. we've been in japan for sixty years we've been in south korea for fifty years or so i'd be fine with me. that honor. so the question is why is john mccain's interventionist foreign policy which has subscribed to by many elected lawmakers still taken seriously. well earlier i spoke with katie to chile managing editor at reason twenty four seven and a warning though is john mccain's foreign policy. kiss of death. yeah i would say pretty much sewn and if nothing else. he goes into a country he opened his mouth but he gives the local archery refuse to read cover to us each a state or local nationalists of being leaned on by the us. you know this is what's happening in our office we don't want it don't change direction even when he's right. perhaps it's because of the wrong way to all of a china shop so he doesn't enormous damage at the toronto will mccain isn't the only one who sort of subscribes to this point of lind

about reality is israeli plans which made clear the balkanization of surrounding countries in particular iraq if we go to zero did you know plan for israel in the one nine hundred eighty s. it lays out very clearly a strategy of destabilizing all of the surrounding areas of israel this includes syria lebanon jordan iraq and even egypt and saudi arabia in this long term goal is part of the greater israel project so in terms of the sectarian divide you see happening in iraq today it's actually all part of a very well designed plan to try and secure the goal this fantasy goal of the greater israel project ok why would israel benefits from an unstable middle east and stable arab nations because what we see that this instability actually is followed by fundamental islam and people who are only now or if there are either they're replaced by fundamentalist powers or there's just more sectarian violence to gross. yes and it would seem on the surface from a sane point of view that everything is going wrong but in fact when you fracture a country along sectarian develop divide ultimately weaken the cou

israeli plans which made clear that the balkanization of surrounding countries in particular iraq if we go to zero did you know plan for israel in the one nine hundred eighty s. it lays out very clearly a strategy of destabilizing all of the surrounding areas of israel this includes syria lebanon jordan iraq and even egypt and saudi arabia and this long term goal is part of the greater israel project so in terms of the sectarian divide you see happening in iraq today it's actually all part of a very well designed plan to try and secure the goal this fantasy goal of the greater israel project ok why would israel benefits from an unstable middle east and stable arab nations because what we see that this instability actually is followed by a fundamental islam and people who are lonely or if there are either they're replaced by fundamentalist powers or there's just more sectarian violence to gross. yes and it would seem on the surface from a sane point of view that everything is going wrong but in fact when you fracture a country along sectarian divide divide ultimately you weaken the cou

dedicated himself to a different cause his rich accept his biography includes being a human shield in iraq sailing on again as a float protecting marine life in how i am helping to establish dialogue with iran and he is our guest today. for against iraq it shattered his view of the world. ever since he has been fighting a war against more bracing american bombs as a human shield already began to blockade. is never afraid to speak truth to power who want to take action for others so i'm here with activist candace o'keefe it's really great to have you on our show ken as i know that you've led a human shield action in iraq right before the war started and then you were deported do you follow what's going on in iraq now for example the november death toll was almost a thousand and then two thousand and thirteen is the deadliest year since two thousand and eight why do you think the removal of saddam hasn't improved the lives of iraqis or has it i don't know. well i think they really want to know the truth about the invasion of iraq there's clearly some some incentives for the invasion the oil

which was not there before the americans liberated iraq in two thousand and three we iraq had never had that. you know it never had the terrorist organizations may have had a dictatorship yes but it didn't have these elements in iraq and this is what the west has created in iraq they've created a monster and they're still not admitting it we can look at tony blair with that list and you can see any of the doing that we've got to leave it there president of the arab lawyers association very grim picture you're painting thanks for coming out of the program and talking to us. take you through some world news making headlines this hour egypt's military backed government officially declared the muslim brotherhood a terrorist organization move could lead to harsher punishment for members of the group in the financing it hundreds of brotherhood activists have been arrested following the ousting of president milosevic and like egypt's officials accuse the group of behind tuesday's deadly bomb attack that targeted a police h.q. in the city of mansoor. hundreds of opposition supporters have c

would be trying to get rid of al qaeda in iraq when in fact there are tied in iraq is one of the bases of the so-called insurgency in syria that the u.s. is backing imprisoned saudi blogger arrived but though it may be facing the death penalty after a judge recommended that he's charged with rejecting islam the activist has been behind bars since he was sentenced in june to a seven year term and six hundred lashes for making supposedly empty islamic statements on his web site human rights activists told us his case is not about faith though it's purely political. he has been denied permission really. charges basically because there is no our charge is clear charges are evidence there is no. no information relayed to him as what is his sentence has access to lawyers has been denied in many occasions his lawyer haven't been able to communicate with the regular business or the term has been a concern for interrogation for over a year in general there is no space to fix things that you see. based on on the very next there is nothing except that general. description of his attitude as unacc

the iraqi prime minister asked for help because al qaeda is not just active in iraq but it's gaining territory to an extent that they're talking about in the islamic state the us is now rushing dozens of hellfire missiles and surveillance drones to the iraqi government to combat this jihad is the insurgency there the cia is also reportedly helping them with par gets inside iraq but al qaeda is gaining momentum in iraq largely because they've been able to establish a strong food hold in the neighboring syria so you have let's say a jihadi group called the state of iraq and live beyond controlling territory both in iraq and syria although the situation in syria is it is worse that is critical in that regard the syrian government of course cannot count on washington's help in fighting terror quite the opposite these radical groups have taken advantage of the arms that the so-called friends of syria were sending to the syrian opposition and now washington is talking about negotiating with these lawmakers in syria which includes groups that demand a hard line shari'a state washington says

would be trying to get rid of al qaeda in iraq when in fact the card in iraq is one of the bases of the so-called insurgency in syria that the u.s. is backing the u.n. has denounced the new immigration bill in the britain as a recipe for stigma misunderstanding and ethnic profiling if passed this law could trigger a crackdown on refugees and temporary migrants leaving the mobilises and expelled from society. as the details of this draft law. well this proposed immigration bill contains measures that would make the landlords liable to fines if they're found to be renting out properties to illegal immigrants that would also have banks from opening bank accounts for people who are in the country illegally and it would also make temporary migrants liable to payment for medical for medical treatment on the national health service now all this according to the un's refugee agency would contribute towards a climate of misunderstanding and ethnic profiling in the u.k. now in practice they're simply worried that for landlords and for banks it's extremely difficult to tell the difference between

i reinforced to im as a person being out in iraq. again, my job position in the psychological connections to my job position, i got to see many aspects of iraqi people and my fellow soldiers in the military. the tricks that played on my mind was very difficult, even now, to explain to many people. i think one of the things that helped me cope and filter out and decipher, constantly modify my perception about my relationship to my deployment was that i am an avid reader. i am an avid writer. and the skill of doing my job. the routine of that, helped keep me sane in that situation. it was very difficult for me because, again, being the supply, i got to stay behind a great deal, but at the same time, the fact that there were so many people in my unit constantly task out to different portions of the military, like, we supported tankers and infantrymen, and i had many friends that were medics. they were constantly sent out on missions, and then we had iraqis come in and they had jobs on our post, while we were stationed there, so they ran

of that country president bush has talked about are seeing in iraq for fifty years maybe one hundred is that is that long been in we've been in south korea we've been in japan for sixty years we've been in south korea for fifty years or so and be fine with me so the question is why is john mccain's interventionist foreign policy which is subscribed to by many elected lawmakers still taken seriously joining me now is to answer that is j.d. to chile managing editor at reason twenty four seven just you welcome back to the show. so pretty simple is john mccain the foreign policy kiss of death. yeah i would say pretty much a man if nothing else he goes into a country he opens his mouth and he gives a local authoritarian regimes great cover to say their local nationalists look i'm being leaned on by the us you know this is what set up an area obvious we don't want to go in mccain's direction even when he's right by accidents he doesn't they're always a bull in a china shop so he does an enormous damage at that around the world well mccain isn't the only one who sort of subscribes to this b

despite the spike in violence this year in iraq is not seen returning to the daily revenge killings carried out by the sectarian death squads in two thousand six and seven. yes there are rising violence levels of violence. um but i also think that is too early right now to judge. and whether or not it was all worth it. i really think we need five or ten years. surely only a small contingent of the few hundred american troops remain in iraq working under the umbrella of the us embassy and their main task is assisting with its ailing us military equipment to iraq melanie wilkes cctv washington. less than three years of his creation to wed snail is the country's south see don is beginning to fracture along ethnic lines in finance that has killed hundreds of people including three u n peacekeepers the un deputy secretary general has made a strong appeal for decides the ball to start at the final as soon as possible. a strong reaction to use the attack the strong commitment to do with the council to close the detention of civilians in the composting and the camps and of course the strong ap four

i reinforced to im as a person being out in iraq. again, my job position in the psychological connections to my job position, i got to see many aspects of iraqi people and my fellow soldiers in the military. the tricks that played on my mind was very difficult, even now, to explain to many people. i think one of the things that helped me cope and filter out and decipher, constantly modify my perception about my relationship to my deployment was that i am an avid reader. i am an avid writer. and the skill of doing my job. the routine of that, helped keep me sane in that situation. it was very difficult for me because, again, being the supply, i got to stay behind a great deal, but at the same time, the fact that there were so many people in my unit constantly task out to different portions of the military, like, we supported tankers and infantrymen, and i had many friends that were medics. they were constantly sent out on missions, and then we had iraqis come in and they had jobs on our post, while we were stationed there, so they ran

in 2001. she was deployed to iraq in july 2003 for 5 months. she was featured in the documentary "when i came home." she lives in new york city where she is raising her daughter and writing poetry, fiction and nonfiction. she graduated college in 2001 with a ba in english and it apology. teresa grew up next to nicole and white plains new york. she served as a communications officer from 2002 two 2006, two point one to iraq. she's writing a memoir. she lives and works in new york city. i you are that is a former army sergeant felt a technician serving on active duty from 2003-2008. i did shout from 2007. all touches a masters degree in international affairs with a concentration on media and culture. recently transitioned from the capital. she is currently working as the board exec manager she deployed here in 2007. while there she manage logistics to conduct intelligence operations across southern iraq. in 2000 and she deployed to kandahar as a unit intelligence officer for the air calvary squadron of the 101st airborne division. ok. these are o

but i'm still on a sunday i can say that it is what they call al qaeda in iraq. cutting aka stake in the context of the act described tennis balls in iraq and syria against the government's. and they have directly at times the states. on cnn on. and he says he sends it to him from the point in eating my dissertation in rumpled so much wax base yet. this station is based on the americans left at the end of two thousand and eleven. i'm going to list in iraq who had tried to be cross sectarian of the appellant's started to have access in the postseason and this is no more and more distrustful of the government's hands at the end of two thousand and twelve this up to full text that looks more and more frequent. and on the twenty third of april of this yet that iraqi security forces actually attacked protesters and killed twenty nine people who would dismiss this. and that was abandoned mining stocks a tool to use and has not reached the levels of two thousand and eight. in two thousand and eight. that was a decrease. the ten thousand students and alex's increase facil

in society's margins. two years after u.s. troops left iraqvernment is battling sunni muslim extremists, and now the pentagon is sending over fire power to help in the fight. hari sreenivasan reports. >> reporter: scenes of carnage have become all too common for the people of iraq this year. all told, the united nations estimates, more than 8000 iraqis have died in a surge of violence not seen since at least 2008. the latest came christmas day when at least 37 people died in car bombings that targeted christian areas of baghdad. now, "the new york times" reports, the u.s. is rushing to bolster iraq's ability to battle al- qaeda insurgents behind many of the attacks. iraqi prime minister nuri al- maliki appealed for the help when he met with president obama in washington two months ago. during that same visit, he detailed his nation's dilemma. >> ( translated ): terrorists came back to iraq when the conflict started in syria. groups like al-qaida and the nusra front found there's another chance to benefit from the political conflict and create

troops in fighting formations inside iraq. but it is clearly lining the united states with the iraqi army and the iraqi military. and if in its efforts to fight against al qaeda. of course we want to defeat al qaeda, but just adding ours into the mix without integrating shia, suni and kurds is a dangerous route to go down. >> want to bring up when michael knight with the washington institute for near east policy told the "new york times." here is what she had. >> there is one place in the world where al qaeda can run a major affiliate without any drone or air attack and that is in syria. statement? super bowl, first, iraq and syria are two places. but i would say it is worse than that. i think there is an al qaeda ability to operate without risk of u.s. drone strikes across in africa. yes, we do have u.s. drone strikes in pakistan and yemen. but we have seen a resurgence and expansion of al qaeda operations through a much wider area. i think what we are seeing, we have seen a withdrawal of the u.s. from iraq. a planned withdraw

a sonic state in iraq and sham with with whatever material that. makes its use a continue using. human rights violations in its rule something that after honest international research i think you very much indeed for sharing your views with us . the reach get richer and the poor continue to get pummeled why would that be a robber need to run to the rescue along that and the guy has a report up next. the parliament of yemen has put forward a motion to ban drone attacks in the country the motion is now waiting approval by the president and it's probably impossible to enforce unless they could build a really big net or something is a bit strange that now after years of drone strikes in their country the parliament just wakes up to the fact their systems are getting blown up from the sky to be fair yemen doesn't have a ton of cash and i could see how having the well equipped and funded us military to take care of the al qaeda problem for them for free could be really entice and i mean it must be scary to be a politician with lots of power hungry terrorists about this would be the firs

in the neighboring seriously you have that safety hottest group called the state of the law could knit on controlling territory both iraq and syria. although the switch in serie a they say is work that is critical in that regard the syrian government to put cannot count on washington's help in fighting. there are quite the opposite. these radical groups have taken advantage of the farms that the so called friends of cereal for sending this in opposition and now washington is talking about negotiating with the islamic front in syria which includes groups that demand a hard line should be a state of washington says the us can engage with them because it not be designated as terrorists by the state department but does that mean that they don't share similar goals as those. our destiny is in its descent into lots of questions and overall at it it's a tricky situation with extremists in syria have benefited from us actions against washington is now topping on strike of the iraqi government essentially find the same forces. but really it's too soon to discover the coleman who's been covering the lease extensively until week b

. >>> and a troubling headline from over seas after a pair of twin bombings in iraq on christmas day vealing how dangerous things are for christians. they are dwindling in numbers in the middle east. >>> a top wall street adviser says you should have gones and ammunition in case of a financial disaster. that's next. ick with innovation. stick with power. stick with technology. get the new flexcare platinum from philips sonicare and save now. philips sonicare. >>> what? >> castle keep in medieval times. >> any phone line not connected to the house's main line. the surveillance monitors encompass nearly every corner of the house. >> what keeps someone from prying open the door? >> thick steel. >> you may not need a panic room, but one top financial adviser is recommending this. that you have a bug out bag. it includes a gun, ammunition, and all of this is in case of a financial apocalypse. trace has more. >> david morata is a well known, respected financial adviser. when he says to get a survival kit that includes a gun it raises eyebrows. he's not predicting armageddon. he's saying tha

and the fact that the united states took the action it did in iraq. e now have iraq allowing uranium plants to -- so just in terms of the balance of power in that region, nothing strengthen iran more than the iraq war. what happened in iraq obviously did result in unleashing all these latent tensions between the sunni and the shia. in iraq as you mentioned of course you have the kurds in the north who have been a little bit of an island of stability there but you already had middle east tensions. they have been greatly exacerbated by the situation in syria because what you have got now as as i said you have an influx of foreign fighters into serious so a lot of the al qaeda in iraq folks that are now playing in syria and they're also playing back into iraq. you have just seen this terrible retail that he recently. first of all you've got the violence against the shia in iraq but then you also have the violence of the al qaeda extremists against some of the sunni tribal leaders who had cooperated with us. i guess the short answer to your question is yes

. >>> and a troubling headline from over seas after a pair of twin bombings in iraq on christmas day revealing how dangerous things are for christians. they are dwindling in numbers in the middle east. >>> a top wall street adviser says you should have gones and ammunition in case of a financial disaster. that's next. ♪ [ male announcer ] they are a glowing example of what it means to the best. and at this special time of year, they shine even brighter. come to the winter event and get the merces-benz you've always wished for, now for an exceptional price. [ santa ] ho, ho, ho, ho! [ male announcer ] lease e 2014 e350 for $579 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. i don't have to leave my desk and get up and go to the post office anymore. [ male announcer ] with stamps.com you can print real u.s. postage for all your letters and packages. i have exactly the amount of postage i need, the instant i need it. can you print only stamps? no... first class. priority mail. certified. international. and the mail man picks it up. i don't leave the shop anymore. [ male announcer ] get a 4

iraq. we just didn't get in in time before across it crossed the border from iraq into syria. ans do live and they have shown that over and over again. you and i had -- i don't understand why you put faith in a country that has shown over and over again that it will deceive and do anything to promote terrorism to get what they want. >> host: vice president joe wieden meeting with asian leaders in the headline in the "washington post" is that lightning china raises tensions. >> guest: china has developed an air defense identification which the administration has told our military to ignore and the faa to bring into effect so if you run a commercial airliner you have to take this into account and respond to the chinese. i'm not sure exactly how that works. our military side is not recognizing that. china will try to resort itself in the south china sea. i think we all knew this was happening. they wanted to expand and that is what is happening right now. they are going to push further and a little bit further and a little bit further. every time and this is once again much harder

what most people don't understand is that the violence is in iraq is daily at the best of times in iraq three to four hundred civilians have lost their lives in the month that was of this climate and that is completely unacceptable iraq has become so fragmented and has suffered such a serious internal collapse with so many interests be. fought on its grounds internal interests of the shias the sunni is the kurds the religious fundamentalist terrorist insurgents also externally u.s. interests raney and interests you came trysts but this is a terrible legacy and a state that was already weak in two thousand and three has now completely collapsed ten years later how to make the situation better at the moment i cannot see a way and i don't think those parties who are behind the violence would let it get worse there are far too many competing interests there is too much struggle for power on so many sides that i cannot see it being a lot to get better a lot has created a special online project on our website which brings together detailed reports on the dire scale of the violence in iraq and

i became 23 in iraq. i had a birthday. nd, um, i had to celebrate my birthday in a situation that was constantly reminding me of my own mortality. and then i had shiloh, my daughter, in march 2003, and i redeployed to germany in april 2003. and then i does deployed -- was deployed, i met up with my unit in iraq in july 2003. and i didn't see my daughter until nine months later. so that kind of personal separation and personal experience, um, that really played a huge -- placed a huge psychological burden upon me because it's such a remote experience. and again, there was a lot of gray for me. so coming back home, i really wanted to start where i had thought i left off. i had a lot of college friends around me, and they were never -- they wanted me to talk about my experience in the military, and i pretty much was like, no, let's just pick up where we left off. and for many years, like, that was how i dealt with it. these are my experiences, i kept them in a box, and this is the person i want to be again. and transforming fr

in the u.s. 2001. she was deployed to iraq in july 2000 345 .5 months. 2003 45 months.y "when i came home." city wheren new york she is raising her daughter and writing poetry, fiction and nonfiction. she graduated college in 2001 a ba in english and it apology. nicolegrew up next to and white plains new york. as a communications 2006, twoom 2002 two point one to a rock. she's writing a memoir -- to iraq. she's writing a memoir. she lives and works in new york city. i you are that is a former army sergeant felt a technician serving on active duty from 2003-2008. i did shout from 2007. masters degree in international affairs with a concentration on media and culture. recently transitioned from the capital. she is currently working as the she deployednager here in 2007. while there she manage logistics to conduct intelligence operations across southern iraq. in 2000 and she deployed to kandahar as a unit intelligence calvaryfor the air squadron of the 101st airborne division. ok. these are our panelists. i would like to start by asking you to talk about your experience. a

this true axis of evil between these three countries the amount of devastation that has occurred in iraq and afghanistan in other parts of world yemen pakistan it's so

in the series of reports about the events that twenty thirteen today with. iraq in the post you will be remembered as one of fear and bloodshed. from a studio here in moscow which just turned nine pm this is a national all three members of the russian punk band pussy riot are now free the two remaining women serving time for carrying out a protest stunt to moscow's main cathedral were let go today is part of president putin's prison amnesty. has been following the story. obviously they are very happy to be out of prison but they have expressed their desire to continue along the lines of working in what concerns he was rise in the country. i was very well treated many women asked for my advice and support and human rights and legal issues and it's my purpose now to protect the convicts who spoke to human rights activists and as much as we can within the letter of the law protect their rights. there's not going to go as well said that she intends to keep a close watch on those who have remained in the penal colony where she was but first and foremost both with the

we have seen the iranians undermining sunnis in iraq. we have seen them promoting hezbollah in lebanon. they are totally -- we were totally proposed of this motion of maintaining a stable region. how do you respond to those accusations? >> have they told you we have also supported a very sunni ma' hammas moment? we have stood for unity with iraq, our relations with every group in iraq, including kurds who happen to be majority sunnis and sunnis in iraq are excellent. iran sports regional stability. iran supports resistance. these are our policies and they go across sectarian divide. it is unhealthy and, in fact, dangerous to try to describe iranian policies in sectarian terms. i believe this is not in the interest of peace and security in the rehmingon. i invite all of my friends in the region to join us. we can work together. we can help each other. we can contain the threats of violence and extremism raging in our region. those threats do not recognize sectarian lines. those threats have those extremists have attacked as many sunnis as

in iraq. in just to give group iraq body count is been collecting data on casualties in the embattled country for years now and really. is a leading research for the organization to share her thoughts on what the country's going through this year. what most people don't understand is that the violence is in iraq is daily at the best of times in iraq three to four hundred civilians have lost their lives in the month that was of the spotlight and that is completely unacceptable iraq has become so fragmented and has suffered such a serious internal collapse with so many interests be. fought on its grounds internal interests of the shias the sunni is the kurds the religious fundamentalists the terrorists the insurgents also externally u.s. interests raney and interests you came trysts but this is a terrible legacy and a state that was already weak in two thousand and three has now completely corpsed ten years later how to make the situation better at the moment i cannot see a way and i don't think

and when i was in iraq and in afghanistan i spent quite a bit of time on the evacuation helicopters. when i look at the photographs despite the different environments and the money of the jungle and a desert. there's nothing changed. i remember being in a helicopter looking down as we circle until we landed and there were guys on the ground looking up at us to just like that. one gentleman their like we were dropping from the sky to pick up their bodies to the and i don't know what year that was shot and i think if you do the math it doesn't matter that 40 or 50 years later it's still the same scenario, still the same expressions on their faces, the same emotions running through. the other photographs that jumped out at me and i believe it was up here they were civilians and they were in a ditch with water and that struck me because while covering the war in iraq and afghanistan, i was embedded with u.s. troops but i was always very curious about how the war would affect people in that country. i'm always curious about the civilians who were not necessarily not combatants and somethi

turned 23 in iraq. i had a birthday. i had to celebrate my birthday in a situation that was mystantly reminding me of own mortality. i had my daughter in march of 2003 and redeployed to germany in april of 2003. i met up with my unit in iraq in july of 2003. i did not see my daughter until nine months later. the kind of personal separation and personal experience, that really placed a huge psychological word in upon me because it is such a remote experience -- burden upon me because it is such a remote experience. i reallyck home, wanted to start where i thought i had left off. i had a lot of college friends around me and they would never -- they wanted me to talk about my experience in the military and i pretty much was like no, let's just pick up where we left off. for many years, that's how i dealt with it. these are my experiences. i kept them in a box, and this was the person i wanted to be again. transforming from that and realizing that life had gone on, and you are a mother now and not the young girl that went awa

a full independent kurdish state in the north of iraq across the border in turkey as much as twenty percent of the population is kurdish their fight for independence has long been a thorn in and his side. always called for a kurd fighters they have more weapons and they'll never give them up easily but it's in syria where the kurds face the toughest fight they're caught up in the middle of a bloody civil war their territories are being trained by al qaeda or villages raided their people killed residents of this a kurdish village of pursue fina forty five kilometers from aleppo so all it does is make them tougher fighters they're prepared to die to protect their land and their people. now every night they want to restart the clashes but now we're well prepared because we made new bunkers so we have more abilities than before if they attack us we are ready to defend ourselves but if they don't we want to attack anybody. with such a strong fighting spirit and even stronger desire for sovereignty the kurdish influence in this part of the world is growing and arguably it might be only a matter o

you know, that was -- 2006 and '7 were very violent times in iraq. there was daily combat in the streets, all over the entire country. and really baghdad was the center of gravity for that insurgency. you know, the surge was trying to put u.s. forces in much smaller outposts and engage in combat with the insurgents. so in the previous week one of our helicopters was shot down, two with roadside bomb attacks including the really nasty iranian one that would slice lu the armor and another small arms ambush. so that morning started with a big car bomb that went off. we had a usaid senior official at a meeting and, again, to clear one of those traffic circles, one of those natural intersections, a support team was sent to block some of the traffic to make it possible for the evacuating team to move through there quickly. and while the team was there, a vehicle wouldn't stop, didn't respond to all the use of force continuum, the flashing lights, the sirens, the even throwing water bottles, warning shots, and is lethal force was used. and then a fire fight

it is a systemic attempt poi radical islam al-qaeda in iraq or muslumbrother hod in egypt to eradicateiously syria is a mess and iraq has their open sectarian violence. in egypt there is a military and u.s. money there. 3 billion in u.s. military aid goes there depending on the year, are these governments doing what they can to protect the christians? or are they left on their own? >> reporter: in the case in iraq, so many bombings there in iraq and beheadings in syria which is a mess. and egypt church burnings and although the government changed and better than the muslim brotherhood government overthrown, there is a lot of dafrmg for the christians in egypt. i was down there just after there were dozen of churches there. and some say in seven centuries in egypt. >> and from your reporting and traveling in the middle east, you get a sense that enough is enough. and we'll take our family and leave or are folks staying because they don't have a choice or their open religion. >> many times they are leaving because they feel the threat to their lives. and the arch bishop of baghdad said i

where they're really totally encamped so what i think you could see is a sort of a what's happened in iraq after we went in there you see the kurdish parts breaking away gaining more autonomy and independence and the of slum aside saying setting up their own sanctuaries along that turkish border and in the north and in the south southwest and over to the coast and i think you could see sort of a de facto partition again like we see right now in iraq tim and i don't think it's going to be good news for anyone well what do you think about obama's handling the iranian issue is it doing the right thing i mean some people are talking about a possible thaw in the relationship right now is he handling it in the right way i think proved. i credit both secretary of state kerry whom i've been a critic growth and president obama criticisms i think they are doing the right thing and you know i don't know i'm not a very hopeful person but i'm inclined to think a deal can be done with the iranians where they not only stop short of an atomic bomb but starts to stop their program is stopped a year or two