leaders in iraq.i 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 m

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

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 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 securing oil was was one of them establishing permanent military bases in the region was another one for less talked about reality is. 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 p

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 th

iraq. investigative group iraq body count has been collecting data on casualties in the embattled country for years now and. who is a leading researcher for the organization shadowstats on what the country is going through they say here. what most people don't understand is that the violence 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 sqlite invertors completely unacceptable iraq has become so fragmented and has suffered such a serious internal collapse with so many interests be. fought on is 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 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

and what's happening in western and northern iraq is al qaeda of iraq has reconstituted itself under banner and it's moving around in caravans. it's taking over towns and cities, intimidating the population and even has training camps and staging areas in western iraq. an with that an air to ground capability which they've have very limit one, they can't take on this threat too well. >> is what we're giving them enough? >> there's a good question about that. i think what we're giving them is probably not enough. it's probably what each political system allows. you know, if you really wanted to go after this threat in a serious way, if american forces were still in iraq, for example, with air and ground forces, what you would do is go after them with air strikes, attack helicopters. you would use armed drones as we've used in other parts of the world as a perfect target for that it's an al qaeda franchise, after all. but we're not giving them armed drones even though the iraqi foreign minister floated the idea of requesting them because of formal request for the drones hasn't come fro

james jeffrey was us ambassador to iraq in two thousand tend to two thousand twelve. what we're seeing is a rise in violence almost completely caused by the growth of al qaeda spurred by two new developments that all of the number one is the most important situation in syria two raging across the border the iraqi factions al qaeda has allied itself with its radical sunni counterpart in syria expanding its reach the second development is the increasing dissatisfaction of iraq's sunni minority. they have long complained that the shia led government as marginalize them and targeted them for arrest. the flashpoint came in april when iraqi security forces conducted a deadly raid on the cd protest camp in how we judge a town north of baghdad al qaeda responded with a relentless campaign of bombings across the country targeting both shiites and other sunnis believe to be cooperating with the government. it was two years ago this week when us troops withdrew from iraq after nearly nine years of war at that time of qaeda's influence had been greatly diminished. they did not ha

force 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 block a few is never afraid to speak truth to power what makes him 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 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 securing oil was was one of them establishing permanent military bases in the region was another one but a far less talked about reality is. israeli plans which made clear that the ba

starting in iraq, more than two years after president obama declared the iraq war was over, now the u.s. is sending hellfire missiles and surveillance drones to that country as the baghdad government battles a renewed al qaeda insurge incy. more than 7,000 civilians, close to a thousand iraqi security forces have died in attacks just this year alone. among the latest victims, at least 26 people that were killed in 38 more wounded in an attack on a baghdad catholic church wednesday right after christmas prayers had ended. and there is continuing uncertainty in afghanistan. president obama had said all forces would leave in 2014 but now that plan seems to be in jeopardy. president car xi needs to sign a bilateral security agreement no later than december 31st but is refusing to sign that without concessions from the u.s. now it appears that the u.s. deadline has softened. meanwhile, taliban forces attacked the u.s. embassy kabul with rockets wednesday. no one was hurt in that attack. for more on iraq and afghanistan i'm joined by ambassador kurt everything. a director of the mccain instit

iraq. well the us led invasion of iraq in two thousand and three marked a clear start to what would be a very bloody period in the country's history in this daily carnage shows no sign of stopping as the president of the arab roy's association told us. you know it's much worse than a two hour spree two thousand and three because there is no security there is no infrastructure the there is a total failure of the infrastructure of the society the health education the teachers and there have been either assassinated or emigrated you have a situation where four million refugees outside the country almost two million displaced in the country within the country and the killing is continuing on a daily basis that it is unprecedented so this situation is much worse now. made by both the government of iraq and the western powers who created the situation and they still want to say it was a success but it wasn't. and we have created a special online project on our website which does bring together de

mission in iraq. the american military is now helping the fight against extremists with everything from surveillance drones, rockets and missiles. so consider this, did the u.s. leave iraq too early? and what does that mine for america's mission in afghanistan? also, edward snowden sends a special holiday message back to the u.s. saying mission accomplished. but what is the real impact on the nsa? also, a plus sized barbie reigniting a firestorm of controversy over what childhood dolls should look like and their impact on body image. and a british invasion on tv. why are sherlock, downton abbey and other shows from the uk all the rage here on american tv sets? hello, everyone. i'm adam may sitting in for antonio mora. welcome to "consider this." we begin with two international hots spots where u.s. policy does not seem to be working write now. starting in iraq, more than two years after president obama declared the iraq war was over, now the u.s. is sending hellfire missiles and surveillance drones to

iraq is a former shadow of itself now. i feel the american people need to know what state iraq is in and what we did to that country. >> what auspices were you under when you went to iraq? how did you get in? >> we were a group of women. we put out a call to people around the country saying, who would like to go? we did not know if we would get in or if the u.s. would bomb at the time. it was a scary time to go. we got a group of about 11 or 12 of us. we flew into jordan. we do not know if we would get into iraq. we drove across the desert. i'm jewish. we got to the border and a border guard took my passport and said, benjamin, is that jewish? i started shaking like a leaf. i thought, uh-oh. i'm in trouble. the tensions between iraq and israel were very high. a half hour i was waiting and waiting and he came back huffing and puffing and said, i brought my notebook. i have been studying hebrew. i was wondering if you could correct my grammar. that was the border guard. i asked, why are you standing here? when we were at war

,after 9/11 during after iraq.here seems no into it, but it is rather astonishing there is less reaction from governments and the media in the u.s. and western europe. >> what about that? in theue of the media united states and how a cover saudi arabia? -- and how it covers a saudi arabia? >> it doesn't really cover saudi arabia. rather delicate coverage. of course, the saudi's don't make it easy for journalist to have access. but many of the facts about saudi arabia's relationships to jihadia and to sunni organizations don't require any investigation. -- they are in plain , and still nothing is done about it. these are sort of attacks on drone attacks or other attacks in north waziristan against al somalia, amen, in really peripheral to the main problem which is centered in saudi arabia and the gulf. and the outcome of the support for these extreme organizations is to be seen in northern iraq, western iraq -- which is now substantially under the control of al qaeda-linked organizations -- and across the border in

the ci is also reportedly helping them with car gets inside iraq. but al qaeda is gaining momentum in iraq largely because they've been able to establish a strong hold 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 sy

went into iraq. now you've got it in iraq.ere was one point where everyone was say, al qaeda's on the ropes, they've taken out the leadership, crushed the backbone but they're on the rise in iraq, syria, yemen, other places in north africa. what do you see as the state of al qaeda at the moment? >> well, it's doing well, unfortunately in iraq and syria. on 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. >> t

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 two thousand and thirteen is to 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 securing oil was was one of them establishing permanent military bases in the region was another one but a far less talked 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

you handed them iraq. iraq, after all, at least senses a majority shia country. this is a country that 74% sunni. we're not prepared to see the shia take it over. you're not helping. i think it's a powerful argument. >> i'm asking you -- [inaudible] at what point do -- at what point do the saudis have a real point when they differ with american policy? and at what point does it just -- when bryan challenged the title of the panel. i think it makes sense. it's not alliance in that way. it's relationship; right. and it seems to be in lots of way a problematic proprietorship. insofar as as elliot was describing. a lot has to do with oil for security and historically it's been a lot of times the saudis saudis are scream agent the americans from the side, do this, do that. as elliot was saying before about bush it's best to lead them, guide them, influence them. but at what point when the saudis are saying -- as elliot was describing. at what point are they right. when they're talking about syria and iran. we need you at superpower leading you're wrong on syria and wr

it is going over to iraq or in iraq.he warriors, this is going to expand across the entire middle east. that is what i worry about. , the chemical weapons, that seems to be so far going ok. if we can get that, that is big. that will help. it still not relieve this pressure we're seeing between the sunni and shia laying out. i worry what that means for the future. we do not want people to miscalculate. that is the concern. crocker areke ryan saying maybe we have to rethink our relationship with assad, because of diplomacy, because of the strength. -- ans is an incredible incredibly complex problem. -- there are lots of ideas. i think the best way is this is going to have to be a multinational solution. >> and does what rush and the united states are doing all -- offer the potential? -- that would be the best solution. at this.e a look what is happening to the region. that is politically, some discussion. what i worry about, we could find ourselves in a mess. the president has been clear. for him, the priorities are weapon

would be trying to get rid of al qaeda in iraq when you factor. in iraq is one of the bases of the so-called insurgency in syria that the u.s. is backing. the u.n. just announced a new british immigration bill is a recipe for a stigma misunderstanding and ethnic profiling if passed the law could trigger a crackdown refugees and temporary migrants leaving them homeless and expelled from society of his police the story of this new 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 dif

and as we begin to look back at the big stories of twenty thirteen for iraq it becomes the deadliest in the past five years with over nine thousand killed in bloody sectarian strife. and i welcome the watching r.t. international with me andrew farmer. pardon former tycoon mikhail khodorkovsky says he won't engage himself in politics or business but will dedicate himself to helping he's imprisoned comrades at his first press conference following his release he said he needs to pay back its debts to those still behind bars artie's peter oliver looked into one of the cases of ski's associates mikhail khodorkovsky entered into the press conference in a whirlwind of media hype into a room packed to the rafters with journalists many of whom were congratulating him on his release as a political prisoner however there is a nother side to the yukos saga one that's not often heard. free after ten years this is that some of these comments after his release brings i bros i mean your property. some of my comrades remain in jail they are my fellow sufferers for example my friend platon lebedev ale

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

and, again, i come back to iraq and their perceptions about iraq and the shift inside of iraq which ithink is, remains a huge challenge, and it's, obviously, connected to syria. and i think hen they saw the u.s -- when they saw the u.s. administration in september this particular walk away from what they thought would be even targeted, limited strikes, you know, they were already in a process of trying to place be bets on a number of different actors. and be now based on my most recent trip to eastern turkey, they and others are all in. it's, i think, presenting -- >> regarding syria. >> yeah. and with some very dangerous groups perhaps. perhaps less so with saudi arabia and other gcc state, but i think by 2014 -- it's already coming out in the press, but i think this administration even is recognizing that perhaps the threats from these jihadists in northern be syria are starting to rival some of the other security threats that the united states faces in the middle east. >> i'm just sitting here trying to think of whether i agree that they're punching below their weight. i don't know

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 lin

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

made by both the government of iraq. who created this situation and they still want to say it was a success but it was. well after he has created a special project which brings together detailed reports in the di scale of the violence in iraq and from all of the big events of the year series y twenty is will be running all this week. these are. braving the elements in order to. this comes after a mass hunger strike that returned the world's attention to the place. of apartheid . it's an undeclared battlefield which is just one of the front lines. still to come as a happy birthday to the federal reserve in the u.s. we look at who's actually glad to see the hundred year anniversary of the. an institution i'm sure the law and what it has a husband achieve that's coming up. largest consumer of the seas and i see it with me in the country is the federal government simply saves property of the united states government. this the united states somebody that was probably going to realize you can't just buy. your own just throw it

>> this was seven iraq. -- southern iraq. i was with a manned helicopter unit. i went in with some experience from that understanding more of the aerial respect they are and what needed to be looked at in terms of intelligence but we were in southern afghanistan during the same thing except now i'm dealing with pilots putting themselves at risk going out several times a day and flying helicopters themselves. these were small aircraft with two pilots, no passengers, single-engine aircraft. they were built in the 1970's and in terms of technology, it did not really improve from what was used in vietnam. it was an interesting dynamic between iraq and afghanistan and what my mission was all within the intelligence cycle. >> and afghanistan, where there are people flying at the helicopters during the reconnaissance? >> we had apaches and kyowas that went out. the difference between the two, the ability to target where as the other is the smaller craft going out not so much in an often several-- offensive role, but they're looking for information, taking pictures, lit

the iraq war is supposed to be over but these pictures tell a different story chaos and confusion the aftermath of yet another deadly blast here in. this oil rich city has been described as a fault line a symbol for the country's most intractable woes escalating violence the conflict among ethnic and religious groups and the fight over iraq's resources. getting there was our first challenge a group of kurdish soldiers had agreed to take us in both baghdad and the kurds lay claim to care coop and are sparring over control aside from the danger those entering from the kurdish side need special permission to get past the iraqi checkpoints we inhabit. road blocks and concrete barriers define the new iraq checkpoints like this one are a dominant feature of life and they are everywhere aside from the household they're also frequent target of attacks for us is a blatant visual reminder of a country still very much at war. inside your kook we drive quickly to avoid danger we're told to look out for black b.m.w. apparently they've become a favorite for iraq's insurgents who didn't pick the bes

. >> military aid is being sent to iraq. the iraqi government has been hunting fighters across the province for months. syria, where al qaeda is active there there year. tom ackerman reports. >> the u.s. is providing 75 he'll fire missiles deployed on light prop planes for the al qaeda affiliates, iraq and syria, acting from across the border, inflicting serious casualties against civilian and military targets inside iraq. the white house cautions that there has been no formal request for armed - us armed drones operating over iraq, nor is there any intention of diverting american armed drones into iraq. but this increasingly serious security situation really belies the assurances previously by the white house that after the withdrawal of all american combat forces from iraq, that the security situation inside iraq is secure. >> tom ackerman reporting. >> an american kidnapped in pakistan is appealing to president obama for wep. warren weinstein was working for a u.s. consulting form when abducted in lahore. in a video sent

drones and hellfire missiles on their way to iraq washington is lethal aid to counter attacks from al-qaeda linked extremists are also gaining ground in neighboring syria. fresh immigration initiative united kingdom slammed as ethnic profiling by the u.n. who fear it could trigger a sweeping crackdown on workers in asylum seekers within legally. unfreeze and accelerate its nuclear program if washington introduces new sanctions something that could undermine them that historic geneva agreement seen as a key breakthrough twenty thirteen. and legal cases brought against russia's football tycoon mikhail khodorkovsky had to be reviewed the move by the country's highest court could lead to previous sentences being overturned. even if you just joined us a sense nine pm here in moscow when i was cavanagh in our top story tonight an hour to international hell fire missiles drones and fighter jets the iraqi military is about to get an upgrade from the united states the lethal aid is meant to help baghdad fight al qaeda linked groups gaining territories both in iraq and in syria can report. the iraqi

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 they have attacked shiias. it is importantly for all of us to work together to contain the extremism in our region. it's a common thread. it's not a thread directed against one orb another group within the islamy world. our differences are little. what joins us is far greater than what divides us. >> the sectarian divide has never been proceed pronounced than

on iraq, iraq reactor, again, a freeze. meanwhile, the sanctions that are in place overwhelmingly remain in place. all the sanctions on the oil and the financial sector. they're all in place. in fact during the next sick months iran will lose between 25 and 30 billion in lost oil sales. and the sales allowed will go in to essentially an escaladed you account with the exception of about 4.5 billion released in a staggered way over the six month period conditioned on their continued compliance and very little relief in some of these other area. so the sanctions regime overwhelmingly remains in place during this period. and everyone has said you mentioned the race to break out. it does add a little time to the clock, frankly, before you could have an uranium breakout. it's hard to argue that situation is more dangerous. especially when you consider the fact it's all reversible. if there's any violation of the agreement, the 8.8 billion worth of relief can immediately go back in to place. the president has the authority under e

you handed them iraq. iraq at least is majority shia country. we are not per power -- we are not prepared to see the shia take over. >> i will ask you both. at what point do the saudis have a point when it if there with american policy, and at what point when brian challenged the title of the panel, it is not alliance in that way. alliance? no, i think it makes sense. it is alliance. it is a relationship. it seems to be a problematic relationship. insofar as a lot of it has to do with oil for security. it is been a lot of times the saudi's screaming at the americans do this, do that. before that, it is best to leave them, guide them, influence them. at what point when they are saying this are they right? when they are talking about syria or iran? we need you as a superpower leading, or you are wrong on syria. you're wrong on iran. how do we distinguish the noise from when they are correct. >> you could argue they are already right in this regard. i would respond in terms, back to strategic interests and how having a clear plan of how this this g

stage we this is very evident in iraq in syria and in egypt as well it's so the u.s. it's been meddling in the middle east for decades and over the last decade actively engaged in warfare in several countries in the middle east are you saying that that exacerbates the problem of violence against christians do extremists see these populations as extensions of the west extensions of the united states. no it's not it's not like that it is perceived from the i would call them the mickey mouse organizations such as the. islamic state in the iraq and the event such as al qaida such as the salafi movements that are now washer and all over the sunni world across the middle east these all while seemingly. independent media don't have a central command in reality they all act in sync they have a very clear message you just have to follow the. rhetoric in the countries that they operate in that they are anti christians and jews and even muslims who might be secular or who might be shared or home i'd be not agreeing hundred percent on the. dogma. but what are the consequences of

adding the syrian kurds to this mix would make iraq even more volatile says omar. syrian kurds against iraqi kurds and exacerbating tensions in iraq as it happened in next door syria. >> the radicalization is going to increase and different funds within syrian war are going to increase. the kurdish complex within syria is going to increase. that's going to have major effects. >> what does the united states have at stake in all this. >> its allies in the region are really suffering, tremendous consequences with the syrian state sailing on the borders of lebanon, israel, iraq, jordan and turkey. the longer that this conflict goes on, the greater this problem gets. >> putting at further risk the stability of iraq which costs the united states thousands of american lives and hundreds of billions of dollars to secure. >> ifill: finally tonight, on this day when the life and work of nelson mandela were honored in south africa, we bring you some personal memories from scholar, author and educator johnnetta cole. she is director of the smithsonian national museum of africa