there was al qaeda in iraq, al qaeda on iraq and i've written several books on the topic. al qaeda in iraq was defeated in 2010, 2011. when the americans left iraq in 2011, al qaeda in iraq, al zarqawi was bleeding, was besieged was bleeding. numbered not more than 200, 300 fighters. the question why al qaeda in iraq -- >> the syrian a&m [simultaneous speech] [simultaneous speech] >> where has, to come back, the sunni-shia divide, this is the social nourishment, these are not my words, consensus in the filed field. what does mean the sunni-shia divide imran? , even if it is perceived as sectarian. it has allowed i.s.i.s. to what? to embed itself to insert itself in the local sunni society. >> absolutely not people forget [simultaneous speech] >> it's it's it's it's. >> one at a time, foaz first. >> no one can tell you the extent of the support within the sunni community to i.s.i.s. i've worked for years, and the numbers go and these are basically it's not just rhetoric here. the numbers grow. most sunnis, most sunnis implicitly, implicitly the local communities, the poor s

we saw how bad it was in iraq. if we continue to diaz the late under current plans, afghanistan is going to fall apart and that will have tremendously damaging ramifications in pakistan where we have great interest. >> critic would say it was a hopeless case from the start. we put in the wrong person, hamid karzai, is hopelessly corrupt, the government is hopelessly corrupt. the afghan national army was corrupt and incompetent like its iraqi counterpart. what we look at and look over what is happening in the middle east, what we are saying is societies and countries which are in a state of extensive collapse and failure there is nothing the united states could have done to patch this situation up. trying to with stablish democracy in afghanistan and in iraq with schools and the united states should have instead maintained a hands-off approach and it is not just the best policy but the only -- the best worst policy in dealing with countries in situations like that. given your experiences in afghanistan do you think

i think of the iraq war logs as an example.yeah, that's my question. >> so much of the history -- i'm sorry, i missed the word you used. some of the history is what? >> demonized. oh, oh. well, i'm not a professional archivist. i know we have the director of the bush library here. i'm sure he can answer your question for you. i'm not sure what you mean by demonized unless you're talking about leakers who are still within the government and then decide to follow edward snowden's path or whatever, you're correct. there are people who demonize them. point being, if you're a presidential historian, a good one will tell you, you have to wait at least 20 years because you have to let the passions cool. you have to do that. now, the problem is worse than you suggested because nobody puts anything down in writing anymore it was a point that was made earlier today in the first panels because they're afraid of gaegt subpoe getting a subpoena her from capitol hill or some special prosecutor created. so the historical record, unfortunately

iraq, completely shattered that. the invasion of iraq and the run up to that shattered that global solidarity. shattered the diplomacy that was associated with it, shattered our hopes of solving lots of other problems on the wings of that. if you will. but it also occasioned the second episode i will discuss. no one knew better than former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff colynn powell and i was his special assistant at the time. what we had done to the armed forces of the united states, and what porter gossin called the peace dividend. it was not clinton that delivered it, it was george hw bush. and he did it because the congress of the united states demanded it. we cut the armed forces, for example, 25%. that was a huge cut. biggest cut since word war ii really, especially if you look at how we did it, bases and everything. bill clinton came along with his new secretary of defense and cut another 3%. what relevance does that have to this? it has this relevance. powell was secretary of state, but he was a forme

he came into office at the moment that iraq was -- daesh was intent on destroying the integrity of iraq. much of the territory was already under them. thousands of iraqi troops and thousands of iraqi civilians had already been displaced or slaughter, so he came in under a very, very difficult moment, and i think in stark contrast to previous systems of government in iraq, he sees the future of iraq as one which divests authority from the center in order to empower reliable governance in the provinces, and he's talked about this, it's functioning federalism. he's been clear about his willingness to devolve power. he has a skeptical power base, that operates from a long history of concerns about what the other components within the iraqi society really intend to do over time. that skepticism is something that we have to recognize. it's a skepticism that by committing ourselves to the political process of iraq and supporting prime minister abaddy's efforts at functioning federal inch at being quick in the process of stabilization, in the context of liberated populations, it creates the ope

taking place in iraq. the sunni-shia divide that is basically opposing the veins of the muslim politics. not only middle eastern states have not done enough. in fact they have provided the sus that nanc sustenance and nourishment. >> how? >> 202012 and 2014, those isis, -- there was no isis. al-nusra front. because money flood ed in to syria. the question was not to support the militant jihadist the question was to bring the temperature on assad's head. [speaking at the same time] >> most of the money, most of the money, basically went to militants, like al-nusra. .1. ..1, paints two, most of the fighters come to syria from turkey . the question is not why turkey has joined the fight now. why has it taken turkey more than a year to i now submit to you that turkish strategic priority is no to take on isis because of the kurds. >> you are the guy, you were walling for, quote, ammo, am oh, ammo to go to the free syrian arm. >> i absolutely. >> a lot that ammo went to groups like al-nusra front, went to the is

of iraq. i believe that a couple of years -- in 2010 or two dozen 11, 2011, we had it in a place it was heading in the right direction. violence was down, the economy was growing, the politics were ok. we turned it over to them it. the by the agreement that we've made back in 2008, that they would take full control of this in 2011 we would leave. as it is turned out, they were not prepared to handle that. i think it is more politically than it was anything else. the political factions just simply weren't able to work together. and based on that, people became frustrated, and when people become frustrated, they tend to turn to violence because there is no other way to get their point across. that allowed a group like isil to exploit the fissures that were occurring inside iraq. the same thing happened in syria. when you have now are two countries are annexed which other the have the same kind of problems. and you gave them a fairly significant piece of ground that enable them to build their cap

her parents are iraq he christians. i have been sensitized to the plight of christians in iraq. l, for 1600 years mastectomy and were given and today they are not because isis controls i they will persecuting kill christianst. . they are fleeing. all over the region. not just iraq. there are challenges in lebanon which used to be a peaceful, christian nation. isi-inspiredhe terrorists in the eastern mediterranean that are beheading 18 christian cops. think about the christians being slaughtered around the world. the christian girls in northern nigeria. because ir challenge think we have a duty and we have the skills to do this. these are not the most awesome forces in the world. united states is fought wars against forces that were evil, just as evil of this with greater military might. we can take these guys on. we have special forces that are the best in the world. we have military capabilities that far exceed anyone else. this is something of its and a single to the rest of the world that the united states is supportive of people who, through no fault of their own believing i

it's iraq's second largest city. it is deeply entrenched in mosul. and it regulates everything in the city. it regulates what people wear, when shops open. they tell people how to live their lives. we understand hundreds of thousands of people still live there. killing or getting rid of a military commander undoubtedly a blow to isil. still isil controls territory, and mosul has been controlled for over a year and just months ago mosul was able to take control of anbar province in iraq. not much progress on the ground, but this is a blow to organization in which top leaders all share the same cleanses, people who are iraqi. people who spent time in u.s. jails. people what people saw as occupation, and people who managed to gain support among soonies. >> thank you very much putting it in perspective for us from iraq's capital of baghdad. meanwhile, th there has been damage by airstrikes as well. according to a statement the iraqi air force strikes caused heavy losses in men and equipment, and it's unclear when the airstrikes were carried out. meanwhil

to withdraw from northern iraq. barzoni said he wants to protect the area from becoming a battlefield but it is said he is search the interests of turkey and some say turkey's ambition is keeping territorial ambitions in check. >> i wonder how turkey comes comes to the aid of popular defense forces fighting isil. that means the turkish government is protecting isil and fighting anyone who fights them. >> the kurds in iraq and syria may have a long history of internal power struggles but have been cooperating in their fight against isil. they have been the coalition's forces on the ground, but cracks are now emerging. >> we can go live now to zeina hodor in southern turkey. let's start with civilian casualties. what do we know has happened? there were reports that civilians were killed in northern iraq. the turkish military tell the promised to launch an investigation to find out exactly what's happened. the military now releasing its findings saying that no civilians were hit in those strikes, and the target was a s

military operations in iraq. so if indeed it was confirmed that he was killed, it will be a blow to the operation. we also have to remember that i.s.i.l. is really a predecessor of al qaeda in iraq. most of the leadership came from al qaeda in iraq and they learned from the past and they made sure that the organization will not just depend on you know a few leaders replacing them. it would be easy to do but this man had military skills, he's from mosul so he knows the city quite well. he is also -- he knows the people of the area which really gives him credentials and gives him the skills that i.s.i.l. needs and what really makes it a strong force, at the end of the day we have to remember something and that i.s.i.l. still controls iraq's second largest city. >> joshua walker is a former advisor to the u.s. state department. still no long term way to control i.s.i.l. >> the statement from the white house was significant but as far as the operational capabilities at we have had are heard it's hard to judge. it is

has beeneed and their disabled daughter may never see iraq again.ut they say that the price they are willing to pay to keep their faith because they no longer trust their government. >> how can we be expelled from our homes and towns where we grew just like that and without any rights? we served our army and our homeland. >> christian leaders and diplomatic missions attended the ceremony as did an envoy of pope francis. in a letter read by archbishop nuncio galantino, appeals to the international community to take action against the continuing persecution of christians. iraq's christians are among the oldest christian communities in the world. we want this to stay. >> that's why we want the christians to stay. we want to save the true identity. >> they prayed for peace. most are not sure they will ever enjoy it in this part of the world. my children have been out of college for two years, we feel we are stlooef breathe and eat. we have nothing to do except wait. >> the percent cushion of iraq's christians began well before isil and. >> that's why mo

iraq is undergoing all-out war. isil is a result, a product of the fracturing of iraq. but i do not believe by the chatter of american' least. the iraqis can save their country even though iraq faces social ideology and sectarian deep riffs, but it's up to the people and society to rescue their own country and to rise up to the challenge. at the end of the day it's not what the americans the fate of iraq will be. it's what we comment. at the end of the day agency lies with iraqis, and we hope that the iraqis will stand up and rise up and save their country, even though it is a very difficult and complex challenge, indeed. >> life for us in new york. thank you. >> now seven people have been sentenced to death in pakistan over a series of attacks. including an assault on a school that killed more than 150 people, most of them children. and an eighth person will now spend life in prison. >> the attack on the public school was not the first time that a place of learning had been targeted, but the scale of the assault which killed 151 people most of them students, shocked pa

and this is the front line in iraq. across the border in syria, opposition groups have taken up arms against each other. there has been even more infighting, threatening the u.s. program to train and equip a force to take on the islamic state of iraq and the levant. this is thought to be an airstrike carried out by the u.s. to support its alneys syria. it targeted positions of the nusra front in northern aleppo. it came too late. nusra fighters had attacked the base of a group called division 30 and abducted its commander and several of its men. it was a message to the u.s. and the syrians who cooperate with it. >> the 30 infantry division is a group trained by the u.s. they entered syria a few days ago. it is a national army that america is trying to create in syria. asknow, america classified nusra as a terrorist group. the infantry's main goal is to fight nusra. >> little information has been made public about division 30 until its men entered certain i can't. this new syrian group received training from the u.s. in

iraq looms so big over the debate. the name bush is always going to be attached to the iraq war.as to say something. but this strategy of saying the key moment in time everyone should remember is u.s. troops leaving at the end of 2011 on obama's watch and everything that's happened since then, is that a smart way politically of addressing this? >> you know, it's the best he can do with this. there's nothing he can do to make this into a winning issue for him. this is always going to be sort of a hindrance on his chances for the white house. at the same time, he's just trying to mitigate the risk. here it's hillary clinton voted to go into iraq and now both of them are on the same size of this issue, saying both would not have gone in knowing what they know now. but bush is going after the only person he can to try to make this issue -- the only way he can to make this issue a positive or less negative for him, which is to blame hillary for the withdrawal and he makes a somewhat compelling case here in terms of that, saying the obama administration failed to secure the bipartisan

iraq isn't even a country. iraq is a bunch of corrupt people that sort of string something together. it's not a country. but we send over to our allies 2,500 humvees. so when i heard 2,500, i thought it was a typo in "the new york times." i said, they mean 25. they mean 2 1/2. they mean 250 maybe. that's a lot. so these are 2,500 humvees, armor plated all over. so when the bombs go off, you don't lose your legs and you don't lose your life and you don't lose your arms. really great vehicles. one shot is fired and these guys run away and the enemy picks up. 2,500. think of it, think of it. so we need the right thinking. i said and people said what a terrible statement he made. because when we had to leave -- we had to leave. you can talk about the surge but at some point we had to leave. we can't stay there forever. if we'd loosen up so many of these ridiculous rules, we have so much oil under our feet, we don't need them because of new technologies. new technology. so we're going to leave. and i say, leave. lik

they have a partner in iraq, and so they've been fairly effective in iraq combining u.s. air power with local forces, but you can't really use air power in cities, because you get a lot of civilians end up killed and if you're in an air plane, you can't control what your local partner is doing on the ground. if they winteratory and then commit atrocities or human rights abuses, there is not much you can do about that from the air. in syria, it's a different picture where the u.s. doesn't really have a partner, the effort to train people has gone slowly and poorly and air power alone in a place like syria isn't going to get the job done. it's only effective when you have local partners and they just don't have one right now in syria. >> can it change that if it chooses to focus the fight against ice ail and also against the syrian president, bashar al assad, as well? >> i think so, but, you know, be careful what you wish for. i think the u.s. is reluctant to get involved in a civil war, totally understandable. those things normally end badly for all the parties, plus who a

troops in iraq.o i give him a question, would he have kept them there and hung in the gallows like saddam hussein? i was one of the last advisers out, and al qaeda in iraq was still there at the end. they killed our soldiers when they would leave the gates. when i took a helicopter out of taji in november of 2011, aqis, we called them, drove a car bomb on to the iraqi side of the base and blew up the prison. they were always there. the fact that he doesn't know that they were still there at the end shows he's completely unprepared to be commander in chief and he's floating talking points about something he knows nothing about. >> are the gop or the right-wing trying to rewrite history? >> absolutely they are because this is an achilles' heel for them. they started a war and invaded a country. and when they invaded iraq, they handed the country over to the iranians. and the iranian, you know, influence inside iraq guaranteed through the democratic process guaranteed they would control the state. they

this is the front line in iraq. across the board in syria opposition groups have been taken up arms against each other. there has been more infighting to train and equip a force to take on the islamic state in iraq and the levant. this is thought to be an airstrike carried out by the u.s. in its support. news are a fighters had already attacked a base of the syrian group called division 30, abducted it's commander and several of his men. it was a message to syrians who cooperate with the it. >> it is trained by the u.s. it is a national army that america is trying to create in syria in order to fight terrorism. as you know america has classified news are a has a terrorist group. >> this new syrian group receives training from the u.s. in turkey to fight isil. >> they're wrong. we're ready to coordinate for anyone fighting for the syrian people. we will fight isil or anyone supporting them either regime or iran or hezbollah. >> but that is not what the u.s. trained and equipped program is about. it is about creating

rib lauren you live in iraq. one of the hottest temperatures in the world, and yet for 12 hours you don't have electricity, water. sometimes you don't have electricity for two days. imagine the poverty, the infrastructure that exists, 20% is living in abject poverty. >> do you believe the suggestions of moves will be enough, or people will still want to come out in the streets and demand more? >> by the way just for your own view every year in the summer around this time of the year protesters basically go out in the streets because the situation become very pronounced and punishable. if the prime minister delivers and i doubt it very much, because you're going to have resistance from the power brokers, who benefit from the system so we have to wait and see but if he does not deliver it really is seeing a situation very serious. we are witnessing in a final point, we keep talking about the sunni-shia cleavage, divide. what this tells you, they took place, in the heart of the ruling regime in the shia area. this t

he describe as very narrow mission in iraq. >> today i authorize two operations in iraq, targeted air strikes to protect our american personnel. and a huen ma tin effort to help save thousands of iraqi civilians who are trapped on a mountain without food, and water, and facing almost certain death. six weeks later the mission expanded bombing the stack of iraq in syria with the help of gulf countries. the plan power to fly the mission, u.s. soldiers would train iraqi cans and moderate syrians to do the fighting on the ground, a year in the administration saying the plan is working, critics say it just isn't. >> if you look at any of the matrix, the data you have to say no. in terms of numbers of recruits and fighters that isis has on their side, it has surged by the thousands. in terms of territory they have, they have held on to an enormous amount of territory. >> this is the territory controlled just before u.s. fighters took to the skies. this is what it controls now. the training program they hoped would help retake territory have had problems. troops refuse to fight to hold. and

today iraq remains gripped by sectarian conflict, and the emergence of al-qaeda in iraq has now evolved in isil. and the single greater beneficiary in the region of that war, was the islamic republic of iran, which saw its strategic position strengthened by the removal of its long-standing enemy, saddam hussein. i raise this recent history, because now more than ever, we need clear thinking in our foreign policy. and i raise this history because it bares directly on how we respond to the iranian nuclear program. that program has been around for decades, dating back to the shaw's efforts with u.s. support in the 1960s and '70s, to develop nuclear power. the three accuracy that every through the shaw accelerated the program after the iran, iraq war in the 1980s, a war in which saddam hussein used chemical weapons to brutal effect. and the program advanced steadily through the 1990s, despite unilateral u.s. sanctions. when the bush administration took office iran had no centrifuges. but despite repeated warnings from the united states government, by the time i took office, iran had install

his solution risks unsettling iraq's delicate sectarian balance. these are the posts he wants to get rid of. iraq's three deputy prime ministers and three vice presidents. all represent powerful faxes. nouri al maliki a polarizing figure since 2011. another job which could go is that of the former prime minister, yeda lowi. mohammed jamjoom has more from baghdad. >> reporter: iraq's government shocked the country with its announcement that the prime minister and council administers would seek to cancel the positions of some of its top leadership, a decree garnering strong reaction on the streets of the capital. this is a real test. >> means they are the enemies of the iraqi people. they will be singled out and held accountable. >> the prime minister's proposal cancels the position of three vice presidents and three deputy prime ministers. one of the measures he is proposing in order to cut wasteful spending. at a time of growing national protests, abati has been under mounting pressure to clean up a government its critics accuse of not providing ci

i have been sensitized to the plight of christians in iraq. in mosul, for 1600 years, mass was given. communion was given. today, it is not. because isis controls mosul. they will persecute and kill christians and they are fleeing all over the region. not just iraq. there are challenges in lebanon, which used to be a peaceful christian nation. think about the isis inspired terrorists on the shores of the mediterranean in eastern libya, executing, beheading 18 christian cops. think about the christians being slaughtered all around the world. think of the precious christian girls in northern nigeria. this is our challenge. but for us who? thehave a duty and we have skills to do this. these are not the most awesome forces in the world. the united states has fought wars against forces that were evil, just as evil as this with greater military might. we can take these guys on. we have special forces that are the best in the world. we have military capabilities that far exceed anybody else. i reject the idea that this is not important. this would se

in turkey and iraq. meanwhile there's no let up in the fighting in syria as rebel groups continue to splinter there. two groups that have been fighting on the same side against i.s.i.l. are battling each other. zeina khodr reports. >> reporter: this is thought to be an air strike carried out by the u.s. to support allies in syria, targetting positions of the al qaeda-linked al nusra front in northern aleppo. it came too late. nusra fighters attacked the base of division 30 and abducted the commander and several of his fen. it was a message to the us, and syrians that cooperate with it. >> the 30 infantry subdivision is a group trained by u.s. in turkey. they entered u.s. a few days ago, it is a national army in america is trying to create in syria. america classified them as a terrorist group. the main goal is to fight nusra. >> reporter: little information has been made public about division 30 until a few days ago. it received training from the u.s. in turkey as part of a programme to build a force to

was prime minister of iraq.now under abadi there have been some kinds what i would call movement. that is to say a few months ago, probably in the late spring, the saudis finally for the first time in many, many years, designated a resident ambassador to go to baghdad and represent saudi arabia. the chosen person was a military intelligence officer last seen in beirut. now thanks to phoebe marr, i had pleasure sometime last year of meeting a career iraqi diplomat who just retired. his last post was iraq's ambassador in saudi arabia. so saudi arabia was in the position where iraq had an ambassador in saudi arabia but they didn't have one in baghdad. saudi arabia had ambassador in tehran but didn't have one in baghdad. it didn't make any sense but abdullah, king abdullah was immoveable on this subject. i think now the saudis are less immoveable but at the same time, remember that along the border between saudi arabia and iraq they're building a fence that donald trump would be proud of. [laughing] >> thanks. alex,

they have launched air raids genes pkk and iraq. they're urging pkk and turkey to resume peace talks. >>> while there is no let up in the fighting in syria two groups which had been fighting on the same side against isil are now battling each other. >> this is thought to be an airstrike carried out by the u.s. it targeted positions of the al-qaeda-linked al nusra front in aleppo, but it came too late. those fighters had already attacked the base of division 30 and abducted it's commander and several of his men. it was a message to the u.s. and syrians who cooperate with it. >> the 30 infantry division is a group trained by the u.s. train necessary turkey. they entered syria a few days ago. it is a national army that america is trying to create in syria to fight terrorism. it's fighting al nusra. >> little information has been made public about division 30 until it's men entered syria a few days ago. they had received training from turkey as part of the program to build a force to fight isil. it appears they didn't want to be filmed

and getting into iraq. the general said things about abaddi's dedication to functional federalism and this is the heart of the matter. something has to le done that will open the door to the population to make them feel they have a stake in the future of the country. so far there have been important pieces of legislation. the concept of a national guard, the [ inaudible ] legislation but most of the stuff is still stuck in the political process and on its own it won't be enough to convince sunni arabs to come back into the political fold. so we need to be working more if supporting the prime minister to build out and make tangible this concept of functioning federalism in a way that sunni arabs see, respect and feel that to come back into the fold. and we change the way in which we conduct the campaign n. tikrit, the u.s. made a critical decision to withhold air support until such time as the iraqi security forces were leading the fight and it is that kind of movement and posture and policy that we need to

shia militia said in iraq. officials warn they'll do what is takes to match iran's nuclear capabilities. secretary of state john kerry is not the only one in doha russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov is here. relations have been strained because of syria. the gulf countries support the syria opposition and russia is a backer of the syrian president bashar al-assad, along with iran. analysts say that the presence of sergey lavrov here in doha could be a sign that ending syria's long-running civil war will require the consensus of all sides. >>> earlier in tehran president hassan rouhani said iran has never sought to make nuclear bombs. >> translation: if the opposite side things it has succeeded, let them think that way. we know we have never been after nuclear bombs, and never will be >>> now, something that may not have crossed the mainstream radar with regard to what is happening in iran but the government is cutting subsidies it's giving to many citizens since sanctions came in subsidies to make their liv

everyone knows that isis grew out of al qaeda in iraq, and al qaeda wasn't in iraq until we invaded in003 and dismantled the military. >> now -- go ahead. >> please. >> let me bring that point up, because i want to play this. he did mention his brother ordered the decision to invade iraq, which you referred to, but he made a passing reference to the, quote, failures of intelligence. listen to this. >> in a long experience that includes failures of intelligence and military setbacks, one moment stands out in memory as the turning point we had all been waiting for. and that was the surge. >> failure of intelligence, includes failures and military setbacks. i mean, is he glossing over what got us into this war in the first place? >> look, this would be amusing if it wasn't slightly offensive. it's an awfully dangerous move to start talking about failures of intelligence when the colossal failure of intelligence that led the administration, or the administration blamed in 2003 for invading iraq, really is at the heart of the matter here. quite frankly, what i find sort of problematic about

i couldn't self-justify what i was doing in iraq anymore. what we as a nation were doing in iraq.igure out who i was as a human being and what i wanted out of life. and what legacy i was going to leave for my children. i struggle every day, every day i struggle. >> this is a situation where we could and should have done a better job of protecting innocent life because this is not only a war of territory, of physical destruction, this is a war of hearts and minds. clearly if you're killing civilians in the process of trying to secure a city, you're not really winning that battle. >>> coming up -- soldiers returning from war. some of the most memorable homecomings we've ever seen. i asked my dentist if an electric toothbrush was going to clean better than a manual. he said sure... but don't get just any one. get one inspired by dentists. with a round brush head. go pro with oral-b. oral-b's rounded brush head cups your teeth to break up plaque, and rotates to sweep it away. and oral-b delivers a clinically proven superior clean vs. sonicare diamond clean. my mouth feels super clean.

let's deal with iraq for a moment.e areas, and make it part of iraq? >> i -- it's hard to say, but there isn't a lot of evidence that they will. and i think, you know, if you look at, for instance, what -- if you just take the prospect of what happens next, what is the iraqi government doing militarily to push isis back, they want to go into ramadi, which is now held by isis or fallujah or mosul. what will they go in with? they'll go in with the iraqi army which is basically a collection of shiite militias. that's what it is. that's seen as an occupying army. that's not a prescription for reintegration. again, we can cobble together a bunch of sunni tribes and put them on the payroll, and that's basically what -- that helped turn the war back in 2008 when the united states was trying to get out. but that's not a permanent solution. and i just don't -- i don't see it. >> michele, what do you say to that fatalism? >> well, it's hard to be optimistic about iraq, but i am not quite as fatalistic. the question is whether th

personnel in iraq. after weeks of struggle against hezbollah and the quds force in lebanon, the israeli defense force withdrew from lebanon in the face really nation. all top is really four-star generals were fired. and to this day, iran continues proxies,d supply these hezbollah and hamas, which continue to threaten the existence of israel. solid -- assada youth violence to clear the streets as part of arab spring, many military leaders and soldiers from his regime joined the opposition and the opposition gained momentum against the regime. so much so that many observers were predicting the fall of the regime. russia came to syria's assistance, but the decisive assistance came from iran. and the qudsonic force on the ground, one of his leaders was killed. they moved into syria 5000 fighters out of lebanon and thousands of iranian trained she a militia out of iraq. to help prop up the regime and prevent it from profiting. in iraq, the quds force are all governmenting up the while the u.s. commitment in

a return to iraq is impossible because the government can't protect us. we want out, we want to emigrate. >> reporter: there is a lot of heartache and trauma here but those lucky enough to leave iraq are glad they're safe and their faith remains strong. al jazeera, jordan. >>> throws christians pushed out of iraq by i.s.i.l, and i.s.i.l. offensive northwest of aleppo. at least 37 people died that the tack, in the village of umaloosh. attempting to defend the village before being overrun by i.s.i.l. >>> haiti's president michel martelly has cast his ballot in the country's parliamentary election. the vote comes after four years of disagreement between political parties. several polling places have been shut down because of violence. from the capital port-au-prince, rob reynolds reports. >> reporter: in the haitian country side life is hard, money is scarce and government services are nearly nonexistent. people here in the village of tomaso, fetch their drinking water from the same stream that their animals wade in. floristile raymond has six children with

this is what is happening in iraq. across the border in syria there have been developments in fighting among syrian opposition groups who are both fighting isil. we saw a syrian group, the syrian al-qaeda linked al nusra take up arms against a force that are allied to the united states. really calling in to question u.s. plans to train and equip moderate force to take on the islamic state in iraq and the levant. >> this is thought to be an airstrike carried out by the u.s. to support its allies in syria. it targeted positions of the al-qaeda linked al nusra front in northern aleppo. but it came too late. the fighters had already attacked the base of a new u.s.-backed sir yawn group called division 3. it was a message to the u.s. and syrian who is cooperate with it. >> the 30 infantry division is a group trained by the u.s. congress and train necessary turkey. they entered syria a few days ago. it's a national army that america is trying to create in syria in order to fight terrorism. as you know america classified the

i voted against the war in iraq. immigration reforms, i was nine of the original cosponsors of mccain-kennedy that passed citizenship 10 years ago. many are talking about it today. i was one of the nine that signed up on the path to citizenship. and secure borders. in the senate i was working to control carbon dioxide, the client that -- of the climate change gas and on the forefront of environmental issues. i was working across the aisle. i was part of the gang of 14, seven democrats and republicans working together. we need more of that. good at working across the aisle with everyone in the senate. i went to be a governor. i was governor of rhode island during some of the worst economic times. high unemployment, people losing their homes to foreclosure, and i had to turn around -- turn it around as governor. during my time as governor, rhode island had the biggest drop of unemployment, over my time and budget as governor, of all but 5 states. i invested in education, invested in k to 12, and higher education instit

that's my legacy, the iraq war. the iraq war is a disaster for the bushes. the last thing we need is another bush, believe me. saddam hussein, instead of him, you have isis. instead of him, you have iran taking over. you tell me, was it worth what we paid for? >> you might not agree with him or agree with what he is saying, but that is the weakness. he is hitting squarely on it. how does bush respond? why hasn't he gotten it right? >> i don't work for jeb bush. what you should know is that jeb bush has been one of the few candidates who has put out a robust and thoughtful plan on terrorism. he has pointed out the fact that our secretary of state in the democratic presidential candidate in the course of her tenure visited iraq one time. jeb bush wasn't the person who said that isis was the jv team. jeb bush didn't set allow red lines to go past over and over again. jeb bush wasn't the person who spent a half a billion dollars to train 50 syrian pro h-democry fighters. this is not a situation where you can ascribe the train wreck in the middle east to george b

defense secretary ash carter was in iraq today. the spokesman said it will be a least 1 to 8 weeks before the iraqi forces outside of ramadi will be able to conduct a full offensive. in many ways, it is a difficult situation from the iraq side and in syria breaking news that the turkish government, after months of negotiation, including by one of the panelists here, has agreed to allow u.s. warplanes and drones to fry -- fly from a least one of their airbases. it seems to be a major shift on the part of turkey in the fight against isis. john allen, i want to turn to you. you recently returned from a trip to turkey and have visited more than 30 capitals. where are we in this? is it as gloomy as senator mccain said today in washington or are there a few bright spots? john: thanks again. it's great to be back here and on a panel with two dear fri ends. we just got back from turkey. it was our 10th contact with them in a whole series of conversations that have in -- have been increasingly productive and fruitful. we are old friends wit

. >> in iraq, i.s.i.l. has lost the freedom to operate in some 30% of the territory that they held last summer. >> but a year after the u.s. led coalition began targeting the group, questions about the effectiveness has the white house on the offensive. >>> struggling for support. >> we will wind up with a situation where we do not have the ability to inspect or check their program. >> some high ranking democrats say they will not back the iran nuclear deal. >>> distancing themselves. psychologists in the u.s. will no longer cooperate in national security interrogations. and long time coming. >> if the election happenings, it happens if not it doesn't concern me very much. >> haitians travel to the polls but after four years many worry about violence and wonder if the country can pull the elections off. >> good evening i'm antonio mora this is al jazeera america. a year ago the u.s. and its coalition partners launched an air campaign against i.s.i.l. thousands of air strikes later the fight goes on. this vi

this is the front line in iraq. across the border in syria, opposition groups have taken up arms against each other. there has been even more in-fighting, threatening the u.s. program to train and equip and to take on the islamic state of iraq. >>> kurds have been protesting against turkish air strikes in northern iraq. the demonstrators marched in the northern iraqi province. turkish fighter jets have been bombing members of the kurdistan workers party for a week. >>> yemen's vice president toured the southern city of aden. they drove out houthi rebel as week ago. they are traveling with several members of the cabinet. the coalition has been carrying out air strikes against the houthis since march after forcing them into exile. >> translator: what happened is inconceivable crimes. on behalf of the yemeni government, i offer an invitation to the u.n. to dock cue meant crimes. >> 80% of the population is in need of aid. we were in aden as supplies started to arrive. >> this is one of the first airlifts to take place

happened inside of iraq. i believe that a couple of years ago in 2010 or 11, we had it in a place it was heading in the right direction. violence was down, the economy was growing, the politics were ok. we turned it over to them it. the by the agreement that we've made back in 2008, that they would take full control of this in 2011 we would leave. as it is turned out, they were prepared to handle that. i think it is more politically than it was anything else. the political factions just simply weren't able to work together. and based on that, people became frustrated, and when people become frustrated, they tend to turn to violence because there is no other way to get their point across. isilallowed a group like to exploit the fissures that were occurring inside iraq. the same thing happened in syria. when you have now are two countries are annexed which other the have the same kind of problems. fairly gave them a significant piece of ground that enable them to build their capabilities. off, i absolutely beli

is creating a sunni force that is dividing iraq. and two young tv journalists were shot dead live on air in the u.s. state of virginia. >> a reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. the bodies of 55 people attempting to cross the mediterranean have been discovered. the majority were found in the hull much a boat off the libyan coast. about 3,000 other people have been rescued in the past 24 hours alone. >> south sudan's president has reluctantly signed the peace deal to end the 20-month civil war. and saudi arabia put boots on the ground in yemen as troops attack houthi position. >>> warring factions in syria have agreed to a cease-fire in three towns near the border with lebanon. the agreement is set to come into effect in a few hours and the sunni rebel stronghold of the predominantly shia towns. earlier this months they collapsed after just three days. and the ahead of the biggest shia militia soft in th militia involved in the fight in iraq. >> u.s. advisers in iraq have been training and equipping sunni tribesmen as part of t

this is the front line with iraq. across the border in syria opposition groups have taken up arms against each other. there has been even more infighting, threatening the u.s. program to train and equip a force to take on the islamic state in iraq and the levant. >> and for another night migrants have been attempting to cross the channel from calais into u.k. french riot police responded by spraying them with a chemical irritant. thousands of migrants tried to get into the town. they also have scaled fences to hop on freight trains or trucks destined for britain. and britain's prime minister david cameron has been criticized by the church of england for his, quote, lack of compassion over the migrant crisis. attempts have been made to attempt the u.k. by the euro tunnel this week. >> they came, a resident group campaign forgive better treatment of migrants trying to reach the u.k. they say politicians have to do more to save migrant lives. in particular the lives of those trying to get through the travel tunnel by cli

-led air strikes in both iraq and syria? >> well, there's been a lot of criticism mostly coming from republicans, the opposition party to president barack obama. they say it's not working and he's not doing enough. we've seen twiths this is a pillar to the obama administration and they're triening what they say are moderates willing to fight isil but not fight assad. they had a horrible time trying to find the people and vetting those people after a year into it, they only trade 54 and sent them into the battlefield within days, five were killed and one was killed and five were captured and the others disappeared and they count find them. from the white house they realized problemed with the train and equip program. they say the air strikes have an effect. when you look at the map, they point to it and look at the successes and look at the failures. its it takes a long time to defeat isil and the reps say the strategy is not working but they can't budge president barack obama who will maintain this course. at least that's wh

heritage i've iraq and so on. -- heritage in iraq and so on.n that sense, isis strategy is one of attrition. what we might call dry well of their attrition, attributes. for example, in relation to finance, the oils, that is a natural commodity. somebody is purchasing that oil. we need international support there. jihadist transport, here you have a clearer -- 2199, chapter 7, a binding vote stop to the jihadists. here our neighbors not really played their part. we put them on fault on that. they need to play better role and focus more on -- have a sense of urgency in stopping the flow of jihadists. in relation to twitter and others, we need the u.s. to play a significant role to help us with social media control. so my point is that this is international dimensions. we need what i might call sense of urgency internationally and the challenge general allen faces is not small. i think we have what you might call a line. we'd to develop our party to act better, and we are working hard on that. we have had a tremendous part against isis. ground for