and iraqi government doubt that the iraqi security forces will be prepared to defend the iraqi state from external and internal threats by the end of 2011. it is an undeniable fact paramilitary forces continue to play a vital role on the ground in iraq. by continuing to serve as the guarantor of iraq's ability, we allow its nation, and democratic institutions to grow and mature. while there are many complex that from our attention, america and this congress must remain dedicated to achieving success in iraq. it is in error interest and it is -- it is in iraq's interest to see them prosper and floors. it is that as our strategic objective and we should do everything in our part to make sure it happens even by extending our military presence on the ground. iraqi political and military figures have come out in support of extending the deadline to withdraw all but as the check comes, no one wants to be left paying the bill. the domestic political cost in iraq of asking the u.s. to stay has left the iraqi leadership pointing fingers and passing the buck. i saw it firsthand when i was in i

military to the role of the kurds in operation iraqi freedom. we were the only real indigenous force, organized force that fought side-by-side with the americans during iraqi freedom and suffered the second-highest number of casualties. we pride ourselves on the fact we fought alongside the americans to fight for our country and build a future for ourselves and i think that appreciation is evident throughout the security establishment in the united states. there is also a strong, robust counter-terrorism cooperation between kurdish special forces and u.s. special forces in ensuring groups affiliated with al qaeda do not gain a foothold in iraq as a whole, but particularly in the kurdistan region. >> as a representative of the kurdistan regional government in the united states, what is your mission and what is your goal? >> my mission is to strengthen the relationship between the kurdistan region of iraq and the united states. that involves improving relations with the government, think tanks and research institutions. the business community, the

echoing those concerns, the lieutenant general chief of staff of the iraqi army but knowledge the iraqi army depends on u.s. forces for the protection of air space and borders. in 2010, as the u.s. was sending combat missions, he said, "if i were asked about the withdrawal, i would say the u.s. army must day until the iraqi army is fully ready in 2020." at its core, the discussion about transition breaks down to to give you a questions -- does the state department have the capability to succeed? should the u.s. military remain until meaningful capacity can -- many in the government doubt the iraqi security forces will be prepared to defend the state from internal and external threats by december 2011. although a may be expedient to see four, it may not be a sound strategy. it is a fact that our military forces continued to play a role on the ground in iraq. by continuing to see as the guarantor of stability, we allowed democratic institutions to grow and mature. while there are many complex, american this congress must remain dedicated to achieving success in iraq. it is in both of our

money and they say that money came from iraqi oil sales seized iraqi assets and surplus funds from the united nations all for food program they've got a point have made you think they could actually get their money back on that basis well apparently there was some agreement to legal agreement signed into the us some for the united states was responsible for the need to protect it in the one that you mentioned you know from the oil for food program it said. that would give the right to the iraqis to claim that six point six billion if of course the united states goes to the agreement is responsible for its safety. needs from their content for in the united states was responsible for controlling meets this tube you show we don't know here in washington what happened to you and of course there is the case to the police. the courts will have to decide of course i suppose it's very embarrassing for the us authorities to just finally how will the us taxpayer this is not the sort of news the us taxpayer wants to hear in these economic times in america or isn't. in though of course especially

contractors and of course iraqi officials what do you make of it. well i think you know that the example i use is petty theft but you add that up and that petty theft you know it doesn't take you know people's people get greedy now on a larger scale it's very hard to say i will say one thing though i do well while i have the time i do want to make a point all of this stuff was going on while david petraeus was the commander of the multinational security transition command in iraq or min sticky in zero four and zero five and this was the same period of time that one hundred ninety thousand a k forty seven and nine millimeter pistol pistols purchased by the u.s. government for the iraqi army national police disappeared i also want to say that i have a personal friend i will mention his name who was a very senior u.s. american finance and budget official during this period of time and he told me that when david petraeus was there there was no accountability at all for american money and that david petraeus continued to spend iraqi money six months afte

are also asking for their money back iraqis we won't repay us so the head of iraqi parliament's foreign affairs committee called boxer's comments stupid and said quote this provokes us and the iraqi people as well to demand compensations for losses iraq suffered during the invasion again you know the united states chose this war it wasn't a war of necessity to go into iraq they chose to spend three trillion dollars and now they're trying to charge these people they killed a million iraqis destroyed their entire culture looted the museums and trashed all the architectural sites and now they're demanding money is just the same robotic or who sells popcorn on t.v. i don't know rohrbacher so again he's had zero luck shaking down the iraqis or the libyans but we're having a lot a lot shaking down our allies in the west us foresees forty six million dollars twenty eleven military sales so the united states plans to export forty six point one billion in weapons a seer which is double what they exported in two thousand and ten now part of the reason is that all of these nato bombing campaigns w

and iraqi government doubt that the iraqi security forces will be prepared to defend the iraqi state from internal and external threats by december 2011, just the end of this year. and although it may be politically expedient vote in the u.s. and in iraq to seek withdrawal by that date, it may not be sound strategy. it is an undeniable fact that our military forces continue to play a vital role on the ground in iraq. by continue to serve as the guarantor of iraq's security and stability we allow its nation and a crack institutions to grow and to mature. while there are many conflicts that draw our attention, america and this congress must remain dedicated to achieving success in iraq. it is in america's interests and is in iraq's interests to see a democratic iraq prosper and flourish. that is our strategic objective and we should do everything in our power to ensure it happens, including by extending our military presence on the ground. more and more iraqi political and military figures have come out in support of extending the deadline to withdraw, but if the check comes no one wan

and he is trying to figure outs how he can get the iraqi government to "ask" the u.s. to stay in iraq. >> the iraq and we are talking about some kind of residual american presence in terms of helping them with beyond december of 2011. >> some believe that we are sinking our roots in iraq and all the signs point that way. the u.s. embassy in iraq, get this, is the largest embassy in the world with a current population of 8,000 people. in the embassy. and the embassy suspects to build that 8,000, get this, up to 17,000 people. the u.s. embassy also has 19 planes and 24 helicopters. the a. u.s. dollars spent in iraq since day one is now more than $806 billion. question, what standard pentagon's justification for keeping u.s. troops in iraq? james? >> we have a tremendous amount of blood and treasure invested in iraq. i think they don't want to throw that away. they see heightening levels of violence and i think we would like to keep at least 20,000 troops there past of the first of the year, i think there are plenty of people in the administrations who want to bug out of

hussein's iraq so the money is legitimately the iraqis the question is again if the u.s. government can't find the money they'll have to come up with it some way so my feeling is that they do have some claim to this money some legal claim and it's going to take some time to want to the courts which of records they choose to go through probably international courts to get this money back and the situation in iraq is also leading our top world stories today and it's a government comes just north of baghdad has left at least nine people dead and seventeen injured two car bombs went off outside the building during a weekly provincial council meeting in baquba the blasts cleared the way for suicide bombers to enter the compound causing further explosions. an offensive by syrian troops against the rebels in the north of the country has sparked a mass exodus of refugees across the border into turkey human rights groups say at least one thousand four hundred people have been killed and some ten thousand detained during the beginning of a government crackdown in mid march britain

hussein's iraq so the money is legitimately the iraqis the question is again if the u.s. government can't find the money they'll have to come up with it some way so my feeling is that they do have some claim to this money some legal claim and it's going to take some time to want to the courts whichever courts they choose to go through probably international courts to get this money back. you with r t live from moscow and the situation in iraq is also leading our top story today an attack on a government compound in the town of cooper has left at least nine people dead seventeen injured two car bombs went off outside the compound during a weekly provincial council meeting in the town which lies so just northeast of baghdad the blasts cleared the way for suicide bombers to enter the compound causing further explosions. the japanese cabinet has approved a plan to help the operator of the fukushima nuclear plant pay billions of dollars in compensation to victims of the disaster tepco will now receive government subsidies as well as contributions from the private sector but th

government for the iraqi army national police disappeared the accountability of cold hard u.s. cash was essentially nonexistent for many years after the war and iraqi officials are threatening court action to get the money bag political analyst rick young from the voice of russia radio station believes that baghdad has every right to demand the money. i would say they probably have some legal claim to that money and a legitimate claim to go to court the u.s. has already said that it took those the money from the oil but from those from the oil fields they've already taken that money they seized it in the sanctions against of hussein's iraq so the money is legitimately the iraqis the question is again if the u.s. government can't find the money they'll have to come up with it some way so my feeling is that they do have some claim to this money some legal claim and it's going to take some time to want to the courts whichever courts they choose to go through probably international courts to get this money back now the situation in iraq also leads our top world news stories for tod

the iraqi army still depends on u.s. forces for the protection of its air case and and borders. in 2010, as the u.s. was ending its combat mission, he stated that "if i were asked about the withdraw, i would say to politicians the u.s. army must stay until the iraqi army is fully ready in 2020." at its core, the discussion about transition breaks down to two critical questions. does the state department have the compatibility to succeed? and if not, should the u.s. military remain in iraq in some meaningful capacity to help consolidate gains? many in both the u.s. and the iraqi government doubt the security forces will be able to defend internal and external threat by december 2011. and although it may be politically ex peebt both in the u.s. and iraq to seek withdraw by that date, it may not be sound strategy. it is a fact that our military forces continue play a vital role on the ground in iraq. by continuing to serve as the guarantor of iraq's stability, we allow its nations, democratic institutions to grow and to mat

hussein's iraq so the money is legitimately the iraqis the question is again if the u.s. government can't find the money they'll have to come up with it some way so my feeling is that. they do have some claim to this money some legal claim and it's going to take some time to want to the courts whichever courts they choose to go through probably international courts to get this money back moscow is concerned with washington's reluctance to consider proposals for a joint anti-missile defense system and you are the u.s. and nato claim that proposal could sand off a potential attack from iran however russia is worried the plans could pose a threat to national security. the phase adoptive approach to missile defense is broken up into two parts number one and number two where that low. potency interceptor plus one interceptor. are online from phases three and four where the higher speed interceptors will be brought on line and our analysis shows if the system is reconfigured a little bit that it will have some ability against russian i.c.b.m. so there is some. legitimate concer

this was delivered to iraqi control.have in the past had a number of cases reported to us about interim ministers who did steal. >> who was responsible for safeguarding that money? >> during 2003 and 2004, that money was under the coalitionle provisional authority, the entity that was created to govern iraq after the fall of saddam hussein's regime. >> reporter: stuart bowlen sed says after that the pentagon and iraqi government shared responsibility for safeguarding some of the money. it was the pentagon that asked him to investigate. contacted by cnn, the spokesman cited that probe and found that the funds remained under the control of the government of iraq at all times. this is not u.s. taxpayer money. the cash belonged to iraq in the first place. the inspector general says the money was from the development fund for iraq which had taken iraqi oil money diverted by international sanctions and stored it at a federal reserve facility in the u.s. americans may still be on the hook for some of this. bowlen says iraqi off

as two of the 54,000 displaced iraqis who sought refuge here over the past five years. sources say the f.b.i., acting on a tip, began watching alwan and later hammadi using an undercover informant to set up a sting. in a series of recorded conversations, alwan admitted carrying out multiple i.e.d. attacks in iraq between 2003 and 2006. saying that he collected everything, t.n.t., electric detonators, mortar shells, r.p.g.s and he bragged his group conducted strikes everyday using i.e.d.s in iraq hundreds of times. prosecutors say the informant also conspired with alwan and hammadi to support new attacks, collecting machine guns, r.p.g. launchers, inert stinger missiles and $100,000 in cash. the weapons and the money were all provided by the u.s. government and carefully tracked. none of it was ever shipped to al qaeda in iraq. the two suspects have pleaded not guilty, meanwhile, u.s. officials tell us they never should have allowed the men in the country in the first place, blaming that mistake on screening gaps which they say have been closed. harry? >> smith: bob orr

you know, this comes on the heels of a serious uptick in iraqi on iraqi violence as shia and sunni go after each other in retribution attacks after seven, eight long years of war, but this is the first kind of attack directed at americans again since that cease fire or since the combat forces were withdrawn there last august. >> is this going to be a change in our strategy also with iraqi officials potentially asking for u.s. military troops to stay on longer? >> reporter: well, that's one of the key questions about the timing of this attack in particular. is it intended to send a message to the american people if, in fact, the iraqi government asks the american government, and they're likely to, to keep some number of american forces inside iraq after that deadline at the end of this year to withdraw all u.s. military forces. officials here in the pentagon say that request from the iraqis is very likely because they yet can't handle all the defenses that they need to there in the country without u.s. assistance and what will the reaction be if, in fact, that message lands in washingt

iraqi forces supported by american troops were able to free the hostages after a gunbattle. this is the latest in a resurgence of attacks. we have news of the financial fallout of the e. coli outbreak. >> we have seen hundreds of tons upload is destroyed. farmers will be getting some money back. the opinion has approved 210 million euros for emergency aid. the financial aid willo to growers of cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, zucchini, and sweet peppers, withdrawn from the market after the outbreak in northern germany in late may. the bacteria has killed 37 people so far. spain, france, poland, slovakia, voted against the package after demanding more help for farmers producing a wider range of fresh vegetables. belarus is getting help from china. the government has confirmed that the chise bks will be lending the country over a billion dollars to finance industrial and infrastructure projects. the deal is unlikely to contribute much towards belaru'' efforts to deal with the deficit, it could help them to prop up economic activity at a time when they are cutting down on spending

iraqis are up there as well. somalis, as well. and as for where they are going?s the problem. some of the poorest countries end up hosting huge refugee populations. jordon, for example, they cannot afford to be hosting 1 million iraqi refugees. talk about pakistan, and iran, and syria, they host the most overall, essentially, you know, these are people flooding into sometimes developing country that cannot support them and it's a recipe for disaster. >> is there anything that we can do to help people who are in the situation? >> it's a tough call. because a lot of these people are so desperate. they fled from the horrors. they are stuck. the refugee agency are in there helping to get water and food and education and health care in many cases. you see the local red crescent societies, and the most recent version of the red cross. all of these people looking for volunteers. donations, really, giving food and clothing doesn't work, but money works because it can be put to work quickly. go to www.unhd.org and find out more about lending a hand. >> thank you for shini

according to iraqy security officials, it happened when three rockets hit an iraqi base in eastern baghdad. the iraqi sources say the americans were acting as advisors and that those rockets hit near their living quarters. >>> 5:05 your time. out the door with a little traffic and weather and toss it over to lawrence, who after last week i think you're -- you're starting to win our hearts back. >> you guys are going to have me walk the plank if i didn't turn things around. finally looks like we are getting things going in the right direction. we have that area of low pressure that brought the record rainfall in the bay area over the weekend that has now made landfall and is sliding east. still could see some of that wrap around moisture in the bay area. that means a chance of a few showers for today. but after that i think things settling down. temperatures outside now mild to begin with. you have 56 degrees in concord, 58 in san jose, and 57 degrees in redwood city. by the afternoon we'll sneak in a little sunshine between the clouds and that's moved temperatures well into the 60s inland.

>> well, there's no question that it could be connected to the recent spike in iraqi on iraqi violence and retribution attacks after seven or eight long years of war. but the end of the year deadline is looming for all american service members to be withdrawn from iraq. so clearly this attack today on those service members, the largest single attack since the end of formal combat operations there last august, is intended to send a message to the american government, if not the american people, if you're thinking about keeping your troops here, forget about it. >> does this also beg the question of how iraqi forces themselves will cope once the american troops have left? >> well, there's no question about that. and u.s. officials have told nbc news that the iraqis are this close to putting in a request to the u.s. to keep some american forces inside iraq after the end of this year to assist them in their defenses because the iraqi security forces aren't entirely up to that task yet. >> at the same time the president's national security team is reportedly considering a much steeper drawd

a pentagon report will be released next month. >>> two iraqi men who came to this country as refugees remain in federal custody in kentucky this morning, they pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges. before leaving iraq one of the suspects took part in attacks on american troops. bob orr has retails. >> reporter: prosecutors say the two suspects arrested in bowling green, kentucky, were hardened on the battlefields of iraq. while waad ramadan alwan and mohanad shareef hammadi have been charged with 23 counts of providing material reports to al qaeda, and alwan is charged with conspiring to deliver weapons of mass destruction. alwan's fingerprints have been matched up with a bomb components recovered in iraq in 2005, shortly before his capture by authorities. court papers do not say when alwan was released but in 2009 he and hammadi both came to the u.s. sources say the fbi acting on a tip began watching alwan and later hammadi using an undercover informant to set up a sting. in a series of recorded conversations, alwan admitted to carrying out multiple ied attacks in iraq between 2003

to the new iraqi government it was scheduled for wednesday even some members of the iraqi cabinet didn't know that iraq was about to become a largely sovereign nation again in a room that had been somebodies office only a few minutes earlier the iraqi leaders said this was an historic day and the u.s. had not shed blood in vain. for the first place. that's right seven years ago iraq was handed over its sovereignty by of course the occupying force of foreign militaries and was supposed to become an independent post saddam country that represented democracy in the region i don't think anyone really believes any of that crap but they sure reported it like they did it and guess what seven years later we're still in iraq we saw about fifty thousand troops there and yet from the reporting by the mainstream media last september seems like they really believe that when obama said the cop combat operations had all come to an end they were all out they said every reporter they had ought to be on the ground for this big moment there are four hundred and forty american troops in this convoy travelin

and overwhelmingly i think iraqi opinion does as well. so it is a difficult issue for maliki. the problem is for them to stay past december 31, there needs to be additional protects, legal protections for our troops. that requires some approval from the parliament and that is the difficult challenge for maliki, could he get parliament to approve something that would allow a train and equip mission to stay past december 31. >> and afghanistan, there seems to be a reopened debate. we were told initially the president might be approving a drawdown of 5,000 support troops from afghanistan, not the combat troops. at the same time, secretary gates doing his farewell tour is re-emphasizing that. yet today, another review, and i'm told this decision could come very quickly, before july 1st, by the president, on the pace of withdrawal and, in fact, there are some within the administration and certainly in congress, democrats and republicans, kerry and lugar, who believe that there is such war fatigue and such disappointing results from hamid karzai that perhaps we should be drawing dow

to put into place controls to safeguard iraqi funds.e the finger at each other. brian todd, cnn, washington. >>> by the mexican government's count, more than 15,000 people died last year in the crossfire of the country's drug war. that's about 40 victims a day. a lot of guns that killed them came from right here in the u.s. ge jean mess irv jo meserve joining us. >> not every weapon recovered is traced but according to a new report which cites statistics from the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms, in 2009, 2010 of the firearms that were traced, 20,504 or 70% were sourced in the u.s. the report also said that most of the firearms traced to an original owner in the u.s. came from texas, california and arizona. the three democratic senators who released the reporter urging congress to reinstate the assault bands' -- assault weapons ban that expired in 2004 and require background check force all firearms' purchases, including those at gun shows. both, as you know, are highly controversial steps which have failed before, kyra. >> is th

so that was the sort of 20 iraqis that you alluded to earlier.e separate. but, again, you know, we're still trying to figure everything out. >> okay, jack heealy of "the ne york times," thanks for joining us. >>> just about an hour and a half from now, dominique strauss-kahn will be back in a new york courtroom. >> he's being arraigned on sexual assault charges in connection with alleged attempted rape of a hotel maid last month. the former head of the international monetary fund is expected to plead guilty -- not guilty, i'm sorry, to the charges. >> cnn's deb feyerick is outside of the courthouse in lower manhattan. expect any surprises today, or is this procedural? >> reporter: well, the arraignment itself is procedural, but we really want to set the scene for you down here at the courthouse. the spectacle of what is dominique strauss-kahn and the incident continues. take a look at all of the media that's here. many of them french, of course, this is a man who was a presidential contender. he is credited with saving portugal, greece, and irela