forces having now turned over the security check points and there are iraqi forces exclusively iraqi forces patroling these points and doing it in a way, quite frankly that i get feedback from my people, which is more advanced than further down the road than even our own people expect. and i see that as representative of this dramatic change. and so -- and i flew over the city last night and you see the city lit up and traffic on the roads, which was just not the case. you see an economic infrastructure starting to emerge that in a few years, given particularly the oil resources that are here and the investments in that, where there is just this tremendous upside for the 26 million people. so as i look at it and we have details to work out on what the relationship looks like, but certainly as i look at it, the blood and treasure that has been sacrificed here given the opportunity to 26 million people who had a bleak future to have an entirely different future. i see it in front of me and see it change it for the better each time i come. they're more stable. there are huge challenges

training and equipping militants to conduct attacks on iraqi soil and thwarting efforts by the iraqi people to pursue unfettered and economic growth, development and independence that geography and democracy have bestowed upon them. these are hardly the acts of a friend. it is clear that tehran seeks a weak iraq and an iraq more dependent upon a persian world view. i do not know how many iraqis share tehran's malfeasance goals, i suspect there are a few. i believe most iraqis wish to determine for themselves their own future and to define fors them themselves their own perspectives about the world around them. that's plainliest to me in the willingness of the -- that's plainly evident to me in the willingness of the regime. and it's evident in the stepped-up operations iraqi security forces have been conducting against these militants in concert and coordination with our own forces. as a result we've seen a dramatic reduction in these deadly attacks. the same spirit of corporation was also on display yesterday afternoon as i toured a combined command center in mosul where iraqi secur

of the demonstrations and revolutions that keep shaking the arab world what is the position of the iraqi government regarding these events is it positive negative or neutral i do stage there. it is positive iraq was one of the first arab states that welcomed the revolution in tunisia probably our official representative was the first one to arrive in tunisia and egypt to congratulate them on the revolution we've got good connections with other protesters movements as well they consider iraq to be an example despite all our drawbacks iraq is pursuing a line of new democracy it's an example of achieving democracy freedom and respecting human dignity we are all aware of our drawbacks however but they are looking at us whether we recognize the people's right to self-determination for fulfilling their political will and making their political choice while being free and preserving their dignity iraq is anything but neutral in this situation but at the same time iraq is unwilling to interfere with other people's affairs we can set an example that's how we see our role which does not consist in

of the iraqi public art. demanding that this occupation ends by the end of the year because iraqis believe that as long as the us is in iraq as longer iraq will continue to be unstable and buoyant if the us does entirely pull out and say instability actually increases our rockies willing to accept that of course it's their country to do the truth this entire argument that the us is there to protect us from themselves or to protect iraq us from other interventions is left of the iraqis don't fight us and iraqis will not blame us americans they will not blame the united states if something bad happens in their country without the us occupation of course it will be the consequences of the occupation but it will be there to sponsibility i think iraq is have the wind and the capacity so long the country by themselves they know they realize it to take a long time maybe decades to stabilize it but the first step is a complete useful to look so therefore going along with what you're saying if bad things happened whil

but just two weeks ago, the iraqis opened talks with the u.s. about having some american forces stay longer. we go to "washington post" reporter annie gowan in baghdad. welcome. thanks for joining us. iraqi officials are staying that they believe these 42 attacks were coordinated. the question is by whom? who do they think has the ability to pull something like this off? >> well, i spoke to an iraqi army commander yesterday who basically assumes that it's al qaeda and iraq. the u.s. military is not saying yet that they think that as well but they're saying that it's very similar to a string of attacks that occurred in ramadan last year which were also coordinated and went, you know, where 53 people died in multiple cities in iraq. that was perpetrated by al qaeda in arak. although no one has claimed responsibility they basically think that it's likely the work of al qaeda. >> warner: you're talking about the sunni insurgency, al qaeda linked. to what end? i mean, what do iraqi and american officials think is their political objective with this?

when i ask my iraqi guys, how much electricity, it's like four to eight hours.get out heat. >> charlie: who are the forces in contention and what was at stake. >> whatever's at stake is the future of iraq and you have this national unit, supposed national unit of government that was partly brokered by the americans last year where a secular shiite, led a largely sunni left, he got largest votes. part of that is that he would have certain powers on this national council that s never come to fruition. the other thing that has never happened in terms of government, the completion of the government is security administrators have not been named. there's no ministry of defense or ministry how far interior. there's a functional stalemate persisting today well over a year since the elections. >> charlie: what is the conflict now when sunni and shi'a. >> on the street level you're see villages that were mixed and you'll see sunni and shi'a coming to live together. but a national political level it seems like they still identify by those sectarian lines. and there's no r

unmovic inspections you destroyed those inspections ninety two probably ninety five percent of the iraqi arsenal the first gulf war destroyed almost nothing and you know post-war u.s. battle damage assessments confirm the weapons inspectors were effective they force saddam to get rid of this stuff. they had that country under control by in one nine hundred ninety eight at the latest those inspectors had discovered most of the weapons of mass destruction and the iraqi programs at that point were essentially at an end before the war in iraq the united nations inspectors told us. that saddam hussein. did not have nuclear weapons capability ironically the major effect of the invasion of iraq in terms of weapons of mass destruction as to be has been to show that the inspectors were right all along the inspection regime worked. it was the most intrusive inspection regime in history and it worked and i think on the day that's another reason why we went to war for a number. these maniacs the courage of our enemies and weakening our troops resolve and confusing the american people you should list

taking bogus defectors the information from them getting them to the pentagon and the iraqi national congress then giving them to the journalists and they said if you don't believe us iraqi national congress call the pentagon so you have the circular reporting and you had the new york times admitting that it was using one source for all of its information and weapons of mass destruction and it was as you know self affirming by going to the pentagon which to put the stuff on paper it was a lot of exaggerations partial information sometimes little information but on balance a very one sided view of a rockstar program and a lot of these stories the journalist didn't want to look into because the editors told them to run with wouldn't be supportive of the administration it's a patriotic thing to do i think that there was an early media too much of of in a sense getting into the upcoming war and not enough look eric do we really need to go there were some journalists out there raising the alarm bells the seymour hersh is the walter pincus of the world but unfortunately those great investi

eight at the latest those inspectors had discovered most of the weapons of mass destruction and the iraqi programs at that point were essentially at an end before the war in iraq the united nations inspectors told us. that saddam hussein. did not have nuclear weapons capability ironically the major fact of the invasion of iraq in terms of weapons of mass destruction as to be has been to show that the inspectors were right all along the inspection regime worked. it was the most intrusive inspection regime in history and it worked and at the end the day that's another reason why we went to war for not. these maniacs. urging our enemies weakening our troops resolve and confusing the american people you should listen to these protests because they're obviously hoping saddam hussein who would have guessed that you could build a massive international peace movement on the protection of sadam hussein the media is culpable for the misleading of the american public they bought into the bush administration's rhetoric they don't understand that there was moral violence and immoral violence we use mo

it is a model both of iraqi sovereignty and of the transition to iraqi responsibility we have all been pursuing. i give great credit to the general for his leadership in that regard and general austin for his terrific work as well. regardless of whether or not your government asks us to stay, regardless of whether or not my government does so if asked, we have proveen together through hardship and through bloodshed that leadership can be yours, and should be yours alone. nothing changes about my military's dedication to that goal or my nation's dedication to furthering our long-term strategic partnership. we have given over thousands of our young lives to achieve it, as have you. it is time to continue to see the work through. i will take your questions. >> in your talks with prime minister maliki and the president, did you give them any specific time frame in which a decision needs to be made. rahm dawn is starting. >> the secretary, when he was here a couple of weeks ago made it pretty clear that we really need a decision now. i just reiterated that. there are certainly discussions w

the iraqi version of al qaeda. this is an attack during the holy month of ramadan, which is particularly jarring to muslims. there's a similar attack at about the same time last year. what we are seeing is al qaeda in iraq continuing to try to assert its relevance. it has continued to try it capitalize on the killing of osama bin laden and use that as a lever to try to, frankly, regain attention in the news and reassert its relevance. it has managed to kill an awful lot of iraqi civilians, muslims, and almost all of it has not managed to do anything strategically to accomplishing any of its strategic objectives of pushing the united states away from iraq. if anything, it has pushed the iraqi government and american government close it together. caller: host: -- host: you say it pushes the government's close it together, but united states is still on schedule of withdrawing troops. the heightened tension, the heightened violence -- is that a result of groups saying to themselves the u.s. is starting to get out, and

the iraqi government has only been in place six years. it is still maturing. it has a long way to go. the united states is not going to carry this burden much longer. but there will be part of the landscape for some time to come. >> in one note from the business world, internet giant google has announced a deal to buy motorola mobility for $12.50 billion. the board of the phone company unanimously approved the deal, which should be completed by the end of this year or early 2012. earlier this year, motorola split into two cos. see you in iowa. as the u.s. election approaches, candidates had to the state that is already make or break. japan's economy contracted less than expected in the last quarter, showing stronger signs of recovery from the deadly earthquake and tsunami which hit the country in march. our correspondent reports now from tokyo. [no audio] >> it is a sign of how bad japan's economy has been that the stock market road -- rose on confirmation it is still in recession. the contraction between april and june was 0.2%, nothing like as severe as was

the iraqi regime possesses biological and chemical weapons the iraqi regime is building the facilities necessary to make more biological and chemical weapons. and according to the british government iraqi regime could launch a biological or chemical attack in as little as forty five minutes after the order were given the regime has longstanding. and continuing ties to terrorist organizations and their al qaeda terrorists inside iran the regime is seeking a nuclear bomb. and with physical fizzle material could build one within a year. the bush administration made up its mind to go to war on september the eleventh two thousand and one that very first day on september twelfth one day after september eleventh. the meeting that was held in the white house in the situation room. led to rome spell asking the question should we use this as an opportunity to do something about iraq as well we all said no no as in afghanistan we need to bomb afghanistan rumsfeld said there aren't any good targets in afghanistan and there are lots of good targets in iraq from that time on you were dealing with ra

country is that represent the general view of the iraqi people well i'm going to say i don't know i can't speak for the rest of the peoples right but i think that what this highlights is that the idea of training other armies so occupying training up a national security force of afghanistan iraq somalia or anywhere else is a bogus idea because we don't know what they're going to be like when we leave so it's a stupid concept that the pentagon's put forth in a. rock and afghanistan training that for iraqi and afghan forces and i also do think that if you spend time in these places like iraq and if you have like i have done since i left the marines you see that these pit third of their militaries are a joke there are a joke speaking of big money government scandals and a lot of talk about immigration lately and we're starting to see some of the financial incentives behind it come to light there are a lot of people filling out their own putting people in jail is big business and one of the policies that feels it is our sort of non policy about immigration that we have aside about this

they were also iraqi refugees. in fact, the two families first met back in dearborn, michigan. amal moved to arizona. when the al-malecki's followed they moved in with her for awhile. investigators learned in recent years falla and saham had a falling out with h her because she thought she was too linent with her kids. july 20, 2009. a 911 call is placed from the house. peoria police officer responds. >> mr. al-malecki was in the front yard with his wife demanding to see his daughter. he began to tell us that his family law was higher than our state law. >> his family law higher than state law. bauer was stunned by that. as a well as by what al-malecki would say next. >> he would be willing to spend the rest of his life in prison rather than have his daughter disgrace him. >> he is telling the police officer that my law is above this country's law. that interaction is a huge part of the evidence that this was an honor killing. >> fox news reporting. a question of honor continues after the break. >> bill: in recent years fox news has reported on a number of apparent honor attack

they were also iraqi refugees. in fact, the two families first met back in dearborn, michigan. amal moved to arizona. when the al-malecki's followed they moved in with her for awhile. investigators learned in recent years falla and saham had a falling out with h her because she thought she was too linent with her kids. july 20, 2009. a 911 call is placed from the house. peoria police officer responds. >> mr. al-malecki was in the front yard with his wife demanding to see his daughter. he began to tell us that his family law was higher than our state law. >> his family law higher than state law. bauer was stunned by that. as a well as by what al-malecki would say next. >> he would be willing to spend the rest of his life in prison rather than have his daughter disgrace him. >> he is telling the police officer that my law is above this country's law. that interaction is a huge part of the evidence that this was an honor killing. >> fox news reporting. a question of honor continues after the break. >> bill: in recent years fox news has reported on a number of apparent honor attack