juan cole? >> this is a hypothetical situation, but one could imagine a scenario in which there was a no-fly zone over the kurdish areas, southern iraq, saddam hussein was still in power, the arab strength -- the arab spring comes along, and the no-fly zones would have prevented saddam from deploying armored, and it might have been a libya-kind of situation, which the no-fly zone help the population of iraq overthrow the dictator, and things might have turned out differently. obviously, he would be a very fragile situation, but we would not have had this aggressive foreign intervention and years-long occupation, in which a particular ethnic group, the sunni arabs, were targeted for reprisals. so, i do not agree with a hypothetical in the first place, but i do not think that is really the issue. >> juan cole, i want to say thank you for being with us. he has written many books. is new -- most recent one "the new arabs, how the millennial age is changing the middle east. his is democracy now! when

joining us right now is juan cole, al jazeera's international affairs contributor, joining us from ann harbor, michigan good to see you, juan. >> high, thomas. >> what do you make of the political divide on bergdahl with some top republicans fearing the u.s. negotiated with terrorists? >> i think it's shameful. i think we should all just be celebrating that sergeant bergdahl is free. the u.s. has negotiated with guerilla groups like the taliban all through its history. in 1973, it negotiated with the vet kong to get u.s. prisoners out of vet kong hands. we were not a government. we will now days call them terrorists. the reagan administration negotiated with the homeini government in iran to get hostages out of lebanon at a time when komeini was listed on the state department terrorism list. >> some are defining his status. how do you define it? as a hostage or p.o w.? >> it's an unconventional war so there aren't clear lines like th that, but, you know, there is a difference between a small terrorist group that blows up a building someplace and a fighting force on the ground. this is

middle east analyst juan cole summed this up perfectly. it's a set of historical indictments of the power brokers in the region. among them, the indictment of the george w. bush administration and the saddam hussein regime, and also the fall eed bar can you da colonialism of the time. scott anderson is with us -- i want to read to you a little bit of you, the book you've written, a fascinating look at the origins of iraq. -- how and why did the west decide to create this thing called iraq? >> it was created at the end of the world war i by the british. they wanted to control the oil, so they joined these three groups together. i blew up almost immediately. within bhomonths of its creatio it went up in flames. and it was sort of a replay of what went on with the bush administration in 2003. >> and is it frustrating to hear paul wolfe wits say this doesn't matter to americans? >> well, that was one of the reasons why we lost that war. because we didn't understand the nation of the conflict, the culture of the people. when the governor of bag

. >> once again it was juan cole, al jazeera's international contributor. >>> u.n. estimates more than 500,000 people left mosul alone when i.s.i.l. took control of that city two weeks ago. many of the displaced do not expect life to return to normal any time soon. hoda al hamin reports from kiir kirkuk. >> desperately worried about his future. >> where can i go? i'm taking care of all of them and this kid is disabled. back home he'd die. i left my house, i left everything in the middle of the night. >> reporter: "like" hajal, people fled when the islamic state of iraq and the levant swept through their villages. for them it was a matter of life or death. >> translator: they think we're infidels because we're shia. there's nowhere i can go by road. it's too dangerous. >> reporter: the polarization of iraq along sectarian lines is difficult to escape even far from home. those who made it to the safety of the kurdish region lay low, preferring to keep to themselves. mistrust is running high. >> translator: now with this situation, the differences are showing. so these

hiv juan cole says boko haram does not have widespread appeal. >> boko haram is a fringe movement, itis a terrorist group which has assassinated learned men, terrorized communities, and it is a small group relatively speaking but it casts a large shadow. >> reporter: mass killings and the kidnapping of school girls are the most recent events on a series of bold attacks on civilians and government forces. wealthy is centered in the south where christians are the majority. boko haram is based in the poverty stricken north which is mostly muslim. in 2010 boko haram engineered a prison break which freed almost 700 inmates. the following year it launched a suicide attack on the united nations building in abuja. accused of murdering 65 school boys. in april, blew up a bus station that killed nearly 100 people. historian are. >> the biggest issue is credibility. boko haram preyed on the sensibilities of nigerians. obviously it's lost that reputation since then but the problem is, the nigerian government did not manage to step up and fill that void. >> most of boko haram' boko hars believe ed

. >> joining me from michigan is juan cole, a professor of history at the university of michigan and author of "engaging the muslim world." good to have you with us. prime minister al maliki is in a position where he's increasingly politically isolated and discredited. is it likely he'll go soon? >> well, it's not entirely clear that anyone can make him go. he does have the loyalty of a great many in the officer corps, and he has the largest single party in parliament in the recent elections. enormous pressure is being applied to him, even from the shiite leadership, which he technically acknowledges, and certainly from all of the other political actors. >> begin the -- you mentioned the call from the grand ayatoll ayatoll ayatollah. that was very significant, because this is a figure that stays out of politics. he called for more effective government in baghdad. you have the u.s. implying any kind of military assistance may be contingent on a political change in baghdad. a prime minister of the kurdish region said it's difficult to see meaningful political reform in power. surely wh

and they also talk about -- well, they and professor juan cole at informed comment -- talk about partwhat we are fueling is the destabilization of the middle east for u.s. and israeli interests. and that by supporting forces that we don't know who they are through military intelligence via different pathways, that we don't really are supporting in syria there. so you talk about the assad thing, he would share powers, 50% of the people support a side. i have one more thing about -- you mentioned al qaeda. wrote a book called "the price of loyalty," where he talked about former secretary of the treasury paul o'neill, starting to investigate saudi arabian connections with supporting of financial support of al qaeda. so if you could talk about that as well? all, thell, first of power,y assad to share the united nations has had several rounds of talks trying to engage the syrian government alongside the rebels to talk about sharing agreements. the friends of syria, which is a group of many states around the world, including the united states and russia and so on, sorted out a way forward t