they hated maliki. maliki did want to depend on them to reign in power because he knows in 2007 when they pulled out he would want to have to depend on them. he could blackmail against them. he was always with some of the city parties. those parties were being pressured by people in the region. one thing i forgot to mention that's interesting, what we saw from the last election wasn't that iran, it was saudi arabia and turkey has influence over. turkey help create that. there was pressure coming from different countries in the region, saudi arabia, who are funding some of the sunnis parties in the list. not to compromise, not to sell a. but, of course, they were sought eventually because maliki was never going to give up power. so it's better to be in the government that outside of it, you know, better to be in the tent than outside the tent, however johnson said it. i don't think al-sadr is that big of a threat. you do want them in the come. this is a group when you're marginalize they were pushed to v

the heat -- hate maliki. some hate him because he destroyed the mahdi army, and he continues to rest mahdi army guys arbitrarily, but for a while it was also a surprise because [inaudible] with a heated maliki. he didn't want to depend on them for the rim of power because he knows that in 2007 and they pulled out. and he didn't want to depend on them if they pulled out again for a black male against them. so he was always in a deal with the sunni party is the were working with al-awlai. saudi arabia and turkey have sunnis and was formed with saudi money and a turkish invasion. turkey helped create and there was pressure coming from different countries funding some of the sunni parties not to compromise or sellout but there were going to sold eventually because he was never going to give up power said it was better to be in the tent, however lyndon johnson said it. i don't think it is that big of a threat. i do think you do want them in the government. this is a group when they were marginalized they were push

in iraq you have maliki huge gained legitimacy to build the security force and restore the militia and civil war. sold ruled that it actually made them look like a better alternative. in afghanistan last thing you want to do is build a government because it is predatory. that is why people are joining the taliban. it is not a beast you want to feed. the americans are foolishly ally in themselves with police forces that will rob people into stores and pay for them. the key element, illegitimate government taking over for you. we see today the taliban has succeeded in sending emissaries in to the north and spreading into other areas. americans in afghanistan are brutal. anyone who spends time with american troops in afghanistan will hear stories about american soldiers, to make them dance. you saw in iraq if you are an occupying force, the best contention, you could be a girl scout or denmark. you're very presence, you are constantly pointing guns and people because of the humiliation and indignity americans can't understand the people living in palestine and afghanistan can understand.

maliki doesn't like anybody and nobody likes him. in a sense it is going to push him ironically close to the americans as his only friend but the saudis pete maliki and maliki and the ruling in iraq being so primitive and backwards they call him camel riders. but you can imagine as the iraqi military becomes stronger and stronger a future clash is happening between the iraqi shias army and the developed arabs. .. >> i've spoken to a few people who work in the green zone and the way they describe it sound like an american compound. they have their american bars and they have their own parties and don't fill out in the city. the kind of security, the u.s. embassy, so i guess my question is what exactly comprises the green zone and what is going on there? if there is no occupation what is -- can you clarify? >> the green zone has changed over the years. initially, when the americans came and they took over at neighborhood which used to be where the iraqi government was based. didn't have any walls around it but as the security situation

. >> a couple of weeks ago, i saw this headline iraq saying that prime minister al-maliki. >> what maliki has said, and talk about predictions. all of us thought that iraqis would say, we want to renegotiate this. we need troops there after september, 2011, and now saying we do not want troops there after 2011. i think that's extraordinary. and when you think of what the iraqis have in terms of army. they don't have much of an air force or much of intelligence gathering in terms of drones and things like that. i think what going to happen there, they will say they want the troops out. the u.s. will worry about that. and they will be some contracting or some behind-the-scenes consulting to help out the iraqs. because i don't know how they do it at that point. >> the last time four years ago you had been to iraq 11 times. what is the total number? >> 20, and i haven't been for a while. like everyone else my venue has changed. definitely want to go back to iraq. and i definitely want to go back to yemen. and i remember i was flying there new year's eve. after attempted christmas day bombing.

presiding over it was the prime minister, nouri al-maliki, whose armies against the solders militia. but he owes his second term of office from a show of support from al-sadr. it depends on whether these two men can continue working together. bbc news, baghdad. >> hope you can stay with us on "bbc world news." still to come, we are in los angeles for the child adulterer accused of the in varlet -- involuntary manslaughter michael jackson case is under way. first is reading, were an opinion poll is suggesting nearly two -- two-thirds of people walking to advocate. >> troubling times for sweden's head of state. recently rocked by it -- [no audio] >> it is not very funny to review a book that has contributed to difficult headlines but are not very nice to see. i have spoken to my family and to the queen, and we turn a page, almost like you turn the page of your newspaper. it is a far cry from the heavy themes of last june, when stock, is transformed into a fairy tale backdrop with the marriage of crown princess victoria to long- term partner. as heir to the throng, victoria has lived he

his army fought troops and he was an opponent of nouri al- maliki. an unusual late night statement, the north korean news agency has said there should be unconditional dialogue with south korea as soon as possible. it said north koreans are ready to meet anyone anytime and anywhere. the special envoy has arrived in the region. john kerry is saying he is encouraged by the latest news on referendum on independence. he is positive and wants to see two strong states emerge if there is a vote for separation. damage from flooding is so extensive in queensland it will affect the global economy. the task force has been sent to help the state recover from fundinflooding. one of the areas worst effected is the city of rockhampton. >> in milan not used to dealing with the extremes of nature, it is the magnitude of the flood that has taken austria by surprise. this is one of the great agricultural centers. we're massive forms have been reduced to small islands. one of the powerhouses of the economy will be paralyzed for weeks. it is hard to appreciate these gale

troops after the invasion of 2003 and the cleric was an opponent of the iraqi prime minister, nouri al-maliki. the white house has responded coolly to an unusual statement from north korea, saying there should be unconditional dialogue with the south as soon as possible. pyongyang says north koreans are ready to meet anyone, anytime, anywhere to help in months of tension. the u.s. envoy has arrived in the region. the head of u.n. peacekeeping has said he will be asking the security council for up to 2000 more troops were ivory coast partly to protect the man internationally recognized as winner of the presidential election, alassane ouattara. his rival, laurent gbagbo, is refusing to give up power. we spoke to alassane ouattara. >> an empty road as we head toward the besieged hotel. we're hoping to reach the man the world says is the rightful president of ivory coast. first, we have to get through the siege. we are stopped by forces loyal to laurent gbagbo, the man refusing to give up the presidency. we are ordered out and they say, we will finish you off, you will never leave here. that was

was occupying the country they wanted allow we they got maliki the pro for raining in lebanon the u.s. has tremendous influence right that's another country to travel to depend on in this case the the new government is more controlled by hezbollah than by the united states so it would seem to me now that we're going to find out soon enough whether the weakness of the u.s. has reached such a point that they can no longer overthrow a government like egypt and of course in iran in june and july of two thousand and nine there was an attempt to have the twitter revolution yet another called the revolution that one failed similarly in lebanon whenever you're dealing with a well organized force that opposes the color revolution the cia people power cool has a very very hard time succeeding if the army and police continue to support mubarak and the internet stays turned off then it looks to me like the smart bet is probably that this is not going to be a cakewalk for these demonstrators and the other question of course is what's their program do they have any solutions for anything their solu

. >> what maliki has said, i think all of us thought the rockies would say that we want to renegotiate this. we do need troops there after december, 2011. now they are saying we do not want troops there after 2011 to i think that is extraordinary. when you think about what the iraqis have in terms of an army, they do not really have much of an air force. they do not really have much of a medical evacuation. they do not have intelligence gathering in terms of drones and things like that. actually, what i think is going to happen there is they will say they want the troops out and the u.s. will worry about that and there will be some contracting or some behind-the- scenes consulting to help out the iraqis. i do not know how they will do it. >> you have been to iraq and 11 times. what is the total number of times you have been to iraq? >> 20. my opinion has changed. i definitely want to go back to iraq this year. in 2011, i definitely want to go back to yemen. i went to yemen on new year's eve. that was after the attempted christmas day bombing on an aircraft. i went to yemen. that was it

we then downgraded that because maliki said to me, look, i want to do this as an iraqi operation. so we down braided it somewhat. but in the end the charge was very successful. it was done, actually, by the way, with british support, and it's why we should hold our head high about what we did in basra. >> mr. blair, i know you wanted ten minutes or so to offer us someless e sons that you think -- lessons that you think a future prime minister might benefit from. would that be a good moment? >> i'll do that, and i'll try and do that and briefly, if i may, sir john. i did, actually, just before i got to those lessons learned, i wanted to say something else. i mean, at the the conclusion of the last hearing you asked me whether i had any regrets. and i took that as a question about the decision to go to war. that i took responsibility. that was taken as my meaning that i had no regrets about the loss of life, and that was never my meaning or my intention. and i wanted to make that clear. that, of course, i regret deeply and profoundly the loss of life whether from our own armed force

al maliki could have formed the government.an all shia bock, -- block which would have been a disaster. it could've been done any time along the way. another refrained. so not only did they listen. a phrase i use frequently, reality has a way of intruding." reality has a way of intruding. and this got off a process took place after the election. remember, we were told that there could not be an election. there was going to be a referendum in kirkuk and so on, and we picked up the newspapers, >> said the process has changed the whole dynamic, not just getting in government. i was convinced then that the leaders to stick to the commitments they made to me and to us, and they did, thanks to a lot of hard work and by top- notch american diplomats initiating this process -- the reason i go into so much detail with you all is that i know many of you well. i know that you know none of this matters unless the roots run deep and unless there is some reason to believe beyond the fact they work through an accommodations to form a core and

we then downgraded that because maliki said to me, look, i want to do this as an iraqi operation. so we down braided it somewhat. but in the end the charge was very successful. it was done, actually, by the way, with british support, and it's why we should hold our head high about what we did in basra. >> mr. blair, i know you wanted ten minutes or so to offer us someless e sons that you think -- lessons that you think a future prime minister might benefit from. would that be a good moment? >> i'll do that, and i'll try and do that and briefly, if i may, sir john. i did, actually, just before i got to those lessons learned, i wanted to say something else. i mean, at the the conclusion of the last hearing you asked me whether i had any regrets. and i took that as a question about the decision to go to war. that i took responsibility. that was taken as my meaning that i had no regrets about the loss of life, and that was never my meaning or my intention. and i wanted to make that clear. that, of course, i regret deeply and profoundly the loss of life whether from our own armed force

we have to send a message to a maliki and the iraqi governments.he united states proves handed responsibility of protecting these individuals who are protected under the geneva convention to you. how can you tolerate this love beakers? and what about these incursions that have precipitated challenges instead of c trf? and promised to protect them under the geneva convention. right now one wonders sincerity of that initial promise. i'll conclude ladies and gentlemen with just a couple of additional thoughts. i spent sometimewith some olderiranan women when i was in paris in december. and we sat down and through the interpreter we had conversations with them. and i wish i could take tho were gngo mak t dision anthe ste department erto erndn t e me carefully. these older women carrypire tcrs o spuses has been, children and grandchildren some of them were apprehended in , imprisoned, tortured and killed and some were simply apprehended and tortured and knew who knows, perhaps awaiting execution. life, liberty and pursuit of happiness is something we em

prime minister maliki is dealing with the realities on the ground. it's not politically popular to talk about having american troops on the ground longer than 2011. some of what we're hearing has to do with internal political dynamics. a new government is warning and they're having to set the tone for what is happening internally in iraq. for the united states, one issue of concern is whether or not we will see the kind of relationship and stability in iraq that we would like to see that our troops on the ground represent. our troops have been multipliers for the iraqis. they have helped train and undercut the ability of al-qaeda in iraq to be a destabilizing force. our ability to help the iraqis and also to serve as a stabilizing factorecomes an important question. we will just have to see how this plays out. the dynamics on the ground may change. that may change the political rhetoric from baghdad. host: while that is happening, u.s. troop levels increasing in afghanistan and stayed at that level for at least the next year or two. review is coming

christina maliki yawning -- who also talked in medical terms, technically. we will be having representative kantor and hoyer going over the schedule and we appreciate the great sensitivity involved in dealing with this issue, an expression of concern that there will not be of vote this week. there certainly will be attributes that will be put forward for those who lost their lives, and the continued health and fervent prayers and well wishes for gabrielle and all the victims as well with regard to their recovery. we will be holding a joint caucus conference on wednesday that the speaker has called for, and again we thank him for the house, for the people of arizona, and the country. i think all members on the phone conversation and subsequently hopefully out of this tragic circumstance that greater comity with in the house and the discourse that takes place all across this country and camaraderie that we hope will ensue in no way that we are all in this together to improve the lives of the people that we are sworn to serve. with that, i will take a few quest

prime minister maliki is dealing with the realities on the ground. it's not politically popular to talk about having american troops on the ground longer than 2011. some of what we're hearing has to do with internal political dynamics. a new government is warning and they're having to set the tone for what is happening internally in iraq. for the united states, one issue of concern is whether or not we will see the kind of relationship and stability in iraq that we would like to see that our troops on the ground represent. our troops have been multipliers for the iraqis. they have helped train and undercut the ability of al-qaeda in iraq to be a destabilizing force. our ability to help the iraqis and also to serve as a stabilizing factor becomes an important question. we will just have to see how this plays out. the dynamics on the ground may change. that may change the political rhetoric from baghdad. host: while that is happening, u.s. troop levels increasing in afghanistan and stayed at that level for at least the next year or two. review is comin

we have to send a message to a maliki and the iraqi governments.ng these individuals who are protected under the geneva convention to you. how can you tolerate this love beakers? and what about these incursions that have precipitated challenges instead of camp ostroff? we must heed the admonition. and promised to protect them under the geneva convention. right now one wonders sincerity of that initial promise. i'll conclude ladies and gentlemen with just a couple of additional thoughts. i spent some time with some older iranian women when i was in paris in december. and we sat down and through the interpreter we had conversations with them. and i wish i could take those were going to make the decision and the state department over to be with them or have them come over and listen to them very, very carefully. these older women carry pictures pitchers of spouses and has been, children and grandchildren some of them were apprehended in , imprisoned, tortured and killed and some were simply apprehended and tortured and knew who knows, perhaps awaiting

we have to send a message to a maliki and the iraqi governments.ers? and what about these incursions that have precipitated challenges instead of camp ostroff? we must heed the admonition. and promised to protect them under the geneva convention. right now one wonders sincerity of that initial promise. i'll conclude ladies and gentlemen with just a couple of additional thoughts. i spent some time with some older iranian women when i was in paris in december. and we sat down and through the interpreter we had conversations with them. and i wish i could take those were going to make the decision and the state department over to be with them or have them come over and listen to them very, very carefully. these older women carry pictures pitchers of spouses and has been, children and grandchildren some of them were apprehended in , imprisoned, tortured and killed and some were simply apprehended and tortured and knew who knows, perhaps awaiting execution. life, liberty and pursuit of happiness is something we embrace in our declaration of independence.

but if you travel from victoria down maliki, it's a huge country. a huge expanse. almost completely uninhabited. that's the result of this imbalance in population growth. it's a symmetry. i have a great example of hope for the comprehensive development of the whole area known as the corridor of oil development. 55,000 square kilometers, and i'm sure you are familiar with the fact that we have under taken intense investment and scientific studies, and we've been able to certify with what we did at the end of the year more than five billion barrels in november and december, and that has been recognized, officially, throughout the world and backed with scientific research. venezuela is the largest oil producer as far as oil reserves in the world. [applause] >> venezuela, we had given that up with some of the open policies of the path. i remember the military weren't even allowed in that area. i remember going north, we weren't allowed to go in the areas. in other words, we had yieldedsoeverty in the largest oil reserves in the world. that's one the reasons that we may

maliki could have run that government and that would have been a disaster.refrain from it. so, now, not only are there listening -- are they listening, reality has a way of intruding. reality has a way of intruding. in this god awful process that took place after the election, remember, we were told that there could not be an election law. there was going to be a referendum in turco -- be a referendum. the thing that you guys know, if you tasted, you can feel it. it is here. the process of having to deal with one another has changed the whole dynamic. not just in getting a government. i am convinced that the leaders will stick to the commitment that they made to us and they did. thanks to hard work by top-notch american diplomats initiating this process. the reason i go into so much detail on this with you all is that i know many of you will. i know that you know that none of this matters unless the roots run pretty deep. unless there is some reason to believe beyond the fact that they were able to form a form of government. that is not sufficient. i always

maliki could have run that government and that would have been a disaster. another leader could have made that deal along the way. he refrain from it. so, now, not only are there listening -- are they listening, reality has a way of intruding. reality has a way of intruding. in this god awful process that took place after the election, remember, we were told that there could not be an election law. there was going to be a referendum in turco -- be a referendum. the thing that you guys know, if you tasted, you can feel it. it is here. the process of having to deal with one another has changed the whole dynamic. not just in getting a government. i am convinced that the leaders will stick to the commitment that they made to us and they did. thanks to hard work by top- notch american diplomats initiating this process. the reason i go into so much detail on this with you all is that i know many of you will. i know that you know that none of this matters unless the roots run pretty deep. unless there is some reason to believe beyond the fact that they were able to

in june of 2009, nouri al-maliki, the head of the government, headed to iran for personal reasons and the next month in july of 2009 the iraqi security forces attacked residents. to add insult to the united states to injury suffered by the citizens that attack took place during a visit to iraq by defense secretary obert gates to be inside of the spot the face to the u.s. government and in spite of the solemn assurances given by the american military when the residence surrendered heir weapons in 2003, and our seetary of state which was questioned about then said that the attack was an internal matter for the government of iraq and not a concern of the united states. while we are on the eve of negotiations on the iranian regime while our government and others, the history of the relationship between the united states and the iranian regime since the 1979 revolution can be summed up as a series of attempts bthe united states to a diplomats to engage the iranian regime each attempt slightlyess successful them the one that preceded it. i don't have to redo the entire year history but an i