the solders hate maliki and the maliki theater. they erik osterman says the maliki difference is in our middle class in sort of a rabble. they hate him because he killed the mahdi army and was brutal and continues to arrest the guys arbitrarily. but he did, for a while, back allow we which is a surprise because they crushed the solders in 2004. they hated maliki. maliki didn't want to depend on the satyrs to remain in power because he knows in 2007 cedric pulled out and he didn't want to depend on them and put a black elegant then. so he was always in the sunni parties working with allow we. the parties are being pressured by countries in the region. one thing i forgot to mention that's interesting is what we saw from the last election wasn't that i ran was for she is. saudi arabia had influence over sunnis. the year this was formed with saudi money and turkish organization, turkey helped create the art chela and there was pressure coming in from different countries in the region, who are funding some of the sunni parties in the la

, it then enabled maliki to form the government. i'm very concerned about sadr, his activities, his followers and his close ties with iran as well as talibanny and others. i mean, i'll just be very blunt, i'm deeply concerned about that. i'm also concerned, ambassador and general, the government of iraq has already released a lot of individuals who had been te taped by the -- detained by the u.s. military. and we hear reports that prime minister has released many more as part of the political negotiations to form be a new government -- form a new government especially with the sadrists. do you have concern about that, general austin? >> senator, i am always concerned if -- >> i mean, it's happening? these detainees are being released? >> there are a number of detainees that are routinely reelited because of lack of evidence or because they may have served their sentence. >> do you believe some of those have been released because of the influence of sadr? >> i have no proof to confirm that, sir. >> is it your opinion? >> uh, without

it was then to enable maliki to form the government. i am very concerned about soldersadr -- about sadr and telecine -- talibani and others. the government of iraq has already released a lot of individuals who have been detained by the u.s. military compound and we hear -- u.s. military, and we hear that he has released more. do you have concern about that, general austin? >> i always have concern. >> it is happening? they are being released? >> there are a number of detainees that are routinely released because of lack of evidence or because they may have served their sentence. >> do you believe that some of them have been released because of the influence of sadr? >> i cannot confirm that. >> is it your opinion? >> without proof, i would be hesitant to provide an opinion on that. >> in some areas, like mosul and kirkuk, there is a considerable u.s. peacekeeping presence. what is your concern as far as the removal of the presence, concerning igniting the two parties? >> our presence of their has provided a means to build confidence and

it is unclear whether the maliki government will seek any type of continuing u.s.sence after december, given the terms of the security agreement that provide that all of our troops will be removed by this december. iraq needs to engage with the united states sooner rather than later if such a request is going to be forthcoming. the government ever iraq needs to understand that the days of american taxpayers bearing the cost of developing iraq's security forces are ending. iraq has significant oil revenue, which will continue to increase. according to the latest quarterly reports and special inspector general for iraq reconstruction, iraq's efforts to attract foreign investment continued to bear fruit, in their words, and development of iraq's oil fields is making "better than expected" progress. we should work with the government of iraq to make available the equipment and training in needs for its long- term security, but iraq should not expect american taxpayers to bear the costs of its security needs. finally, an important issue for the government ever iraq rema

officers rather and bodyguard the bombing came hours after the country's prime minister nouri al maliki issued a warning to rocky's over security fears. last minute computer glitch almost derailed the thirty ninth and final launch of the space shuttle discovery to the ship and its six crew did manage to blast off successfully from the kennedy space center but with just three seconds remaining and its critical launch window the launch have been delayed for three and a half months due to cracks in that external tank and discovery's final mission will be to deliver supplies and a module to the international space station. just a few minutes chopstick said they're ready as we try japanese food in the russian capital first though it's the business of day with. all of that strike time for your business to very well welcome world prices have retreated from the two and a halt year high posted on thursday but the momentum is still forward as the unrest in north africa and the middle east sends further shocks of the market here in russia got stocks have done particularly well in the crisis spoile

militants for the uprising specifically al-qaeda that's right both gadhafi and iraqi leader nuri al maliki will lead you are blaming al qaida for the unrest now copies even accuse the militants of supplying libyans with hallucination pills that will trick that into revolting and don't get me wrong here it's not like i'm defending al qaida i don't think they're the good guys and i feel sorry for them but come on right at least because that has some ties even very loose ones to what's going on don't just make it up out of thin air al qaeda hasn't been involved in these uprisings perhaps there should grant it's a little funny watching the young people of the middle east north africa unite on the way that they're responding clearly shows that they really have absolutely no idea what to do these jihadi story caught off guard they're sort of sending out mixed messages they'll say things like wells going to take down because he is an enemy of god then they turn around and they remind people not to ignore the koran because they may not like adopting but that does not mean that they like the idea o

prime minister nouri al maliki pledged to increase monthly food rations. he also rejected any use of violence against the demonstrators. several hundred people clashed with police today if haiti. they demanded that the president leave office immediately instead of waiting until the presidential run-off elections takes his successor in march. the protestors threw stones and burned tires. police fired shots in the air and fired gear tass to break up the crowd. there was no word of injuries. final results today showed southern sudan has voted overwhelmingly for independence. more than 98% of voters chose to secede from the north in the january balloting. the referendum was part of a 2005 peace deal ending two decades of civil war. the president of sudan, omar al- bashir, accepted the results and congratulated the south. the official division of >> i salute you and thank you in appreciation. the good and senior efforts you have made in order to achieve this important and serious task. >> sreenivasan: the official division of africa's largest nation into two co

are there things in the near term that could jeopardize the support for the maliki government? and most importantly, i read your testimony, and i am very concerned about the role that iran plays here in using its political influence in iraq and what that means for us in terms of policy implications. so could you give me a sense of those three things for starters? >> with almost everything i do, senator, i start with where i was when i was in iraq last time. and the government is far more stable and far more capable now than it was then. iraqis had to make a decision after the march elections when four major blocs essentially split the vote four ways with all four of them getting roughly 25% of the vote. how they would then form a government. they took the decision, it is a decision we agreed with but wasn't our decision to take, that they would try to be as inclusive as possible to have as many of the different groups participating in the government. this required a great deal of work because you had to put a coalition together that wasn't just 51% of the members of parliament

are there things in the near term that could jeopardize the support for the maliki government? and most importantly, i read your testimony, and i am very concerned about the role that iran plays here in using its political influence in iraq and what that means for us in terms of policy implications. so could you give me a sense of those three things for starters? >> with almost everything i do, senator, i start with where i was when i was in iraq last time. and the government is far more stable and far more capable now than it was then. iraqis had to make a decision after the march elections when four major blocs essentially split the vote four ways with all four of them getting roughly 25% of the vote. how they would then form a government. they took the decision, it is a decision we agreed with but wasn't our decision to take, that they would try to be as inclusive as possible to have as many of the different groups participating in the government. this required a great deal of work because you had to put a coalition together that wasn't just 51% of the members of parliament

. >> and his followers are a key element in the formation of the maliki government? >> they received 6,000 votes ought of more than 12 million cast. they have only 39 seats in the coalition, which is roughly 300 seats, and their role, which is relatively minor, in the government reflects their voting power. >> it also played a key role in the formation of the government when they swung maliki they were able to form the government. i am concerned about his followers and his close ties with iran and others, talibanny. -- talibani. i will be very blunt. i am deeply concerned about that. i am also concerned, ambassador and general, the government of iraq has already released a lot of individuals who have been detained by the u.s. military. we hear reports that the prime minister has released many more as part of the political negotiations to form a new government, especially with the sadrists. are you concerned about that? >> i'm always concerned. >> is that always happening? >> there are a number of detainees routinely released because of lack of evidence or they may ha

but we do believe the iraqi leaders including prime minister maliki and others are well aware of threats to their sovereignty, well aware of threats coming in various directions and they can be counted upon to do the right thing. >> let me ask you a quick question, does iran want this government to succeed or fail? >> one of the problems in assessing iran, and i'm not an iran expert, but i've worked on and off with it, there are different power centers in iran, senator. i think some of them probably would like to see an iraq that is not a threat to them. that's a legitimate concern given what they went through with saddam's invasion. and are happy to see an iran that is -- an iraq that is a success because they feel an affinity for the shia arabs who make up a majority of the population. i think that there are other people in iran who probably would like to see much more iranian influence over iraq and would hold iraq's success hostage to additional iranian influence. and sorting out that is one of our challenges. >> one last question. we have spent about $20 billion to develop iraqi sec