>> by whoever, al maliki. if he's going to be the prime minister, he's not going to change his course. definitely this country is drifting to dictatorship or fragile democracy. >> mr. prime minister, you've said that iraqis seek democracy, a state of citizens and not sects. >> woodruff: just last week president obama had welcomed al maliki to the white house as the u.s. presence in iraq wound down after nearly nine years. >> people throughout the region will see a new iraq that's determining its own destiny, a country in which people from different religious sects and ethnicities can resolve their differences peacefully through the democratic process. >> woodruff: today white house spokesman jay carney was asked what steps the administration is taking to quell the crisis. >> we are talking to all parties to express our concern regarding niece developments. we continue to urge all sides to work to resolve differences peacefully. ambassador james jeffrey as well as other u.s., senior u.s. officials, have been in

>> by whoever, al maliki. if he's going to be the prime minister, he's not going to change his course. definitely this country is drifting to dictatorship or fragile democracy. >> mr. prime minister, you've said that iraqis seek democracy, a state of citizens and not sects. >> woodruff: just last week president obama had welcomed al maliki to the white house as the u.s. presence in iraq wound down after nearly nine years. >> people throughout the region will see a new iraq that's determining its own destiny, a country in which people from different religious sects and ethnicities can resolve their differences peacefully through the democratic process. >> woodruff: today white house spokesman jay carney was asked what steps the administration is taking to quell the crisis. >> we are talking to all parties to express our concern regarding niece developments. we continue to urge all sides to work to resolve differences peacefully. ambassador james jeffrey as well as other u.s., senior u.s. officials, have been in

prime minister maliki, i'd like to ask you the question about syria.emanded that assad step down given the slaughter of his people? >> first of all, the prime minister and i discussed syria, and we share the view that when the syrian people are being killed or are unable to express themselves, that's a problem. there's no disagreement there. i have expressed my outrage in how the syrian regime has been operating. i do believe that president assad missed an opportunity to reform his government, chose the path of repression and has continued to engage in repressive tactics so that his credibility, his capacity to regain legitimacy inside syria, i think, is deeply eroded. it's not an easy situation. i expressed to prime minister maliki my recognition that given syria's on iraq's borders, iraq's in a tough neighborhood, that we will consult closely with them as we move forward. but we believe that international pressure, the approach we've taken along with partners around the world to impose tough sanctions and to call on assad to step down, a position tha

president obama and prime minister nuri al-maliki.e meantime you will ill' talk to three of my colleagues about the end of the war in iraq and iraq on its own. cnn's wolf blitzer in washington, kyra phillips and also in baghdad. wolf, i want to start off with you, in covering president bush what struck me always was the moving goal posts. first the definition of winning this war. in the beginning it was about going after weapons of mass destruction. then it turned into liberating the iraqi people from saddam hussein and then bringing democracy to the middle east. how does president obama define winning this war? what does he walk away with? >> reporter: he's not going to save the united states as a mission accomplished moment or winning the war. he's very precise in his words. 's not going to do any high-fiving or anything like that right now as almost all u.s. troops will be out of iraq by the end of this month. he's going to be cautious because he and all of his advisors are fully aware, they've basically told me and a lot of other

>> by whoever, al maliki. if he's going to be the prime minister, he's not going to change his course. definitely this country is drifting to dictatorship or fragile democracy. >> mr. prime minister, you've said that iraqis seek democracy, a state of citizens and not sects. >> woodruff: just last week president obama had welcomed al maliki to the white house as the u.s. presence in iraq wound down after nearly nine years. >> people throughout the region will see a new iraq that's determining its own destiny, a country in which people from different religious sects and ethnicities can resolve their differences peacefully through the democratic process. >> woodruff: today white house spokesman jay carney was asked what steps the administration is taking to quell the crisis. >> we are talking to all parties to express our concern regarding niece developments. we continue to urge all sides to work to resolve differences peacefully. ambassador james jeffrey as well as other u.s., senior u.s. officials, have been in

>> from maliki and his government. >> from maliki himself. there a political rival to maliki at this point that could prevent him from becoming what you are making the argument that he's becoming, which is sort of a low-grade strong man. >> no, there isn't. one of the things that's a big concern is there is no interior minister. there is no defense minister controlling the army. there is no national security officer. maliki right now is all of those things. so the kind of jobs that might create someone who would have the public standing to run against him, he's running it all. >> you are painting a pretty bleak picture. obviously 17,000 u.s. citizens that are going to be in iraq after december 31st, 2011. some of them spr forces. some of them are cia. a lot of them are state department officials. and including we'll have a counselate just a few miles from the border of iran. who is protecting them? >> of that 17,000 figure, about half are security contractors. so our troops are leave bug these other armed people will fill the void. >> and the

we'll get to obama and prime minister nuri al maliki in a bit. conference any minute now. but first i want to talk about the news of this weekend which is the gop debate. i want to play a

and how maliki's cabinets. again -- of mr. maliki's cabinets. >> it is very worrisome. the most important of iraq's fault lines between the sunni and shiite communities. the fact the prime minister is threatening prosecution of a very senior syrian -- sunni leads many to think they could be next. the u.s. presence in the country had until recently served as a stabilizing influence, persuading sunnis they would not be suppressed by a shiite majority. with the present john, the situation is considered more dangerous. >> how dangerous the you believe it to be? we are looking at perhaps a collapse of the government in a worst-case scenario. >> the worst case scenario is a decline spiraling into violence of the 2006 scale, but if things are going ahead in that direction, it would start with moves not unlike what we are seeing now. we may not get there, but it is a disquieting series of events. >> what you believe will be the response of supporters to this issue? >> i think they are hoping the prime minister can be talked down from this. this is not the first time maliki has

prime minister maliki, i'd like to ask you the question about syria.ssad step down given the slaughter of his people? >> first of all, the prime minister and i have discussed syria, and we share the view that when the syrian people are being killed or are unable to express themselves, that's a problem. there's no disagreement there. i have expressed my outrage in how the syrian regime has been operating. i do believe that president assad missed an opportunity to reform his government, chose the path of repression and has continued to engage in repressive tactics so that his credibility, his capacity to regain legitimacy inside syria, i think, is deeply eroded. it's not an easy situation, and, you know, i expressed to prime minister maliki my recognition that given syria's on iraq's borders, iraq's in a tough neighborhood, that we will consult closely with them as we move forward. but we believe that international pressure, the approach we've taken along with partners around the world to impose tough sanctions and to call on assad to step down, a positi

prime minister nouri maliki is from the shia majority and tariq al-hashemi is from the suny minority.he divisions that have cost so many lives are rising again. >> all calm on the surface of baghdad but the country is on the rest of day crisis. -- is on the cusp of a crisis. the division between the shiite and sunni politicians could spill out into the streets. at the center is the sunni vice president, tariq al-hashemi. he denies that he ran hit squads targeting government officials. he is now in kurdistan. the shi'a prime tester has called on kurdish leaders to hand him over. -- the shi'a prime minister has called on kurdish leaders to hand him over. >> there is only one way out of this, through the judicial system. hashemi should stand trial either to be found innocent or to be indicted. there is no other way. >> tariq al-hashemi has angrily rebutted the charges against him. he said that they were politically motivated. he did not trust the justice system under a government led by nouri maliki. >> i demand that the elementary investigation be held here in kurdistan and it should be

this is the main opposing block to nuri al maliki's coalition. this block accusing al maliki of consolidating power, trying to keep them out of major decisions. al mall la ki still controls a security profile, the ministries of defense and interior. a sunni part of that block last week told us he thought that al maliki was the worst dictator the country has seen. add to this unfolding drama is the fact that yesterday, an adviser to the prime minister told cnn that they had evidence implicating one of the sunni vice presidents in bombings. now since that allegation took place, there have been a series of high-level talks trying to dial back what could potentially be a very significant crisis with senior politicians warning that if this continues to move in the same trajectory we're seeing it going in right now, it could potentially lead to chaos and possibly more violence, fredricka? >> arwa damon, thanks so much in baghdad. >>> unrest again in cairo. a warning, you're about to see some graphic violent video recorded this weekend in central cairo.

prime minister nouri maliki is from the shia majority and tariq al-hashemi is from the suny minority.he divisions that have cost so many lives are rising again. >> all calm on the surface of baghdad but the country is on the rest of day crisis. -- is on the cusp of a crisis. the division between the shiite and sunni politicians could spill out into the streets. at the center is the sunni vice president, tariq al-hashemi. he denies that he ran hit squads targeting government officials. he is now in kurdistan. the shi'a prime tester has called on kurdish leaders to hand him over. -- the shi'a prime minister has called on kurdish leaders to hand him over. >> there is only one way out of this, through the judicial system. hashemi should stand trial either to be found innocent or to be indicted. there is no other way. >> tariq al-hashemi has angrily rebutted the charges against him. he said that they were politically motivated. he did not trust the justice system under a government led by nouri maliki. >> i demand that the elementary investigation be held here in kurdistan and it should be

and maliki is playing a game between iran and the united states.be a day where the americans will realize they were deceived by maliki some time and they will regret that. >> and, wolf, i can tell you that concern is also shared by many other iraqi politicians. and it is also one concern that we have been hearing echoed throughout the streets of baghdad, wolf? >> i've been hearing all these reports he's going around arresting sunnis, just throwing them in jail. so far, as you've pointed out, no interior minister, no defense minister, he's keeping all of these powers for himself. is that what a small "d" democrat is supposed to do in iraq? >> well, hypothetically speaking, no, of course, not. that's why other politicians are incredibly concerned. they are accusing al maliki of trying to consolidate more and more power. over the last few weeks, the government has announced it has detained hundreds of individuals that it claims are terrorists, but other politicians say that those individuals, is vast majority of them, 90% of them are quite simply al m

well, al-maliki want want a civil war. iraqi politics is a zero sum game and it always has been. al-maliki's best hope of preserving peace is [ inaudible ] we don't know. he's a polamalutition. the iraqis like a tough guy. the u.s. will have a trading presence. it's not going to be a peace- keeping force as such in the country. >> as we move our way over to pakistan and afghanistan, i want to hit iran first. obviously the iranians are a big concern in iraq, the iranian nuclear program is a top concern, 2170 that was also over iran was watching the nuclear sites by all accounts. is 2012 going to be the year in which either israel or the united states ends up striking iran's nuclear sites? >> there is a huge concern at the pentagon that once americans leave iraq that perhaps israel could strike iran sometime as early as next spring. there's a huge concern about that. >> because the u.s. is running all the air defense right now. >> precisely. the u.s. will be out of iraq. if the israelis wanted to, they could fly over iraq on their way to iran, but a senior pentagon officials have r

credit critics say no. >> is there any reason to trust maliki? >>. >> reporter: tom ridge at a protest outside the white house. iraq's closestally n ally now i. >> the single greatest terrorist organization in the world is iran. >> reporter: iraq is promising to stage joint training with u.s. forces. >> so that iran doesn't think they have a free hand to rule the region. >> reporter: but thanks to the sacrifice of americans, iraq will now choose its own friends and go its own way. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. >>> elsewhere, about 100 miles from the penn state campus, jerry sandusky will come face to face with several of the men accusing him of sexually abusing them when they were just boys. the former penn state assistant football coach will be in the courtroom at today's preliminary hearing when at least half of his ten accusers will try to convince a judge that there's enough evidence to take their case to trial. sandusky is charged with 50 counts of sexual child abuse and has been under house arrest since last week. >>> here is

al-maliki visited washington as the u.s. prepares to withdraw all remaining fighting forces. president obama is keeping a pledge to end the almost nine- year long war by the end of this month. >> the last american soldiers will cross the border out of iraq with honor and with their heads held high. >> reporter: at a joint news conference, the president and prime minister praised the relationship between the two countries and promised continued cooperation on security, equipping the iraqi military and fighting terrorism. but some u.s. officials are concerned neighboring iran will step up influence on iraq once american forces leave. president obama is confident that won't be a problem. >> i have absolutely no doubt that these decisions are being made based on what prime minister maliki believes is best for iraq. not based on considerations of what iran would like to see. >> on the battlefield, u.s. forces are taking part in what one military officer called the biggest logistical operation since world war ii. they're handing over control of bases, moving equipment across the bo

there are great concerns that al maliki is consolidating more and more power. they point to the fact that the government announced in recent weeks that it rounded up hundreds of individuals that it accuses of being baathists, terrorists. but people say that those individuals who are now in detention are quite simply opponents to al maliki and they fear that this is going to be an even more growing trend as the u.s. continues to draw down. >> and a quick reference to iran by the deputy prime minister there. what was that about, arwa? >> reporter: well, it's about iran's growing footprint in iraq. the deputy prime minister and other opponents of the current prime minister nuri al maliki have great concerns about the impact that iran is going to have and they say that that impact is going to grow as the u.s. continues to depart. they point to a certain reality like the fact that they say the iraqi government did not extend america's presence because it made a calculation, a calculated it was in iraq's national interests to not aggravate iran and they're very worri

critics say no. >> is there any reason to trust maliki? >> no! >> reporter: former homeland security secretary tom ridge at a protest outside the white house. iraq's closest ally now is iran. >> the single greatest terrorist organization in the world is iran. >> reporter: iraq is promising to stage joint training with u.s. forces. >> so that iran doesn't think that they have a free hand to -- to rule the region. >> reporter: but thanks to the sacrifice of americans, iraq will now choose its own friends and go its own way. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. >>> elsewhere, the supreme court recently added some controversy to an already crowded docket. the justices will weigh in on both challenges to arizona's immigration law and president obama's health care reform. last night on the rachel maddow show guest host melissa harris perry asked george washington university professor jeffrey rosen why the supreme court has agreed to hear these politically charged cases. take a listen. >> in the arizona case, they certainly didn't have to take it

the president denni talibani and nouri al-maliki invite and neither showed. empty chairs where they were supposed to sit at the official ceremony. there you see on the chair, the bunker they were supposed to go to if that ceremony came under attack. just an interesting shot. as we're back with the panel. what about this violence, charles? >> this is the reason that our generals on the ground who know the scene, who know the politicians, who knows the factions have been surging we keep residual american force. not that we're involved in the fighting. remember combat operations stopped almost a year-and-a-half ago. casualties were quite minimum. nonetheless, the presence of americans was able to assuage the friction between the kurds and the arabs in the north. and also kept a damper on the ambitions of the shiites as expressioned by nouri al-maliki to seize power and totally crush the sunnis. in essence, our presence protected and was keeping the balance of power. the evacuation of all americans that ended a few days ago, was per sip tating event for this assa

newshour" tonight, we get the latest on today's meeting at the white house with iraq's prime minister maliki. >> brown: then, we update the 2012 race for the white house with stu rothenberg and susan page. >> woodruff: paul solman looks to history for an answer to this question: do higher tax rates slow economic growth or not? >> in 1917, given the expense of war, congress jacked the top marginal rate upward. >> from 7% to 77%. by the way, the phrase "soak the rich" emerged at that time too. >> brown: ray suarez gets two views of the global climate deal reached in durban, south africa over the weekend. >> woodruff: and we talk with british foreign secretary william hague about his country's decision to reject an agreement aimed at fixing europe's debt crisis. >> in europe but not run by europe. that's all been my mantra, if you like. >> brown: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> and by the bill and melinda gates foundation. dedicated to the idea that all

that was president obama's message today as he stood by prime minister maliki today.fter nine long controversial years, on december 31, the last american troops will leave the country. but can the u.s. be influential without having boots on the ground? >> present! >> prime minister maliki asked to come to arlington national cemetery where thousands of americans who died in iraq are buried. today, they honored the dead. and for mr. obama today, and warning to iraq caused powerful overbearing neighbor iran. >> just as iraq has pledged not to interfere with other nations, other nations must not interfere in iraq. iraq's sovereignty must be respected. >> the prime minister acknowledged american concerns of iran. >> we will not allow iran to interfere. >> president obama has kept a promise on iraq. america's military involvement is at an end. the troops are nearly all home. about 6000 remain there, but they will be leaving soon. the massive u.s. embassy remains in baghdad. we should expect a lot of engagement that we will not necessarily hear about. and on the aid and trai

political crisis following a bombing wave that claimed more than seventy lives prime minister nouri al maliki a shiite has called for his sunni deputies love to be sons the u.s. administration insists it left behind a stable country nine years after launching the invasion. and big brother is coming and he could be in your british taxi human rights activists fight a surgeon surveillance cameras which turn out to be installed in every taxi in the city of oxford recording not just video but body o. as well authorities insist that the risk of personal intrusion is acceptable compared to the public safety benefits. but those are the headlines and up next cross talk peter lavelle and his guests discuss the spoils of war in iraq and whether america's foreign policy is really about spreading freedom and democracy say with our. hello and welcome to cross talk i'm peter let's go with the american occupation of iraq officially coming to a close this week it's time to take stock was the war in occupation worth it are there any winners is a rock a better place and is war now the natural state of u.s. fore

to flight back with maliki on his private plane on wednesday. which is to say this big >>> president obama ends one war as republicans start another one. against newt gingrich. >>> the president made a promise, a campaign promise, that he would bring all the troops out. >> that means us getting out of iraq. >> misguided war -- >> i'm proud to finally say these two words -- welcome home. welcome home! >> i think it's a great risk -- >> mccain slammed the obama administration for the timing of the withdrawal. >> this decision represents a failure of leadership. >> some very strong words. >> a sad case of political expediency. >> so you approve of the agreement -- >> no. >> did not support the decision that the president made. >> there was an independent iraqi government that told us to leave. >> i don't agree withdrawing down those troops. >> still a lot of people in the republican party who are much more anxious to go to war. >> history will judge this president's leadership. >> don't judge me against the almighty. judge me against the alternativ

and president obama and prime minister maliki stand side by side. >> a war is ending. a new day is upon us. and let us never forget those who gave us this chance. >> syria holds local lexis -- elections, but in a country racked by violence, many are choosing to boycott instead. >> taking scotland by storm. after arriving from china, it was time for the panda pair of sweetie and sunshine to meet the press. >> welcome to our viewers on p.b.s. in america and around the globe. the troops are coming home, but america is not abandoning the middle east. that was president obama's message today as he stood beside prime minister maliki to mark the end of america's military commitment in iraq. after nine long years, on december 31st, the last american troops stationed there will come home. can america be influential there without having boots on the ground? here is our coverage. >> prime minister maliki asked to come to arlington national cemetery, where many of those thousands of americans who died fight negligence iraq are buried. he and president obama honored the dead. and f