so, friends who have worked for decades with him say he's the exact opposite of maliki. though he comes from the same context, the same party, the same islamist sort of conspiratorial paranoid background, he's much more open than maliki, and this could be his downfall as well. where maliki was stubborn, refused to listen to even his closest advisers, abadi seems to be too open, listens too much. he wants everybody's opinion around the table, and seen even by some of his friends as indecisive. maybe the office of the prime minister is going to force him to react, but this is definitely something to watch out for. i also want to say, it's interesting that he's the first iraqi prime minister since alawi who isn't the preferred candidate of iran. up to the last minute lobbied very aggressively to keep maliki in power for a third term, and it wasn't actually the iranian -- sorry, the americans or the shia rivals or sunnis or kurds. it was the religious establishment in niger which effectively blocked iranian dreams of a third term. we talked about influence in iraq, but it's

they were just kronies of maliki who were appointed for political reasons.o this perception of kroniesm degraded the fighting will of the forces. the pentagon and u.s. military believes it's equally important or more important to rebuild that part of the equation than to you know go through the routine military training and e equipping but both of those pieces have to fall in place and you heard secretary, you heard general dempsey rather than the end say we just don't know how much that is going to work and how long it's going to take. so it's a strategy that is built on a lot of moving parts and a lot of things that the pentagon cannot control and so they are warning this is going to take quite some time. this is not a solution that is going to take months, it's going to take years. >> jamie is standing by and our senior washington correspondent is at the capitol this morning and mike is the white house concerned about the new republican-led congress that will be taking the oath of office in january and pushing in iraq are they convinced the new congress w

this is nouri maliki-plus. i put in the book, they need to be defeated. and i hope we do. >> not against that man, personally, but his notion of what is going on over there is so deluded. he has decided after a while this is the worst decision this president and we've ever made as a country. now you have a guy coming on saying this has been great. this is what we wanted over there and find some way of finding al qaeda in this mess, al qaeda was created after we got in there in iraq. al qaeda in iraq. so does anybody -- does he read the newspaper? i don't know what he reads. >> it was run by cheney and the neocons to get into this war. i agree with george will totally. he said he would lie to us to get us into this war. and he did. and he got us in and had no idea what he was opening up. he was opening up pandora's box. he didn't understand the kurds and the turks and all of what is going on. he didn't understand the iranians, the giving the power to nouri maliki. all of that was one mistake after another because he had no concept what he was getting into

maliki requested that that end, and therefor these generals were answering directly to maliki's office, when the attack actually came in, then the orders were not there to coordinate activity and that is why many of the generals weren't sure of actually what to do to provide that mutual support. not only that, they were serving in a sunni area themselves and through that perhaps a complex environment led to the forces themselves crumbling, much faster than perhaps we would have anticipated. >> you would put this down to an issue more of an issue of leadership rather than trying to meld a united force at a different ethnic mix, religions, cultures. >> the lesson has been learned from there and what general allen is now seeking to do is to create a national guard which actually does work on what you're implying, is that there is a myriad, a complex sort of tapestry of ethnic groupings and each area will be able to develop it's own national guard but answerable to senior authority, that is the direction of travel, that is what the americans are now focusing on and that i think is what's b

maliki requested that that end. therefore, in fact, these generals were answering directly to maliki's office. and when it came -- when the attack actually came in, then the orders were not there to coordinate activity. and that is why many of the generals weren't sure of actually what to do to provide that mutual support. not only that, they were serving in a sunni area themselves and through that, perhaps, that complex environment, led to the forces themselves crumbling much faster than we perhaps would have anticipated. >> you would put this down to an issue more of an issue of leadership rather than trying to meld a united force out of different ethnic mixes, religions, cultures? >> the lesson has been learned from there. and what general allen is now seeking to do is to create a national guard, which actually does work on exactly what you're implying. is that there is a myriad, a complex sort of tapestry of ethnic groupings. and each area will be able to develop its own national guard. but answer to senior auth

he's much more open than maliki and this could be his downfall as well. where maliki was stubborn, refused to listen to even his closest advisers, abadi is seen to be too open. he listens too much. he wants everybody's opinion around the table, and is seen even by some of his friends as indecisive. maybe the office of the prime ministership is going to force him to react, but this is definitely something to watch out for. i also want to say it's interesting that abadi is the first iraqi prime minister who isn't the preferred candidate of iran. iran up until the last minute lobbied very aggressively to keep maliki in power for a third term, and it wasn't actually the americans or the shia arrivals or the sunnis or isis or the kurds. it will ayatollah sistani which effectively blocked iranian dreams of a third term. so we talk about iranian influence in iraq but it's not a one-way street. i would just nuance that with saying that whatever leverage iran lost because of that decision, they have more than made up due to the reliance on the iraqi government on

twhoos happened is that maliki, who provoke aid civil war, is gone. you have a prime minister who now has a minister of defense anan a minister of interior. you have something approaching a national government. you now have the ability to put u.s. advisers in that can actually train iraqi forces and help rebuild the army that maliki helped destroy. and you have enough consensus to boosttnd support peshmerga forces. is is an ongoing political struggle. we don't know how it will come out. and as yet, the sunnis, which are key to r success, have not in any meaningful way, turned against the islamic state. >> sreenivasan: while we've been focused on the troo movements and the increased presence of american troops in iraq, what's been happening in syria? >> wit well, we suffered very serious reverseses.. two of the key element elementse put training and arms inino, the only really moderate elements in the the northern part of s sria have suffered serious defeats near the turkish border by a a different islamist extremist group, the al-nusra front. we don't

that the bad old days of sectarianism under nouri al-maliki had disappeared and this was about bringing in officers from all of iraq's society and making sure that this was a iraqi national unity army. also what we have been told, is that the allegations of corruption leveled against some of the officers were a concern to the prime minister and he wanted to clean house. a lot of these officers were very loyal to the previous prime minister nouri al-maliki, 10 of them have been given early retirement. and another 26 have been removed from their post and are now waiting reassignment. also prime minister al bad i's office has been briefing journalists saying it wasn't about apportioning blame aura signing blame for 30 failings of the iraqi army when isil swept through parts of its territory in june, but more about putting the right officers in the right places to be effective in the fight against isil. >>> there always been innocence fire in syrian city aleppo between rebel identifieses and government troops this. footage appears to show the aftermath of a bomber attack in the rebel-held a

turned out the perceptions of most iraqis who happen to be sunni was they were being frozen out by the maliki government which was dominated i shia and they have this tribal war going on which has now erupted in isis among other things. prices is partly always displaced sunnis as well as other people. this happens all over the planet part because a lot of us felt asleep in math class. i appreciate your keeping, keeping what we call presses and -- precision journalism. backup the assumptions and not just going with the first impressions people have at the same time, elections tend to swing on impressions. if people don't feel safe then they will vote for those policymakers who make them feel safe, and vice versa. thank you for your question. about halfway through the answer i think, there's a column in that. i keep talking, there's a column in my head. >> a quick one. after the inauguration, i think the second inauguration i was down with the tour group, and to match records were not so filled up at that point, kind of indiana sitting next to a large african-american family, women and kids and

political questions that have to do with how and in what way in iraq, in which the maliki government spent a good bit of its time either ignoring or tormenting sunni, a new iraqi government can pick up its socks and understand that it has to deal with minority from the point of view of their rights, as well as obviously the significant value of majority rule, and that happens to be at the moment the shia. but those are significant. and economic questions are very important. where is some of our oil coming from? well right out of isil-land. do we continue to take that oil, and do we continue to feed the money into isis that that oil is being paid to -- paid for to receive. a very interesting question, particularly at a time when oil prices are going down. of course, if it were isil, it couldn't happen to nicer guys but there are still real problems about a resistance to a fundamental terrorist movement that is now hecavily funded by the oil enterprise and we need to think about that. so those are significant. on the military side i think it's very interesting. there are now clear indi

he was an outspoken critic of the government against the prime minister at the time maliki. december, government troops went to arrest him after maliki ordered the shutdown of the anti-government process, and he was eventually convicted of killing the two soldiers pictured here. his death sentence has divided public opinion. >> translator: the death sentence is improper. it was supposed to be suspended until after the war with isil is over, because it will weaken the sunni support needed to win against isil. >> translator: he has made grave mistakes against the iraqi people throughout the process, which aren't peaceful. his supporters said they were part of al-qaeda. >> reporter: the heard of the tribe was furious at a news conference held after the sentence was announced. >> translator: we has a tribe are in total shock, a tribe is considered the buffer zone of the city. we are now in shock at the death sentence handed to our brother. >> reporter: the agreement helped the new prime minister get the top job. the prime minister has promised to reach out and work with both the

so the presence of 20,000 americans in iraq in 2012 until now would have pushed maliki away from the prime minister in his worst sectarian influence as general david petraeus, ambassador ryan crocker used the presence of the troops and used their leverage to do just that when we had 150,000 in iraq. we have less leverage that we would have had infinitely more than we ended up having. and a big part of the reason for the success of isis in iraq has been sectarianism of the iraqi government over the past two and a half years and the fact that they no longer trust the baghdad government. >> let ask about the unsatisfying war that you were just discussing. we are warned that it's going to be unsatisfying. no easy options, no quick options, no dramatic changes in the situation. it could take a long time with the uncertain outcome. do we have to plan for that quick >> we shouldn't be planning for it as poorly as we are right now the other mistake in between was the invasion of iraq in 2003. it was pulling all of the troops out at the end of iraq in 2011. the next mistake wasn't arming theo

. >> i have heard to much maliki about our position on iran -- maliki about our position on iran. let me say it clearly in a biden esque way. we will not let iran acquire a nuclear weapon. period. period. period >>> joining us from santa fe if mexico is bill richardson, former governor of mexico and ambassador to the united nations. the president and vladimir putin apparently had a few short conversations, the body language between the two was, to put it mildly, it was awkward. now, we knew that this deal for russia it build reactors in iran was in the works. announcing it two weeks before the deadline on the nuclear talks, and just as leaders are meeting at the summit. well, vladimir putin is obviously jabbing us in the eye. he's basically saying that he's going to side with russia if there's a real deadlock on the nuclear talks. and i expect that we still will have differences beyond the two weeks that we'll have to extend the deadline. russia is saying "look, u.s., we are not in the same wavelength on ukraine, on syria, on nuclear weapons. we are inching closer to china, you ar

. >> and tell us about maliki policy since you mentioned it and what divided saudi arabia and iraq theres and against the sunnis in iraq. it sees allegiance to iran and being an agent of iranian government and all these things and others have opened up the iraqi country, opened up iraq for terrorist groups and a danger for all of us. >> what are some other issues they work have to work on? i mean is i l -- isil is major and brought together countries on the same side and what else do they have to look at between saudi arabia and iraq? >> the market is in turmoil right now and going down and that is something they need to discuss. other than that the borders, the borders with iraq are not safe for saudi arabia at the moment and the, iraq need to take control of the border and other issues like economic issues and people who are prisoners in iraq threatened by beheading and a lot of things whether it's financial or economic or just neighborly issues. >> it's about cooperation, isn't it because you mentioned there the border is unsafe and iraqis need to do more there and that perhaps needs

they have to remember to remember how disenfranchised they were under the maliki regime and it is soot to adjust to engage in the in our province that all of iraq. but also a to remember ha our diverse that community is. that is the challenge to recognize the backdrop of government. in looking into the future. >> but there is no doubt beyond that frustration under maliki wanting a better life or a better representation severe is massive distrust with the complications of the relationship as they move forward as well. i don't take away from perhaps the implication into being paid to this part of the region. >> moving on to oil and gas. but you have been well coming in the interim agreement. kin new broker it? >> it is still very fresh tonight and very pleased. but it provides that vision to spend the walls wisely. and then to take place between baghdad through lump-sum of 500. and touche paid for outstanding debts. and over 150,000 barrels. in the last couple of months to have the pipelines able to export. >> this is the interim agreement to help them reach a final conclusion. ♪. >> t

could have been avoided if the government of maliki and now we have a new prime minister and now theyo you see support for i.s.i.l. weakening now? >> your premise i think is a bit of a stretch. i don't think we could tile those things together but some of them are certainly very, very significant facts. the lack of support of maliki administration for the sunni population in the country my mind is clearly an undercurrent that has facilitated the advance of i.s.i.l. this is a group of folks, some of them are actually in prison during the time i was the commander and they were released and turned loose and the problem is that syria is pretty much an ungoverned state right now and it is pretty obvious around the world that when you have that kind of a situation the bad actors tend to migrate there and for no good. >> are you saying. >> for several years. >> are you then saying, forgive me for interrupting you because we have seen advances by the army and are you saying even if i.s.i.l. is drawn out of iraq we still have to worry about it in syria and perhaps expanding beyond that? >> i t

not only was it removed but also the support element was removed from maliki requesting that end.therefore the fact that these generals were directed to maliki's office and when it ca came, when the attack actually came in when the orders went out there to coordinate activity and that is why many of the generals weren't sure what to do to provide mutual support. not only that they were serving in the sunni area themselves and perhaps a complex environment led to the forces themselves crumbling much faster and perhaps we would have anticipated. >> we bring this down to an issue of leadership more than trying to meld a united force out at different ethnic religions and cultures. >> what general allen is seeking to do is to create a national guard which actually does work on exactly what you are implying. there is a myriad, complex tapestry of ethnic groupings and each area available to develop its own national guard but that is what the americans are now focusing on and that is i think what is best suited for that particular country. see that okay and finally it appears that the u.k

are you saying that prime minister malikis is a diggredation of the army forces? >> that's exactly what i am saying and we have been saying that. >> do you think these troops can remedy that? >> your question means that you doubt the veracity of what we are trying to do here. >> i am just asking for the 170,000 plus, that proved to be a problem. >> you are basically saying you don't think it's enough. we believe that for the numbers we are talking about training at the request -- and this is important -- of the iraqi government. this is what they've asked us to do and the need that they have expressed. the requirement is coming from them. not from us. based upon that requirement, we believe that this is the appropriate number of troops to devote to the mission. absolutely. if we didn't believe that this was the right number, right num wouldn't have submitted it. >> may i follow up with a question? >> sure. >> are they paying for it? why is the u.s. paying for it if they requested it? >> as i said this at the outset, there will be contingent on this authorization.

. >> after the change of maliki the government in bagdad work hard for us.cilitate everything to the needs of our province, and now we get also more steps with the coalition forces, with the u.s. specially, and other countries, so i think it's the time to start work. we work to repel a lot of things in the previous period, but now we are starting to work in the -- in the exact plan to liberate mosul. we need some counties of the coalition to contain these forces, and also need that they give them some weapons. we asked bagdad, bagdad accept to finance this camp, but they have no enough weapons, they have not also -- they cannot attend them in the way we need. it's a miserable situation now in mosul, no electricity, no water, no healthcare inside the city, so it's very bad situation. >>> there has been fierce fighting in yemen with several loud explosions heard. at least 29 houthi rebels have died in attacks by tribesmen al-qaeda linked fighters. there have also been three u.s. drone strokes which have reportedly killed at least 12 al-qaeda fighters >> hundre

a lot of these officers were very loyal to the previous prime minister, prime minister al-maliki. ten of them have been given early retirement and another 26 have been removed from their posts, now awaiting reassignment. prime minister al abaddi's office has been saying that this wasn't about apportioning blame or assigning blames for any of the failings of the iraqi army when isil swept through in june but more about putting the rice officers in the right places to be effective in the fight against isil. >> two bombs ever exploded near the embassies of egypt and united arab emirates in libya. several buildings were damaged in the capitol. there are no reports of casualties. security is deteriorating across libya as rival militias compete for power. >> there's been an explosion on the train in an underground station in the egyptian capitol, 16 people wounded. some as panic happened after the blast. the train was pulling out of a station. last wreak an explosion on a train killed four people about an hour north of the capitol. >> the egyptian security firms say fighters have killed

. >> after the change of maliki, the government in baghdad it - work hard with us. they facilitate everything to the province, and now we get also more steps with the coalition forces. with the u.s., especially. and other countries. so it's - i think it's the time to start work. we work to do a lot of things in the previous period. we are starting to work in the exact plan to liberate mosul. we need some counties of the coalition to attend these forces, and also we need that they give them some weapons, we ask baghdad. baghdad sent to finance this. they have no - not enough weapons, and they have not - also, they cannot have them in the way we need. it's a miserable situation. in mosul. no electricity, no water, no health care inside the city. so it's a bad situation. >> amnesty international is accusing israel of committing war crimes by targetting civilians in the 50 day war with gaza. 2,000 palestinians and dozens of israelis were killed. human rights says israel targeted homes full of families, and palestinians were not given warning and had no chance to flee. t

. >> after the change of maliki the government in baghdad work hard with us. they send everything to the province, and we get more steps with the coalition forces and other parties. i think it's the time to start work. we work to prepare a lot of things in the period. but now we are starting to work in the exact plan to liberate mosul. we need some counties of coalition to attend these forces, and also we need that they give them weapons. we ask baghdad, they accept to finance, but they have not enough weapons, and they have - they cannot have them in the way we need. it's a miserable situation. no electricity, no water, no health care inside the city. it's a bad situation. >> security forces in the democratic republic of congo arrested several men in connection with the killing of more than 100 people. the men are being held in benny in the province of north kefu. >> reporter: a group of men is brought into beni under armed guard. local military authorities believe these people are rebels from the allied democratic force. as many as 120 people have been kille

he holds the vice president position so al maliki, everybody protected maliki. >> okay, we can take more questions. there's one in the middle here. any yquestions in the back of te room i'm not seeing. first this one here, then questions further back. >> yes. i have just heard that i don't remember, i think it's one of the panelist, american policy is not clear and consistent. >> could you also identify yourself? thank you. >> i'm from argentina national defense expert, national defense and a student. my question is i heard that american policy is not clear and consistent. so, when the united states was begun the war, the united states was having a kind of symmetric war, now, we are trying to defeat this group, a band of isis. do you think that this kind of asymmetric strategy will lead to solution or is it very hard to obtain a good side with military force? >> thank you. we'll take more questions. i see one at the very back of the room. >> my name is nazila. the military correspondent in iran. i don't want to disagree with all of the elements stated on the panel and all the previous pa

i recognize, poppy, they're trying to recruit sunnis, that maliki, the previous prime minister had thrownf the army. i know one of the generals is out trying to train these people. i hope he's successful, because we do not want to be on the side of a shia in the civil war, because we're talking about 100 years war. and how you threat that needle, i don't know. but we better do it. >> yes. very good point. stick around. don't go anywhere, gentlemen. we'll be back after a quick break to talk about this. also u.s. air strikes in iraq and syria are not only targeting isis. who are the other groups? you have heard these names, khorasan, al-nusra. we're going to talk about what it means, next. [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality for over 19 million people. [ susan ] my promotion allowed me to start investing for my retirement. transamerica made it easy. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. transamerica. transform tomorrow. transamerica. that disease is for older people. not me. i take good care of myself. i'm active. i never s

this is the government of prime minister maliki. now, let's also remember iraq is a sovereign nation. we have to be invited in to iraq to help. we were telling prime minister maliki he had a problem. he was going to have to deal with it. we couldn't have just arbitrarily, i suppose we could have, invaded iraq without the sovereign country and the elected government of iraq inviting us in. we were not. we were not asked to help, even though we were talking to the iraqi government. so i think it's important we just set the stage, this also is at the time you recall, congressman, iraq was at the front end of changing governments. the new government didn't take over, if you recall, until september of this year. but even then, we were invited in, in late summer, and we did get involved in it, in late summer, but we had to be invited in, and so that's first. on iran, this administration is very aware of the dangers of iran and the president has said, again, that his policy is the same as president bush's policy. >> that's not the same as

this is the government of prime minister maliki. now, let's also remember iraq is a sovereign nation. we have to be invited in to iraq to help. we were telling prime minister maliki he had a problem. he was going to have to deal with it. we couldn't have just arbitrarily, i suppose we could have, invaded iraq without the sovereign country and the elected government of iraq inviting us in. we were not. we were not asked to help, even though we were talking to the iraqi government. so i think it's important we just set the stage, this also is at the time you recall, congressman, iraq was at the front end of changing governments. the new government didn't take over, if you recall, until september of this year. but even then, we were invited in, in late summer, and we did get involved in it, in late summer, but we had to be invited in, and so that's first. on iran, this administration is very aware of the dangers of iran and the president has said, again, that his policy is the same as president bush's policy. >> that's not the same as

those resources so the presence of 20,000 americans in iraq in 2012, 2012 until now would have pushed maliki a way, the protester away from his worst sectarian influences general david petraeus, ryan crocker in the presence of the troops to do just that when we had 150,000 troops in iraq we would have less leverage and we would have had infinitely more than we ended up having and a big part of the reason in iraq has been the sectarianism that passed two and a half years and the fact that they no longer trust the baghdad government. >> let me ask about the current war that you were discussing. we are being warned there are no quick options, no dramatic change in the situation. it could take a long time. does it have doesn't have to be an unsatisfying war? we shouldn't be planning for it as poorly as we are right now. the president -- the other mistake was the invasion of iraq in 2003, smaller but pulling all the troops out of the end of 2011. the next mistake was not arming the rebels in the summer of 2012. that is a tougher call. they just released a report indicating correctly that the rebe

encouraging maliki to do outreach. support those efforts. the details of how that would we're just not ready to have a discussion about that right now. thanks, everybody! have a good weekend! [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> and nbc news is reporting on the addition of troops in iraq. all 1500 are deployed, i would almost double the american presence there. mission to help train, advise and assist local forces isiseir fight against militants, president obama also asking congress for $5 billion the fight against isis. and tonight over on our companion network, c-span 2, we'll look at book tv and prime time. the book no good men among the living, about the war in afghanistan through the lives of three afghanis. and the new book, the innovators, about programmers entrepreneurs who created the personal computer and the 8ternet, all beginning at p.m. eastern on c-span 2. tomorrow morning, on washington talk about campaign spending and the impact it had on the outcome of the 2014 elections. then the brookings institution

a wish there, that this new government will be significantly better than the old government of al maliki very, very close to the regime in iran, as you well know. >> yes. and, you know, i think that there has to be more pressure on this new government to make the changes and bring the sunni into the fold or else if there's no hope, this will just become a country that's split up with part of it as an iranian satellite with the sunni part being god knows what and under violence and chaos, much like what we see in yemen and somalia and elsewhere and a kurdish population that is going to be caught in between all of this. and that, i think, will stress the middle east and create more problems than will stretch across it. >> but the u.s. can't want a really peaceful solution and a new iraq more than the iraqis themselves, right? >> absolutely. and we maybe need to get creative about the government. it may have to be some sort of federation or con federation, semi-autonomy. we may look for partners for sponsorship. we'll take care of the kurds. we have in the past. the iranians may be more con

>> haider al-abadi sacked three men seen as corrupt cronies of the former prime minister nouri al-maliki. >> men and women will not fight if they don't have confidence in their leader. >> dempsey says it will take 80,000 troops, to help capture mosul, and the rest of the territory lost to i.s.i.l., and warned of setbacks. >> i described to this way, three is it steps forward, and two steps back, and at every step, we'll debate the size of the step. >> both ruled out combat roles for u.s. troops, which outgoing republican committee chairman called a minimalist strategy. >> how can you successfully execute the mission you are given to degrade and destroy i.s.i.l. when some of the best options are off the taftenl -- table. >> the pentagon strategy is iraq first, then syria. it would result in the removal of power of bashar al-assad, all while training and arming a moderate opposition, something the pentagon admitted is almost a year away. >> i.s.i.l. has been raising huge amounts of cash to pay for its campaigns in iraq and syria, and a look inside the organization. al jazeera cropped found

are you saying that prime minister maliki's effort was a degradation? >> yes. >> can you remedy that? you doubt the veracity of what were trying to do here? plus that proved to be a problem. >> you are basically saying you do not believe it is not enough. >> this is important. this is at the request of the iraqi government. this is what they asked us to do. the requirement is coming from them. based on that requirement, we believe that this is an appropriate number of troops to devote to the mission, absolutely. if we did not believe this is the right number, we would not have submitted it. >> are they paying for it? why are we paying for it? >> i said this at the outset. it will be contingent on this authorization. at a needs to be commitment from a rock to pay a portion of the funds to support this. as well, there will be an expectation that coalition members were also fun. -- fund. it will be a component that others will demands be dedicated to it. >> did you say that there might be a role for the sunni tribes to train in the u.s. run training facili

that the new prime minister is doing the and is different from maliki? >> there are early signs that he is. this is difficult, this is long-term. the alienation that has occurred in iraq over the last five years, the sectarian violence it has produced. we are seeing that in anbar with the tribes. prime minister abadi has just appointed a new minister of defense, which we have not had a for four years. it is a sunni minister of defense who i have been talking with. there are good signs that they are moving at the right direction and we will help them, our coalition partners will support them. but they have to do this themselves. then i think the airstrikes against the iso-forces to assist -- isil forces to assist the government's -- >> have they turned the tide? >> this is a long-term project. there is good news everywhere. iraqi security forces are now joining with the peshmerga round oil refineries. there will be setbacks and the progress. overall we are seeing good progress. we are not where we need to be that this is a longer-term, difficult, challeng

blames iran for playing a part in that come the emergence of a group like isis because it allowed maliki to continue to put forward a government that was so divisive. ut i think we are getting to the stage where we probably need to dispense with the discussions of who did what to do and the blame game. because this is a real serious issue facing both our countries right now, and the region. some hoping cooler heads will prevail and we could get to a point where the contours of what a political settlement could look like finally is discussed. >> can add to that? >> scheuer. >> also keep in mind that the united states and iran because of the last 35 years of tension and because of this ongoing conflict, even in areas where we have common interest, there's been a lot of common interest in afghanistan, i think afghanistan is a good example. that when they move in the direction of trying to improve relations, they permit themselves to collaborate in these areas of common interest. but when their hostility defines the relationship, even areas of common interest is turned into areas of competit

leader,dealing with a maliki, who could hardly have in promoting the best interests of his country or of the relationship with the united states. i think we have to take that into account. maliki was beholden to the iranians who had zero interest in seeing american troops left behind in iraq as a source of influence on the political process. to leave this to history. host: d you think media has a role in causing red lock or ended it? on -- i am onad the one network that everybody agrees is an honest broker. if the media are so powerful, why did the republicans win to overwhelming victories in 2010 and 2014? president out campaigned the two republicans that he was fortunate enough to go head-to-head with. the media have been close to brutal in criticizing this president. this is appropriate. nobody drafts modern presidents into their offices. they work very hard to get there. they must know that everything they do will be scrutinized. it is probably true that more members of the media lean democratic than republican. affectsnt to which that their work is quite limited. i know that i wi

and right now i think they've learned some of the lessons of the maliki regime and pushing the new regimein a different direction, perhaps in a greater degree of inclusion. i think iranian material assistance is not insignificant in battling islamic insurgency in iraq but also don't think it will be material. i do think that they tend to exaggerate the level of support that they give as a means of maintaining leverage on all the actors. i don't accept sort of an arab gulf claims that iranians are secretly funding isil. but nevertheless, i think iranians have the capacity of some tactical dexterity. their policies been consistent from 2011. it maintained that assad will survive and they didn't think it was going to end or redefine themselves and they made substantial investments in the survival. unlike the russian federation i don't think that iranians don't necessarily the holden on the assad person nevertheless some measure of influence in syria beyond the assad dynasty. in both places actually when you listen to the iranians states and discussions, they find themselves very comfortable

now that the al-maliki government has been dissolved and there's been a new prime minister installed, iraq and turkey seem to be able to move on from that. practically speaking, what that has meant is two things. on a much smaller level, what it does is they've agreed to abolish all visas between the two countries as a sign of good will between them and an attempt to kind of bring that and ankara back together. the isil threat is present in the syria border and in iraq across the border from turkey. >> in recent days, isil has been gaining ground near erbil. what is being done to help the peshmerga forces protecting the region? >> they have been been given significant help from foreign powers, particularly from the u.s. and the u.k. we understand u.s. forces are training peshmerga fighters in and around erbil and providing them with their expertise and training. that has the u.s. sending missions in terms of providing strategic support to try and give that kind of training to them, however, the kurdish fighters both in iraq and syria do still complain, saying that they don't have enou

the first step was removed maliki. there are many, many more steps that have to be taken.he second is to talk about syria realistically. the hor rfic regime in syria is one of the problems. another problem is that regime has powerful external backers. the united states has to deal with that, has to deal with russia and deal with iran and it has to deal with those countries in not a rhetorical fashion. >> in syria there is really two forces which are sort of twins and which bred each other, which is the dirty state of bashar al assad guilty of 200,000 dead -- >> you keep feeding -- >> and the beheaders of the islamic state. >> both of them are awful but you keep throwing around 200,000, according to an opposition group over 100,000 dead are a regime forces. butchers, butchers. they have done it before. but -- >> 200 -- >> let's not throw around those numbers. >> in syria, which is a great country with a great civilization, a great people, 200,000 people died before of the dictatorship of bashar al assad. today in syria bred by bashar al assad who took out of his jail and hi

a lot of officers were loyal to the prime minister, prime minister nouri al-maliki. 10 have been given early retirement, and 26 removed from their post, awaiting reassignment. prime minister haider al-abadi's office has been briefing journalists saying that this was not about apportioning blame or assigning blame for the failings of the iraqi army, when islamabad swept through parts of its territory, but more about putting the right officers in the right places to be effective in the fight against i.s.i.l. >>> there has been intense fighting in aleppo between government fighters and the rebels. this photo appears to show the aftermath of an attack. rebels warn they are close to losing their strong hold, putting areas of aleppo under seem. with stepped air attacks and the closure of roads link the city to turkey >>> kurdish forces are defending the town of kobane, and reportedly seized weapons from i.s.i.l. fighters. this footage, which can't be independently verified appears to show the weapons. activists say a supply route used by i.s.i.l. has been cut off. for the fight against i.s.i

interestingly, he was the person who managed to get a deal in supported alran's -maliki, this polarizingrime minister who served disastrously over the last few years, he was the head of the national security council was the one who brokered the deal. he is seen as the rival or maybe the moderating face of the head orce, the figure of revolution, the man who is out there fighting the battles in lebanon and bahrain, all of these places where iran is fomenting trouble. >> it touches on a larger point, the rise of the revolutionary guards within iran. we were used to calling the iranian government the clerical regime. in reality, the institution of the revolutionary guards have , wieldinghe clergy domestic power and controlling iran's foreign policy. david touched upon iranian society. and its aspirations to be part of the outside world. this is really a paradox of iran that you have, a society which aspires to be like south korea, prosperous and globally-integrated, ruled by a government whose instincts more closely resemble north korea, isolationism, ideological purity. the real challenge

the first step was removed maliki. there are many, many more steps that have to be taken. the second is to talk about syria realistically. the horrific regime in syria is one of the problems. another problem is that regime has powerful external backers. the united states has to deal with that, has to deal with russia and deal with iran and it has to deal with those countries in not a rhetorical fashion. putin is re-establishing the soviet empire and you can't talk to them. they are bad people, you can't talk to them, and really? >> and they are forces that are sort of twins and bred each other, and it is the dirty state of bashar al assad, and the beheaders of the islamic states. >> and both of them are awful, but you are throwing around 200,000, and according to the observatory of the civil rights, and the regime has killed maybeb 50,000 of their own people, and butcher, butchers, and don't throw around these numbers. >> i don't do that, because in syria which is a great country with a great civilization, and great people with 200,000 people who died before of the dictato

iran is very close to the new shia government of prime minister abadi as it was to prime minister al maliki. a lot of concerns that iran has a great hand in iraq and that's been part of the problem, that the shia majority has really heard the situation. >> with isis you have a common enemy between the u.s. and iran but you look across the border in syria which is in effect the same war, you have a different situation. iran is a principle backer of bashar al assad which the u.s. has sworn to remove from power and at the same time you have a lot of sunni partners that are comfortable with sunni iran. how does the u.s. diplomatic team, secretary of state john kerry battle with all of those competing interests? >> it's difficult. they have to make sure that isis doesn't completely take over but not share objectives. the u.s. says for years it has wanted them out and these gulf partners are very upset, i'm being told, that the u.s. did not talk to their partners about -- in this coalition about this letter. it's not the first time, if you remember, a few years back the u.s. had secret talks with

it will go away but that is the perception most iraqis whether they were being frozen out by the maliki government they had a tribal war going on that erupted with isis said is the displaced sunni. but it's whole lot of us fell asleep in math class. so i'd like you keep to precision in journalism. to back up the assumptions one has but at the same time elections tend to swing on impressions. they will make them feel safe and vice versa. >> when they ask a question halfway through the answer i think there is a column in that. i start composing a column in my head at the same time. >> after the inauguration i was with the tour group and the metro cars were not filled up at that point. i was sitting next to a large african-american family with women and kids and we were chatting that the question was do we think that this participation people of color have been the election, to rethink this is centered around obama? or is it the awakening of a sleeping giant? >> that is the great question by a columnist for the british guardian. talking about obama is current troubles and the democrats pro

and the interior ministry is notorious for, shall we say exaggerating the truth, even back in the maliki era. and iraqi media is not like ours, they tend to be very one sided. but having said that, again, this is another day to point, another situation, even going back to the failed foley rescue attempt back in july, where they seemed to jump on the isis defenders and killed them by the truckloads, so it seems that isis is getting sloppy, their trade craft through perhaps huberis and overconfidence. >> talk to me about where we go from here, in terms of if this person were injured or taken out completely, what does that mean in our overall fight? >> well, a lot of its timing, harris, because remember now, what's isis trying to do now? they're not trying to expand their territory by capturing baghdad or expanding their perimeter. they're trying to turn their captive territory into a state. and who's the symbol of that state, harris? it's al baghdadi, he's the guy who started all this, he birthed isis, if you will, just a few years ago. if he's incapacitated in any way, it's going to slow

we've gone from prime minister maliki to prime minister abadi, he's made promises in terms of inclusive governance and now he has to deliver. there is the potential to see a repeat of the an bar awakening as we saw in 2007/2008, but that's up to the iraqi government. >> what do you think would happen, i have just reported according to the united nations they have weapons which would should our aircraft out of the sky, what if they shot down a couple of our choppers and beheaded a few of our servicemen, what do you think might happen then? >> well, as the president said, our -- notwithstanding our air force's, our ground troops are not in a combat role at the present time, but what you said is very important. having sophisticated weaponry is one thing. knowing how to use it is quite another. i have confidence that air force has taken into account the weaponry and whatever the islamic state has shown in terms of capability and put that into their operational preparations for these missions. >> all of this is -- none of this will work according to all those involved including your analysis