so we're a card from a pentagon official michael maloof thinks the only path forward for rex tillerson on afghanistan is to strike a deal that includes all regional powers the us really has no other options for afghanistan except to reintroduce one hundred thousand combat troops and that's not going to happen tell us in is trying to do is bring in selected regional players when you have india and pakistan both looking out for the interests future interests of afghanistan so tell us and really hasn't thought this thing through and i think that the only way that he can really try and bridge all this is to call for an extraordinary meeting of all the regional powers even if that means altering the government that which the us created as if rex tillerson is comments were enough for the media to get stuck into the us a little bit distracted too by the location of his visit let's check this in the state department first said the meeting with the president took place in kabul but then that will later corrected somewhat to say the venue was really the american military base a field that a why

out of the region and completely closing those borders so for more on this let's turn now to michael maloof he's a former pentagon official mike always good to see you and you so as we just said turkish president part of one he's now considering the closing blockading iraqi kurdistan closing airspace but this also comes on the heels of the iraqi pm applauding the kurdish peshmerga forces for for aiding and driving out isis in how we are in our one's mind are the kurds heroes or are they do they pose a threat well for everyone the kurdish referendum is. either good or it's bad but in terms of trying to institute a blockade he's got to think twice because he gets a lot of oil from from northern iraq and they depend upon that oil so he's going to have to tiptoe a little bit and but but the consensus among analysts is that he's probably not going to enforce anything because of pressure that would be coming not only from. russia but also the united states do you see erwan as a guy that would cut off his nose to spite his face to a point but he's not going to do this because they have a heavy rel

ok so the president has spoken to us get some analysis now from michael maloof former pentagon official joins me on the line get even. my understanding of this now is that it goes to congress and congress doesn't have to listen to the president which often it doesn't do you expected to pass most sanctions on iran due to its nuclear program because that's what will they just define. well i think since congress can't get anything done i think it's going to be highly unlikely secondly there is a lot of difficulty within the congress in going along with what the president had to say i mean even some democrats prominent democrats are very concerned about pulling out of this thing. little concerned about the agreement the his statement today because he basically has stated a prescription for. regime change if you will in iran and as a result of this it's also going to have the effect of ostracizing us from the other allies and they could pivot more. in this case of russia as being the focal point to. be in the in the adult in the in the room if you will when it comes to dealing with iran and

joining me now to discuss this further is former pentagon official michael maloof michael thank you so much for joining us now what do you make of north korea's latest threat it's it's an escalation that has a that's occurring on both sides it's one that keeps on going to just be the mirror of threats and exchanges of bombastic. language in toward each other could precipitate some kind of an outbreak military outbreak and that's what hopefully the diplomats behind the scenes are trying to avoid. it's not unexpected and i would imagine that mr trump will have a response but it's important that people continue the negotiation and one of the things that is absolutely had me been overlooked contrary to what you when the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. says nikki haley is that she says that all diplomatic efforts have been exhausted they really have not i really think that what we need to do is sit down with the north koreans suspend the military exercises and basically challenge the north koreans by offering them full diplomatic relations in this way we hold them. to to leave a lot of though t

stance in the region joining me now to discuss this further is former pentagon official michael maloof michael thank you so much for joining us first let's talk about the agreement by russia to sell the s four hundred events system to saudi arabia what can you tell us about that well it's an air defense system and i think it for the saudis it was a way a sweetener if you will to reopen negotiations and relations basically between saudi arabia and russia they've been very tenuous for years it's been very very rocky relationship for quite some time this also implies that the saudis are undertaking more of an independent foreign policy of their own they're no longer looking upon the united states percent a as being the the guarantor of their security any longer and that's why they're now they're they're also looking not only toward the russians they basically agreed well looks like assad is going to be staying in syria so let's let's start working with the russians and maybe even with the iranians using the russians as a go between to sort of. smooth over their very very rough relationshi

supported our life joining me now and to continue this discussion is former pentagon official michael maloof thank you so much for joining us today maestro now can you first tell us why this is a big deal it's a big deal because it could bring in total instability into iraq and in a country that's already teetering on instability and and you have warring factions within the country which could take advantage of that and actually move into areas such and such as the resurgence of isis for example and it could create new. pockets of resistance and it will be nothing but headaches for the for the baghdad government as a consequence and it will it will mean that the united states which is trying to stabilize that country is going to have more problems on its hands alternately prime minister i gather bodies than a statement that this operation incur cook was unnecessary what do you say to that it yes in terms from the baghdad government point of view it was unconstitutional in terms of declaring independence absolutely against their constitution number one but number two it tears up the country a

soldier former pentagon official michael maloof told us that the there was a serious reason for doctoring that photo which we showed you earlier. well i think it was done for security reasons. what was taken out was a clock with zulu time and that indicates a military base i think what president got he was trying to show was that he held the meeting actually in his presidential palace where that was not the case it was actually at a very secure military facility and bodrum does underscore how fragile the security is in kabul if not throughout all of afghanistan. despite the security concerns rex tillerson claims there is room for the taliban in the afghan government the very same fundamentalist group that america has been fighting for the last sixteen years there's a place for them in the government if they're ready to come renouncing terrorism renouncing violence and being committed to a stable prosperous afghanistan. american explains what might have brought about such a key change in america is that achieved. well on an unannounced visit to kabul on monday secretary tillerson told repo

claim responsibility joining me now to answer that question and more is former pentagon official michael maloof thank you so much for joining us michael now some are calling what happened last week as terrorism i want you to define international terrorism and domestic terrorism for us well the federal code of regulations basically defines international terrorism as done by an individual or a group that tries to coerce the government into its way of changing for its own political purposes usually through violent means and we're seeing that today with al qaeda with with the. with isis and but domestic terrorism as such it really hasn't been defined by any federal code as such although. individuals have been have been and groups have been singled out as domestic terrorists but generally domestic terrorism only a pertains to attacks on government officials or hijacking but not mess shootings such as this and now we see these mass shootings happen over and over again from the columbine shooting to virginia tech to what happened in colorado when the gunman opened fire while people were watching a mov

base all though it was previously claimed it was in the kabul capital former pentagon official michael maloof exhibiting was indeed done to mask the true location well i think it was done for security reasons. what was taken out was a clock with zulu time and that indicates a military base i think what president gary was trying to show was that he held the meeting actually in his presidential palace but that was not the case it was actually at a very secure military facility and bodrum does underscore how fragile the security is in kabul if not throughout all of afghanistan despite the security concerns rex tillerson claims that there is room for the taliban in the afghan government the very same fundamentalist group does not forget that america's spent sixteen long years fighting it's been its longest war. we are looking to engage with those voices and have them engage in a reconciliation process leading to a peace process and their full involvement and participation in the government there's a place for them in the government if they're ready to come renouncing terrorism renouncing violence

signed to and future investments in technology is also agreed we asked former pentagon official michael maloof what's behind the timing of the saudi deals with both moscow and washington it's an interesting development that there's it's all happening at once because i think it's it's politically meant to show that the united states backs the saudi and the g.c.c. the gulf cooperating countries in terms of their in terms of their defense and i would suspect that this this is all part of the new policy do again by the trumpet ministration to come forward in supporting both the saudi and the gulf states as opposed to trying to have a reproach more with the iranians. seven seats are up for grabs during next month's congressional and state elections in the u.s. most of which were vacated by former members of the trumpet ministration giving democrats a chance to win back a majority in the house of representatives kind of open takes a look at the possible new faces. it's primary season and the old guard of the republican party is out in full force but the question is how long will establish mint repub

various parties and factions involved could indeed prove tough to overcome those thoughts of michael maloof that again he thinks the only way forward for rex tillerson on afghanistan is indeed to strike a deal that includes all read. the u.s. really has no other options for afghanistan except to reintroduce one hundred thousand combat troops and that's not going to happen but tillerson is trying to do is bring in selected regional players when you have india and pakistan both looking out for the interests future interests of afghanistan so tillerson really hasn't thought this thing through and i think that the only way that he can really try and bridge all this is to call for an extraordinary meeting of all the regional powers even if that means altering the government that which the us created. elsewhere despite the us back campaign to liberate syria's rack of from islamic state now all but over human rights groups are concerned about the city safety and the restoration process to bring people. the united nations stands ready to assess people with him in theory and assistance in iraq and i

science and future investments in technology is also agreed we asked former pentagon official michael maloof what's behind the timing of the saudi deals with both moscow and washington both missile systems are different in terms of their technical capabilities that is definitely oriented more toward ballistic missiles incoming ballistic missiles and your s four hundred is more an aircraft. but it's a very effective system against any aircraft now and it depends upon where they position both systems they would have to put them close to. the the eastern side of saudi arabia aimed at. aimed at iran but given they're given the range it's an interest it's an interesting development that that it's all happening at once because i think it's it's politically meant to show that the united states backs the saudi and the g.c. . the see the gulf cooperating countries in terms of their in terms of their defense. seven places are up for grabs during next month's congressional and state elections in the us most of which were vacated by former members of the trumpet ministration giving democrats a chance to

future investments in technologies rules were greeted meeting we also former pentagon official michael maloof what's behind the timing of this latest saudi. he said it deals with moscow and washington. it's an interesting development that there's it's all happening at once because i think it's it's politically meant to to show that the united states backs the saudi and the g.c.c. the gulf cooperating countries in terms of their in terms of their defense and i would suspect that this this is part of the new policy do again by the trump administration to come forward in supporting both the saudi and the gulf states as opposed to trying to have a reproach more with the iranians the f.b.i. has had a busy show you recently arranging raids on animal shelters in search of two piglets here you're right that was stolen by animal rights activist of the twist here is those responsible will likely face some serious charges under the animal enterprise terrorism act it seems cases where a person has caused damage to property belonging to farms or so-called animal enterprises as domestic terrorism and that'

soldier former pentagon official michael maloof to list if there was a serious reason for doctoring the photo we showed you that there well i think it was done for security reasons. what was taken out was a clock with zulu time and that indicates a military base i think what president rouhani was trying to show was that he held the meeting actually in his presidential palace but that was not the case it was actually at a very secure military facility and barbara does underscore how fragile the security is. if not throughout all of afghanistan. a professor in the u.s. has london had herself in trouble for calling mathematics racially discriminating rachele look at her is from illinois university has published a book in which she claims that aspects of the subject are all near and privilege of white people. on many levels mathematics itself operates as whiteness who gets credit for doing and developing mathematics who is capable in mathematics and here is seen as part of the mathematical community is generally viewed as white. to terrorise the scribes what she calls the use of quote polit

america's capacity for negotiations with others such as north korea now former pentagon official michael maloof told me that this will weaken america's image not only with our allies but perhaps more importantly among our enemies the europeans and selves could say the same thing look you entered into this in good faith we have not found any material violations of the agreement and that's one of the stipulations in the even in the congressional act. nobody has been able to point person. a to a violation as such and they're in is a weakness in terms of the administration's position what they're trying to use that agreement for is to get other elements. so as you saw there it's unclear if the president really intends to truly withdraw from this international accord or if he is simply using the withdrawal as a negotiating tool for more leverage in business dealings with iran in the future whatever the case e.u. partners china russia they intend to uphold their end of the bargain with iran and seek to improve relations there with or without america at thank you manila for more on this in the future

soldier former pentagon official michael maloof told us that there was a serious reason for doctoring that we showed you were. for security reasons. what was taken out was. a clock with zulu time and that indicates a military base i think what president ago he was trying to show was that he held the meeting actually in his presidential palace where that was not the case it was actually at a very secure military facility in bodrum does underscore how fragile the security . if not throughout all of afghanistan. ok well for those of you who just joined this german president frank walter steinmeier is in moscow at the moment on his first visit to russia we were showing you his joint press conference to you just a couple of minutes ago with blood in both agreed that there is room for improvement in relations between germany and russia. really putting you. to welcome to german president to moscow and then still cautious optimism and also that his visit will serve to boost through. lucian's between russia germany does not think it's important but it's presidents use it patooties like beast o

former pentagon official michael maloof says nikki haley is taking a tough stance on iran to try and extract some concessions from its european allies . it's an overblown statement as usual iran is not the main culprit here. i think what she's trying to do is. now leverage leverage. the united states' position against iran in order to get more. cooperation if you will from the europeans on a variety of areas that they really want to do and they're using the nuclear agreement as a stepping stone for that purpose in that it states in the end is not going to get what it wants it's not going to get this kind of action in fact they may get a retrenchment on the part of the europeans who have all agreed to this agreement the whole idea of of obama in going along with his agreement was that during that ten year period it would be a time in which we could lessen tensions with iran and open up further avenues of cooperation in stead under trump were doing just the opposite. thousands of pro unity supporters have taken to the streets of basra alone or with a deadline imposed by mood to rid lub

never have been there but we're not taking sides in that battle but former pentagon official michael maloof says if the u.s. intends to keep stability in the region there is a default side to be taken they are taking sides in city to the point of trying to keep the government whole to keep the country whole they are some they are not going to actively commit any army nov in either side for that for this purpose even though both of them have u.s. arms they both and they both sides have been u.s. trained so they're going to be going at it in fact iraq went in to the kurdish controlled area with u.s. equipment so it and they have tons of equipment so it's i think what the u.s. role is and mediating both sides so that they can work out some temporary joint autonomy and try to lessen the tensions generally and the government in baghdad is also speaking up on the issue citing that both sides are working towards some sort of agreement. we're moving closer to an agreement is the arrangements achieved over the last two days i've been through fields however if any of the sides take measures at the wo