that one got a lot of laughs yesterday but just how telling is that here's this guy with me is michael o'brien author of america's failure in iraq michael thanks much for joining back on the show good to see you. are before we get into the quotes in the last let's just start with the idea that sixteen thousand people was to somebody an acceptable diplomatic presence to keep in the country after the war is over after their troops have been pulled out why on earth would need sixteen thousand people well they needed sixteen thousand people to augment the lack of american troops over there most of them are going to be security contractors they were going to be a part of about five different installations around the country including the embassy in baghdad also noted in that article was that the embassy in most schools or the satellite embassy in mosul maybe your consulate is has been has been scrapped due to. all the different problems that are up there that the iraqis have with the american presence there but the fact is that most of those people are our security contractors providing security fo

this the most serious beginning of something else well joining me now to look deeper and this is michael o'brien he is the author of america's failure in iraq there you see on the screen so welcome first want to ask you three billion dollars for a war that's supposed to be over how does this add up it doesn't. why why are we spending money in these tight economic times for something that we shouldn't be that is supposedly as you said over now of course with the main combat operations over for some time now we saw this coming though year or so ago when we were told quote unquote all combat troops were going to be pulled out of iraq and replaced with advise and assist brigades i posted on my website warfare inc what is an advise and assist brigade soldier is a soldier is a soldier are they going to change their unit patch on their sleeve we have soldiers there we just call them a different name they continue to get killed but we were just calling them a different name and now that the that those soldiers the uniforms are out and i emphasize the word uniforms security contractors are all over the p

michel very interesting take on the situation over there thank you for coming on the show that was michael o'brien thanks from the author of the book america's failure and iraq. well it's no secret that the wars in iraq and afghanistan have been profitable first but now that the wars have been declared over and the troops prepare to come home military contractors are now looking elsewhere to do business so now that they will have to look beyond the u.s. government to do business where will they turn to well it turns out that they have their eyes on domestic buyers let's talk about what this all means i am joined by arrest baker investigative journalist for who what why dot com and author of the book family of secrets and he joins us now live welcome it rusts so now that they're not turning to they're going have to look elsewhere for their business where exactly are they going to look for new buyers. well it looks like we are we have lost we are trying to get him back any moment now we're going to talk to him about the fact that contractors now with this drawdown of troops the government or contrac

is this could have a larger implications for our future office will delve into the topic with michael o'brien stores with. my meal to the ambulance. people calling like you said for free and fair elections. and we're still reporting from the about clinton as you can hear behind me loud explosions. we've seen from new york city i mean. i get it gave me a. guitar sometimes you see a story and it seems so. you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else and you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm trying hard welcomes a big picture.

this could have a larger implications for our future of rocks will delve into the topic with michael o'brien schools with that. kind we'll be ambulance. people calling like you said for free and fair election. day and we're still reporting from the tomato plant where you can hear behind me loud explosions really. really is you know. i mean. i get it gave a. you know sometimes you see a story and it seems so you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else and you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom are welcome is a big issue.

invariably start writing their own blank checks and that's where we're at right now and we have michael o'brien who's an author was on our show last week we were talking about this piece about the state department budget in iraq and he was you know there's this new york times reporter originally said that oh no the salad bar at seven days was running low why they had to ration each other six wings of peas in the splenda they had a shortage over and he basically told us that he got really fat when he was a rock because he was just fed so well with his looks also but let's also remember that personnel are expensive and they should be if there's one thing we should be paying money for it's benefits people who serve in the war like some people here not me you know there should we should be taking care of our own we can withdraw everybody back home we still got a lot it's like a pig in a python thing you have a baby they're most expensive when they go to college and you have to be right and the u.s. has been in war after war for the last hundred years and the only thing we've been able to talk about

inconveniences could have larger implications for our future in the office we'll delve into the topic with michael o'brien since we come back.

president o'brien: michael al, precisely, i think if you could do some level of analysis on how you think that, the pool of waivers will get con suled. this might be moot. maybe you look back in history and decide, well, we have got plenty of allowance here for the small business portion and then maybe either exempting it is easy to do because it's not a huge amount. i think for us to just blindly go into it and everything is going to be ok doesn't usually work out in san francisco. i don't know how difficult it is for you to go back and look at the data but that would be useful for us. >> thank you. >> thank you, michael. >> thank you. >> the recognition. >> yeah. chris is going to call it. >> commissioners, you are now on item number three, presentation of the small business commission certificate of honor to sergeant chuck limbert, san francisco police department as part of the san francisco small business commission city employee recognition program. president o'brien: come on up, if i could have the police chief and the captain from mission station. i first would like to recognize sa

o'brien: thank you, chris. ok. >> good afternoon, commissioners, michael yarne, office of economic and workforce development. commissioner dwight, nice to see you up there. i'm going to try to be brief. it's a somewhat complex topic that we're covering today. i would beg your forgiveness as i move through a large volume of material and my hope is that as, when i complete the presentation of many of your questions will be answered. i'm then more than happy to answer any questions that are left unanswered. with that being said, what i'm presenting tonight is actually not just a fee, it's an entire program. it's the transportation suss sustainability program. this is the effort of four agencies an interagency committee made up of office of economic and workforce development, mta, the transportation authority, and the san francisco planning department. and it's been a pretty extraordinary two-year effort at this point. the goals of this program are to, in general, better align city practices with citywide policy goals and more specifically, we have an opportunity for the first time ever to harmonize ceqa with ou

o'brien, aye, commissioner riley, the motion passes 6-0. >> we will go back to item 13. recognition of commissioners janet clyde and michael o'connor. >> as part -- director and the office, do you want to take a moment to recognize the commissioners? commissioner o'connor could not be here tonight. he had already planned a business meeting. he is in las vegas at the magic show which is a great place to be. so i wanted to take a moment to a knowledge him and his service for being on the commission for eight years. two of the years he was president of the commission. one of the years, vice- president. he representing the hospitality industry has brought value in terms of feedback, input and an exciting entrepreneurial spirit to the commission. during his commission he worked kia hours on legislative and policy matters including extensive work on the health care security ordinance on that advisory board with commissioner dwight. and that helped to boost our support and the need for having entities and promoting your local manufacturing. he leaves a legacy as a key step -- stakeholder. in his absence i want to spend -- take th