made possible, in pa, by th following funder-- major support ha also been provided bthe peter g. peterson foundatio dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibity dddressing key economic allenges facing america's future. >> gd evening, i'm martin savidge. >>> if youoke up this mning and turnedn the news you might have felt a sense of discouragement aut what you were hring outf afghanistan and iraq. more tha5,000 american trps have die in those two countries nce troops were ployed to afghanistan in the fall of 2001 and iraq in e spring of 2003. and huneds of billions of dollars have been ent but all the years later neher country tonighseems especially secu. we'll take youo afanistan in a moment. there was more vience there day on t eve ofational elecons. buwe begin tonight in iraq with a story that by now is familiar. oncegain today a series of bombings in baghdad killed dons of iraqis. it was the worst incident. the latest violce in iraq, that's our "lead focus" tonight. n's carl dinnen takes us there. >> repter: this is the fir big test of iraq's new security regime. tw months arch u.s. forc

made possible, in part, by the following funders -- major support has also been provided by the peter g. peterson foundation dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing america's future. >> good evening, i'm martin savidge. >>> if you woke up this morning and turned on the news you might have felt a sense of discouragement about what you were hearing out of afghanistan and iraq. more than 5,000 american troops have died in those two countries since troops were deployed to afghanistan in the fall of 2001 and iraq in the spring of 2003. and hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent but all these years later neither country tonight seems especially secure. we'll take you to afghanistan in a moment. there was more violence there today on the eve of national elections. but we begin tonight in iraq with a story that by now is familiar. once again today a series of bombings in baghdad killed dozens of iraqis. it was the worst incident. the latest violence in iraq, that's our "lead focus" tonight. itn's carl dinnen takes us there. >> reporter: this is

made possible in part by the following funders -- major support has also been provided by the peter g. peterson foundation dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing america's future. >> good evening. i'm martin savidge. >>> five days after scotland released the man convicted of mbing a panamjetliner over lockerbie, scotland killing 270 people, the controversy and the outrage over his release and his welcome home in libya continued today. there is, as you can imagine, a great deal of analysis and dissection of the decision going on in the british press. scotland is, after all, a part of the united kingdom. was there a deal for the terrorist release where, were british oil interests in libya a factor? the fascinating questions that are not getting much attention in this country and that we will focus on in a moment. but first, british prime minister gordon brown, he spoke out for the first time today about abdelbaset al. megrahi and his homecoming. >> my thoughts are with the thoughtings of the victims. and i was both angry and i was repulsed by th

made possible in part by the following funders -- major support has also been provided by the peter g. peterson foundation dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing america's future. >>> good evening. i'm martin savidge. >>> we are going to start tonight with afghanistan, where the death of a u.s. soldier today made this the deadliest month of the eight-year war for american forces. 45 u.s. troops have been killed so far in august. it is with that backdrop, the escalating war and its increasing toll that the wait for the results of last week's presidential election has turned increasily tense. we've learned on the dramatic example of that. a fiery meeting in which the special envoy to the region, richard holbrooke, raised concerns about alleged election fraud with president hamid karzai. kenny of itn puts it in context for nus tonight's "lead focus." >> reporter: a president fast losing international support, a suspect and bloody election, and one very angry u.s. envoy -- the scene for a fiery meeting where richard holbrooke reportedly took hamid

made possible in part by the following funders -- major support has also been provided by the peter g. peterson foundation dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing america's future. >>> good evening. i'm martin savidge. >>> the quest for peace in the middle east has been going on for generations now, and it never seems to get much easier. we got that impression again today after another apparently inconclusive meeting in london between israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and u.s. middle east envoy george mitchell. the two men and the two nations they represent have been searching for months now for a way to resolve their differences over israeli settlements in the west bank. the u.s. has been pushing hard for an israeli settlement freeze, d the palestinians are refusing to restart peace talks until israel halts all construction there. despite their failure to reach agreement again today, the two sides will resume talks in washington next week. both men tried to put the best face on today's talks. >> we've made some headway in the past five

made possible in part by the following funders -- major support has also been provided by the peter g. peterson foundation dedicated to promoting fiscal responsibility and addressing key economic challenges facing america's future. >> good evening. i'm martin savidge. >>> scottish officials were already under fire even before they made it official yesterday and allowed a convicted terrorist to fly home to libya to die. the outrage only deepened today after these pictures of libyans celebrating abdel baset al megrahi's release were broadcast around the world. al megrahi, of course, was convicted for the 1988 bombing of pan am 103 over lockerbie scotland. the terror attack killed 270 people. and today, once again, many people were demanding to know just why had he been set free. this matter of justice is once again our "lead focus" tonight. >> reporter: abdel baset al megrahi should not be welcomed back to tripoli, that was the message, the warning to libya from president obama in america. the demand responsible for the deaths of 270 people, the biggest terrorist attack in britain was treated mor