some of the ideas that they behind particularly the idea that saddam had weapons of mass destruction were wrong he didn't have weapons of mass destruction and we believed he did but the argument for removing saddam did not depend on the specifics of whether he had weapons of mass destruction or not was an element but it wasn't the whole story by any means because he'd have weapons of mass destruction in the past and there was no reason to believe he couldn't get them again in the future he just didn't have the myth the moment that the cia believed he did could never understand . if the administration really believed that saddam had weapons of mass destruction they wouldn't have attacked iraq i mean what if the guy pushed the button right it's simple logic that suggest that they'd ministration knew that he had nothing that's why they went for it it's not. that's just not true and it's not logical live. we would leave it be too dangerous to attack if we actually had a well we believe that he had chemical and biological weapons and we took enormous precautions to deal with that so that

if the administration really believed that saddam had weapons of mass destruction they wouldn't have attacked iraq i mean what if the guy pushed the button right it's simple logic that suggest that they'd ministration knew that he had nothing that's why they went for it it's not. that's just not true and it's not logical i've. we would leave it be too dangerous to attack if we actually had a well we believe that he had chemical and biological weapons and we took enormous precautions to deal with that so that every american who went into iraq was equipped to deal with the chemical weapons attack which we expected to happen and it didn't happen why doesn't anybody attack north korea i mean they they have a bomb why doesn't anybody attack north korea well because everybody knows they have the bombs way right where we we don't attack everyone who has a nuclear weapon that's. that's clear i think there's a pretty good case for trying to change the regime in. in north korea. i don't think you could do that by bombing north korea. but if what you're suggesting is that once a country has a n

as i said, this is not saddam hussein.s going on in his way of ruling. >> the iraq war lost a huge supporter this week, and the world of letters in journalism, with christopher hitchens. i want to talk about his legacy, particularly on this question of iraq right after we take a break. [ female announcer ] did mr. intern forget how his boss takes her coffee? just cover your bases. bring her the all-natural sugar in the raw and the all natural, zero calorie sweetener stevia in the raw. then learn that she doesn't drink coffee, just tea. it's only natural. the pioneers. the aviators. building superhighways in an unknown sky. their safety systems built of brain and heart, transforming strange names from tall tales into pictures on postcards home. and the ones who followed them, who skimmed the edge of space, the edge of heaven, the edge of dreams. and we follow them up there to live by an unbreakable promise, stitched into every uniform of every captain who takes their command: to fly. to serve. ♪ it's nice to see you [ male

or was saddam the way saddam was because iraq was the way iraq was? is it a fractured, multisectarian country that could only be held together by an iron fist, first by saddam or residually by us? or is it not? we're going to get the answer to that question now. saddam's fist is gone, ours is gone, and the big question not just about iraq but all the arab springs is can they come together and write social contracts to live together in a way tilted forward, and then in a democratizing way. we're going to find out. and a lot of the stability of the world in the next, you know, decade, is going to depend on the answer to that. >> what are we in for is my question. and what are we up for as a country, kathleen? take this on. one of the interesting pieces in the debate is ron paul, who is an isolationist, and does not believe in much foreign policy, it doesn't seem, and certainly not military intervention. who said, look, we can't go around the world. these are his words. we're just flat broke. we can't go on invading additional countries. whether it's, yo

if there sachem call attack or whatever saddam and his folks were ready saddam could have lived downr years. like i said, it's like an underground city. these halls remind you of the pentagon up underneath except the pentagon is a lot cleaner. the water is pretty much everywhere. these carpets were very nice and they have sort of held up but they are nasty these days and it is hot down here. the furniture, same sort of stuff that you see in all of his palaces. this is a palace underground and check out the bathroom. two years after the bomb the water is still running. eventually all of this will be torn down, kind of a tourist attraction for us today everything went off with very little fanfare, no parade, no ceremony. the chief military spokesman in iraq. honor commitment. >> i think it's a very significant and symbolic transition because it represents how the u.s. forces are going to, in fact, do exactly what we say. >> shepard: so what happens to camp victory now? we don't know. but the iraqis tell us it could one day become a park or a museum. it was a big day for symbolically, a

you mentioned it was a possibility this anthrax came from saddam hussein or whoever. was that an issue of somebody or was it misinformation that was given out by an agency or individual? >> i think a combination of both what think you for the question. one of the spectacles that is the constructive in this book haole certain scientist at for the turks who wasn't -- anthrax of course is a bacterium. this individual works, and pilat this month in the attack material under the slaton came to the conclusion it must be chemically treated with bentsen might or perhaps some other materials and next to you know he is in the vehicle with a major general of fair and they come down to several departments and they go over and met with paul wolfowitz the secretary of the pentagon and then that same night they were called into the white house and briefed to several officials that this material appeared to have been chemically treated with the insight which was regarded as an indicator of signal of saddam hussein's fallujah warfare program. it that conclusion and scientist by the wa

and saddam hussein was a cancer in that most volatile region.was -- >> but it is still volatile and he's been gone for ten years. >> it's volatile but it doesn't have us sitting here, candy, talking about an arms race between ahmadinejad's iran and saddam's iraq. >> no. we're just talking about iran having a nuclear bomb. >> no, but just imagine if iran were moving towards its nuclear weapon and saddam hussein with all that infrastructure in place and his insatiable desire to have weapons of mass destruction, i think we would be talking about a very different situation in the middle east. >> you know, i think what i'm trying to get to here -- and i know you've heard it and felt it at least -- is that there was always the feeling among the critics of the bush administration and the policy of the bush administration in iraq in particular that you all were just so convinced we should go do this that you didn't care about what the price was going to be -- >> well that's simply not true, candy. anybody who is the president of the united states does n

but saddam needed to go away, absolutely. he did, in fact, have weapons of mass destruction that he had used before. we began to determine what that weapons of mass destruction stockpile had looked like and what the capabilities were. so my point is history is going to have to judge this thing and i think we're being extremely premature. we have seen an incredible activity on the part of our amazing military young men and women over the course of this last decade that we must focus on. >> there is a war in iraq. it is not clear when the u.s. war in afghanistan will finish. nato has scheduled to withdraw in 2004. general john allen plans to shift the u.s. presence to a more advisory role and follow through on that function through 2016 when the afghan air force is supposed to be completed. and tonight we want to talk about what matters in other news. finding out what happened to one millionaire. a corn bread millionaire. that's a goal a georgia woman set for herself to buy back her foreclosed home. she has not given up hoping

certainly iraq is much better off without saddam hussein, no question about that. when you put together not only the direct cost, the trillion dollars, the in direct cost in terms of u.s. standing around the world, obviously this is something that we have endured and succeeded. but at a cost that can't really be replicated. >> and in the end, i mean the reason that was put forward for the war in iraq globally from everyone involved is saddam hussein was armed to the teeth with weapons of mass destruction. they never turned up. we have to assume now he didn't have any. does that make the war in your view potentially an illegal conflict? >> that's a very good question. i mean, certainly, that's the difference between the first gulf war where there was a un security council resolution. the second gulf war that was not seen as being legitimate. nonetheless, i also participated in the kosovo conflict, which on one hand did not have a security council resolution. it was broadly seen as legitimate because of nato's involvement. so i think there was some political mistakes

they've been talking about how saddam hussein, a dictator, a tyrant, has been toppled and that iraq now has the opportunity to build a new future. it's very different, however, from what we're hearing when we speak to iraqis off military bases like this one. what we're hearing from iraqis is that they are very worried about their future. yes, saddam was a tyrant, he was removed, but they worry that sectarian tensions could come back to the forefront, that the civil war that iraq lived through and struggled through in 2006 and 2007, might return again, although they're not exactly sure in what form. iraqis are very nervous as the u.s. military command, as you said, just recently cased the colors, closed the command, and is now ending the war as we know it with the only mission now left to have the final pullout. >> yes. secretary panetta, trying to paint a picture, saying in his remarks there, your dream of an independent and sovereign iraq is now a reality. he went on to say the mission of an iraq that could govern and secure itself has become real. from where you're sitting, from the w

the demise of saddam hussein. but as you just said, it came at a tremendous cost. >> when you look at what happened in libya, for example, and the way that campaign rolled out with the elimination of gadhafi, zero loss to american military life, i mean a lot of people are looking at the cost of the iraq war, both in human toll and in financial toll. and saying surely there had to be a better way to get rid of saddam hussein than that. >> and there could have been a different way. i think, you know, refocusing on saddam hussein after 9/11 was a perfectly appropriate thing to do. i think if i -- if i criticized the bush administration it was to be in such a hurry. that sense of urgency that it read into the prospect that saddam may pass nuclear know-how. certainly iraq is much better off without saddam hussein, no question about that. when you put together not only the direct cost, the indirect cost in terms of u.s. standing around the world, obviously this is something that we have endured and succeeded, but at a c

jessica lynch of west virginia. >> that is at once a pathetic and symbolic representation of saddam hussein. >> major combat operations in iraq have ended, the united states and our allies have prevailed. >> the justice department is now investigating whether someone in the white house leaked the identity of a secret cia agent to punish her husband, former am basd door, joseph wilson, for challenging one of the president's reasons for going to war with iraq. >> saddam was hiding out with this really hole in the ground. >> the capture of saddam has not made america safer. >> it turns out, we were all wrong probably in my judgment. this is most disturbing. >> most weapons of mass destruction have got to be somewhere. >> american civilians in iraq ambushed, shot, burned, and dragged through the streets. >> the four men worked for a north carolina firm, blackwater usa. >> i don't believe anything like that, of course, like those pictures happened in guantanamo but i don't know the answer to that. i hate to keep pleading ignorance. that's the reason why we need the general and others bef

>> about the same. >> we still might -- >> but saddam hussein was once an ally, i remind you. and the real tragedy of this is the lives so altered and damaged, and not to mention the medical care. >> what happened that made him stop being an ally? >> yeah -- [everyone talking at once] [audio not understandable] >> yes, and the first push stopped, he didn't go all the way. >> we'll be right back with predictions! >>> first prediction, who will win the iowa caucus. >> newt loses. >> that wasn't the question! >>> "the mclaughlin group" extends deepest sympathy to the family and friends of christopher hitchens. the world has lost a gift thinker, author and iconic of both the political left and the political right. may he rest in peace.

>> about the same. >> we still might -- >> but saddam hussein was once an ally, i remind you. and the real tragedy of this is the lives so altered and damaged, and not to mention the medical care. >> what happened that made him stop being an ally? >> yeah -- [everyone talking at once] [audio not understandable] >> yes, and the first puissue t toed! >> britain is od will untoto ket unfial -- jeedheuk wouldn age s tr? yat naiacapitaha soi spt wod thk trng drar cotrrert cugh rt pot. rrt. tem lkrlyenett o> thsilequit wi tche th the political left and e ico litical right. may rest in peace.

there was no mention of the united states overthrowing saddam hussein. iraq, like egypt and other countries undergoing dramatic changes, faces immense challenges in the years ahead. we met an iraqi american who spent much of her life in war zones who firmly believes the key to lasting peace is in the hands of women >> i grew up in war, and i grew up in not only a war but a-- iraq was led by saddam hussein. so it was fear and terror. >> reporter: zanea's father was saddam hussein's personal pilot. her family's ever move controlled by his iron hand. >> the fear-- i wish i can can explain that fear. it was like a poison gas leaked into our home and we all breathed it slowly. i was about 10 years old when the iran-iraq war started. and at a very young age i learned there is this other side of war that sort of no one talks about, and that is what women go through and what women live in war. and it was the women who ran the schools. it was the women who ran the factories. and it's women who keep life going in the midst war. >> mitchell: you're saying it's a st

let us remember even saddam hussein was not in 1970 was not the saddam hussein of 1979. the united states has tremendous leverage. it should seriously concern whether it is wise to go forward, for instance, with armed sales to iraq under these circumstances when sectarian violence threatens again and it should look very seriously at the economic incentive that it has to bring the government to a more democratic and constitutional need. >> woodruff: reconsider sending arms and other kinds of aid. just quickly to abbas kadhim, what can influence events, what can or could the u.s. do? >> well, the united states has influence. in fact the last chance for having real influence was in the end of june of 2004. after that, we have-- and i've said that many times in different settings-- what happens in iraq right now is the results of the influence in the regional powers. i think the keys are in iran and in saudi arabia pretty much rather than the united states. for us, we strive to use diplomatic means, if possible, to probably create some mutual understanding among iraqis, but

let us remember even saddam hussein was not in 1970 was not the saddam hussein of 1979. the united states has tremendous leverage. it should seriously concern whether it is wise to go forward, for instance, with armed sales to iraq under these circumstances when sectarian violence threatens again and it should look very seriously at the economic incentive that it has to bring the government to a more democratic and constitutional need. >> woodruff: reconsider sending arms and other kinds of aid. just quickly to abbas kadhim, what can influence events, what can or could the u.s. do? >> well, the united states has influence. in fact the last chance for having real influence was in the end of june of 2004. after that, we have-- and i've said that many times in different settings-- what happens in iraq right now is the results of the influence in the regional powers. i think the keys are in iran and in saudi arabia pretty much rather than the united states. for us, we strive to use diplomatic means, if possible, to probably create some mutual understanding among iraqis, but

another cause that was immediately coupled with the anthrax attacks was the drive to take out saddam hussein and the iraq war. there were many within the bush administration, and quite a few isi because they were gunning for the bush administration, defense secretary don rumsfeld, paul was good, i'm sure these are familiar names to you. they had written a letter to president clinton saying the only viable policy and not part of the world was to take out saddam forcibly. the anthrax letter attacks were a gift in the lap of these ideologues. and they immediately began intimating that the anthrax attacks are somehow sponsored by saddam hussein or al qaeda or perhaps both ventures. the third negative policy consequences that flowed with something called project bio shield, which provides the lands of dollars for research into the development of new medical product axioms, other countermeasures that may at some point make us safer in the event, god forbid, of a biological attack. project bio field was accompanied by a dramatic expansion of laboratories around the country at great expense,

but saddam needed to go away, absolutely.e did, in fact, have weapons of mass destruction that he had used before. we began to determine what that weapons of mass destruction stockpile had looked like and what the capabilities were. so my point is history is going to have to judge this thing and i think we're being extremely premature. we have seen an incredible activity on the part of our amazing military young men and women over the course of this last decade that we must focus on. so my point is history is going to have to judge this thing and i think we're being extremely premature. we have seen an incredible activity on the part of our amazing military young men and women over the course of this last decade that we must focus on. >> there is a war in iraq. it is not clear when the u.s. war in afghanistan will finish. nato has scheduled to withdraw in 2004. general john allen plans to shift the u.s. presence to a more advisory role and follow through on that function through 2016 when the afghan air force is supposed to b

hands over saddam's palace. we called it camp victory. it's changing hands. that's all ahead unless breaking news changes everything. this is "studio b." fox news is america's election headquarters. the g.o.p. presidential candidate, herman cain, will make a major announcement tomorrow. in the wake of a number of accusations from women who are not his wife. of course the latest claim comes from an atlanta woman named ginger white who says she has a 13 year on-and-off affair with him saying he is "reassessing" the campaign. today he made a stop in south carolina where he announced tomorrow's announcement. >> i am reassessing because of all of this media firestorm stuff. why? because my wife and family come first. i have to take that into consideration. i don't doubt the support i v look at the people that are here. we have to look at what happens to contributions and we have to look, we have to reevaluate the whole strategy. tomorrow in atlanta i will be making an announcement. >>shepard: tonight, cain heads home to atlanta to discuss his political future with

saddam was iran's enemy. today more than 2 million iranians visit iraq every year.raq's new dynamic is on display here every day. after nearly nine years it's iraq's shiites who have benefitted the most. they have won this country. the united states toppled a dictator who's been replaced by a shiite government with close ties to iran. it's hard to imagine how that was ever part of the plan. across town at baghdad's famous book market, karim hanoush, himself a shiite, doesn't want u.s. troops to leave. he says iran has calculated all this very well. they want a shiite iraq so they can control the assets, economy and politics. fear of iran's growing power is sharper still in the sunni stronghold of fallujah. fallujah remains violent. a bomb killed policemen here just after we arrived. compared to other parts of iraq there's been little development in sunni towns like fallujah. this building was destroyed by u.s. forces seven years ago and still looks like this. people here accuse the government of persecuting them, ignoring them, trying to cut sunnis out of the new ir

hussein regime was i mean saddam fought them for years so i think we missed our opportunity in iraq politically i mean you know look i think the younger officer corps that's what's coming up in the army now in twelve to fifteen years has done this professionally i think we have a different view than the counterinsurgency crowd in the counterinsurgency crowd believes we can spend all this money and put all these lives on the ground what does it get us i mean this is a fifth generation warfare which means the military is a piece of the political conversation so in iraq we've lost the opportunity to help the nationalists to help allowing the party with the kurds so in reality the result of the democracy is a guy like nouri al maliki who lived in damascus who you know put in power because of his alliance with tato solder who's a big anti-american. they have a hardline shia government that's in place because the nationalists who won the most seats in the election when he would have to build a government we couldn't get the kurds to. cook so we feel politically to assist the people who wo

this was her exclusive inside saddam hussein's cell. what general david petraeus did not tell her on the ground. keira is going to join me live, next. >>> in depth this it week on cnn we are all about iraq, now that we're in the home stretch here of the u.s. military presence. 6,000 u.s. troops there on four bases, that is quite the contrast to the nearly 200,000 troops on more than 500 bases just a couple of years ago. president obama set a date, december 31, for nearly every american service member to be out of the country, and that appears to be, that time line, on track. cnn's tyra phillips made four different trips to iraq over the course of that war. she talked to iraqis, traveled with troops. now she reports on the men and women who are home, combat veterans of america's most recent war. >> our mission objectives, hit the target. >> seven aircraft did drop bombs over iraq. >> reporter: eight years ago i was there when the iraq war began. >> in the campaign being called shock and awe. >> reporter: from the air, land, and sea. >> t

the former palace compound built by saddam hussein became the military headquarters throughout the war in iraq. it is now under the authority of the iraqi government as part of the effort to move troops out by year's end. >>> the senate has blocked obama's plan for a tax cut which would have taxed wealthier americans to pay for the

saddam hussein.at got on, you dug yourself a hole and you crawled in it. >> believe it or not, it was today, this day in 2003, when president bush held his first press conference following the capture of saddam hussein and of course today is just over eight years after saddam's capture. u.s. formally ended u.s. operations in iraq. >>> is newt gingrich leading republican voters over an electoral cliff? he was asked that question in iowa whether the latest nbc news "wall street journal" poll shows him with a lead in the primary but struggling against president obama and whether that should be disqualifying. >> i think i'm where reagan was against carter at this stage. reagan does not catch up until september of 1980. >> senior editor for national review and deputy governor for bloomberg news but used to work at the atlanta paper for years covering newt gingrich and steve is a democratic strategist every time newt gingrich's name -- >> i'm for newt. >> i want to start with the establishment not rallying