good enough to hit saddam hussein. he asks the aide to get evidence from wolfowitz of a saddam connection with ubl. osama bin laden. >> we all looked at each other, like, what are they talking about? who the hell, saddam hussein? bin laden hates him. he's a heretic. there's no connection between saddam hussein and al qaeda. >> the word goes out to the cia, fbi and all the intelligence services. find the connection. first, though, the war on terror goes to afghanistan. to capture or kill osama bin laden and destroy the taliban regime that supports al qaeda. by november, the enemy is on the run. forced to flee into the mountains and across the border to pakistan. but while bin laden remains at large, washington's attention turns to iraq. to saddam. >> i think the united states since desert storm has always had a various planning with respect to iraq. >> operation desert storm. also known as the first gulf war. in 1991, following iraq's invasion of kuwait, a u.s.-led coalition of 34 countries drives saddam's forces out of

guest: saddam hussein was a many do dictator, and not want him, regardless. but there's no question in my mind that the iraq war was the singular most devastating event in recent american history for americans national interest. anause it really wasted historic opportunity for the united states to assert itself globally. in the 1990's, they were the decade of american influence and dominance following the end of the cold war. the u.s. had resources, and yes they were attacked horrifically -- in 2001, but they could have reacted differently. americathe anger with and the diversion of resources has affected us very negatively globally, and we're still paying the price. line, goodlican morning. caller: it was nice that we had someone from johns hopkins -- host: university of maryland. sorry. i am trying to be positive this morning. these suggestions have been tried before. maybe this is the time that this would work. one, the americans pay the sunnis that have been [indiscernible] before, according to their rank. thatecond suggestion is saudi and kuwait fund the

protect the holy sit sites. >> the call threatens to renew anger that simmered since the days of saddam hussein. all through saddam's rule he oppressed, marginalized and killed shias primarily from the country's south and east. at the heist of the u.s. occupation sectarian strife was fervent. neighbor killed neighbor in daily bombings and other violence fueled by insurgents and alqaida hitting the face against each other. one of shia's islam's most sacred sites was bombed by al-qaeda in february 2006. it was the flash point that began some of iraq's darkest years when sunni and shia iraqis killed each other by the thousands. historically the differences between sunni and shiite muslims are small. the sunni believe they were th ththe inheritor s. nourial mali is a shiite, and over the years in office he has marginalized the sunni. capitalizing on the frustration of sunnies the military group called the islamic state of iraq and levan or isil pledging to bring more power. large swaths of territory in the northern region of iraq dominated by sunni muslims have been overrun and seized by is il. mos

bashar assad or let's say even saddam hussein being in charge of baghdad or damascus rather than the man by the name of a blue box or daddy who is they had of isis and troops are now moving towards the capital of iraq why is there american foreign policy always based on the best case scenario why do you always disregard the worst possible outcome well first of all i agree with you that alba is a terrible outcome and i think it's important for us not to make him the outcome and while certainly there's room. for discussion on this issue as we discussed earlier about whether bashir al assad whether the first policy point should have been that he should he should go i understand the point you're making but i'm much more interested in what we're going to be doing going forward because i think we have an enormous challenge and whether we come to an agreement or disagreement on something that took place three years ago is not going to help us get through that challenge or worse yet something that took place eleven years ago is not going to help us get through this challenge my point is i th

in 2002 he wrote that for the war on terrorism to succeed saddam hussein must be removed. when george w. bush set out to do just that, kagan cheered him on. then in 2006 called for a surge in american troop levels to prevent iraq's collapse. now robert kagan is stirring controversy again with this lengthy article in the new republic. superpowers don't get to retire. wh he calls for america to return to muscular global activism. his article brought a sharper post from another scholared historian who seized the role differently. they have seen the horrors too closely to advocate more of the same policies that failed in vietnam and iraq. a graduate from west point with 23 years in the military including time in vietnam. he teaches history at boston university and writes best selling books and articles and essays and journals both liberal and conservative. like this critique of kagan titled "the duplicity of the idea logs." welcome back. what do you mean by that? >> kagan's essay, which does deserve to be read because of his stature in washington, gives us a falsified sanitize

mass killing unseen in iraq since the days of saddam hussein. cnn cannot independently confirm the authenticity of these images. tonight the president is convening his national security team to review options for a u.s. response. u.s. mesa verde arrived in the persian gulf to help with possible evacuation of americans joining the carrier george h.w. bush. secretary kerry acknowledged airstrikes on iraqi targets are now under consideration. >> when you have people murdering, assassinating, in these mass massacres, you have to stop that and you do what you need do if you need to stop it from the air or otherwise. >> with or without military action, a political compromise brings iraqi sunnis and kurds into the shiite government inform malaki must be a part of any response and must be immediate. >> if we engage in a military action without a political solution, we will be seen as packing malaki in a sunni shia civil war and that exactly the opposite of what we want to do. >> some news tonight, we're learning that the u.s. and iran had, as described

or theia led government sunni led government by saddam hussein?: unfortunately, we have to let it play out to know which one is worse. they are both obviously bad. one that is potentially contained by be better. hen if saddam hussein -- gassed his own people and used weapons of mass destruction against his own people. he is no better. that cannot be accepted and abided either. folks,urrent group of we know what we will get with them. can't put up a wall around the country and contain them in their. -- in there. americans have to get our brains wrapped around the fact that we will have to deal with this whether we like to or not. host: one administration official on the ground in iraq voted this morning, "if you push too hard on this issue, you will push them right into the arms of iran." has a fairink that amount of merit. however, if we stand back and do -- if youe will allow are the insurgents -- they understand real politics and combat. all they have to do is surround the city of baghdad and weight. host: remind our viewers of when you served.

everybody believed that saddam hussein had wmd. he'd produced it and used it before. >> let me ask you about two other statements. you said the u.s. would be greeted in iraq as liberators. >> that's what we had been told by intelligence and initially there was great satisfaction. >> but having said that, in 2005, you said the insurgency was in its last throes just before it got much worse. >> i obviously misjudged the situation. it turned out the problem was going to be much tougher than we thought it was going to be. >> some people say, hey, why should we listen to him, back when he was in charge, he was wrong about a lot of these -- >> i think most of the people who say that were critics of the policy in the first place. i come back to the proposition that by the time we finished in iraq, we had, as we were leaving office, we had in fact dealt with most of that problem. we had the sunni united with the shia and the government. we had relatively the effective military forces left, with respect to the iraqis. and we had pretty well

this was important to saddam hussein. ift was the birthplace of the biological weapons, the heart of the chemical weapons, research facility, stockpiles of mustard gas. it was bombed during the gulf war in 1991. weapons investigators deactivated everything in 1992, found nothing there. post gulf war, arrival of u.s. troops, it was inspected. the biggest danger is moving the rusting things around. militarily, they don't pose a threat, but that said, some of saddam hussein's army are now fighting with the rebels here. so, there is a danger, but it seems to be a minimal one at this time. >> nic robertson live in iraq, thanks. >>> house republicans made their choices to lead the caucuses. kevin mccarthy from california is the next majority leader replacing eric cantor who stepped down after a primary loss. he got his role after four terms. the fastest rise for any majority leader in history. >> they elected a guy who is a grandson of a cattle rancher, the son of a firefighter. only in america do you get that opportunity. they

and also saddam hussein's home do hometown. with the support of other former insurgent groups and this is very much a sunni versus shiite dynamic brought about because of the prime minister. this is certainly the most challenging situation that iraq has ever found itself in in recent history. >> thank you, in the crossfire tonight, guests with different views of the crisis in iraq. disbanning the iraqi army set the sunnis against the shiites, caution cannot become disengagement. as we just heard, isis fighters are capturing more and more iraqi cities. we have no choice at this point. the united states must quickly begin air strikes. the alternative is to accept that iran will come marching in and dominate iraq and syria. we need a new strategy that is not benign neglect. >> you know what else is wrong is the fact that we went to the war in iraq in the first place. can you finally admit it's a mistake? >> no, it wasn't a mistake. >> i think a world without saddam hussein is better. >> yes, but there is better ways to do that. ad

what i prefer a situation where we left saddam hussein in place in 2003? do i think the region would be safer if we did that? my answer is unhesitatingly no. >> that was former prime minister of britain tony blair speaking over the weekend. could you respond to the comments he made? the situation in iraq was extremely bad, and definitely it of feared the republic with reason. you cannot justify post-fact of an invasion that was absolutely horrible. first of all, it was unjustified. lie,d, it was based on a the weapons of mass destruction. just in the imagination of some people who wanted to invade iraq. justifications were invented after. democracy, getting rid of a dictator and that very was inictator just as he 2003, a very good friend of the united states and of britain when he was fighting iran in the 1980's. but let's forget about that for the moment. so the invasion was absolutely , and it has -- let's talk about what is important to talk about now -- terrorism. there was no terrorism. there were no terrorists in iraq in those days. was sucked in, br

he was about a abrams tank system mechanic and was part of the invasion of saddam hussein's iraq. he joined the army in 1999 and still serves in the national guard. >> seemed like it was all going to smooth out and iraq could continue on a nice path. >> reporter: it was of course anything but a nice path. more than 500 soldiers from fort hood, texas, were killed serving in iraq. ♪ more than any other u.s. military installation. about one out of every nine americans who died in iraq were deployed from this base. here at fort hood, feelings about what happened in iraq in the past vary. so do feelings about what should be done in the future. but in this community, the sacrificed so much, there is a

tikrit, the hometown of saddam hussein -- >> yes. >> -- has been taken. >> absolutely.ten, i couldn't disagree more with my friend kimberly over here. we should not get involved, and it doesn't matter. obama got out in 2012, he should have gotten out. we have to go back to the beginning of the war and some of these people who are blaming obama now for getting out as to why we got into the war. this was always going to be the outcome, it was going to be chaos this iraq. we should have left the brutal dictator. it's a choice between iranian-friendly shiites or al-qaeda-sympathizing sunnis or not so religious dictators like saddam hussein, hosni mubarak, moammar gadhafi and even bashar assad. >> these people could not have existed under saddam hussein. >> exactly right. >> and the army broke up after hussein died. >> he didn't tolerate the existence of these people in his country, so without us removing saddam hussein, these people don't exist there. >> right. >> i agree with you completely, this idea now we're saying we've lost all this blood and treasure which we have, a

with saddam hussein long gone, the shiites are still desperately trying to hold on to power and holdtants as isis rolls toward baghdad we're left wondering what really is best for these countries. randi kaye, cnn new york. >> a lot to talk about with our host of cnn's fareed. we seen dictators, people who have been dictators for decades in some cases, over thrown leaving power and kind of an attempt at democracy that stumbles as it is right now here in iraq. >> anderson, if you look 15 years ago, the entire middle east from libya to iraq to syria, you had secular dictatorships under pinning this order. secular dictatorships often supported by super powers or foreign powers, the whole structure collapsed and what is interesting is into the vacuum have risen all these groups. what that tells you, when order is threatened and breaks down, what people grasp to is their oldest identity, shia, sunni, arab, kurd. this might be a title wave coming and that is going to have this kind of period of transition for this region. >> you know, it's so frustrating and especially for people who served

one that is contained might be better but even if saddam hussein -- saddam hussein -- to some peoplehe very weapons of mass distraction against his people that we were concerned going into syria over so he is no better actor and allowing someone who could be cajoled into being a state sponsor of terrorism worldwide, that cannot be accepted either. this current group of folks i think we know what we are going to get with them. we are going to get a sponsor of terrorism worldwide. they will use that as a base of operations and unfortunately we can't just put up a wall around the country and contain them all in there. that would be an easy solution but that's not a pollutant -- solution set. americans myself included have to get our brains are from the fact that we are going to have to deal with this whether we like to or not. >> host: one official administration official in the ground in iraq reported in the financial times this morning saying if you push too hard on this issue of nouri al-maliki he will push them right into the arms of iran. >> guest: yeah. i think that has a fair amo

that saddam hussein was, indeed, a threat. you may remember this. >> intelligence reports show that saddam hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. he has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al qaeda members. >> he may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups that invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the united states. >> saddam hussein in effect has thumbed his nose at the world community, and i think that the president has been pushing this in the right sanction. >> good old senator harry reid, he keeps trying to rewrite history. the tape we just played proves that liberals helped get america into this iraq war. most of them voted for the authorization of the use of force. but you wouldn't know it by listening to them today. watch this. >> president obama and his advisers consider options to combat this. concerned members of congress -- i should say republican members of

but the infighting among the sunnis and shiites didn't die with saddam hussein.followed, leaving nearly half a million people dead. with saddam hussein long gone, the shiites are still desperately trying to hold on to power and hold back sunni militants. as isis rolls towards baghdad, we're left wondering what really is best for these countries? randi kaye, cnn, new york. >> a lot to talk about with our friend fareed zakaria. dictators, people who have been dictators for decades in some cases overthrown, leaving power. and kind of an attempt at democracy that stumbles as it is right now here in iraq. >> anderson, if you look 15 years ago, the entire middle east from libya to tunisia to iraq to syria, you had secular dictatorships under this order, often supported by the super powers or foreign powers that whole structure of authority has collapsed. and what is interesting is into the vacuum have risen all these islamist groups. what that tells you is when order is threatened, when order breaks down, what people grasp is their oldest identities, she yar shia, sunn

it says it has liberated the city of tikrit which was, of course, saddam hussein's hometown. tikrit had been taken over by militants from isis, but the government says after an intense 48-hour bombardment on the city using mostly helicopter gunships, that iraqi forces have moved in, driven out the militants, and stabilized the city. the problem is witnesses do not corroborate that account. they say there has been heavy fighting there with dozens killed on each side, but that the isis militants have pulled back from certain neighborhoods in tikrit but not completely abandoned the area and isis itself, which has been very effective in putting out propaganda videos, using social media, says it is sending reinforcements to tikrit. so this fight just in tikrit could last a lot longer, let alone the effort by the iraqi government to take over mosul and fallujah and parts of ramadi and all of the other towns and cities in western and northern iraq that are still held by the militants. >> nbc's richard engel in baghdad. thank you so much. let me turn now on this sunday to what's goin

piece is to remember that the scientists who used to work for the baathist and sunni regime under saddam hussein, the scientist are the ones we should be worried about. those individuals teaming if with isis as the former military commanders under saddam, teaming up with isis. it's the science cysts that will be the threat. >> i was go to ask you about those guys. it's my understanding a a lot of people teams up with isis because they don't have anybody else to team with. they don't feel like they're part of the government, they want to be part of a new iraq and aren't. are we concerned they may develop some of the ideology of isis, they may actually start thinking and acting in that way? >> well, i think what we're really concern about they'll be the silent middle ground. let's support this, create a sunni borderland, an autonomous area, and then isis will use the violence they're willing to use to create essentially free rein operational space for themselves. so not much we'll have thousands and thousands and thousands of members of isis as it is that isis, by being the most willing to use for

. >> is the united states innovated iraq and overflew saddam hussein more than a decade ago, and then spent years pacifying the country, hoping to leave behind a stable, rebuilding nation. one of the country's main cities has fallen to guerilla fighters, and the baghdad government may be losing it's grip. that's the "inside story." hello, i'm ray suarez, a brown university study puts the cost of the iraq war to the united states at over $2 trillion. the cost of war project at ground estimates 134,000 iraqi civilians died in the long years of war. add security forces, aid workers, and journalists, and that number leaps to between 176 and 189,000. just under 4500 american troops died. that eight-year american presence brought down the murderous rule of saddam hussein, disbathed the ba'ath party and the army. americans worked hard to rebuild the civil serves and the police. and u.s. left in 2011. after eight years and eight months, unable to reach a deal with the iraqi government for keeping troops in the country. and today, less than three years later, the weaknesses, contradictions and

isis is getting help from former officers from saddam hussein's baptist regime -- bathist regime. revengesaddam hussein's , according to one. he was originally a nationalist with secular ideology, but has shifted toward islam in the last decade before saddam hussein's downfall. iran -- >> and iran has sprung into action. but there was an in depth article investigating this. -- >> there was an in depth article investigating this. this is according to iranian security forces, they say that iran has deployed a revolutionary guard unit to a rack. three battalions have been dispatched. why is that? the wall street journal tells us that isis is threatening to holy sites, buto holy more broadly, iran is worried that isis could eclipse the power in iraq, which is shiite. isand more on how the u.s. reacting to the crisis was a >> that is right, the guardian says u.s. back tong the iraq. republicans are critical, saying that the u.s. never should have withdrawn from iraq. an editorial in the "new york times" today is critical of prime minister maliki. he, according to this editorial, is mor

the fact they were indifferent to the victims of saddam hussein. ey should not hear from them. >> rose: saddam is gone. >> yes. >> rose: now you have this extraordinary sectarian violence. >> we can't criticize what's going on in iraq and we should understand that men are, i mean there's a line in this book i think on the shiite resorting to violence. men are not angels u they are not angels. the sunni arabs in iraq and aided and abetted by thew%@$áoÑy the forces of the sunni arabs and the arab world around iraq. they really had no apologies to offer. indeed they did the reverse and they began the war against the shi'a. the irony is they were sectarian vengeance and killing. where we are now, you're right, you are right in you take a look at the shi'a. suddenly now these a balance of terror in roork because the shi'a who are the victims now have their own militia. the brigade and the army have come into the fight and these are terrible forces. the forces of darkness, forces of bigotry. there are kids without jobs, and they dabble in sector tainer vi

but saddam hussein was not a shia muslim. he was a sunni. so was his government, so was his army. when saddam and therefore the sunnis got toppled from iraq after the u.s. invaded that country more than a decade ago, the sunnis pushed out of power, they regrouped into militias and tribes and fought a powerful and resilient insurgency while the u.s. was there. it never left, though. and now they're back on the march. and this sunni militant group, people who don't want that sunni militant group to succeed, people who want to try to prop up the government in iraq, the post-saddam shia-led government in iraq, obviously those people include the shia population of iraq and the shia militias that have organized themselves there, right? but also, the other people who want to prop up the government there and fight those sunni militant fighters that are trying to topple the government, the other pro-government forces effectively in this fight are the other shia muslim governments and forces in the region. again, in the global population of muslims, the shia are not at all a majority. they a

tikrit being saddam hussein's hometown which has been taken over.aghdad which is the place to which they're headed apparently. this is an embassy personnel, this is at an -- this is not embassy personnel, this is at an air base. did you know, your eyes can lose vital nutrients as you age? [ male announcer ] that's why there's ocuvite to help replenish key eye nutrients. ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. ocuvite. help protect your eye health. ocuvite. so i can reach ally bank 24/7 but there are24/7branches? i'm sorry- i'm just really reluctant to try new things. really? what's wrong with trying new things? you feel that in your muscles? yeah...i do... drink water. it's a long story. well, not having branches lets us give you great rates and service. i'd like that. experience a new way to bank where no branches = great rates. ally bank. your money needs an ally. means keeping seven billion ctransactions flowing.g, and when weather hits, it's data mayhem. but airlines running hp end-to-end solu

you said there was no doubt saddam hussein had weapons of mass destruction. said we would be greeted as liberators. you said the iraq insurgency was in the last throes back in 2005. and you said that after our intervention extremists would have to "rethink their strategy of jihad." now with almost $1 trillion spent there, with 4500 american lives lost there, what do you say to those who say you were so wrong about so much at the expense of so many? >> no, i fundamentally disagree, reagan-- megyn. ( laughter ) ( applause ) >> stephen: that was no mistake. as a true conservative, every sentence has to contain at least one reagan. ( laughter ) and he just fundamentally disagrees with reality. it's easy now to monday morning "not invade iraq" but dick cheney remembers how it felt at the time so right. >> you've got to go back and look at the track record. we inherited a situation where there was no doubt in anybody's mind about the extent of saddam's involvement in weapons of mass destruction. >> stephen: there was no doubt about the extent of saddam's involvemen

this is a former officer in saddam hussein's republican guards. he doesn't want to be identified nor give clues of his whereabouts. >> translation: the protest started because of marginalisition of the area. it reached a point that whenever anyone was detained you knew heed be killed. >> these people welcomed i.s.i.l. in their area, but deny that it is taking over iraq. >> translation: this is the extension of the resistance that started in 2003. i.s.i.l. is irrelevant. it's a sunni revolution directed by members of a former army. people are huge ailiated and oppressed. now is the time of reckoning. in sunni areas, i.s.i.l. fighters have been running a campaign helping the community. this is a video showing iraqi soldiers. all heralded into a ditch. it was a few weeks ago. sunni leaders say i.s.i.l. does not pose a long-term threat to iraq. >> the tribes in iraq won't accept i.s.i.l. it's not to our advantage to fight them. it will come later. the priority is to fight nouri al-maliki. the world should help us in our cause, and we'll deal with i.s.

think back to when saddam hussein invaded kuwait.think there was a majority the thought we should go into kuwait to try to evict saddam hussein's army? of course there wasn't. military involvement overseas are regarded with suspicion and worry and for good reason. that is why is up the president and the big bullhorn they have to try to sway public opinion and a president who leads can do that. george hw bush proved that. he said he would like congress support before the move anyway. by the time the fighting began, the public was behind him. it's not easy to do, but it can be done. that is why form policy is the primary job of the executive branch and especially the president. bill: what is your interpretation of his interest westmark >> he believes the footprint was too big and a big part of the problems. he wanted to end the wars, not about winning them or by ending them successfully, but by bringing the troops home. that is what he did in iraq, that is what he is doing in afghanistan, that is why he has been hesitant to move in pla

only this one houses the remnants of saddam hussein's chemical weapons. we'll ask a former weapons inspector in iraq what these weapons were doing there in the first place. and then paul ryan has gone from running for vp to calling bs on the irs. why the irs commissioner is being asked to apologize. that's our politics lead. [ male announcer ] it's one of the most amazing things we build and it doesn't even fly. we build it in classrooms and exhibit halls, mentoring tomorrow's innovators. we build it raising roofs, preserving habitats and serving america's veterans. every day, thousands of boeing volunteers help make their communities the best they can be. building something better for all of us. ♪ listen up, thunder dragons, it's time to get a hotel. hey, razor. check this out. we can save big with priceline express deals. hey you know what man, these guys aint no dragons. they're cool. these deals are legit. yeah, we're cool. she's cool. we're cool. priceline express deals are totally legit. check this, thousands of people book them everyday and score k