i was not an advocate of saddam hussein i was an advocate of getting saddam hussein out of the businessass to destruction and we might've done that earlier soon and without going to baghdad. gerry: i think you supported in the pentagon at the time and supported the war that did result -- >> it was the president's decision and i supported it. gerry: you said you would advocate of getting saddam hussein out of the weapons of mass destruction but it seemed the only way to do that at the time was to remove him from power and that involved innovation and a full-scale war. are you confident looking back at that and the wider ramifications of what happened to the u.s. misrepresentation are you confident that was the right decision made in 2003? >> i'm going to say two things i'll try to say them briefly it's a complicated subject. i think most people involved to supported the decision including myself would say it would look a lot different today to just pick one important one we had a third strategy from the beginning instead of taking six years to get to it it looked much more like success a

i was not an advocate of saddam hussein i was an advocate of getting saddam hussein out of the businessons of mass to destruction and we might've done that earlier soon and without going to baghdad. gerry: i think you supported in the pentagon at the time and supported the war that did result -- >> it was the president's decision and i supported it. gerry: you said you would advocate of getting saddam hussein out of the weapons of mass destruction but it seemed the only way to do that at the time was to remove him from power and that involved innovation and a full-scale war. are you confident looking back at that and the wider ramifications of what happened to the u.s. misrepresentation are you confident that was the right decision made in 2003? >> i'm going to say two things i'll try to say them briefly it's a complicated subject. i think most people involved to supported the decision including myself would say it would look a lot different today to just pick one important one we had a third strategy from the beginning instead of taking six years to get to it it looked much more like s

>> we know that saddam hussein has a long history with terrism. >> saddam hussein is harboring terroristse. >> saddam hussein is a homicidal dictator who is addicted to weapons of mass destruction. >> narrator: often word for word. >> simply stated... >> both: there is no doubt... >> that saddam hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. >> ...has produced weapons of mass dtruction. there is no doubt that he has used them. >> the united states knows that iraq has... >> all: weapons of mass destruction. >> absolutely. >> we cannot wait for the final proof... >> but we don't want... >> both: ...the smoking gun... >> ...to be a mushroom cloud. >> ...that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud. >> narrator: intelligence reports, leaked to the press, splashed on the front page. >> some of the most credible, most respected american news organizations, like "the new york times," had written very detailed, and, in its own way, supportive coverage of the eviden. >> then there was an amen chorus washington that was sort of willing to go along with the administration on the chance that it was

there was a part of the neoconservative agenda to overthrow saddam hussein with force. unfortunately this on 9/11 is there chance to do that. host: we would like to thank david and -- for being here and talking to us about current politics and the legacy of 9/11. gentlemen, i enjoyed this.

like i did in saddam hussein's iraq, so i said to myself, what's worse than this? nothing could be worse than this. well, i found out in the years since the invasion that the anarchy in iraq after saddam cell was much, much worse than the tyranny under his rule. whether caught opt in a rush of patriotism or addicted to the ratings that rise when broadcaster is bang, the drums are too much of the american media bought into the big allies on iraqi w. m. d. 's terrorist sleeper south than the us and saddam hussein's fictional links to outcome. new studios were flooded with ex military officers turned front men for weapons manufacturers urging us to attack iraq, presented as experts who were more like profit. here at the pentagon, played a ordinating role in getting them on the air. let's turn to retire. general. joseph ralston also join me. general bernard, trainer, he's a retired marine corps lieutenant general, air force lieutenant general tom mac. and ernie who is with us in our foxes, were briefing room. they were beltway band, former pentagon officials, who make

and saddam hussein's fictional links to al qaeda. new studios were flooded with ex military officers turned front man for weapons manufacturers urging us to attack iraq, presented as experts who were more like profit here. at the pentagon, played a coordinating role in getting them on the air. let's turn to retire general. joseph ralston, also joining me. general bernard, trainer, he's a retired marine corps, lieutenant general air force. lieutenant general, tom mcinerney, who is with us in our foxes, were briefing room. they were beltway band. that was former pentagon officials who make out like, and that's when they go into the private sector and then work for military contractor history. this campaign is brilliant. it doesn't involve any collateral damage, no villages, no urban warfare. and it was a scandal that david barstow of the new york times uncovered. he brought in the minutes of the meetings between rumsfeld and the military experts who were going on tv was a completely orchestrated program inside the pentagon, giving talk

there was a part of the neoconservative agenda to overthrow saddam hussein with force. unfortunately this on 9/11 is there chance to do that. host: we would like to thank david and -- for being here and talking to us about current politics and the legacy of 9/11. gentlemen, i enjoyed this. thank you for being with us this morning. >> thank you. host: coming up next we will go back to talk to you again about the legacy of 9/11. you see the numbers on screen. we are waiting for your telephone [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2021] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> tonight on q hyundai, jessica was the chief engineer of the historic fire boat john jay harvey on september 11 windows called back into service to aid firefighters following the attack on the twin towers. she talks about the community of mariners who came to the rescue of thousands. >> had delivered nearly half a million people to safety. it is an incredible example of the goodness of peopl

at the very time that your rumsfeld was meeting saddam, you were meeting with saddam hussein. i think we have some video that of that meeting. tell me what was going on during this. where did you get this video from the iraqi? tell them this is from iraqi television. when did they give it to you recently or back then we've dug this out of the scene in library. i see. isn't that interesting? there i am with the our war on terror begins with al qaeda. but it does not in this war on terror is irrational. it's like saying a war. and when the series for office launched his investigation into the crimes that we were uncovering, it turned out that many of these arms deals have been forced through by tony blair personally. he's a dedicated arm salesman and once you start a war you open and kind of pandora's box, you don't control and it controls you. i did. good dennis and mad did is the bad better is that those in yemen who the united states deems to be a threat, the good terrorist and those who are inferior. the joke here is we've been there before. i mean, if you consider the of no

i knew sanction really had been effective against saddam hussein. specifically in terms of hurting children and women and all manner of other people, saddam had no problems whatsoever. building castle after castle and fortifications and buying things for his military and so forth. there were some validity to do validity that made saddam still a security problem with regard to his neighbors. and with regard to his own people, while tens of millions killed wounded or displayed just finally, dishonour been not. and when, i mean you've talked so eloquently about the corruption of the torture, the heroine, the relations between the ca and the i s i and pakistan. and now the united states has lost so much so much in this world since the $911.00 attacks did he $7.00 trillion dollars counting the cost over time to take care of the veterans. we paid a lot of defense company salaries at the high borders that whole but i mean, did he win in trying to destroy what was the origin idea of the american dream? i think when we're looking at those lines projections st

saddam hussein was not a good guy, but he did fight iran and there was no ices in afghanistan or in iraq at the time. so the expansion of the war into iraq has abandoned afghanistan and under the circumstances, if we had stayed there, afghanistan could have been made a more solid country and you would've had more ability to take care of the women and girls in afghanistan. host: thanks for your call, leo. guest: the reality is we never really did leave afghanistan. our footprint was being reduced, but we had a presence. we had a force there. and that was helping and providing security and stability and training the afghan forces. we were all disappointed to see what happened this august with the afghan forces. but the reality is, so many afghan military lost their lives in these years trying to protect their country. we did have a presence. and i think someone argue even a small footprint remaining on the ground there would have prevented this chaos from happening. we look at countries where we have been for 70 years. in korea where we have a footprint, it has kept peace between north kor

saddam hussein was not a good guy, but he did fight iran and there was no ices in afghanistan or in iraq at the time. so the expansion of the war into iraq has abandoned afghanistan and under the circumstances, if we had stayed there, afghanistan could have been made a more solid country and you would've had more ability to take care of the women and girls in afghanistan. host: thanks for your call, leo. guest: the reality is we never really did leave afghanistan. our footprint was being reduced, but we had a presence. we had a force there. and that was helping and providing security and stability and training the afghan forces. we were all disappointed to see what happened this august with the afghan forces. but the reality is, so many afghan military lost their lives in these years trying to protect their country. we did have a presence. and i think someone argue even a small footprint remaining on the ground there would have prevented this chaos from happening. we look at countries where we have been for 70 years. in korea where we have a footprint, it has kept peace between north kor

there was a part of the neoconservative agenda to overthrow saddam hussein with force.tunately this on 9/11 is there chance to do that. host: we would like to thank david and -- for being here and talking to us about current politics and the legacy of 9/11. gentlemen, i enjoyed this. thank you for being with us this morning. >> thank you. host: coming up next we will go back to talk to you again about the legacy of 9/11. you see the numbers on screen. we are waiting for your telephone calls, we will be right back. ♪ >> tonight, on "q&a," jessica delong was chief engineer of the john jay harvey on september 11 when it was called to aid firefighters. she tells the story of the community of mariners who came to the rescue of thousands. >> the maritime evacuation that delivered nearly half a million people to safety is an incredible example of the goodness of people, that when you are given the opportunity to help, you have the tools and the skill set, you have the availability, the people over and over again made the choice to put themselves in harm's way for the sake of f

it wasn't just that saddam hussein emerged on george bush's watch. we fought a war against him in 1990, a war but also ended in an armistice. we were trying to hold him in check by what the president called a swiss cheese like sanctions that were falling up our under the un's inability to carry them out. he was shooting at our aircraft every day. i remember one of the first conversations with donald rumsfeld was let's see if he gets lucky and shoot one of our planes down, then what do we do? saddam hussein was a threat and we thought he was rebuilding his weapons of mass destruction and the question was, do you wait until he has rebuilt them or do you do something about it now step our allies, some of our allies, the french, the germans had some of our allies including the british billions and polish were in with us on the very first attack on iraq, that first night. the president felt that the international community had not been convinced of saddam hussein working 17 different resolutions and it was time to take care of it. in retrospect, if we had

it wasn't just that saddam hussein emerged on george bush's watch. we fought a war against him in 1990, a war but also ended in an armistice. we were trying to hold him in check by what the president called a swiss cheese like sanctions that were falling up our under the un's inability to carry them out. he was shooting at our aircraft every day. i remember one of the first conversations with donald rumsfeld was let's see if he gets lucky and shoot one of our planes down, then what do we do? saddam hussein was a threat and we thought he was rebuilding his weapons of mass destruction and the question was, do you wait until he has rebuilt them or do you do something about it now step our allies, some of our allies, the french, the germans had some of our allies including the british billions and polish were in with us on the very first attack on iraq, that first night. the president felt that the international community had not been convinced of saddam hussein working 17 different resolutions and it was time to take care of it. in retrospect, if we had

fry, owns kreger, the homeless on the way for him putting birds and iraq to provide as game on saddam hussein fruits up on top from best on. dea ox, yano, missional, getting don't know if our coast had the libyan gaddafi, skin disclose. she give you what's walked out of fooling theater in a good, nice zullie and give them to your traditional view them via a dish w 0 to you on this fun in mesh the dolphin homes and best control liam lists. the reason us had gemini is dangerous, is it denies the sovereignty of the countries ah me. march 24th 999. the youngest navea was elated and it was covered on live tv. the lawyer search on an exit and general budget on did it witness? i still remember those terrible days later. probably photos of mealy mitchell. i'm a quest source to was nazi me and i will be with medical demo. correct me. some of those you will get them all of them. yeah, they don't talk emotional thought is quite in the feminine. human resource imaging, not in the professor in apple basics. daniel yan is not. yeah. some of them have regional medical cancer. self authoration allied force h

i'm a wait for him putting burrs and iraq to provide as game on saddam hussein for fruits. up on top from best on dia voc gonna missional getting don't all of our culture. libyan gaddafi is cannot she give you what's walked out of willing theater in a good to easy and julian, because until the, your dish you them via d w 0. you on this, on the mesh dolphin little moans and better control e. unless the reason us hedge emily is dangerous is it denies the sovereignty of the countries. ah me. march 24th 999. the yugoslavia was late it and it was covered on live tv. the lawyer search on an exit and general budget. did it witness the event and still remember those terrible days of probably 4 to be the major, but i'm a quest source to was nazi me and i will be with medical demo, correct me. some of those you'll get you'll get them all of them. yeah, we don't tackle motion the side is a way in the terminal resource imaging, not in the process in apple bases, but i know in the summer when you have to regional bottle be it was one i'm really kind of self authoration allied force has

i'm a wait for him putting burden iraq novato as game own saddam hussein fruits. up on top from best on dea ox, yana. national gating, don't all of our culture libyan gaddafi is cannot disclose. she give you what's left out of willing theater in a good to me, julian, give them to your traditional view them via new dish, w 0. you on the, on the mesh dolphins, moans and pest control e, unless the reason us had germany is dangerous, is it denies the sovereignty of the countries? ah me. march 24th 999. the youngest navea was annihilated and it was covered on live tv. the lawyer search on an exit and general budget. did it witness the event and still remember those terrible days of probably 4 to be the major same now my quest to was nazi my, our be money with our medical demo? correct me. some of those, you know, again, you call them all of them. yeah. they don't talk emotional thought as a way in the family resource image that they probably say in apple based on brand new in summer when the regional, bottled b, medical cancer, surf authoration allied force has been ca

i'm a wait for him putting birds in iraq to provide as game on saddam hussein fruits. up on top from best on dia voc gonna missional getting don't all of our culture. libyan gaddafi is cannot disclose, she give you what's walked out of willing theater in a good to knees in julian because i'm going to your traditional view them via the dish w via the you. on the, on the mesh, the dolphin little moans and pest control ian list. the reason us hedge emily is dangerous is it denies the sovereignty of the countries. ah, me, march 24th 999. the yugoslavia was lated and it was covered on live tv, the lawyer, general exit and general budget on did it witnessed the event and still remember those terrible days of probably 4 to be the major but my quest to was a nazi me and i will be with medical demo, correct me. some of those you can get them all of them. yeah, they don't talk to emotional side is a korean was found even resource when you're not in the process in apple bases. but i know in the summer when you have regional bottle b, one on medical kinds of self authoration allie

what in birds and iraq to provide them as gene own saddam hussein fruits? up on top from best. when they add ox yana. national, getting don't all of our color libyan gaddafi skin disclose. she give you what's walked out of willing to in a good nice julian, give them to your traditional via new dish, w 0. you on the, on the mesh, the dolphin little moans and pest control e, unless the reason us had germany is dangerous, is it deny the sovereignty of the countries? ah me. march 24th 999. the youngest navea was lated and it was covered on live tv, the lawyer of dental exemption and general budget. and did it witnessed the event and still remember those terrible days later? probably be the image saying that my quest to was not team and i would be with the medical demo, correct me. some of those you again, you call them. i love them. yeah, they don't talk emotional side as a way in the terminal human resource, which is not in the process in our business, but i know it's not summer when the regional bartels b is one on medical cuts or surf. authoration allied force has been called a

frales kreger, excused the homeless on the way for him putting burden iraq to bother me again on saddam hussein fruits. up on top from best on dea vox gayona mission. we're getting don't all of our coast header. libyan gaddafi, skin overflow, she give you what's worked out. she's willing theater in a good to museum zullie and give them to your traditional view them via dish w 0. you on this, on the dolphin little moans and pest control e, unless the reason us had germany is dangerous, is it deny the sovereignty of the countries? ah me. march 24th 999. the youngest navea was lated and it was covered on live tv. the lawyer search on an exit and general budget on did it witness the i still remember those terrible days? probably for to be the image or send them a quest to was nazi me and i will be with medical demo. correct me. some of those you will get your coin them all of them. yeah. they don't talk emotional side as a way in the family. resource imaging, not in the process bases are brand new in summer when the regional bottle is really cool. cut authoration allied force has been called a geno

owns kreger, excused the homeless, alma, wait for him putting burden iraq to provide as game on saddam hussein. for fruits. up on top from best on dia, then vox ghana, national get, don't all of our culture libyan gaddafi is, cannot disclose. she give you what's walked out of willing theater in a good to me in julian. because i'm to your traditional view them by any dish w via your own. wish fun in mesh, allison moans and best control liam lists. the reason us hedge emily is dangerous is it denies the sovereignty of the countries. ah me. march 24th 999. the yugoslavia with lated and it was covered on live tv with the lawyer of john and exit and general budget on did it witnessed the events and still remember those terrible days might be for us it's merely, mitchell. i'm a quest source to was nazi me and i will be with the medical demo, correct me. some of those you can get into quinn, them all of them. yeah, we don't tackle motion to solve is a korean was found on even resource imaging, not in the process in apple based, but i know it's not. yeah, some of them. so regional bottle be it really

excuse the homeless on the way for him putting burden iraq to provide as game on saddam hussein fruits. up on top from best on deer valley. voc gonna missional getting don't all of our culture libyan gaddafi skin disclose? she give you what's walked out of willing theater. in a good to me in julian, because i'm going to your traditional views invite dish w 0. thank you. on the on the mesh, the dolphin little moans and pest control li, unless the, the reason us head gemini is dangerous, is it deny the sovereignty of the countries? ah, me. march 24th 999. the yugoslavia was annihilated and it was covered on live tv. the lawyer stopped on an exit and general budget and did it witnessed the events and still remember those terrible days later, probably photos of mitchell. i'm a quest source to was nazi me and i will be with our medical demo, correct me. some of those you will get them all of them. yeah, they don't talk emotional thought is a way in the family resource image, not in the process in apple basics, but i know it's not. yeah. summer with regional bottles. b is one on medical kind

own skier exchanged on the on the weight for him putting birds and iraq to provide as game on saddam hussein for fruits. up on top from best on dia, voc yana. national. getting don't all of our culture libyan gaddafi, skin notify. she give you what's worked out. she's willing to do in a good to nice julian. he's a good until the your dish, w i dish w 0 to you on the, on the dollars and all moans and better control you. unless the reason us hedge emily is dangerous, is it deny is the sovereignty of the countries ah me. march 24th 9. 199. the yugoslavia was lated and it was covered on live tv. the lawyer search on an exit and general budget. did it witness the events and still remember those terrible days? might probably be the major same. now my question was to was nazi me and i would be with the medical demo. correct me. some of those you would get your coin them all of them. yeah. they don't talk much inside is a way in this terminal human resource, which is not in the process in apple bases. but i know in the summer when you're so regional bottle is one on medical kinds of self. authoratio

saddam hussein was ousted and the region was permanently altered.de after september 11th, arabs across the middle east began protesting their own governments for supporting the war. that's when we saw the arab spring exploding. bush began withdrawing troops from iraq in 2007. but it wasn't until early 2020 the iraqi parliament voted to withdraw all remaining u.s. soldiers from the region after multiple isis attacks centered on their presence. now, 20 years after the eventual, president biden's afghanistan withdrawal finally brought some sort of conclusion to the 9/11 era, in a recognition that this war on terror will never truly be over. so where do we go from here? joining me now is robbie agoual and bobby gauche from bloomberg opinion. gentlemen, thank you for joining me today on this somber day as we commemorate the lives lost on 9/11 and the tragic events of that day. i think this question of how you move forward, there's still obviously this pervasive threat abroad. as we look at the withdrawal of afghanistan, the vacuum that feasibly could be

they picked on saddam hussein of iraq. iraq w invaded in 2003. that was deeply unpopular worldwide.oon, it became clear that the american forces were not really as strong or as effective as everybody had thought. now, of course, the withdrawal from afghanistan has really driven all of those points home. laura: you were actually in afghanistan 20 years ago. what are your reflections on that fateful day? >> well, it was a deep, deep shock. i had to go directly -- i was thrown out in fact and how to go directly to pakistan, where there was, as i think in most parts of the world, absolutely devastation. nobody knew what was going to happen and how serious it really was. i think actually it took some time for the seriousness of it to really come home to people. here in pakistan and in the rest of the world. laura: john simpson in pakistan tonight. thank you. as john was saying, while u.s. foreign policy changed dramatically in the wake of 9/11, for people here in new york city, the events of that day felt incredibly close. we have a story about that morning and how they were affected. th

they even said that saddam hussein was working with al qaeda, which if you know anything about the middle east is so ridiculous. saddam was a bath, if the secularist and alcohol or religious extremists, they are incompatible. now iraq is a country that has many ethnic groups, religious groups, and tribe. the bass parties been decades trying to integrate everyone into one national identity. certainly not perfect, but it was stable. and then united states invades in 2003 and suddenly there is a civil war carrying violence of car bombs and suicide bombs going off and crowded places, people blowing up shrines and mosques, say what you want about to dump, but that stuff was not happening before the invasion, and it's so easy for apologists western imperialism to go all look at all these people fighting over religion. they're so stupid and violent. funny, i'm none of this existed before 2003, right. what a coincidence, right after the us invades dissolves the army, the political and economic institution rips apart and social fabric and creates chaos that you suddenly bonds going off. america sa

clarissa, you've covered many, many stories on the trial and execution of saddam hussein in iraq, the syria to the situation now in afghanistan. i wonder, given all of those experiences, if you anticipated the degree to which that particular report would reverberate around the world. no, i don't think i possibly could have predicted how our reporting during that week that the taliban took over would resonate with people. and it's always difficult when you're in the field to have a real sense of how your reporting is being received elsewhere because you're working 19 hours a day. any bandwidth you have left is being used to think about things like what will i eat, how are we going to put this piece together, etc. so, i only really had a sense when i looked at my instagram account some weeks later and realised that i had 200,000 new followers. and you're talking to us from london now, so i wonder if you think you could do the kind of reporting you did a few weeks ago now. no, there's no substitute for being on the ground. i mean, you have to be there, you have to smell things in the air

the run up to the iraq war when it due to flee, quoted anonymous us intelligence sources on saddam hussein's fictional links to al qaeda. the non existent, w, m. d 's. we will find those who bid it, we will smoke them out of their holes. the bush administration launched the drone assassination program in afghanistan, shortly after, invading the country in 2001 before expanding to pakistan. president obama, up to the number of strikes and target, adding yemen, somalia, and libya to the left countries. the us was not even at war with the times that did not take issue with that, arguing in a 2013 editorial, that drone assassinations were justifiable, as long as capture was impossible. looking to the u. s. for protection they started became from the last victim in america, long or 8 years later, the times has captured the other side of the story. the question to fronting readers of this really exceptional new york times investigation about the cobbled trans is fundamentally one about why it was so exception. american journalism has quite a lot to do in cindy osis with the perpetuation of the war

demonstrate that america was back, that it was still as strong as ever, and they chose to pick on saddam husseinhing to do with the 9/11 attacks but that's not how the 9/11 attacks but that's not how the americans presented it. the invasion in 2003 was really unpopular around the world and eventually what happened was that american military power didn't look so great either in the war in iraq. you know, the real beneficiaries of this, the chinese don't like it if you say it, but the real beneficiaries long—term of 9/11 of the chinese themselves. john simpson. _ the chinese themselves. john simpson. our— the chinese themselves. john simpson, our world _ the chinese themselves. john simpson, our world affairs editor, in pakistan, thank you. the rest of the news now. lawyers acting for virginia giuffre — the woman who claims she was sexually assaulted by prince andrew — say he has been served with legal papers, ahead of preliminary proceedings scheduled to take place in new york on monday. 0ur royal correspondent sarah campbell is here. sarah, what more can you tell us? these are the official legal

in iraq, you know, we uncorked a very messy sectarian situation that saddam hussein had kept repressed, leading to both shia militia and death squads supported by iran and the rise of al qaeda in iraq and then the islamic state of iraq and then the islamic state of iraq and syria, isis. so, in all of these ways, it's hard to look at the world as it is today and argue that, over the past two decades, we have promoted more safety than risk that's been created, that we have achieved more than we have lost. >> so, what changed in your thinking? was it your experience with iraqis and afghans that informed your change of heart? >> oh, it was just realizing that everything we touched kind of turned to ash, that partially you cannot -- >> because we touch it or the way we did it? >> well, i mean, i would love for us to have been engaged in, you know -- instead of leading with the dod and then leaving state to clean up the mess, instead of having an intelligence community that was more focused on who can we kill next than how do we inform policymakers so that they can make the best decisions an

this was just drag net surveillance, the invasion of iraq in 2003 over through saddam hussein, who was later captured and executed. but it produced no weapons of mass destruction . 200000 rockies, and more than 4000 us troops were killed. the naval base at guantanamo bay, cuba became a prison, where so called enemy combatants were held indefinitely. some remain there to this day. a color coded system of threats was introduced, keeping citizens on edge. that was the goal, frighten the american people, you know, inflate the risk factor amelion fold and then p 0. well, we have to accept this, because otherwise they'll be bodies on the sidewalks and on the streets and everywhere else. the abuse of detainees by us sold was at abu ghraib prison in iraq, appalled many in the us and around the globe. but at the same time, in the u. s. veneration of the military grew, we have sort of fetishizing the military over the last 20 years. we have no idea of the long term impact of having people who have grown up entirely during a war period or people whose entire adult life has been serving in a war z

following the 1st us led war against iraq in 1991 iraqi leader. saddam hussein temporarily lost his iron grip. museums were looted and priceless objects stolen. the loading of the museum hit us in our core because our history is really important to us. our history is what makes us, we're an old country. in fact, i can say where the oldest country in 2014 the tablet was bought for 1600000 dollars by the wealthy fundamentalist christian who was building a museum of the bible in washington d. c. the fragment was seized by us government authorities in 2019 fig documentation led to its resale and transport for other countries. only the habit returned to the u. s. were an auction house facilitated that sale for $1600000.00. the head of the u. n. cultural organization says the repatriation of the gilgamesh tablet, sends a message. this ceremony here is also a welcome warning to the smugglers and looters of this world to those who use conflicts to steal into traffic, cultural heritage, participating in the destruction of cultural diversity. the epic itself is written as if recounting a dream tel

they picked on saddam hussein of iraq. iraq was invaded in 2003.ar worldwide, and soon it became clear that the american forces weren't really as strong or as effective as everybody had thought. and now, of course, the withdrawal from afghanistan has really driven all those points home. john simpson ——john —— john simpson there. well, the head of m15 says the threat of terrorism in the uk remains "a real and enduring thing". ken mccallum revealed that 31 late—stage attack plots had been foiled here in the last four years. and he warned that more sophisticated groups could reform once again. 0ur security correspondent gordon corera reports. for 20 years, surveillance and security have become ever more entwined in our lives — a sign of a threat that has not gone away, as the head of m15 told the bbc today. we do face a consistent global struggle to defeat extremism and to guard against terrorism. this is a real problem and in the last four years, for example, working with the police, my organisation has disrupted 31 late—stage attack plots in great b