for shiites this is all new.hiite muslims, the majority in iraq, were oppressed by saddam hussein's ruling sunni minority but the democracy america brought has turned the tables. shiites are now in power here, and it shows. kazamiya has just undergone a $400 million renovation. 200 pounds of pure gold laid on each dome. but the biggest change for iraq may be closer ties with its shiite neighbor -- iran. these days, kazamiya is full of iranian tour groups who come with their own guides with signs in pharisee. -- farsi. under iran no iranians came to iraq. saddam was iran's enemy. today more than 2 million iranians visit iraq every year. iraq'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 the united states toppled a dictator who's been replaced by a shiite government with close ties to iran.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 s

most of the bombings targeted shiite neighborhoods.his against the backdrop of rising sectarian tensions in iraq. these tensions have already claimed to have a political toll, effectively shutting down the parliament. there are now fears that iraq's ruling shi'ite and sunni coalition could soon break apart. iraq's shiite leader, nouri al- maliki, added fuel to the conflict by having an arrest warrant issued for his main political rival. he has accused sunni vice president terry al-hashimi of running death squads, a claim hashimi denies. ordinary iraqis are angry. >> the politicians fight for power while people die. what did those people do? they were just workers. >> those who run this country should sit down and resolve their political problems. these blastula solve our problems. >> but just days after the u.s. withdrew its last troops from iraq, many fear a return to the bloodshed that marked much of the last decade. >> to talk more about iraq, i am joined by a middle east analyst. as always, thank you for being with us. these latest

the shiites control most of the key ministries and when you go and walk around this city, you see shiiteies, they are openly discussing shiite religious air force. when you arrive at the airport, it is full of iranian pilgrims coming to visit shiite sites. and that is something that leaves many sunnis in this country concerned that they don't have a future in iraq. so, the more the shiite character of iraq develops, the more there is the potential that sunnis will feel squeezed and may react violently. >> and of course, finally, and briefly, if you can, richard, that raises the issue of that shiite country that neighbors iraq, iran. >> reporter: the iraqi officials, maliki in particular, they're not shiite or iranian pawns, but they do feel a certain affinity to iran, and iran has a great deal of economic influence here, many travelers from iran are coming, and when you compare iran's influence, which is exerted through political friends on the ground, through charities that it funds, compared to america's influence, which is now going to be carried out by the face of thousands of hated

and because it was a shiite government it has very strong links with its cool religious in iran. and therefore the main aim which i should say was bruce make sure that the oil the oil wealth remains available would be in jeopardy and i think that is basically the president if you would draw from iraq completely you leave this is why i asked. in the hands of a shiite led government which very close links with iran and therefore it upsets the political balance as far as the middle east is concerned so to that extent. to counter this the americans have now for all withdrawing the troops but at the same time strengthening their position in iraq now the u.s. embassy in iraq is going to be almost twenty thousand strong it's going to have numerous. offices like training training of troops etc who will be what they call basically americans who would be basically military men but working for the u.s. embassy similarly there would be a consulate in they would be a consulate in. kirkuk they would be a consulate for the north and each one of these gauntlets is about a thousand strong it will

sunni shiite classes run the brink of civil war in 2006. many iraqis worried that sectarian violence would spike after american troops left. u.s. officials have expressed concerns about a resurgence of al-qaeda now that the military is gone. terrell brown, cbs news. >>> the majority of muslims in iraq are shiites. coming up, howard has the holiday forecast. >> feels more like easter than christmas coming up this weekend. temperatures going into the 60s once again. we have changes as we head toward tonight and the weekend. look at the allergy update. you been sniffling? tree pollen low and mold spores with the warmth and the humidity moderate. i'll come back and we'll talk about a big storm headed this way tonight when 9news now at noon returns. >>> yesterday petty officer marissa get and her partner made history with the navy a first same-sex couple first kiss. the kiss is a tradition when sailors return from time at sea. the women say they met during navy training school and they've been dating for two years. >>> a prince george's county m

as afghanistan counted its dead, one shiite cleric said, we will never forget. today's bombings dealt a heavy blow in an already war-torn country. some fear that this sectarian attack today will lead to a new wave of violence and retaliation. brian? >> nbc's atia abawi at our bureau in kabul. atia, thanks. >>> nbc news has learned more about the story we first reported here last night about the unmanned drone that crashed in iran. u.s. officials tell our own jim miklaszewski at the pentagon that the cia had used this sophisticated stealth drone in the past to spy on iran's nuclear facilities and hezbollah training camps within iran. but officials would not describe the mission it was flying when it crashed last thursday. >>> in april of last year, 29 men died in the explosion in the upper big branch mine in west virginia. as you'll recall, it was a huge story and a genuine national tragedy. today the mines' owner agreed to pay more than $200 million in penalties and restitution to the families of the victims. nbc's tom costello covered the disaster, and tonight

killed four more shiites. a third attack in kandahar killed one person. major sectarian violence in afghanistan between sunnis and the 20% of afghans who are shiites had been nearly unknown since the fall of the taliban in 2001. the taliban denied any role in today's attacks, but in pakistan where such violence is commonplace, a spokesman for a sunni militant group did claim responsibility. >> the first time on such an important religious date in afghanistan terrorism of that horrible nature is taking place. >> woodruff: afghan president karzai was in berlin today meeting with german chancellor merckel. >> this shows that we must continue to work hard in order to ensure the security situation in afghanistan. >> woodruff: the leaders spoke one day after a major conference held in bonn. the agenda stabilizing afghanistan after ten years of international involvement. and after the 2014 withdrawal date for u.s. forces. the afghans said they would need a further decade of assistance beyond that date until 2024. another important player, pakistan, boycotted the

in the hands of a shiite led government which very close links with iran and therefore it upsets the political balance as far as the middle east is concerned so to that extent. to counter this the americans have now for. withdrawing the troops but at the same time strengthening their position in iraq now the u.s. embassy in iraq is going to be almost twenty thousand strong it's going to have numerous. offices like training training of troops etc who will be. basically americans who would be basically military men but working for the u.s. embassy similarly there will be a consulate in there will be a consulate in. good cook there would be a consulate or not and each one of these gauntlets is about a thousand strong it will perhaps be the largest u.s. embassy anywhere in the world i mean normal embassies are usually between thirty to forty maybe if it's a very big embassy perhaps one hundred strong but twenty thousand strong it means that they're going to be lots of other people who are going to be still in iraq. now the reason why i say this is that they cannot afford to be completely

one top shiite cleric said, we will never forget. today's bombings dealt a heavy blow in an already war-torn country. some fear this attack will lead to a new waive of violence and retaliation. >> atia abawi, thanks. >>> nbc news has learned more about the story we first reported here lasts night about the unmanned drone that crashed in iran. u.s. officials tell our own jim miklaszewski at the pentagon that the cia had used this sophisticated stealth zroen dro the past to spy on hezbollah training camps in iran. they would not describe the mission it was flying when it crashed last thursday. >>> in april of last year, 29 men died in the explosion of the upper big branch mine in west virginia. it was a huge story and a genuine national tragedy. today the mines owner agreed to pay more than $200 million in penalties and restitution of the families of the victims. tom costello covered the disaster, and tonight he has more on the settlement. >> reporter: it's a tragedy that still haunts west virginia coal country. 29 men, husbands, fathe

officials fear the blood bath could reignite tensionses between the sunni and shiite factions, therebypening the door for a dangerous resurgence of al qaeda in the region. despite those warnings, president obama is choosing instead to make crucial foreign policy decisions based on politics. earlier today, arizona senator john mccain criticized our campaigner in chief for once again placing his own political gain above america's national security. >> day before yesterday, the president said iraq was strong, stable and democratic. president pledged to get out of iraq. he said the surge would never work. they are putting out propaganda that his re-election campaign called promises kept and it's really tragic because this place could unraffle and that would be so tragic because twee did spend 4,474 young american lives and we won the war and now we are losing the peace. >> here now with reaction, fox news contributor, judith miller and author of "american individualism," fox news contributor, margaret hoover. judith, let's go back to john mccain's words, unraveling. >> it certainly looks t

iran is a shiite government, and now iraq is a shiite government.ainly can does feel a certain affinity to its fellow shiite neighbor. and there is already a tremendous amount of cross-border traffic between pilgrims. there's a tremendous amount of trade between the two countries. just to give you an example about flights, there are currently now no direct flights between the united states and baghdad. there are, on some days, a dozen direct flights from iraqi airports to iran. so you get a sense of which country iraqis are connecting with right now, and it's not the united states. but that doesn't mean that maliki gets a phone call from iranian authorities every day and tells him what to do. >> indeed. the president today acknowledged that, in fact, the iranians do have a downed u.s. drone and are, so far, refusing to give it back. this may be a new chapter in the story of iraq and the dark shadow of iran. but the end of this story, it's a long way from being written yet, isn't it? >> it's very hard to know where this country is going, but i think

the bombs targeted shiites. a second bomb was dropped to a bicycle that exploded in the northern city. a convoy of afghan shiites was driving down the road, shouting and celebration when the bombs went off. the attack happened almost at the same time that a suicide bomber hit a shiite mosque in koppel. nationwide, more than 50 people have already been killed. >>mark: said it is not a winter spare the air date. the air will not rise above the 1,500 ft.. any small burning or wood burning will get trapped in the lower levels of the atmosphere. of cold weather is the story for the next few mornings. >>erica: at least we get to see sunshine and plenty of blue skies overlooking our roof camera in downtown san francisco. a couple of locations in the upper 20s. for the most part we are making some improvements getting closer to our afternoon highs. freezing temperatures this morning. a frost advisory in effect for the next 15 minutes or so. as we turn our attention to this afternoon, sunshine bay area wide with temperat

afghanistan shiite community makes up about 20% of the population of 30 million. the bombings have raised concern that the violence wracked country may be falling into a divisive religious conflict as well. >>> pakistan's relations with the united states have also entered a difficult period. the country's ties with the u.s. have soured since nato's cross-border attack last month. pakistan has taking retaliatory measures. the government's hard-line policy is backed by growing anti-u.s. sentiment among pakistanis. they are angry about the u.s. military operations and the civilian casualties, those especially caused by the u.s. drone attacks. nhk world's hideki yui reports from pakistan. >> reporter: anti-american demonstrations are continuing across pakistan. the protesters are demanding an end to the u.s. drone raids. the u.s. military has stepped up its drone attacks, suspecting residents of harboring armed insurgents, but this has led to the killing of civilians. this town of dera ismail khan is some 150 kilometers from the border with afghanistan in northwestern

this was between sunnis and shiites. and the surge happened with all the extra american troops, 40,000 of them, and that civil war stopped. now the u.s. troops are gone so that civil war is coming right back again. i think it could get very ugly. the shiites in the country who were never in power for 1,400 years are now in power. they are consolidating their rule. and the sunnis who ruled under saddam hussein feel they have no future in this country. so they are fighting. they are fighting for survival. the sunnis carried out the bombings today nearly all in shiite districts. we are going to see more of this. >> all right. it was a bad day. we'll keep watching it. by the way, welcome back. you're never back for long, but happy holidays. >> not this year, but thank you very much. >> reporter: tonight after a month-long investigation the u.s. military says miscommunications between american and pakistani forces led to nato air strikes that killed 24 pakistani soldiers along the afghan border, but the u.s. is not apologizin

two explosions took place outside insurance is people were observing a shiite holy day.nother bomb on a motorcycle went off in the southern city of kandahar. the international community has strongly condemned the attacks and said that terrorism will not hinder long-term support for afghanistan. >> the attack in kabul was the deadliest for three years. hundreds of pilgrims had gathered at the shiite shrine to celebrate the festival of ashoura, one of the holiest days on the shiite calendar to the suicide bomber struck around midday. >> today's the day of mourning for the imam hussain, when muslims celebrate ashoura. this is an attack against humanity and against islam. >> the afghan president condemned the bombings. he is in berlin for talks for how to secure a peaceful future for his country. >> this is the first time that on such an important religious day in afghanistan, a terrorism of that horrible nature has taken place. we all wish the best for those who are injured. >> it is unclear who is to blame for the attacks. a pakistani group is reportedly claiming it carrie

the sunnis carried out the bombings today nearly all in shiite districts. we are going to see more of this. >> by the way, welcome back. you're never back for long, but happy holidays. >> not this year, but thank you very much. >> reporter: tonight after a month-long investigation the u.s. military says miscommunications between american and pakistani forces led to nato air strikes that killed 24 pakistani soldiers along the afghan border, but the u.s. is not apologizing for the strikes and the complicated relationship between the two countries is now more strained than ever. that's saying a lot. we get details tonight from our pentagon correspondent jim miklaszewski. >> reporter: the u.s. combat forces were on a night mission in a mountainous region along the pakistani border when they came under fierce attack. the americans and afghan soldiers came under heavy machine gun fire from a ridgeline inside pakistan. u.s. par planes fired off a barrage of flares, lighting up the valley and making it clear those were americans on the ground. but the attack raged

the population in check now whether the new government that is the shiite led government will be able to equally dick strong on message. control be what they called situation is a bit doubtful because frankly i don't think they have the experience to be able to run a country like iraq and therefore they're going to be for see sectarian violence perhaps may not be of the scale that it is no but may have little more than what is presently going on and you mentioned the united states troops going to crawl way how do you think the arab gulf countries are going to react to that are they going to welcome the americans i don't think so because i don't see i don't see this. actually i think it's a just the shuffle of the cards so as to speak because the americans are not going very far they're just going to quit which is next door and you can always come back . because the bases will be kept intact and as i mentioned with a twenty thousand strong u.s. embassy most of the staff etc will always be there and secondly they have made sure that there is no law the air force in fact you find that th

suicide bombers struck crowds of shiite muslims as they celebrated the holiest day on their calendar. more on the deadliest day in that country in nearly a decade -- >> at least 58 people have been killed and nearly 200 injured in a coordinated attacks in afghanistan in different parts of the country. the first one took place in the capital placekabul, where a suicide bomber targeted shiite muslims. 54 people were killed in that attack. at least 150 people were wounded. later, in northern afghanistan, a similar attack to the one we saw in kabul. this time, it was a bicycle bomb, also targeting shia muslims. in kandahar, another attack. no one was killed in that attack. we have not seen sectarian violence in the past in afghanistan to even the taliban sent out an e-mail condemning the attack, and said the taliban would never attack afghans on the basis of religion, tribal affiliation, or ethnicity. >> still ahead, the hit reality series "fear factor" is back. carrie is here to answer your plant and gardening questions. you can e-mail your questions. >> when we come back, in the insta-w

instead it focus the its rage on the country's shiite-dominated leadership.here do you see this going from here? >> it is important to remember to frame the picture. 20% of iraq is sunni. saddam hassoun any. he ran a brutal regime. most of the key leaders in his regime hassoun any. 40 to 60% of the regime is shiite. many shiites are aligned with iranians and 20% are kurdish in the north which has been relatively free from sectarian strife. we have the opportunity for sunnies to start striking at shiites. much is pay back. much is the nature of not wanting iranians to have a closer grip on iraq than they already have. truthfully, heather, the iranians have a very firm grip on much of what is going on in iraq right now. to some point, iranians, believe al qaeda sunnis are responsible for some of these bombings. heather: you were there. you spent your time. you didn't speak with any americans on this particular visit. you've been there multiple times. you spent your time talking to the iraqis. what is their take on the u.s. with drawl? should we have stayed long

is a woman in the rain and she was in front of the tour around about in the rain she's an educated shiite woman like some some i mean called i was in contact with some of them in fact she was probably arrested off towards her movement is going nowhere because the repression was or renders did not only destroyed the poor roundabouts which was the graphic symbol of the protest movement in bahrain that they evaded mosques they arrested doctors so the repression in bahrain which is the untouchable in terms of western media we cannot we can't talk about libya we can talk about syria nowadays but nobody talks about that arena anymore any my view this was one of the strongest protests of all the arab different arab strings and then repression which was coordinated between the g.c.c. countries and we direct intervention by saudi arabia prove to all of us that the saudis are at the top of the counter revolution against these protests and you know you mentioned syria and you say you know it has been covered and it has to an extent but not very much is certainly more than bahrain but on one hand let

armed and are battling the government the divide very much along sectarian lines sunni sunni's versus shiites most recently a former official with the f.b.i. is reporting u.s. and nato forces have already landed just outside of syria and are planning to train the militants to overthrow the regime regime of president bashar al assad critics say this move will fuel the civil war and give an excuse for a future intervention. so we want to delve into this there were of course many more protests this year but we want to focus specifically on these and bring in pepe escobar asia times correspondent in south pole brazil hey there poppy looking at all of these what is the guy in tahrir square and a guy in moscow have in common what unites them. well it's very hard to make a synthesis of a global movement in fact this is now occupy the world but basically this is the beginning of the end of neo liberalism as we know it durable capitalism financial capitalism and the people who are proving this are not they're not even the one percent they are there's zero zero point one percent in fact against seven b

the most important of iraq's fault lines between the sunni and shiite communities. the fact the prime minister is threatening prosecution of a very senior syrian -- sunni leads many to think they could be next. the u.s. presence in the country had until recently served as a stabilizing influence, persuading sunnis they would not be suppressed by a shiite majority. with the present john, the situation is considered more dangerous. >> how dangerous the you believe it to be? we are looking at perhaps a collapse of the government in a worst-case scenario. >> the worst case scenario is a decline spiraling into violence of the 2006 scale, but if things are going ahead in that direction, it would start with moves not unlike what we are seeing now. we may not get there, but it is a disquieting series of events. >> what you believe will be the response of supporters to this issue? >> i think they are hoping the prime minister can be talked down from this. this is not the first time maliki has tried things like this. for years he has used new rule of law pretexts to try to ar

government had taken on the shiite militias and destroyed them. we had a country that had an election that had representation of sunnies and kurds and shiites. in three years, this administration had one task, work out an arrangement where at least america remains in a noncombat role as we were for the last year and a half to exert pressure and we do not do that. to have a one-war kicked away as a result is truly tragic. >> all right, panel. thank you very much. that's it for the panel. but stay tuned. the president pledged to stay right here in washington until that payroll tax cut fight was settled, but we've uncovered evidence that's brand new that he may snot kept his promise. that's next. >> announcer: if you think identity theft is scary, just wait until you try to fix it. >> 58 different individuals are using... absolutely, using my old social security number. >> announcer: identity theft has topped the federal government's list of consumer complaints for the last eleven years. it's a serious problem with anyone with a social security numbe

following several coordinated explosions in iraq's capital city. 14 bomb attacks targeting mostly shiite neighborhoods in baghdad days after the last american troops left the country. nearly 200 people have been injured. the blasts are the worst violence to hit the country in months and come amid a major government crisis between sunni and shiite politicians. >>> in the bay area services came to a standstill and patients had to be turned away at marin general after a power outage left patients and other customers in the dark. a third-party construction crew dug into an electrical line near the hospital before 9:00 this morning. back-up generators did kick in and power was restored 10:00. ambulances were diverted for an hour. patients are now being accepted again. >>> you need to check your medicine cabinet. a pharmaceutical company recalls certain pain relievers. >> wal-mart pulls a popular baby formula from shelves after the death of a newborn and illness of another baby. >>> water main break in the east bay damages a home and leaves dozens >>> an accident involving a