here's what the iraq veterans are saying on the issue of, oh, we shouldn't have an end of the iraq warade because there's still another war on in afghanistan. this is what they say to that. some of our nation's leaders disagree that now is the time to celebrate our returning veterans. all americans know that the fight is not yet over, not in afghanistan and not at home. but if our country can afford two wars, it can afford two parades and more. for our vets to show them that we've got their backs. editorial comment here -- it is dumb politics for politicians and pentagon brass to stand against the actual veterans on this. and honestly, it is nearing obscene that in order to get a parade thanking them for their service, iq

the iraq war has ended. over 4,400 gave their nationwideo step up before kickoff this sunday and petition the president and the mayors of new york and boston to lead a national day of action to properly honor iraq veterans' service and sacrifice. this is up on my blog if you want to see it. here's what the iraq veterans are saying on the issue of, oh, we shouldn't have an end of the iraq war parade because there's still another war on in afghanistan. this is what they say to that. check this out. some of our nation's leaders disagree that now is the time to celebrate our returning veterans. all americans know that the fight is not yet over, not in afghanistan and not at home. but if our country can afford two wars, it can afford two parades and more. for our vets to show them that we've got their backs. editorial comment here -- it is dumb politics for politicians and pentagon brass to stand against the actual veterans on this. and honestly, it is nearing obscene that in order to get a

. >> we have been covering the iraq war parade story. st. s had a parade to thank veterans, 100,000 people showed up. the veterans were happy to have the end of the iraq war noted like that, to be thanked for their service and welcome home. st. louis, god bless them, new york, where we usually have ticker tape parades to mark the end of the war, the mayor resisted this idea. this story is evolving and quickly. we have news on this story tonight, exclusive news on it coming up in a moment. >>> also a programming note, this sunday morning i will be on meet the press on nbc, newt gingrich will also be on meet the press but not talking to me, he will talk to david gregory, after newt gingrich i will be on with mr. gregory and david brooks and meet the press is sunday morning. then after meet the press you may have heard there is a football game, super bowl, while you're watching the pre game festivities around 3:30 p.m. eastern, you will see "the rachel maddow show" show super bowl ad. we are told it will be around 3:30 eastern during the pre-gam

experiences, or they chose not to deploy to the iraq war because they opposed the iraq war. and the room was packed with people from bellingham and also with veterans because there was a veterans against war convention going on up at, i guess it was in seattle, and also up at the border. so it was a hot evening, the lights were on from the cameras as they are, as they are tonight, and i was wired as i am here with this microphone. so i couldn't, i couldn't take off my jacket. it was just hot and uncomfortable. and the subject matter was extraordinarily difficult to deal with. these stories of these soldiers that they told about why they became opposed to the war were sobering at best. so after talking for about an hour, during the question and answer period a woman raised her hand as is not uncommon in these kind of author events and said what's your next book going to be about. and i just wanted to get off stage at that point, and i said this has been such a difficult assignment that my next book is going to be about butterflies and flowers. and it was a little bit of a tit

she explained it last night much the largest association of veterans, iraq and afghanistan veterans of america, headquartered in new york city are for it too. so far the answer is no for new york, i think that might be because of a miscommunication. has not said he's against the idea of a parade, he likes the idea but the pentagon told him not to do it. a statement from the mayor's office saying we sought the pentagon's guidance since they are the real experts and there is a question about whether a parade puts troops still in the field at risk. that struck some people including me as strange. after all, the parades to mark other wars had happened with troops still in the field somewhere. nobody thought those troops, parades put anybody at risk. after all, the st. louis parade went out without a hitch with national news coverage and only risk anybody suffered was tear duct exhaustion and sore cheeks from smiling. the white house announced they would be holding a gala white house dinner to welcome home iraq veterans at the end of the month. why would a celebration like that not put troo

the u.s. took in iraq. >> after 1991, it was set to increase. and fight to induce -- the convergence of islam. was it totally about the occult personality? or something like that? >> the face campaign that was launched in the 80s and intensified in the 90s. for example, reciting the koran during ramadan became three hours more religious programs, and as i said the institute -- interpretation of the holy koran was set up in academic institution, first in baghdad and then in bosnia, something like 25% of the student for active members -- encouraged to go, how to interpret the holy koran from that point of view. fascinating to look at the essays and seminar paper is that these children had to write and everything gets filed after these topics. there was a lot of lip service -- in reality, there was really -- anti religious attitudes. >> grateful for the presentation. in 2003, and the support on each of these in the future and i can see -- with a u.s. army. into the regime, in the u.s. army? >> this question is important, what we said about the decis

war, now that the iraq war has ended. t ahead and did it, went off great, 100,000 people turned out. when it came time to present a proclamation of support to iraq veterans from the city of st. louis, that proclamation was presented by charlie dooley, the county executive of st. louis and a viet nam veteran. joining us is charlie a. dooley, many thanks for your time. >> thank you for having me. >> the decision to hold the parade to mark the end of the iraq war in st. louis i know didn't start with the city or county, started with a couple of concerned scitizens, do you thik it was a success? >> it was a great success, a great day, it made you feel proud to be a st. louisan. >> was there any downside of what you did in st. louis, any sort of hidden pitfalls or anything to worry about, any negative consequences that might be cautionary for any other cities considering doing this? >> from the st. louis perspective on such a short notice, we were concerned whether there would be a crowd. there was a crowd, 100,000 people, 20,0

the u.s. will be in iraq for the rest of our lives there is no doubt about it. and take you know if the u.s. isn't ready to leave and from what you're saying we are far from from leaving the country what does that mean for president obama who is touting the end of the war and iraq as a campaign promise fulfilled. well i mean i'm not haven't been supportive of barack obama since the third day he was in office i mean i don't i do not think that president obama has been a very good president whatsoever but i do give them credence that he did whole combat troops out of iraq that much to be said he polled the troops out of iraq and he should be saluted for that i whatever i don't think that he can count iraq as a success or afghanistan or the killing of these people and all over the world the drone strikes me these have not been successes i think the obama presidency has so thus far has been a failure but we'll see what happens if he wins his second term now this is called operation po-r. post operation new dawn but this report it doesn't really go into much detail on to what exactly this entails

were saying about the situation in iraq and what we were saying we were much much closer to the truth the reality is you know if a doctor cannot have a good therapy unless he has a good diagnosis and if government make the wrong diagnosis about is about iraq where about iran well how can you have the good therapy you as a civil service however you'd like. to call it give a diagnosis and as far as you're concerned the powers that be can do what they want with that but as you said perhaps those diagnosis have been misused. what do you think maybe what you think is going wrong that there's a new element also in the picture and that is that came off to ninety ninety one because in ninety ninety one we realized that iraq has had been cheating we went to declared installations but not to other places and they were building things elsewhere so we said if intelligence knew about this if the cia knew about these things they should tell the the i.a.e.a. can then ask the iraq to say that look we have heard this we would like to go there and therefore you say there is nothing in them lift letters

forces are increasing daily. >> this is at the apex of iraq going to hell. the surge has just started. and the war went from incredibly violent to over the top violent, especially in baghdad. >> we would get blown up regularly. snipers shooting at us. never really tell who the enemy was. >> soldiers from the u.s. army's bravo company 216, including specialist ethan mccord, are on patrol in a rundown neighborhood called new baghdad. early that morning the battalion comes under mortar fire as it leaves the base. while the soldiers patrol, they hear sporadic gunfire. >> this area had been a troublesome area so bravo company was tasked out to go in and kind of flush people out. >> two apache helicopters are trying air support and cameras mounted on their gun sites are recording the mission. wikileaks added the subtitles on the video, but the audio you hear is the pilot's actual radio chatter. >> we got a target coming at you. >> the pilots spot a group of men they suspect are insurgents carrying weapons. >> slow down. individuals with weapons. >> he's got a weapo

veterans are looking at the parade and asking why we can do this for football but not mark the end of the iraq war and welcome home the troops. so far michael bloomberg says no to that idea but the other most powerful person in new york besides mayor bloomberg is christine quinn, she says she is for this idea. christine quinn will be joining us tonight. that is all coming up over the course of the hour. >>> but first, as ed mentioned, it is elect shun night again in america. sort of. bringing you results as they come t from the republican presidential primary in missouri, and from the republican presidential caucuses in minnesota and in colorado. at this hour, polls have closed in that missouri primary. they closed at 8:00 p.m. eastern, across the state of missouri and the results we have so far are as follows. in missouri, very small proportion of the vote in, 2% in, rick santorum right now in first place, mitt romney in second place, ron paul in third place, and my favorite, uncommitted in 4th place. in missouri it's important to remember, newt gingrich is not on the ballot. do not be lookin

>> well, the legacy we see in iraq depends on what the iraqis do now. we have given them the opportunity to enjoy freedom and liberty. now they need to decide what sort of form that will take for them and their children and grandchildren. >> colonel, you were on the front lines in iraq. what did you see? what were your impressions about your involvement in this conflict? >> well, it was a long process. the marine corps was largely in anbar province. so my experience is largely from what happened there and fallugia and ramadi. we have an adaptive and professional force that's able to figure out the war and come out victorious. >> how are you preparing for tonight's dinner? what will you be wearing and is this your first time at the white house? >> definitely my first time at the white house. wearing evening dress which is the equivalent to a tuxedo for civilians. >> and your wife? >> my wife is dressed up in an evening dress that would go alongside a tuxedo. >> is there a sense of excitement? what are your thoughts? >> we're very excited. the people i ha

that believes the usa is leaving iraq without a clear victory barack does this suggest that there is in fact a lot more work to be done there. yeah i mean this is this is this is one of the major problems i mean we did not a we were not able to finish the task off inside of iraq as the bush administration had planned the obama administration wisely understood that that the problem was way too deep for us to be able to fix and so he said ok it's time for us to cut our losses see that we have made some progress and then pull the troops back and leave the rest of it in iraqi hands the last bit here is for the u.s. to basically been able to keep it on and make sure that iranian influence is can't take over the government and also to make sure that iraq doesn't implode again and civil war so that's why there is this three billion no small is no chump change to two needed to help out the remainder part of it now and again this iraq was not a military or political success for the united states we are still saying going to see the consequences of the choice to invade for some years to come an

. >> narrator: the story begins two and a half years ago in a town called haditha in western iraq near the syrian border on the banks of the euphrates river. before the war it was known as a serene oasis, a popular vacation spot. but by the fall of 2005, nearly three years into the war haditha was war-torn, and sunni insurgents were in complete control. >> insurgent traffic of foreign fighters, fighters from syria, from places outside of iraq, came through the haditha triad and then down into points south and east like fallujah and on into baghdad. >> narrator: control of haditha was vital in order to protect a massive dam that provided electricity to all of anbar province. to retake haditha, the marine corps sent in some of its most battle-hardened men, kilo company, from the legendary third battalion, first marines-- the thundering third. >> the 3-1's one of the most decorated battalions in the marine corps. their history goes on back through vietnam, korea, world war ii; all the major conflicts that this country's been in, the 3-1's been involved in. >> narrator: iraq was no differe

this falls into the same category of al qaeda in iraq propaganda."e >> we know that the hammurabi video is insurgent propaganda because intelligence information received almost immediately after the... the events of november 19 indicated that the video had been recorded by an insurgent propagandist. >> narrator: but mcgirk thought he had good reason to believe the claims on the tape. >> i had worked with the hammurabi people before on other stories, and i think that it's wrong to smear them as pro- insurgent. these are people who are carrying out human rights work in iraq. >> narrator: the marines offered to transport mcgirk to haditha to look into their side of the story. mcgirk declined, saying his editor felt it was too dangerous to go into haditha, but his questioning produced results. >> there was an indication that... that because of his inquiries, the highest echelons of command were concerned about the events of november 19. >> narrator: within a month, a full-scale investigation was underway. as part of the navy, the marine corps falls under

all muslims the world over to come and join forces and that it reinforced by the information from the iraq intelligence was said that the fighters who are being transported from iraq into syria in order to decide on the rebel side all of those all of these facts put together really point to the fact that al qaeda right now is strongly supporting the syrian rebel fighters and when you put all of that together with the fact that washington d.c. is absolutely adamant about coming into talks with the syrian president they have essentially dismissed him as a leader and they encourage him to they don't just encourage him they insist that bashar lesson step down and when you put all of that together to end up with a very volatile situation which really is incredibly hard to solve so again right now all we can do is observe and you know thanks very much indeed for that he's only going to start reporting live there from colorado while the author and journalist afshin returns he has told me a little earlier here in r.t. that the u.s. and fighting side by side in syria to protect common interests. th

veterans are looking at the parade and asking why we can do this for football but not mark the end of the iraq war and welcome home the troops. so far michael bloomberg says no to that idea but the other most powerful person in new york besides mayor bloomberg is christine quinn, she says she is for this idea. christine quinn will be joining us tonight. that is all coming up over the course of the hour. >>> but first, as ed mentioned, it is elect shun night again in america. sort of. bringing you results as they come t from the republican presidential primary in missouri, and from the republican presidential caucuses in minnesota and in colorado. at this hour, polls have closed >> conservatism is alive and well in missouri and minnesota. your votes today were not just heard loud and wide across the state of missouri and minnesota, but they were heard loud and louder all across this country, and particularly in a play i suspect may be in massachusetts. they were heard particularly loud tonight. >> if ever it was more clear this race is not yet over, that republicans are not satisfied to just pi

the wars in iraq and of afghanistan, they are asking the president to convene a meeting of mayors nationwide, mayors and leading veterans groups to plan a national day of action to recognize iraq war vets now that the war is over. as for whether or not there is going to be a new york city ticker tape parade for iraq war veterans, except for viet nam where we snubbed the veterans, we didn't recognize them until 10 years after the end of viet nam, now that the iraq war is over, will there be a ticker tape parade for iraq veterans? the pentagon still says they don't think there ought to be. the line is that they were all for the st. louis parade and other cities doing parades to welcome home troops but the pentagon says they are against new york doing it. i've talked to them directly and i don't get it, either. but now more cities after st. louis are apparently on deck, richmond, virginia on may 19ingth, good for them. i hear we are afwobout to have e cities. i have to say i think the new york question still is not settled, we will keep you posted. this thing is still in motion. immerse yoursel