all simply the sonic state of iraq the levant was on the back foot in two thousand and seventeen in a conflict involving several countries lives homes and centuries old on the facts in iraq and syria were destroyed and still try to export violence and fear to africa europe and the us. of the year ends with proclamations of victory over the group in both iraq and syria but is i so rarely finished take you back to two thousand and fourteen that's when the group declared its so-called caliphate namely i will buckle baghdadi as the leader of muslims everywhere eisel took control of about thirty percent of iraq during the next two years but it started losing ground at the end of two thousand and fifteen the first significant wind for the iraqi army was or ahmadi six months later the army retort for lugar from eisel you're not ration which lasted little more than a month the battle for mosul talked longer after nearly nine months of fighting the iraqi army with u.s. support regained the city in june since then the focus has been on getting rid of isis from smaller towns and villages around

of the year ends with proclamations of victory over the group in both iraq and syria but is i so rarely finished take you back to two thousand and fourteen that's when the group declared it so cold caliphate naming a buckle baghdadi as the leader of muslims everywhere eisel took control of about thirty percent of iraq during the next two years but it started losing ground at the end of two thousand and fifteen the first significant win for the iraqi army was. six months later the army retired from eisel an operation which lasted with more than a month the battle for mosul talked longer after nearly nine months of fighting the iraqi army with u.s. support regained the city in june since then the focus has been on getting rid of isis from smaller towns and villages around mosul and on december the ninth iraq's prime minister officially declared the country eisel free. isis caliphate was meant to stretch from eastern iraq to western syria taking over most of both countries but i still suffered heavy losses in syria two this year in october u.s. bank syrian forces seized the rocket from the

the iraq and saddam hussein is the real problem. new goals were different change the regime in baghdad to subjugate iraq a simpler objective. and that of destroying the elusive terrorist. september nineteenth those in support of eliminating saddam hussein meet at the ministry of defense the pentagon. they all began asking questions about how long can we continue this policy aimed at keeping saddam under control and that inclusion they came to was not much longer the day after the meeting at the pentagon president bush addresses congress. it is a historic moment the nation is united bush names the culprits osama bin laden al qaida the taliban regime in afghanistan our enemies are radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them. no mention about iraq but he warns our war on terror. begins with al-qaeda. but it does not in their. tony blair the british prime minister and guest of honor applause it's symbolic of the unwavering alliance between washington and london. the taliban are quickly driven out of kabul and a

but in private bush confirms to franks the order to attack iraq. this change in priority worries the general who on february nineteenth two thousand and two confides in bob graham florida senator and chairman of the senate intelligence committee. after a briefing which was quite upbeat with the progress that was being made the general asked me to meet privately in his office and the first thing he said was we're no longer fighting a war in afghanistan i was stunned by that and i asked him what that he mean and he said that some of the important personnel such is special operations units were being moved from afghanistan to get ready for a war in iraq. bush's decision is fraught with consequences the fight against terrorism is put on the back burner in favor of a conventional war in the middle east not the most predictable region in the world . in early two thousand and two the military machine is set in motion all the trimmings is to convince the public of the need to go to war with a country that seems far removed from the tragedy that struck ameri

often hears from some of the sunni populations of both syria and iraq which feel shall we say slightly marginalized by the existing regimes there has anything changed to get into the causes run out as anything changed to make sunni populations at this point feel more integrated and welcomed and like they belong in the existing power structures of central governments. well i think it's different for each of the different contexts fundamentally what gives rise to groups like isis is the withdrawal or the absence of the state so the central government can no longer really legitimately represent or is unable to really respond to the needs of some of the citizens so it's this crisis of representation where you know allows the vacuum to emerge where isis can come up in syria and iraq and libya and other parts of the middle east that are going through these transitions so those are what you know you could refer to as the root causes since two thousand and three in iraq i think the argument if i may who should i think we are given that people like. is that it's sometimes deliberate this is not

still to come in the weekly reporting on iraq the research that says the liberation of mosul killed more civilians than previously admitted and also the bereaved families of british troops make a tough decision their stories on the way. our . russian athletes take. remains controversial. more important what awaits them after they get. welcome back the weekly now the u.s. led operation to liberate the iraqi city of mosul from iceland may have killed ten times more civilians than previously thought that's according to research by the associated press the news agency chained data from iraqi morgues as well as nongovernmental organizations and it says as many as eleven thousand civilians may have been killed during the nine month operation nearly a third of these were said to have died during bombing raids the coalition only acknowledges three hundred twenty six civilian deaths our correspondent visited the city both during and after the operation. this is seated presses counties arguably ready out of date if you consider the people would have died as a consequence of the battle of men so ju

the families of british soldiers killed in the iraq war have abandoned their legal battle against the government i suppose includes courts cannot rule on cases concerning foreign policy and the legality of war almost fifteen years have passed since the iraq invasion around half a million people were killed in total and among them one hundred seventy nine british soldiers efficient the british inquiry to the war known as the chill court report was published last year many families wanted the prime minister at the time tony blair brought to justice for sending troops into what they say was in the legal war an r.t.s. party boyko about one man who lost his brother in the conflict mike wilson lost his identical twin brother lance corporal david wilson in iraq in two thousand and eight on numerous occasions of the mystic and the like why is of course this old saying of course someone telling me on facebook not so long book and thought i was david david was twenty seven he'd become a father to his daughter poppy weeks before his death people set up twins have a rare twin bond kind of thing a

the families of the soldiers killed in the iraq war have abandoned the legal battle to have former prime minister tony blair and other u.k. government officials prosecuted for war crimes lawyers say that they have exhausted every possible means to get justice for those killed during the invasion almost fifteen years have passed since the invasion of iraq tens of thousands of british troops took part one hundred seventy nine lost their lives the official british inquiry into the war known as the chilcot report was published last year that criticize the government for rushing into the conflict based on flawed intelligence . while man who lost his brother in the war. on numerous occasions of been mistaken to like white as a ghost and cost someone's out of memphis work and thought i was in mike wilson lost his identical twin brother lance corporal david wilson in iraq in two thousand and eight david was twenty seven he'd become a father to his daughter poppy weeks before his death people say the twins have a rare twin bond kind of thing and i never really believe in this kind of thing i'm qu

you realize it's me who switched off together with other families of the soldiers fallen in iraq might push for a civil case against tony blair but lawyers have told them that british courts can't make judgments on matters of foreign policy military decisions or the legality of war for the grieving relatives the legal route here in the u.k. has been exhausted condemn the loss of a loved one in a conflict that the chill court report concluded was based on flawed intelligence will never be forgotten. the damning report revealed that saddam hussein presented no immediate threat and that politicians spoke of weapons of mass destruction with the certainty that wasn't justified forging tony blair has been made immune from. prosecution in the high court seems that pretty much they can do what they want and get away with it west family the family was destroyed some of the family seen or to this day or you know some of them haven't recovered a lot of them still you know relive what went through you know from the day that they got that knock at the door it seems a bit pointless now that we know

military lying about the impact of its airstrikes in iraq joining me to discuss this as a matter card the co-author of the new york times magazine investigation the uncounted and john tyrann executive director mit center for international studies and author of the the book. deaths of others the fate of civilians in america's wars thank you both for joining me from the muslim why did you set out with your co-author on and go poll to conduct this eighteen month investigation into civilian casualties in iraq what prompted you and what did you think you would find well it wasn't just the scale of bombing or the tens of thousands of airstrikes in both iraq and syria that have been carried out since august twenty fourth we didn't hear a lot from civilians in the coalition itself was not investigating on the ground and so both on and then i really wanted to do a systematic sample looking both at those airstrikes that successfully hit legitimate isis targets and those that resulted in civilian casualties or deaths and so by going to three different isis territories downtown downtown shura and

soldiers killed in the iraq war have now abandoned their legal battle to see former prime minister tony blair as well as other government officials tried for war crimes they've been advised by lawyers that the courts would not be able to rule on their case now almost fifteen years have passed since the iraq invasion one hundred seventy nine british soldiers were among the estimated half a million who perished in the conflict. we official british inquiry into the war known as the chilcote report was finally published last year it blasted the government for rushing into the conflict based on flawed intelligence one man lost his brother in the war on numerous occasions of mystic and the like why is of course the cost someone's out of memphis but not so long book and thought i was doing this mike wilson lost his identical twin brother lance corporal david wilson in iraq in two thousand and eight david was twenty seven he'd become a father to his daughter poppy weeks before his death people say the twins have a rare twin bond kind of thing and i never really believe in this kind of thing i'm

you know, i once wrote after the iraq invasion that the iraq oil belonged to the people of iraq juste oil in alaska, you know, generates benefits in alaska, permanent fund for citizens in iraq. it's one way to get rid of the hypocrisy in iraq is to give the ir iraqi people a chance. donald trump is talking openly to the victor goes the spoils. it is a valueless, really gross comment. >> steve, the fascinating thing about listening to trump in the 2011 discussion with the "wall street journal" he says, i heard we went in to iraq for the oil. he said it as if that's what president bush was saying. he said, we're doing it for the oil, we're doing it for the oil. and prush wesident bush was ada saying, we are not doing it for the oil. and here's the president now saying, i'm thinking of going back in there for the oil. >> there's a lot of criticisms people can have about why we went in to iraq, the wmd issue and others. but those -- as someone you and i read every speech george w. bush gave on iraq and also cheney, who was an oil man. much more so george bush. he wrapped it around the fa

the sioux called islamic state of syria and iraq is a state no more for all intents and purposes says the russian defense ministry it is being destroyed as a fractured iraq still hot spots and isolated pockets with putin added but with the liberation of the west bank of the euphrates river isis has done seven hundred and ninety nine days off to russia got involved in september two thousand and fifteen when isis was arguably at its peak fitness lifts . when the russian operation began isis held more territory in syria than any other faction two years in a few months on the caliph it has been reduced to clumps of villages and i've been the habit to desert most of the russian air force a loon that did this the u.s. led coalition also played a huge pot we've been covering the syrian civil war in depth before isis even had its name before jihad hijacked the rebel schools here are some of the more memorable moments filmed by my colleagues and i. are. this is the ad big enough akio from which russian jets. against this namak state targets here in syria. the brits. the pilots are ready to go

scale of bombing or the tens of thousands of airstrikes in both iraq and syria that have been carried out since august twenty fourth we didn't hear a lot from civilians and the coalition itself was not investigating on the ground and so both and in that i really wanted to do a systematic sample looking both at those airstrikes that successfully hit legitimate isis targets and those that resulted in civilian casualties or deaths and so by going to three different isis territories downtown downtown shura and the odd and district of east mosul three areas that reflected typical isis held territories we were able to case the site of every single airstrike in each of these areas and determine that one in five of those airstrikes resulted in a civilian deaths now this is thirty one times higher than the numbers that the coalition has admitted to if you study its reports and what we found is that in about half of the total airstrikes in this one hundred three sample that resulted in civilian deaths of those civilian death airstrikes half of them were the resu

not closure at all it just all seemed very very pointless with all the legal avenues closed off the iraq war families campaign group is launching a petition demanding that parliament holds to politicians responsible for the war to account tony blair you know was you know even there the decision was his and he was in full fact. in full knowledge of the of all the facts that circumstances surrounding her and the reasons why we went in been privy to all of the information so dual him personally responsible for the petition is mike's initiative his way of continuing the fight even after losing the possibility of a legal battle for politicians and museums the iraq war may have been pushed into the archives for families like mike's the wounds of losing their loved ones are is rule as ever december and there were never a great time for us as a family but you know all those little aversion between so like the nineteenth for example was the funeral the elevons when we brought him back in a store for them so it does feel like a little bit of a kick in the teeth you know consider which saw alone fo

bush six months before the invasion the shock and awe invasion of iraq. bush came out with the national security strategy which provided although we didn't use the exact words of preemptive war it was the logic of preemptive war another words the u.s. arrogating to itself the right to perceived threats and go to war against them even before the us has been attacked of course that would be a violation of the u.n. charter and international law but nonetheless it became a powerful logical explanation for what came later the question now with donald trump's national security strategy is does this predict where trump is really going in and i think it i think it does i mean he mentioned china twenty four times in the report mentions china twenty four times all of them in a bellicose aggressive way it mentions russia in a in a bellicose and aggressive way there's no kind words for either china or russia iraq and north korea rogue states and of course non-state actors terrorism is the third dimension of the threat to america and so you have the trump administratio

even if the islamic state of iraq collapses, we'll keep going. we have plenty of resources and opportunities for us to keep waging jihad here indefinitely. and this is years before the syrian uprisings and the complexity of that war spilled over and led to jihadist groups there, as well. they were already eyeing syria years before from iraq. they were eyeing it, seeing it social securi as something the islamic state of iraq could expand into syria. they were talking about that years before the opportunity that we saw sort of manifest itself. so that's the point i think ultimately that we make -- -- there is an ebb and flow to this fight. not that they're invincible. far from it. but if he only sees part of the story and say that's it, the islamic state of iraq is collapsed, well, we saw what happened. they bounced back and became isis, a global phenomenon. and that's why we have to keep track of these different organizations and the sort of long war we keep trying to document. >> now, before opening up to the audience, one question i had wanted to

almost fifteen years have passed since the invasion of iraq turns of thousands of british troops took part with one hundred seventy nine losing their lives if you will british inquiry into the water is the chilcote reports was published last year that criticize the government for rushing into the conflict based on flawed intelligence on his police one man who lost his brother in the war on numerous occasions of mystic and the like why is of course the cost someone's out of memphis but not so long book and thought i was doing this mike wilson lost his identical twin brother lance corporal david wilson in iraq in two thousand and eight david was twenty seven he'd become a father to his daughter poppy weeks before his death people say the twins have a rare twin bond kind of thing and i never really believe in this kind of thing i'm quite pragmatic their daughter there is the you realise it's me who switched off together with other families of the soldiers fallen in iraq might push for a civil case against tony blair but lawyers have told them that british courts can't make judgments on m

bush six months before the invasion the shock and awe invasion of iraq. bush came out with a national security strategy which provided although we didn't use the exact words of preemptive war it was the logic of preemptive war another words the u.s. arrogating to itself the right to perceived threats and go to war against them even before the us has been attacked of course that would be a violation of the u.n. charter and international law but nonetheless it became a powerful logical explanation for what came later the question now with donald trump's national security strategy is does this predict where trump is really going in and i think it i think it does i mean he mentioned china twenty four times in the report mentions china twenty four times all of them in a bellicose aggressive way it mentions russia in a in a bellicose an aggressive way there's no kind words for either china or russia iraq and north korea rogue states and of course non-state actors terrorism is the third dimension of the threat to america and so you have the trump administration s

the u. us and its personnel in iraq that they will be a target for this militia as a result of this u.s. declare mission and it will probably increase tension between the iraqi people and american personnel as in iraq not not just only in baghdad but also in other. capitals now with or without this group is going to carry out attacks against american interests in iraq and or not it will be seen but definitely this you are sticking on edge and has instigated tension among the arab sun muslims all over the middle east and we will probably see more is collisions in the coming hours and days. there's confusion over whether the u.s. will take part in the upcoming winter olympics in south korea a white house spokesperson sarah saunders tweeted that the country is looking forward to the games although security remains a top priority but just hours before she had implied the team might not even be going. fishel decision has been made on now and will keep us posted as those decisions are made the spokes person had been quizzed after the us ambassador to the un claimed america's participation in th

the site. igor's done up from barbara in iraq see. back with the latest headlines in just over half an hour meanwhile for more on the last tories as wanting to calm. down. why i was president how did return to london why it's a liberal city why i mean this is a cool one the more important. that i learned the parts of the airports in in the south and the invincibility persons of both yemeni liberated and why why do think you have to me you should. join me every thursday on the alex i'm i'm sure and i'll be speaking to us of the world of politics sports business i'm show business i'll see you then. live the. live. life i have somebody to. run. i'm going to. look. at least somebody kind of feel. down to look into all the currents of the salt in the soft little does it get down to the floor and if you can piling up the most i can settle. my mention of them a little please please look. please. please until you. look. at it please. lend. look look at least. a little. slow and you. would like to put some. legs. i look at what i did listen the

the flames. then, we continue our series on iran's rising influence in iraq. tonight, how the battle against isis has brought iran further inside iraq's security operations. >> reporter: before u.s.-backed iraqi forces launched an operation to take back mosul from isis, it was the p.m.f. that cleared out isis from qayyara and many other towns on the outskirts of mosul. >> o'brien: and, making sense of the tax cut experiment in kansas. what the nation can learn from one state's attempt to grow its economy by extending massive tax cuts to businesses. >> what has always been a draw for kansas is the quality of life, the stability here, excellence of our public school system. and by cutting into those basics, we really have shot ourselves in the foot. >> o'brien: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> carnegie corporation of new y

bush six months before the invasion the shock and awe invasion of iraq. bush came out with a national security strategy which provided although we didn't use the exact words of preemptive war it was the logic of preemptive war another words the us arrogating to itself the right to perceived threats and go to war against them even before the us has been attacked of course that would be a violation of the un charter and international law but nonetheless it became a powerful logical explanation for what came later the question now with donald trump's national security strategy is does this predict where trump is really going in and i think it i think it does i mean he mentioned china twenty four times in the report mentions china twenty four times all of them in a bellicose aggressive way it mentions russia in a in a bellicose and aggressive way there's no kind words for either china or russia iraq and north korea rogue states and of course non-state actors terrorism is the third dimension of the threat to america and so you have the trump administration sort

the u.s. military in iraq and afghanistan and massive craters known as burn pits open burn pits were outlawed in two thousand and ten so why are they still being used in the united states there was always a yellow haze over there. and everybody that you talked to had some type of response or you issues with it showed that i had a titanium aluminum iron chromium steel. silica in my bones there's nowhere else that i could have got modalism along i've never worked in anything that would have exposed me to. millions of pounds of munitions and other waste or burned by the pentagon in the united states every year there are nearly two hundred open air burn pits in the u.s. an investigation by the news website pro publica has revealed these sites have little to no oversight and residents living near the burn pits report respiratory by roid and other health problems health problems that more than one hundred thousand military veterans have also reported to a burn pits registry set up by the u.s. department of veterans affairs or v.a. it's not just us better ins and citizens that say they're affected st

that's very much the rhetoric of the iraq war in 2003. ks we are running for south korea, japan and ourselves iraq did not have the bait to attack the united states even though they had weapons of mass destruction we were worried about, and we feared they might have nuclear weapons. we know the north koreans have nuclear weapons and they're aimed at us and our allies. and taking the risk of a preventive war ensures we have those casualties rather than operating from confidence that we can deter them. >> and never mind a point you also make in your piece that that president trump ran a very clear campaign in his presidential race against what the president then president george w. bush did in iraq against preemptive war because of the mistakes. so the question is whether he would, as you know the in your piece, tragically repeat that. i want to ask about general mattis. so you talk about what you're hearing the rhetoric from the white house and from the trump administration. you're worried they're barreling towards war. i'm not going to ask

hello and welcome to the show i'm sam is a dan it's all in the name of the islamic state of iraq and the levant two thousand and fourteen isolette outs taking over nearly all of iraq in syria but three years later and billions lost iraq's prime minister had the law by the says his military has defeated the armed group. and now out of the calm the have the right honorable rocky's your land has been completely real approaches your cities and villages have been returned to the nation the dream of liberation has become a reality we achieved victory in difficult circumstances and with god's help steadfastness of our people and the bravery of our heroic forces we prevailed has been a long road to get to this point the battle for most all alone took months almost a million people had to flee and thousands left behind were killed more than eight thousand homes were reportedly destroyed and that was just one of several iraqi cities once controlled by ice on ice all held all the area shown here in red back in august two thousand and fourteen soon after it announced its so-called islamic state a