iraq has imported relations with other countries. the united states has an influence over all the countries in the middle east. iraq needs a long-term friendship with the united states, a friendship based on democracy and respect of human rights and a stable, successful state, not the state that is working with discrimination and oppression. i think americans understand the problems of a rack, and they should concentrate on iraq once again to fix the lack of stability. we americans also do not want iraq to support terrorism. >> one last question.

as a superpower united states has influence over all the countries in the middle east and iraq needs a long-term friendship with the united states, a friendship though based on values of democracy and respect of human rights. and stable, successful state. not a state that is working outside legitimacy and with discrimination and oppression. i think that in washington americans understand the problems of iraq and are convinced that they should concentrate on iraq once again in order to protect it from the lack of stability in view of of course of the situation in syria and the problems over all the middle east, the americans also do not want iraq to be another region that exports problems and terrorism but rather wants it to be an oasis of democracy and stability. this is what we hope for. >> one last question for you in the minute we have remaining, mr. speaker. iraq is expected to have national elections at end of april. what would you like the united states to do around the elections to make sure they're positive? we have seen elections in iraq that were extremely helpful for iraqi

fulled by extremist elements and that is what we see happening right now you need to remember that the united states occupied iraq for eight years and then pulled out and it left behind a stick tyrian powder keg these al qaeda ending to militants are now trying to capitalize on these the sectarian tensions which the united states was never able to actually resolve at the same time some of the al-qaeda going to militants who are now in iran are reportedly coming across the border from syria now of course the united states has been supporting the syrian opposition inadvertently and allowing these islamist extremists to flourish in the in the very first place the united states is also saying that it will be sending any emergency shipment of surveillance drones and missiles to iraq in an attempt to try and prop up its allies in baghdad. paula clear live intel a babe paula thank you very much indeed for that. mr held for civilians are bracing for the worst and government forces are poised to launch an assault on the city again editor count looks now on the likely consequences. residents of. hell during the u.s. occupa

iraq has imported relations with other countries. the united states has an influence over all the countries in the middle east. iraq needs a long-term friendship with the united states, a friendship based on democracy and respect and a stable,s successful state, not the state that is working with discrimination and oppression. americans understand the problems of a rack, and they should concentrate on a rock iraq once again to fix the lack of stability. we americans also do not want to rock -- iraq to support terrorism. >> one last question. to havescheduled elections at the end of april. what would you like to see the united states do around those elections to make sure they are positive? we have seen elections that were extremely helpful to democracy and elections that were extremely disrupt full. what can the united dates due to ensure these are constructive elections and not destructive. message should be a that should come from all thetries to iraq that election should be organized in a just and transparent way. should be prepared. we should have a minimum , and there should not be decisions that are controversial,

quiand arab to clean the country and they really need your help and i am quite sure at the end they will defeat terrorism in iraq. need help from the united states and the rest of the country to fight terrorism in iraq, likely needed. the day we need to help also to advise given advice to friends in iraq, the head of political groups to have something in the country. we believe that iraq is in not enough by itself because there is a society, cohesive society needed to fight terrorism and if you don't have these two factors things will be really difficult and as you know, the american army with its might could not defeat al qaeda unless they had the cooperation of the local people. that is why try to lift cruelty and be fair citizen of the regions and this is what we need to again so i would like -- arming iraq is important to have a national -- also has important. we are about to have a mission in iraq. we only have a short time to for elections to take place. it is going to be an important day in the history of iraq. we need free elections to take place in iraq with a lot of transparency, monitoring, international monitoring, we are a civil soc

iraq. and that is a problem. the united states needswork with the opposition that we like, that we syrians would love to see in charge of future syria, to strengthen their support on the ground to get meaningful concessions in geneva. >> we'll take a brief break now, and when we return, we'll talk about what assad is holding on for. and what the end game is for his supporters. this is "inside story." stay with us. real reporting that brings you the world. ♪ >>> welcome back to "inside story." i'm ray suarez. on friday, the talks moved to geneva where the syrian opposition is expected to sit across the table with representatives of the syrian go. diplomats from the un will be overseaing it all, progress or not, it's quite striking the two sides have come together three years into in conflict. professor, i'm wondering why, if you know or could speculate, why bashar al-assad didn't take the offer to leave syria early on in this time line. he could have been a fabulously wealthy man and lived out his days in tremendous comfort. but instead

united states. we don't need to act out against those acting out on their own soil. horn ever africa, syria, iraq, and yemen as well. ayman al sawahiri, seize control of a state or part of a state, somewhere in the muslim world, adding that without achieving this goal, they will achieve nothing. death by a thousand cuts. do you think this new al qaeda shares those same strategic goals and has it been successful? >> absolutely, they do share the same goals. as for the first one we do see they actually do control some territory, in northern syria isis has controlled some area for the time. al shabaab which stands for the youth even though they have lost significant territory since the beginning of 2012 still controls some geographic area in the southern part of syria. when they do, one of the things they do is impose their form of sherea law. they do have ideological reasons. the reason bashar al-assad chose to attack the u.s., such as the saudi regime, teen liquorics wouleven the clairkz clerics would have to rein in on them. especially given the instability that's spreading through that region. >

themselves because the simple fact is that as you heard secretary kerry say, the united states isn't going back into iraq. we needize it if we ever wanted to go back in, going back in would be a major undertaking. we couldn't send 10,000 or 15,000 troops. nobody in the united states is interested in doing that. it would be about influencing the iraqis. united states doesn't have a lot of influence left in iraq but we certainly have some. and the bigger issue is we haven't really done very much to build influence in iraq. influence doesn't grow on a tree. it doesn't fall from the sky. influence is something that you create for yourself. what we need to be doing is showing the iraqis that we're committed to their future and that if they're willing to move in a direction that we want them to, we'll reward them and we need to see them focus much more on political compromise. that's the part that the bush administration finally got right in 2007 and 2008 when they forged a power sharing arrangement between sunni tribes and its shia majority. that's what has broken down since the american troops have left in large part

the united states has an influence over all the countries in the middle east. iraq needs a long-term friendship with the united states, a friendship based on democracy and respect of human rights and a stable, successful state, not the state that is working with discrimination and oppression. i think americans understand the problems of a rack, and they should concentrate on iraq once again to fix the lack of stability. we americans also do not want iraq to support terrorism. >> one last question. -- the americans do not want iraq to support terrorism. >> one last question. iraq is scheduled to have elections at the end of april. what would you like to see the united states do around those elections to make sure they are positive? we have seen elections that were extremely helpful to democracy and elections that were extremely disrupt full. what can the united dates due to ensure these are constructive elections and not destructive. >> there should be a message that should come from all countries to iraq that the election should be organized in a just and transparent way.

because what i see now in the united states is that our allies no longer trust us and our enemies no longer fear us. mr. speaker, the united states needs to use limited airpower in iraq to push the -- to push al qaeda back out of iraq. we need strong intelligence assets to work with the government of al-maliki to make sure that al qaeda has no foot hold in iraq again. it is not too late to verse the tragic foreign policy consequences what we've seen in the middle east. but, mr. speaker, this has to be done today. this has to be done now. the blood of americans have sacrificed for a free iraq and a free afghanistan, we cannot let that sacrifice be in vain. mr. speaker, i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. the chair now recognizes the gentlewoman from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, for five minutes. rich: -- ms. ros-lehtinen: thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, i rise today to call attention to -- to stand in unyielding opposition to the latest push by the administration and some in congress to subvert u.s. law that prohibits the united states from funding any agency at the united nations that admits a nonexistent state of palestinian to its m

united states needs to know where president karzai stands. otherwise we face a similar situation to what we faced in iraq, where prime minister refused to sign e status of fors agreement, which is a similar agreement. and the united states basically pulled the plug. i think president karzai needs to be careful because the mood in washington on the hill, and now in the administration is not going to be very receptive his demands. >> understandably in many ways after the americans have spent there. thank you very much indeed. >> a senior police officer known for arrested and killing several talibans has been killed. three of his colleagues also died. the new m.p.es in been he dash has been sworn in, and there isn't a single member of the main opposition among them. and 17 other parties boycotted this week's elections leaving the ruling in the allies virtually uncontested. a number of members have also been arrested since the vote. >> france's president says he will reduce the number of troops by february. the french intervened after a coupe last year to help fight al quaida limpings rebels. and restore order. it began when al quaida backs group

with the united states iraq really is unable to defend itself i mean today we were told that there are good supply them with hellfire missiles and so on but in fact iraq has not even have the need to deliver those missiles they don't have fighter jets they don't have you know combat helicopters. and so on so. basically directly and perhaps with some drone strikes as they do in yemen and pakistan is going to be very difficult to do for american troops and i'm really glad that you brought up the point of syria and how the violence in syria is spilling over to the us i know that some of the weapons that the i.s.i. us is using they smuggled from weapons that are in syria that were actually supplied by saudi forces so it is all of this directly related to syria or is there something else that's going on here without a doubt they work to do things to syria directly because it is called. iraq and the syria basically that's what it is and that's where they began and the acronym stands for that so it is you know it is sort of elastic group that goes across the border the border has always been porous across iraq so that's one and secondly there is also the sectarian divide that is being

united states. >> we're going take a short break. when we come back we'll talk about what the best you can hope for in iraq in the coming years. what needso happen inside the country to move forward from today? stay with us. this is inside story. >> welcome back to sympathy story. i'm ray suarez. on this edition of the program we've been discussing the way forward for iraq and how the violence there effected the broader middle east, ambassador, you wanted to respond. >> yes sure, to understand the problems before us we have to realize in contrast to what the professor said, it wasn't a paradise up until that time. saddam has invaded two of his neighbors, he had fired rockets all over the middle east. he had one of the broadest chemical weapons seen in the region, and he had killed far more of his own citizens than those who have died since 2003, hundreds of thousands by chemicals weapons. it was a complicated and difficult situation at the genesis of th of the american intervention. did we make it better? in some respects, yes, and some respects, no. >> how do we fix the place and get it more on a stable, predictable moving forward. what

should have done boots on the ground but before the united states starts advocating or pushing for regime change be it iraq, libya or syria, we need to be sure we have something we think that's better to go in its place and we are prepared to do the expensive process of putting there. if not, we have better start thinking twice before we make regime change the default option for american foreign policy. >> it seems to me, meghan, what richard is describing, you know, is that there was a settled order in the middle east, may have been an unjust one, and in many of those cases the shia were persecuted and one of the things that iraq unlocked was this, you know, what vally calls the revivalal of the shia. i remember reading his book and in it he said all the wars of the middle east are now going to be wars within islam on the sectarian lines and it turned out to be quite -- >> i think vali was right on that point. not only shia majorities coming to power but we really saw kind of the up ending of the whole orders in the middle east. we're still seeing that play out. where you have minority vee geems governing majority regimes. >> lik

united states and reducing america's global foot print. >> again, i think that's wrong. he called iraq ahead of time a dumb war. during the campaign he kept talking about afghanistan is the war we need to fight. before he even met with the chiefs to look at the strategy he basically doubled the number of troops. and then after they fired mckeernen without checking with him basically then they brought in a new commander. when you bring in a new commander he asked for more troops. and then obama said i will. they leaked the number that he had asked. to me, i would have fired gates right then when the stuff showed up in the press. they asked for 40 more. he ended up giving them 70,000 more troops and then said can you turn it around in two years? i don't want another vietnam is what he said. >> and thank goodness the president had that view. >> this is what i don't understand aboutt where we are not just with obama but the situation. if this is a war worth fighting then it is a war we should probably win. karzai regime will collapse at some point. pakistan has been sucked into the mess. just as we are watching al qaeda is -- you have to at some level back up and say beyond partisan pol

iraq. we sought in libya were seen it in syria united states government is carrying out an armed struggle policy a civil war policy and they need to keep the rationales also they need a way to balance against cheney but they need to find a way to continue to demonize is on government because our ultimate goal is to give riverside not for a negotiated settlement. sarah is suffering town on track has been in the hands of islamist rebels for more than a month now. he snuck in to see that you may need to send a small stone catching the army of god. they let the mass that conveys soldiers and civilians but that this things happen impossible to verify all of the thousands have been displaced as the company continues its beach. it is a tv crew was the phrase florida team to get to the area. maria finance reports. he's just twenty minute drive from damascus that the honey we're honest when elliot firmly under rebel control. so instead we take in the league three times and running through high mounds of sand and piles of old tires. gianni exists thus from attacks. the sea the light of the twenty first foray into the tree to get the supp

script before we saw it in iraq we saw it in libya we're seeing it in syria united states government is carrying out an armed struggle policy a civil war policy and they need to keep up public rationales also they need a way to balance against geneva but he need to find a way to continue to demonize the assad government because the ultimate goal is to get rid of assad not for a negotiated settlement it's been more than a month this is the mystery novels seize the industrial syrian town of andhra and allegedly massacred dozens of civilians that had a fighting let alone the displaced and militants still hold large parts of the city making it impossible to go in and verify the details of any atrocities yes how he became the fast foreign t.v. crew to get to the area since the start of the siege and spoke to some of the survivors that. is just a twenty minute drive from damascus but the highway runs through an area firmly under rebel control so instead we take a newly created pass driving through high mounds of sand and piles of old tires the army uses to its convoys from attacks it may be longer but it's a safer route. government offices told us that last dece

united states. right now, what most people will tell you, kyra, is that prime minister malaki in iraq needs to come to a political settlement with the sunni opposition. and that that's the big step he has to take and that he's not quite willing to take it just yet. that said, the u.s. is -- is doing some things with assistance, if you will. talking to the iraqis about trying to train their troops. i think it's very unlikely this administration, and frankly congress, is going to want to see any effort to go back in there. >> okay. so with regard to seeing or hearing anything at the pentagon to indicate any kind of pressure from the obama administration, to turn attention back to iraq, what's your gut? >> reporter: well, i think there's plenty -- i think that's a really good point. i think there's plenty of diplomatic pressure at the moment, again, on malaki to, you know, not let iraq implode and not let places like fallujah and ramadi once again, where so many americans died, trying to help. so many service members. not let that truly become an al qaeda enclave again. most people will say if malaki

script before we saw it in iraq we saw it in libya we're seeing it in syria the united states government is carrying out an armed struggle policy a civil war policy and they need to keep our public rationales also they need a way to balance against geneva he to find a way to continue to demonize the assad government because their ultimate goal is to get rid of assad not for a negotiated settlement syria saw their entire has been in the hands of islamist rebels for more than a month now they snuck into a sewer during a december snowstorm catching the army of god they allegedly massacred both soldiers and civilians but those claims have been impossible to verify the thousands have been displaced as the government continues its siege artie's a t.v. crew was the first foreign team to get to the area where international reports. is just a twenty minute drive from damascus but the highway runs through an area firmly under rebel control so instead we take a newly created pass driving through high mountains of sand and piles of old tires the army uses to shoot its convoys from a tanks it's maybe longer but it's a safer route pocket. where the first foray into vickery

the core issues that led to instability in iraq started in 2003 were never resolved by the united states over nine years of occupation. primarily, the needcreate a unity government. the united states to decide as the kurds to factor created a new nation and stood aside as the sunni-she arrest -- shia rift developed. maliki sought to have his sunni vice president arrested. he fled and is believed to be in turkey. maliki has continued his persecutions, prosecutions against the sunnis, and now has resorted to open warfare in falluja in attempt to tame them, to marginalize them, and to maintain his shia control power. >> what about the u.s. sending military aid to the iraqi government? >> during nine years of war and occupation, the u.s. expended a terminus number of hellfire missiles and other weaponry. none of that was effective against either side. this is not a war that can be one like a game of chess. there are not lines on the ground where one forces on one side trying to capture territory on the other side. this remains a war to settle political, ethnic, social, and other types of differences. it is an insurgency. any attempts to blas

united states who provides the money the arms to keep his government in power that government has been not only incredibly corrupt and not only incredibly incompetent in terms of dealing with the needs of iraq to rebuild from these years of war but also has been incredibly sectarian in terms of what it makes success of bull to various communities in iraq so you have this scenario where the sunni population which is the minority but large minority in iraq feel completely disenfranchised disempowered disconnected from their own government washington's tactics in the mid east and beyond is up for debate later this hour in cross talk with peter of about. we lions is all over the world because of a grand strategy that has been implemented especially since world war two that seeks to dominate the world and so all of our interests according to people in washington rests in every nook and cranny of the globe and we end up paying the governments of smaller nations and arming them and making sure that they are allied with us but it ends up in tangling us in conflicts that are none of our business ok dive in new york would you agree with that or disagree entangling alliances just too many and it puts

united states who provides the money the arms to keep his government in power that government has been not only incredibly corrupt and not only incredibly incompetent in terms of dealing with the needs. iraq to rebuild from these years of war but also has been incredibly sectarian in terms of what it makes successor to various communities in iraq so you have this scenario where the sunni population which is the minority but large minority in iraq feel completely disenfranchised disempowered disconnected from their own government and so the u.s. is saying instead of in insisting that the government change its policy of discrimination towards one of egalitarianism any quality for all something that we are in no position to brag about here in this country i should say but what the u.s. claims to withhold as a hold up as a as a model instead of insisting on that the u.s. says well we'll send you told missiles so you can send more missiles and kill more people into look at the last thing for me it is more missiles will really quickly words it's going to go. to straight spring started is it going to kick off mall is it going to stay is isolated like that what's going to happen in the next coupl

iraq and afghanistan explains why the deal is crucial for the united states. no settlements in my view anyway is likely to have any chance of success by settlement time need a sort of political way forward from the american perspective on the troops that. because what will simply happen is that they should insurgency in the south what we call the taliban is likely to take a greater stake in any political arrangement to the election assuming of course that the elections go well this is an absolutely crucial deal for the americans and they're playing a very dangerous game here the cards aren't that good because our house has all the good has all the good cards oil and gas conflicts will be superseded by water wars in the future that is the warning from experts as the world's population grows access to clean water resources is rising in price let's take a look at this map the blue dots that you are seeing marked the places where conflicts over water disputes have broken down since the one nine hundred fifty s. these include small protests as well as more serious large scale clashes there have been one hundred seventy eight disputes and all and of the number of hots

the same as iraq the same as vietnam a place where we've expended thirteen years worth of human lives american afghan a trillion of dollars that are desperately needed here in the united states and the result will be a society as chaotic as what was there before our arrival if not more sympathetic to its neighbors all against the interests of the united states it's very difficult to say anything positive about the situation it's a very cynical view to claim that anything good has really been done particularly in comparison to the costs ok don if i go back to you in new york i mean what is the united states get out of making some kind of deal with karzai i mean you know you can call it cut and run but just leave i mean you know you have to a doctors are supposed to help you know if they're not supposed to make things worse and it seems to me and night and i would eyewitness that i saw it myself all i saw was a country that was under siege it was all about three things security security and security. if the us wasn't using afghanistan as a geo political pawn in the late seventy's and through a good part of the eighty's probably there would be a very healthy economy as a secula

iraq could be politically isolated. the united states is the only country that provides israel with the kind of political shield israel needs desperately with the international community. they're seeing a tremendous amount of financial and political support from the arab straight, from the united states. what you need to do then, you have to make them understand coexistence is never tabl. you have to find a formula for it. >> could the u.s. president be as touch as you suggest without getting a huge backlash at home? >> he would get a huge backlash, but then again, without leadership, without courage and without vision, you won't achieve the results that you want. >> it's always great to talk to you on campus and off. good to see you. >> thank you. >> and happy new year. >>> the u.s. supreme court has stepped into utah's same-sex marriage fight, and at least for now, gay couples will not be allowed to get married. details are next. you the most. >> household debt has been slashed. >> then, what real people are talking about in real-time with the stream. >> all of our communities lightin' up twitter tonight. >> and stay with

i don't think the united states is in any position now to duplicate the wars in iraq or afghanistan with a direct military engagement in the middle east. so we do need some recommendations even with the russians on some issues just as we disagree with them on other issues. >> you know, i appreciate your point of view, but as it relates to ukraine which was just outward economic extortion, obviously that's not something that we in any way condone regardless of the complexities of any situation and, therefore, and yet we really didn't speak to that. i think some reasons is because the of the elements that you just alluded to. i understand that relationships are complex and there are many other things that are occurring in regards to how you do those. i understand they come into this, but when it comes to an issue like ukraine where there's no question it was black and white extortion, what should the u.s. do in those cases where because it appears to me that we did not much, if you will. and -- >> i tend to agree with you on that aspect. this is what i mentioned in my testimony that we should take a hard look at wto rules. there are some countries in

united states is trying, as you know, suzanne. the u.s. has said it will send armaments and military equipment to iraq. it's trying to give military advice. prime minister maliki needs to have a more effective way of reaching out to all of iraq. and being present of prime minister of all of iraq, not just the shia community but sunni community. and needs to work on redrawing those alliances, reknitting these alliances with the sunni tribal leaders in places like anbar province and fallujah and ramadi. that's what was successful during the surge in 2007 and 2008. and it can be successful again. if he gives the signal that he's going to listen to their concerns. i'm talking about the tribal leaders now. in order to combat al qaeda, which is, of course, fomenting this violence. >> michael, i want you to jump in here, as well. is that how the iraqis see it? do they believe this is al qaeda to blame and that is what has to happen here? >> you know, in all my years of coming here, be even during the bad years, i've never seen a more severe sectarian divide. shia, sunni and say they're terrorists. they support al qaeda. sunni are afraid to walk down the street in case they

united states government. that is how everything will be taken care of. host: in mechanicsburg, pennsylvania. caller: i think we should be in iraq. we needo be getting out of that situation. we need to do a journey from an early explorer. we made it through that eyes. and they did make it through. the ice is actually worse now. that just a fraud to get more money from the taxpayers. thank you very much. >> what we tell those who gave their lives? our topic this morning is the future u.s. role in iraq and what should be. in spartanburg, south carolina. he was on the line for republicans. caller: if our president was doing what he was supposedly doing, he would have stayed in iraq until we got the job done. at a know why in the world he pulled troops out but we had an opportunity to do away with al qaeda. he was too interested in his reelection to do anything to help the iraqi people. thank you. morning'sline, this "the new york times next call comes from mark who is in jamaica on the line for democrats. caller: i believe that we have a responsibility to fix the country. there was never a qaeda in iraq before when saddam was in power. like

united states played by-- gets leaders in iraq. they push us away when they are doing well. they poll as in when they are being challenged. and same in afghanistan and in iran. i think we need to be very careful before we begin to sanctions.ief from because the iranian economy is a mess. it dropped six percentage points last year. they do not even have the capacity to refine the oil that they produce for so many other countries. europe stopped buying oil from iran. china continues to buy oil from iran -- says we will continue to buy it from you so long as it is deeply discounted. which further hurts iran. the vast majority of the people in that country are under the age of 30, and they are sick and tired of these repressive regimes. and because social media, , youtube, theyet see how the rest of the world is living. and the tools of social media are not only used for aspirational purposes and seeing how everybody else is living, but highly effectively for organizational purposes tehran and is not like new york city. it is not like -- it is like los angeles. it is spread out. but the regime is good at keeping people down. we need to be very, very careful. i know i went a lit

needed to stiffen obama's backbone. that issue is being debated off the floor in the senate. iraq, the washington post -- weapons alone will not do the job. the prime minister called on the united stateso remain in gauge in his country. [video clip] do you want to feel that you have to participate or just say that you want us there, we are out, we are not responsible anymore. i think you have a legal and moral responsibility towards iraq. we were a united country. remove saddam and push us towards democracy. in doing that, you destroy the country. the deputy prime minister. there is more than one. if you are interested, go to our website and go to our video library to check out the event. we are getting your thoughts on congress set to approve this trillion dollar spending bill. george, what do you think? our -- i think the politicians enjoy using the word servants of their country. that is a good term. when they come home from forseas, they say thank you your service to our military. i would like to see a discussion about politicians who call themselves servants should pay themselves the same rate that the military pays. for 24 hours al day for as long as they are in the military. th

iraq. they haven't been using. things that they haven't even needed. they have had to partner with russia to get the proper helicopters they are needing to fight militants right now. the united statesatch that exchange? these people are so unbelievably incompetent and so totally out of their depth they can't even answer basic questions. like basic questions like what is the plan? what is our strategy? do we -- if a country says, you you know, we are governing ourselves. do we acknowledge that they have the right to self-determination and just let democracy take its course? a plan for middle east. syria biggest human rights of this decade. we are doing nothing. iraq is falling completely below the horizon. >> syria, afghanistan, of course you want to make sure that we don't make the same element in iraq that would train the air force, that would train the army, instead, obama decided for political reasons that he would evacuate, he would call it a great victory. obama liquidated it and as a result, he has created a vacuum which iran has come in, al qaeda is strong. not only now in iraq but also in syria. and it is a catastrophe. >> so he brings up a great point. training the air for

and iraq needs a long-term friendship with the united states. a friendship though based on the values of democracy and the respect of human rights, and stable states. not state that is working outside with discrimination. i think that in washington, americans understand and i'm convinced they should concentrate on iraq once again in order to protect it from the lack of stability. and, of course, the situation in syria, the americans also do not want iraq to be another region that exports problems and terrorism. but we want to be an oasis of democracy and stability. >> one last question. iraq is scheduled to have elections at the end of april. what would you like to see the united states do around this elections to be sure they are positive? we have seen elections in iraq that were extremely helpful for iraqi democracy and we've seen some that were constructed of a rocky democracy. what can a trainee due to ensure these are structurally elections, not destruction? [speaking in native tongue] >> translator: when there should be a medic that should

and i don't think the united states is in any position now to duplicate the wars in iraq or in afghanistan with a direct military engagement in the middle east. so we do need some accommodations, wasn't russians on some issues, just as we disagree with them on other issues, today, for example, regarding what we're discussing. >> i appreciate your point of view. but as it relates to ukraine, hich, i mean, was just outward economic extortion, obviously that's not something that we in any way condone regardless of the complexities of any situation, and therefore, and yet we really didn't speak to that. i think in some reasons it's because of the other elements that you just alluded to. i mean, i understand that relationships are complex and there are many other things that are occurring in regards to how you view those. i understand that they come into this. but when it comes to an issue like ukraine, where there's no question it was black and white xtortion, what should the u.s. do in those cases, because it appears to me that we did not much, if you will. >> i tend to agree with you on that aspect. this is why i mentioned, for example, in my testimony that

the united states gets played by the leaders of iraq that pushes away when they do well and when they are challenged the same with i get it -- to afghanistan and iran we need to be very careful before we begin to provide relief from sanctions because the iranian economy is a mess it dropped six percentage points last year data even have the capacity to refine the wheel that they produce for so many other countries europe stopped buying oriole in china continues to we continue but it is deeply discounted which further hurt iran. there 90 million the faster during year under the age of 30 and they are sick and tired of the repressive regimes because social media, twitter, internet, th ey see how the rest of the world is living. the tools of social media not only use for aspirational purposes but high the effectively for organizational purposes. court -- iran is but a suppression not like new york city but los angeles, a spread out but the regime is good to keep people down. think we need to be very careful. i would doubt logger soared just ask for a brief comment >> thank you. maybe they could comment. >> high-yield. >> gentleman just a couple of quotations