a lot of people who supported the war in iraq actually believe that iraq had the capability to fire missiles that could reach the united states carrying payloads nuclear or chemical or biological weapons. iraq has never had the capability to do that they didn't have it in the first gulf war they didn't have it in this. war in iraq and they don't have it any way of getting it in the future what the bush administration did was try to round up as many people as they could who would make the case for what the white house wanted was the cia to give it talking points to justify this war already made up its mind massive intervention by people particularly from vice president cheney's office and vice president cheney himself in the process and i think the intelligence analysts found themselves really up against it when they tried to argue that those connections were as tight as people were suggesting intelligence director of the department of energy simply ordered his experts who had raised questions about the evidence being used on the nuclear and of it as news accounts say to sit down and shut up

what achievements have been made by iraq regarding terminating the cause of iraq's international isolation and what stands in the way of complete removal of sanctions. and you know beyond all the decisions about iraq's isolation by the international community disarmament w m d's oil in exchange for food and other contracts that have expired but the issue of iraqi assets has been solved dozens of agreements have been cancelled that are not relevant anymore but a number of decisions primarily concerning kuwait are still affected this is a very sensitive issue to say nothing about port mubarak but there are also other decisions that we should comply with resolution eight three three on the iraqi way down to re demarcation saddam's regime took this decision well our constitutional power must adopt this resolution. as part of our humanitarian record we must solve the issue of prisoners and those missing the issue of kuwait property should be resolved in the. but we also have casualties and separated families a lot was stolen from our country in two thousand and three but we must solve these pro

up next our special report on the invasion of iraq and the consequences for the country after the war. those weapons inspection process was little more than a game they can see all denied to see return of inspectors would provide no assurance whatsoever to eliminate by inspection is quite frankly a fool's errand on the contrary there is a great danger that it would provide false comfort that saddam was somehow. back in his box reality is that between the original unscom inspections and the unmovic inspections you destroyed with those inspections ninety two probably ninety five percent of the iraqi arsenal the first gulf war destroyed almost nothing. and you know post-war u.s. battle damage assessments confirm the weapons inspectors were effective but for saddam to get rid of this stuff. they had the country under control by nine hundred ninety eight at the latest those inspectors have discovered most of the weapons of mass destruction and the iraqi programs at that point were essentially at an end before the war in iraq the united nations inspectors told us. that that i've been saying

in iraq saddam hussein. cohorts with terrorists secretly and without fingerprints he could provide one of this in weapons to terrorists. or help them develop their own well the war really got absolutely nothing to do with terrorism there was no connection whatsoever between iraq and the secular regime there and the religious fanatics who perpetrated love and they wanted to believe that there was a connection but the cia was sitting there the f.b.i. was sitting there i was sitting there saying we've looked at this issue for years for years we've looked for a connection let's just no connection saddam was in. or he was a terrible feeling yes but he was not willing to sacrifice his own life. just that it answers terrorists as completely as a used al-qaeda has said total contempt for saddam hussein himself he's been a socialist he's been very harsh he's treated islamic leaders sly misleaders extremely harshly rock and we have come very good intelligence on this was not part of the picture of terrorism before we

how many are there going to be and how long are going on justine iraq. or yes iraq needs military instructors probably the military instructors won't be from the troops that are being pulled out from iraq probably the training itself will be conducted in iraqi we must be precise the published statement only says the government is willing to start negotiations rather than conclude an agreement the agreement to pull out the coalition troops before the end of twenty eleven remains unshakeable the allow their early and does it mean that before the end of this year all the american troops will be pulled out from iraq will or all the troops and departments will be pulled out before the end of twenty eleven without any delay but there is another problem here iraq has purchased tanks airplanes and military boats and this equipment requires therapy have a ration and good instructors that's the case throughout the world and let's say tomorrow we buy russian tanks then the instructors must be russian as well we should not mix up two different things and talk about

iraq will defend that regime. including the military both the regular army and the republican guard liberation would not have been achieved without the defeat of a nation of president george w. bush and the commitment of the coalition at the forefront of which stand the people of the united states of america and great britain that iraq is will never forget your courage and sacrifice on our behalf we are here today to declare that they knew about this war and iraq let it be dignity justice and human rights for all citizens there is no risk of a breakup of iraq and there is no risk i would face civil war i got what i wanted i got my war back in iraq and if you people relied on my information stupid. every year. custom we meet here to consider the state of the union this year we gather in this chamber deeply aware of decisive days that lie ahead distorted beliefs estimates and guesstimates and he appears and he was misleading the public and the congress saddam hussein had the materials to produce as much as five hund

iraq cannot be governed by americans i don't care what the intention is i don't care if . we truly want to build a democracy that it cannot be ruled by a foreign power the only tool in the tool box of the bush administration is military force military force is a very blunt instrument it just doesn't work we've created more terrorists in iraq and we haven't even solve the problem in afghanistan one of the more ironic affects of the attack on iraq was. to buttress other countries in the conviction of the famous remark by an indian general after the first gulf war when he said the lesson of this war is that if you if you have to fight the united states you better have nuclear weapons you don't want your president to be seen as a hot dog and when when your president gets sent to a job soon gets in the back of a jet and lands on an aircraft carrier and then waddles out with this little straps between his legs and that's not when you want a sign of out of maturity and not testosterone blasting through when you're talking about. things so fundamentally important as sending a nati

as well they consider iraq to be an example because white all our drawbacks iraq is pursuing a line of new democracy it's an example of achieving democracy freedom and respecting human dignity we are all aware of our drawbacks however but they are looking at us whether we recognize the people's right to self-determination for fulfilling their political will and making their political choice while being free and preserving their dignity iraq is anything but neutral in this situation but at the same time iraq is unwilling to interfere with other people's affairs we can set an example that's how we see our role which does not consist in choosing leaders. or they'll die but do you have the same position regarding the current events in syria at the moment. i'll measure the yes the government has the same position regarding what's going on in syria however the investments in syria different due to the country's geo political position in the region and the role it plays for iraq syria is different from libya it's different from yemen with our good relationship and permanent contacts with our

forces in iraq will be on the "washington journal" for a discussion on iraq. the continued violence there and u.s. troop withdrawal. our last call for colonel nagl here in the studios in washington, d.c. is from grand rapids, michigan, juan on our line for democrats. you're on the "washington journal." caller: hi, thanks for taking my call. i think the veterans should be honored and al qaeda is still our enemy, but i go back to why were we there in the first place? there was violence before we got there. there's going to be violence when we leave. and we have no business being there and we need to get out of there as fast as we can. guest: ron, i -- as i said earlier, i actually agree that the invasion of iraq in 2003 was a mistake. however, once we toppled the government of saddam hussein and ridding the world of saddam hussein is unalteredly a good thing, the world is better without him in power, the iraqi people have the prospect of a better life now that he's gone. we mishandled the iraq that followed, we were not able to stabilize the country and suffered

did not have nuclear weapons capability ironically the major effect of the invasion of iraq and terms of weapons of mass destruction as the bit has been to show that the inspectors were right all along the inspection regime worked. it was the most intrusive inspection regime in history and it worked within the day that's another reason why we went to war for. these maniacs the courage of our enemies and weakening our troops resolve and confusing the american people you should listen to these protests because they're obviously helping saddam hussein who would have guessed that you could build a massive international peace movement on the protection of sadam hussein the media is culpable for the misleading of the american public they bought into the bush administration's rhetoric they don't understand that there is moral violence and immoral violence we use moral violence god bless this president he is truly a great man reducing troop morale confusing the american people involving our enemies they are absolutely committing sedition treasonous far as i'm concerned is a huge difference be

military operation would do for iraq. you can tell us apart from the military sales, what it would do for the united states? >> the united states is very committed to the region, it's very committed to a strong, long-term relationship and partnership with iraq. and as is the case when we work with any country, we get to know each other better, we understand how our systems may operate together, there are exercises, training opportunities and over a long period of time the relationship just gets stronger and stronger. clearly with a country like iraq or other countries, you know, that we work with, we're at the beginning of that relationship from the standpoint of putting it in place long-term. i think probably in all in the most important part are the people-to-people aspects of it. often times these relationships get focused at a very senior level. my relationship with generals which is strong and he's a good friend and we're both very committed to this, but equally important from my perspective are our young officers an

is iraq's weakness. oh. no these bombardments are unlawful and very harmful they've been a cause of concern for our previous and current government the people of iran and iraq are close we are friends and allies and actions like that do not serve to improve our relations which is what we keep telling them that iran wants the kurd free life party to see sect evictee in the border regions this demand is completely understandable but that's not the way to solve this problem you have witnessed the shootings they are chaotic and pointless we have worked in the mountains and we know that these bombardments will not lead to any result. recently around propose solving the issue through negotiations of the security committees of the two countries and we support that proposal i believe that today's decrease in intensity of bombardments will ultimately lead to their end we let the iranian government know about the position of the iraqi government i often hear that the iraqi government doesn't have any final position on

my personal feeling is that that it wasn't so much the people of iraq that tried in hong i'm it was. i do i think he to serve the what he got don't get me wrong he was a bad actor. but i do think the west was very very much behind that in libya. i think you know the hague the international court is very much involved in what's going to happen when they capture qaddafi which i have no doubt they will they will be very much involved they've already said that they want his sons in their custody which is kind of interesting i find but when qaddafi is captured and detained the international court out of the hague is sounds like it's going to step in so does that mean the people of libya are going to decide his fate i don't really think so i think the international court's going to decide his fate and i sound a little cynical when i say this i think maybe his trial and maybe who knows punishment execution life in prison may be in libya to make it look like the libyan people or are deciding his fate but i think that's already i think that as they say that forces left the bar and i think the

the sounds of war but should we be hearing them at all in iraq is the u.s. ended its combat mission a year ago so why the new fifty six soldiers died since and how can the u.s. avoid being stuck between a rock and a hard place. when ground. and cons like you don't see. a jarring reality of today's libya as terror and gun fever grips tripoli is even more terrifying these small arms are falling into the hands of children live report from tripoli see how this is threatening the stability. good evening it's wednesday august thirty first it's five pm here in washington d.c. i'm laurin lyster and you're watching our team all right well with an increased number of economists saying the u.s. is headed back into recession consumer confidence plunging to the lowest level in more than two years and new jobs numbers due out friday expected to disappoint the president took to the podium to talk jobs and investment he's pushing to extend some bills that to expire next month here's why. that's what we're going to need to do in the short term keep people on the job keep vit

does it mean that before the end of this year all the american troops will be pulled out from iraq. or all the troops in departments will be hauled out before the end of twenty eleven without any delay but there is another problem here iraq has purchased tanks airplanes and military boats and this equipment requires thorough preparation and instructors and that's the case throughout the world and let's say tomorrow we buy russian tanks then the instructors must be russian as well you should not mix up two different things and talk about the troops staying there longer until now the number of instructors and other details has not been defined mr zebari i'm sure you are very well acquainted with the report presented by prime minister nouri al maliki to party leaders and parliament of the current status on the rocks armed forces what does it say that the report gives an assessment of the country's domestic security and it says that our armed forces have reached the level of proficiency and equipment status sufficient for maintaining it but i. like to point out again that we have no air

both of them iraq and afghanistan roughly two million u.s. soldiers have risked their lives my last guest said it would have been many more if we had mercenaries actually being u.s. soldiers and when you look at the lives lost together it's been more than six thousand but behind the numbers and statistics of war is a tragic reality that most americans are kept from hearing and from seeing a reality that only certain soldiers are required to face and then struggle their ends higher lives to forget our t's correspondent rampart i am my colleague in new york she saw this reality firsthand watch this. you think you should be very much into the infinite world of literature and here's this twenty eight year old ex marine an american who abandoned her weapon four written words to tell a story she says is kept censored from u.s. citizens even though people may know that it affects us i don't think that they understand the weight. and the toll that it takes on us and seeing the effects of war. the literal facts and the dead bodies that were made i cou