have now 12 he really and advisors in iraq and they're already left iraq we have the french and those radians and maybe some other minor forces from other countries they will all be asked to leave of course not only for the americans very briefly so final thought it's a very bold move as we head into the new year new decade do you have high hopes for your country over the coming years if this does happen is it really going to benefit iraq if the americans pull out or is it something you might live to regret you think. this is very important for there are a thought for the american support we don't want to be drawn into a war between iran and america on iraqi soil if the americans pull out the iranians cannot use iraq as a battlefield between them and the americans we need the americans to leave so iran will leave us alone iran will not leave iraq alone unless until there are american soldiers on the rocky soil the iranians are generally afraid and they feel that they are threatened by the presence of military american military hardware and equipment and personnel in iraq therefore it'

iraq emitted bases hosting u.s. troops it's to iran's retaliation against the assassination of us into a money but will this revenge operation stop there and might washington strike back this is inside story. hello welcome to the program. there's been much speculation about the scale and target of iran's retaliation to the assassination of its top military command customs today money and there's also speculation about whether the killing of the head of the revolutionary guards elite force could bring all out war to the middle east iran find more than a dozen besides a 2 air bases hosting american forces in iraq early wednesday it's the most direct attack on the u.s. by iran in decades initial statements by both countries seem to say they don't want further escalation the iranian foreign minister exact words were it one took and concluded proportionate measures in self-defense to iran's made it clear it will strike again if washington responds as for u.s. president donald trump it waited all is well after iran struck

/iraq relationship. iraq suddenly went from, you know, demonstrating against iranian presence and others to demonstrating against the united stat states. did the united states expect its embassy in iraq to be breached by pro-iranian militias in baghdad? did the united states expect that when it retaliated for the killing of that american contractor? and now the government of iraq is under massive pressure and we'll see whether the militia in iraq, or what is the pressure from the streets and what will iran do. the idea of iran wanting now to do that famous photo op that president trump wanted in september at the u.n., it's over. they're talking about revenge now. and so we just simply don't know what's going to happen and, remember, the french are saying it's more dangerous because emmanuel macron was the mediator between president trump and hassan rouhani, trying to get that relationship back on track. but the u.s. have gone from maximum economic pressure to now military action. >> christiane amanpour,

iraq is in flames the u.s. embassy in baghdad has been seized by crowds of people chanting death to america. was guided. by. god. now you might think that iraq has plenty of reason to be outraged with the united states you might recall that whole invading destroying and killing thousands of people in the country thing however trump doesn't see it that way this is his assessment of events iran killed an american contract. many we strongly respond and always will and iran has orchestration an attack on the us embassy in iraq they will be held fully responsible in addition we expect iraq to use its forces to protect embassy and so north to fight it's all about iran one of the things we want to emphasize is that this was a defensive action that was designed to protect american forces and american citizens in iraq we're also working on the mission of restoring deterrence against in rimi an aggression the united states recently conducted airstrikes against iranian backed militias in iraq in syria this comes after was

last how will you do this in iraq iraq is a country iraq is a state please listen to this. he said there is no a state in iraq there is no a state in iraq there's nothing called iraq go to his village is go to his all jews how will you control the oil fields he said we will send forces we will seize big parts security belts will be built and we will get the oil we will send the all you will to the world so iran from 3 years ago on says now is to draw me in a the oil fields in iraq and to get the oil you in wealth in iraq he doesn't want a country he doesn't want to step in iraq so as not to prevent him or there is a country she the country must be submitted to the americans to the american army to the american ambassador politically and security and the economic elite. the one before brought down trump him says said that obama and had a reckless and an have created that ice of. americans want to continue the war to continue for years and years in all of that to have a pretext to stay in iraq they said a world war against need 1020 or 30 years and the big billboard of war ag

his muscle and try and do to gain ground inside iraq so i think when you talk about iraq you have to be very careful. on who's actually will be supporting you're on who's actually is working against. how most of the interim let's remind ourselves that iran is suffering under u.s. sanctions its economy is in tatters so whilst so that money may be considered a hero and a martyr by some people i mean do ordinary iranians think that they have more important things to worry about like jobs the economy where the next meal is coming from. yes that's true but at the same time possum so they money was actually a quite light public figure in iran public polling by the university of maryland last. amr shows that awesome so they money actually actually had the highest approval rating of all iranian political figures including the iranian president and for some selling mining was quite smart in the sense that he wouldn't get involved in iranian domestic politics and as a result he was quite liked by both factions within iran at the same time we have to remember that the economic sanctions on iran

military presence in iraq now trump is been threatening iraq with sanctions making you have to pay for these bases will the u.s. and its allies in dated in 2003 illegally i don't see why the iraqis have to pay one cent as a matter fact an apology is due also we have threats that the new york fed bank may withhold cash reserves that are held on behalf of iraq and if i'm not mistaken in the in the tune of $3000000000.00 i mean is this how you treat an ally i mean don't you go shade in top with a now i not threaten that's how you resolve issues or maybe that is something no one void in this administration when it comes. the foreign policy go ahead alex well this is absolutely shocking behavior because those troops those american troops in iraq are supposed to be there at the invitation of iraq if iraq asks for them to go they should go in fact it seems that the united states not only wants them to stay it is prepared to put coercive pressure and you talked about this attempt to stop you know iraq accessing banking facilities in order to force them to stay that is not the action of an ally

military forces from iraq. president trump responded by threatening to impose sanctions on iraq "like they've never seen before." iraq has already been the target of some of the harshest sanctions the world has even seen. u.s.-backed sanctions killed more than a million iraqis, including over 500,000 children, between 1990 and 2003. president trump has also threatened to target 52 locations in iran, including cultural sites, if iran retaliates against the u.s. the targeting of cultural sites is widely viewed as an war crime. pentagon said the number 52 is for the taking of 52 hostages by karen 40 years ago. the pentagon says it's sending nearly 3000 more troops to the middle east from the 82nd airborne division. karen says it is pulling out of the 2015 nuclear deal. the united states has already pulled out of the deal. many iraqi residents that they are concerned the rising tensions between the u.s. and iran will engulf iraq. this is baghdad resident naji khathem. killingswill be more and the fight between u.s.

troop withdrawal from iraq. iran the worked a lot and hard the last decade tool force united states to withdraw from iraq of course iran and particularly the man who worked hard for that even organized attacking of american troops back to 2008 and some of i think iranian officials will be happy to see. the troops withdrawal from iraq but there is also some folks say here in iraq in the shia iraqis would like to see also they are close to a proxy to iran they would like also see iraq without the americans what are you hearing from iraq itself what do people there make of all this well the opinion that was split in 2 saw it's the most of the shia politicians like to force the government to ask the americans to take their troops outside of the country but we still talking about the courts they do not like because they think that americans get them back up and also the sunnis and that's why i think this is looks like different not with it all but 3 positions some troops in iraq ok. the german government has decided

in iraq. >> good afternoon. my name is tamara kharroub, i'm the assistant executive director and senior fellow at the arab center in washington, d.c. thank you for joining us for this important and timely discussion focusing on the implications, regionally and internationally, of the recent developments between and escalations between iran and the united states and the killing of qassem soleimani. as you know, on january 3rd, an american airstrike ordered by u.s. president donald trump killed the top iranian military commander qassem soleimani. iran responded by attacking two military bases in iraq that host american forces. the last weeks have seen sequence of violent events and escalations, both before and after this major incident with varying degrees and impact. today, we seek to discuss the implications on three levels. first, domestically in iran. with the iranian regime continuing to face protests and a crumbling economy, especially after the shooting down of the ukrainian commercial pl

wants to tell the story that iran's asserting a vice like grip over iraq and that essentially iraq's become if you like an iranian college colony whilst iran maintains actually it's a partner to iraq it wants to help rebuild and supports its neighbor and yet parts of the criticism we're hearing today is that this p.m.s. protest at the embassy is simply an attempt to draw attention away from the peaceful protesters. i think it's pretty clear no matter how one frames it that the americans have repeatedly bombed the popular mobilisation groups and they murdered many of them and the accusations that they have attacked american positions are simply american accusations there is there's been no court of law in iraq that has proven this and if the popular mobilisation supporters and their people do not leave the gates of the u.s. embassy. during the goetia asians with the iraqi government possibly it's because it's linked to the fact that the iraqi government told americans not to bomb them and they did so they're not going to sit probably they're vulnerable being be prepared to be bombed a

troops out of iraq that if they were to be ordered out of iraq that iraq would be required to pay for a major u.s. air base there that cost billions of dollars and he went on to say that they would levy heavy sanctions against iraq and this is at a time when the u.s. is sending more troops into the region in order to protect those troops there john you mentioned that vote that non-binding vote that was have the iraqi parliament to foreign troops out of iraq how likely is that to come into effect. well nobody knows at this point because it's a non-binding vote the u.s. military's official position on that is that they're not leaving however iraq could order the u.s. out it in a binding vote in the future and that would force the americans hand right now u.s. president trump and u.s. defense leaders seem to believe that iraq needs the $5000.00 remaining u.s. troops there to train the iraqi troops and to carry out some of those missions against eisel because they have decades of experience in special forces in those kinds of operations there was one interesting point that came out of thi

a west of iraq. iran iran the also warning the united states to to crease the situation and also they also put another goals and other targets in the region they also we are ready to give in the wave of the of the attack probably back to you tell us more about about one of the confirmed targets now the ol assad air base what do we know about that base and tell us about its significance for the u.s. military. that's right of course there are 2 bases but one of course is the. base and that's in western iraq we must also mention that there are over $5000.00 u.s. troops based in iraq it's a very large complex it's split into 2 though it's split into an area where american troops are based and then there are iraqi troops in another part of the base we're waiting for confirmation that in fact the attack earlier today was actually to the iraqi side we also don't know whether there are casualties yet that is still unconfirmed and it's a place that's very well known to americans why because vice president mik

presence in iraq. it's so divided the specially of groups like 2 days ago the problem is session then we saw only we 128 members only 170 showed up which is all of them was from one to broke and we know that actually to come to she outlives so basically this is actually the issue that is why there was a prediction and we mostly aimed at the country is that the caucuses will give language and in america any kind of programming militias included and that is the key clue and it's really skull and let's see now called example today the. strike that happened today in a block from the iranian side we didn't hear the same voices fail to act with the and they are trying and trying that's changing the law come a lot of the governments are a lot united and. protect the difficulty of the country. he was just wondering where the antigovernment protests are standing right now we're a rock is under a different kind of a fret because of the back and forth between iran and the u.s. . and i'm going to push back i'm goi

troops in iraq the pentagon says the general's letter about withdrawal plans was a mistake. a possible showdown in venezuela the opposition leader is determined to return to parliament i think barred from congress. and we need south korea's so-called spirit young people trapped in the lowest social class despite being highly educated. welcome to the program huge crowds have gathered in the iranian city of quetta man for the final funeral procession for general qassam son the mahdi the top military commander was assassinated in a u.s. strike in iraq on friday he laid to rest in his own town but in response to the killing iran's parliament has designated the u.s. army and the pentagon as terrorist organizations but a short while ago iran's foreign minister said the u.s. had miscalculated by targeting cilla monny accusing it of making the world insecure . don't mean you don't the iranian nation and freedom fighters are mourning this great loss the united states by assassinating a senior iranian general i started a new chapter that will cause them problems the beginning of the e

metal and the economic and facilities in iraq are quite keen for the sake of iraq and are quite keen to have relations of friendship with the countries that have helped us to fight that with the neighboring countries and we are also quite good to prevent anyone to interfere in our internal affairs and our sovereignty in our higher. interest the change of security administrative and the economic political behavior is quiet important because we need to have. read real state to get rid of depending only on oil we need to have at it you methods in order to fight the employment and to create jobs and to create other tools in order to help ourselves and help our country our way from the oil revenues only to find the lazy have some recommendations as prime minister and as the general commander of the phone says is to go to the fairest of action the spite some inside and outside troubles but this option is the best for iraq and is the best holder to have the right sound proper relations with the righteousness of america that is based on friendship and based on respect and sovereignty and bas

troops in iraq? i mean, already you had a lot of noise from the various iraqi politicians saying, we've got to get out. we've got to stop bringing our problems to their country and that was a signal they're not very happy watt iranians either. i think this is going to have a tendency of saying, americans, we've loved you here but time to leave. so i would watch that space. in the meantime, i agree with all of the things that the senators have said, we've got to stop this escalation. i would stay away from economic targets. the iranians have already shown they can really hit the button before we've had breakfast in the morning. we should stay away from oil stuff but i think we probably will want to do something more than symbolic reach. it kind of depends where we are casualties so we don't have too much damage assessment from al assad right now. i hope we can kind of have the wisdom, if you kind of slow this down. mabrey in some mediators like omaha and places that have wanted to see this calm down.

especially since the us invasion of iraq in 2003, soleimani has driven the iranian expansion into iraq, into syria, into yemen, afghanistan and pakistan to some extent and has consolidated the control of the revolutionary guards inside iran and planted sleeper cells and trained rebels in saudi arabia, bahrain and other places in the region. he has been one of the most destabilising figures and has certainly been the mastermind behind the post—2003 hegemonic iranian expansion into the region and support for lebanese hezbollah. so he was a very high level target to take out, and i think iranian strategy and probably some of their implementation will suffer without him at the helm. interesting you rate it as that significant and i want to get back to soleimani and indeed the wider iranian influence in iraq a little later in the interview, but one more point on the issue of lawfulness. you very carefully say it's really not for you to judge the lawfulness or not, i would put it to you that as a us ambassador long—standing, it really does matter to you and now your successor in baghdad

next either on the ground in iraq from iraq or from someplace else because clearly the u.s. has interests dotted all around the middle east the pentagon a senior saying quote we will take all necessary measures to protect and defend u.s. personnel partners and allies in the region but that statement from the pentagon not being too cynical about it that's just chaff that's giving themselves time to think about not reacting not overreacting and not under reacting because the relationship is so combustible so tinder dry is there a sense there in washington john that they've got to get it right. absolutely there is real consternation on capitol hill normally when the u.s. is facing a military crisis like this the population tends to support the action even if they later don't they tend to support the leadership and in congress you tend to have democrats and republicans both on one side but as this situation has escalated it's really become a partisan issue here in washington as well joe biden the democratic presidential candidate for vice president spoke out today saying that tr

troops in iraq but also even a new an influence in iraq so if iraq ease today as cornered and are forced to choose between the u.s. and iran who is the safest choice for them the safest choice is to have both of them. leave iraq the entire reason why why this escalation or this the tension escalated between the u.s. and iran is because both of them were trying to orchestrate something that would pull the attention away from the iraqi uprisings that began in early october the iraqi led a rocky youth led movement that began in early october 2019 flip the entire equation the equation of the balance of power between several regional power players in iraq where beyond the u.s. and the iranian rivalry in iraq but if we were to look at both of them if we look at the consequence of the sequence of the of the events starting from the base in a kind of cool corner the american contractor civilian got killed it's very obvious that iran try to orchestrate something to pull the attention away from the protests that carried a very heavy anti iran sentiment a very heavy sentiment against the iranian do

into iraq. creating a proxy war in iraq use oil which has no reason and no need for it if there is a problem between the united states of america between the united states and iran as well take between themselves why involving iraq why attack iraq soldiers in retaliation. this is something that there is no need for it it will definitely need to do to ration of diplomatic relationship between iraq and. and will definitely effected the presence of american soldiers american fighting forces here in iraq but r.t. has spoken to the group targeted by the u.s. could type hezbollah has what their spokes person had to say about what's been happening. there without the americans striking this particular force in iraq want to present their actions as a fight against iranian influence but that is not after being attacked by the gangs of eisel it was the iraqi people who were the rebuff and resistance not the iranians. the concluded strategic framework agreement between the usa and iraq does not allow the am

iraq. we saw that from iranian territory hitting the oil processing facility, which took out about 5% of saudi oil production. a significant and precise strike, but one, like all the previous ones that avoid civilian casualties, that avoided significant environmental damage in the region, that also avoided precipitating the kind of escalation that we nearly found ourselves in last week, and i think we will likely see emerge once again. this is the iranian playbook. there is really no reason for them to change that playbook now. they have more reason to push back and to punch back and to demonstrate to the trump administration and the world, that they are not going to simply live with the siege of their economy would have cost $200 billion, depending on which statistic you believe, not just in terms of the oil revenue they have had to forgo, or in terms of the revenues locked up in foreign bank accounts, but in terms of the opportunity cost, the growth iran would have experienced. instead, t

troops in iraq are no longer safe i don't think that the american presence in iraq will be sustainable and i think the american presence in syria won't as a result be sustainable and i also think that foreign nationals should leave the persian gulf region regimes like the united arab emirates and saudi arabia which are in the american i don't think are safe places to be at the moment if i was in western national i vivus soonest possible well in iraq as well i will definitely leave iraq iran as we know is vowing to avenge the assassination so what do you expect to happen next. well imagine if the americans had assassinated the. senior commander of the russian army. what response would come from moscow the americans will pay a heavy price and not only have the americans given the iranians the. right to retaliate but they united the country the whole pull the whole of iranian society is now united against the united states and they've united iraqi society now all the major political parties that have been bickering in iraq are all condemning the united states. and the others are all calli

in iraq. and he got this from literally hundreds of daily intelligence , theings, the famous pdb presidential daily briefing. after 2003, most of them were dominated by the topic of iraq. he got them from probably 100-plus meetings of his war council. he got this from hundreds of nightly briefing notes that megan mentioned casually in her remarks. these were famously called inside the national security council, potus notes. president of the united states, acronym, notes. and for the iraq afghanistan team, this was a daily chore. around 3:00 in the afternoon, put out an all hands call among this sort of squad of us who were dealing with iraq and afghanistan, and we gather the most recent, most current elements and put them in a three-page memo to the president. this went on for years. he got this expertise from personal close engagements with all the participants on the u.s. side, to include the military commanders, but also with his iraqi counterparts. so by 2006 when he was struggling with th

troops in iraq here's some of it in due deference to the sovereignty of the republic of iraq the combined joint task force will be repositioning forces over the course of the coming days and weeks to prepare for on wood movements more on the summit gabriel is on though in washington d.c. gabriel there are mistakes and then there's a sending out alessio which says your troops are leaving it's hard to understand how this has happened. yeah and that's i think what the pentagon is doing now is they're trying to sort out how did this happen it is absolutely remarkable that the pentagon would have had a mistake this bad and to put it in a context we have to remember kemal that it was just over the weekend that the iraqi parliament had that non-binding vote to expel u.s. troops again it was non-binding but it was a vote in parliament considering to push out u.s. troops that is important because shortly after that letter came out after that vote in parliament president trump tweeted no we have no plans of leaving ok fine so then this letter comes out and the 1st words of the letter are from this

iraq right now. look. iraq has been incredibly important to the united states, as far as its position in that part of the middle east but also because we have been able to establish a counter terrorism effort in iraq that has gone after isis and gone after al qaeda and gone after those that would ultimately try to attack the united states. it's been a very important relationship with iraq. i think the president made a mistake on not referring to the situation in iraq and recognizing that it was important for the united states in this situation to try to work with iraq to try to protect their security, as well. that should have been the signal that the president should have sent because if in the end this results in pushing the united states out of iraq make no mistake about it, we will be in a much weaker situation with regards to dealing with isis. >> let me ask you this. i'm sure when you were there and others, the goal is to get iraq, other allies besides iran and the united states in the middle e

troops being asked to leave iraq president trump said that 1st iraq would have to pay us back for the enormous base that we built and the enormous military base that we built the iraqis and they would have to pass back for the enormous embassy that we built as it invited here as the invasion into iraq you know it's the beginning to be here. i think. they're very grateful that they paid that need to get to america and that all. and. i think didn't so far i can say they're getting lately to get a lot of takes but. well he would go ahead yes . what everything like you know is what i'm what i'm sure. he will allow hillary to. this issue of america. he will continue. on the issue of america and iran i think the people of iraq are split. into 2 camps some of them and this is a think more all of the kurds the sunnis who thought their own peace could to parliament session that the resolution saying asking for the u.s. to pull out of. iraq they boycotted the session and the mood on the street is that the u.s. must persist stay because iraq still is unable to stand on its feet because of the th

al-jazeera to iraq. has praised some other news not far fighters and a strangely i say it's very likely more homes will be destroyed by bush far as but their focus no is on saving lives where the conditions for saturday are being described as catastrophic felicity davey reports from sydney. australia and prime minister scott morrison seen for himself the latest areas devastated by bushfires in new south wales the day after he was confronted by angry residents in the town of go this woman refusing to shake his hand so many people have lost their fire here the prime minister said he wanted to offer comfort to those affected by fires on using and he's not surprised at their reaction people are angry it is something that i was there before as we've it is something that i understand it's not something for me to talk personally it's peak holiday season but with the state of emergency declared in the states of new south wales and victoria tens of thousands of people have been leaving tourist areas traffic is be

the region that is so complex and in twine doesn't know in fact i'm glad you brought up the issue of iraq because i think that's what's being neglected in this entire conversation of what's happening between the united states and iran but iran for iraq for years and years has chafed under the influence of iran and some would say it's chafed under the influence of the united states as well both the political elite inside of iraq and the religious elite inside of iraq have always said let us maintain our own sovereignty in so many words if you all have. a fight don't do it here and iraq we are a relatively young democracy we need to develop we need to. increase our economy our infrastructure we need to rid corruption out of our government which is all the things that the protesters are protesting for but if iraq is truly going to be what the americans have wanted to be since 2003 a strong stable and independent country then we can't turn this into a battleground between the united states and iran and that's why the greatest fear . as we say in sports or take this off the field and work it o

was not leaving iraq that if it did leave iraq it was going to require a iraq to pay billions of dollars for its major airbase at balad and that the u.s. would levy heavy sanctions against iraq heavier sanctions against iraq than it is currently living against iran so it would be an embarrassment for president trump to have said that and then have one day later u.s. troops withdrawing from the region that seems to be part of the calculus here when the pentagon is now talking to reporters off camera so we can't show that to you but saying with the defense secretary mark esper saying this letter was not supposed to go out it is not the official policy of the u.s. government it would be an embarrassment for the u.s. to have to be chased out president trump has said that he wants to take u.s. troops out of the region and that number has dwindled from some 130000 back in 2003 to 5000 now but this is certainly not the way president drum wants the united states to leave iraq. all right thank you very much with the latest on this story from washington john hendren meanwhile inside iran huge crow

was forced out of iraq he that he would level sanctions against iraq so there is that back and forth a little bit that confusion but then it was on monday that this letter came out it was a letter that was it was written apparently or had the name of the general for the u.s. by the from the u.s. military base in iraq it was onst department of defense letterhead and the 1st sentence says this and listen closely because it seems pretty clear the 1st sentence says in due deference to the sovereignty of the republic of iraq and at the requested and at the requested by the iraqi parliament and the prime minister combined a joint task force will be repositioning forces over the course of the coming days and weeks to prepare for onward movement and then there's a couple other sentences and then at the end it says we respect your sovereignty and decision to order our departure that letter was written apparently to this american generals counterpart and their iraqi military there in baghdad and so that set off this firestorm assuming that the u.s. was pulling their troops out of iraq that cau

the iranian influence in iraq. goes back to 1980 s. but there are 2 important milestones will cause some sort of money became fully involved on the situation in iraq the 1st milestone was basically goes back to september 2002 when he was called basically to focus on iraq and that was basically after the american decision decision to remove saddam hussein and then the beginning of 2003 basically the whole iraqi file was in the hands of some sort of money and the courts force in particular and that was an important milestone because because they were basically running the whole military show bringing all of the back all of the iraqis who were involved who were living in iraq and then establishing in a gradually the forces to defend the new iraq 2003 but important my list on which goes back to few years ago in order to maliki ask them so they managed to help on fighting. basically and that was. the step where to pass some sort of a manny start with the support of sustain any establishing what's the hold that has to sh

urging all in iraq to get out of the iraq immediately. they are saying at threat for kidnapping or even even being killed. this coming after that strike last night outlines of baghdad's international airport killed this leader of iran's revolutionary guard. additionally, seven other people were killed, including a deputy and a very large iraqi iranian backed she a militia. it's important to note here that the iranians today are vowing to respond. iran's supreme leader implementing a three day mourning period. as you saw this morning rouhani tweeting out there will be revenge for the death of soleimani. it's important to note that what we have talked about over the past few days or past year was a proxy war between the west and iran. it's important to note now that has changed a direct confrontation between iran and the united states happened last night with the assassination of this top military commander in iran's revolutionary guard. as for any potential iranian response. we can expect a response to be calculated. they are a very large

and he's mixing chem business with iraq. but the majority of the people that i talk with them they think that mr saleh money was the main figure and the the 1st person to be giving them. back up fighting is them into state in mosul. they they believe that he is still one of. i think tomorrow at 11 o'clock in the back that there is a huge gathering of calling for a gathering force of mr skilling money. on this and i think we will going to see some footage coming from baghdad to morrow with thousands of people who told you thanks for joining us i mean i'm sorry thank you very much for let's talk about the wider regional reaction on the u.s. drone strike has drawn a variety of responses russia is critical it has warned that this step by washington could have grave consequences for regional peace and stability in our view such actions do not contribute to the finding of solutions to the complicated problems that have accumulated in the middle east now here's a tweet from germany's foreign minister heiko must the us military oper

that is, militias in iraq. and i also think there's a credibility issue here in general where the president has spent the last three years discrediting the very community. and i think there's a little bit of history that people should e reremember which of course was the occasion for an invasion. so i think skepticism is in order here. >> but just tell me more about the discrediting of the intelligence agencies. because what people have said for the past three years is and when you need them, when you some day need the cia or the fbi or the, just intel if you discredit them too much, it's going to be a problem. and do you think this is that day? that discrediting of the intelligence community is going to come back to haunt. this may be a case in point. if it has to do with russian meddling or the determination of north korea not to denuclearize which turned out to be correct, well, that's intelligence we don't like. be if we have intelligence we do like that supports our position, well, then it's okay. so i thi

iraq and lebanon fear the.

watch iraq. whether there's pressure on the government or to try to chase the united states out of iraq. or try to target u.s. personnel. diplomats or troops or aid workers inside of iraq. it's a dangerous moment. we have a president in office who may have created the largest international crisis of the presidency. and i'm not confident he's prepared to deal with it. >> when you think about you put yourself in iran's shoes and the reaction they're going to be facing. civil society within the government and security forces, obvious lif the revolutionary guard is unlike anything we have in the west. not only in terms of reach beyond the borders but also the economic power. they criminal whole industries. in iran they have income. and divert resources to themselves and proxies if in ways other security services don't have the power to do. it's a unique thing. having him taken out in this way, if you're the iranian government if you are the iranian security services and you'ring about thousand to res

he was crucially involved in the iraq war that the u.s. was fighting in iraq. iran was involved in that exporting the technology that led to the deaths of hundreds of american servicemen, explosively formed projectiles. that was iranian technology. he's been involved in lebanon, in syria. he's executing iranian regional military strategy. was able to do a lot of things on his own, on his own recognizance. the thing is he had blood on his hands. he had a lot of blood on his hands, but to echo partly what nick was saying there, the thing is why do this at this moment? i would love to know the strategy of this. he certainly had blood on his hands. saddam hussein had blood on his hands, and taking him out led to a lot of unintended consequences and that's what i think a lot of people are concerned about. what the unintended consequence of this could be. >> michael, thank you. we want to go now to our nick robertson in lunlden for us. we just heard from the prime minister in iraq saying the air strike on baghdad's airport is an act of aggression on iraq and breach o

a revenge within iraq on the iraqi territory especially against the american troops in iraq that's why it is expected that would happen and not just what we know it's also the hezbollah in lebanon also for i think the american for reserves in the area iran has another abilities to attacking the oil fields in saudi are we we we have that seen the aerial had that scenario before i think every option is quite often like to see what does what does the qatari foreign minister know he's in charge of iranian about possible reaction to keep the action just in the small area not to open it in the wide range of the region i think the next to the next hours and days will be very important absolutely lots of moving parts in this and potential consequences iraqi journalist. thanks as ever thank you and the 2nd of now some of the other stories making news around the world indonesian authorities have been delivering supplies by helicopter to waterlogged regions following floods that left at least 53 people date in the region around the capital jakarta torrential rains that started on new year's eve u

does have options iraq iraq is a rich country and despite the occupation of the united states and the meddling of your on it remains to be a solid sovereign country and is and has more than capable people. in order to you know build the economy build the country and so on so forth but iran does have influence in iraq and this is the big thing and this is the big story for us between the united states and iran the united states walked according to strategy to geopolitics iran depended on its geography its close relations its religion she is' and. all sorts of connections course border with iraq that allowed it so much influence within the country the question is will he use it or abuse it clearly a lot of people think it's a lot of abuse going on in terms of its relationship with iraq so what options then does iran have now following the assassination of sunni money and asked to respond somehow if it doesn't respond it will be seen as weak observer but it doesn't want to risk an all out war with the americans either given that they're already engaged in other conflicts in the region in

iraq has called on the u.n. security council to condemn the killing of her radiant general custom sort of money and the iraqi militia leader who was killed alongside him during a u.s. drone strike last week general antonio terrorists is also calling for restraint. so the money's remains have just arrived in his hometown of come out his final resting place he will be the perry don't choose to earlier on monday a huge crowds packed the streets in the capital tehran for the funeral procession the supreme leader ayatollah khomeini and the president hassan rouhani held president gets on. well more now on that mistakenly sent letter about u.s. troops in iraq and glen call was deputy national intelligence officer for transnational threats at the cia and he told us the confusion over the letter is symptomatic of the chaos in the trump administration. by this point everyone on earth should have the measure of the man he is utterly amoral selfish focused narcissistic and doesn't care about the law. custom coordination or

this again would be handing iraq and the flames of iraq to the successor of qasem soleimani. so iran has already named a successor for soleimani's position there. so iraq is going to be pivotal for the regional pushback on iran. as the u.s. steps up pressure on the islamic republican, iran feels like it is between a rock and a hard place. talk of sanctions right now against iraq are premature. the reason is that the iraqi parliament, especially the pro iran block has used almost every opportunity in 2019 to try to evict america and they failed. the most recent resolution that people are citing is a nonbinding one, so it is expression of distaste with the americans. but american troops are still there. america needs to make sure iraq is on its side as it pushes back against iran. >> people in the streets are saying we want the u.s. out. we want iran out. they have been in the streets protesting the government. they don't have basic rights and services since the fall of saddam hussein, so this puts them in an awkward position as far as the citizens go. you said of soleimani tha

still facing a very uncertain future in iraq, including the imminent prospect of the government of iraq ordering the removal of all forces on the ground. the president making it clear he's not planning on a pullout. take a listen. >> i think it's the worst thing that can happen to iraq. >> reporter: the american people, though, don't think a withdrawal is such a bad idea. they remain intensely skeptical of continued u.s. presence on the ground. the latest poll finds over half americans believe the war in iraq has made the homeland less safe when it comes to terrorism, 51%. half of americans, 50% on the noes think that u.s. military engagement with iraq in the first place was a big mistake. the numbers even more alarmingly high among veterans. 64% of them say the war in iraq wasn't worth fighting. when it comes to iran, the american public also still largely skeptical of u.s. military intervention. new polling shows less than 10% of americans support a military strike against iran's nuclear facilities. the large majority, far, far prefer a diplomatic solution to the nuclear crisis. some

rdwesterg n iraq tonight. i want to get to our chief white house correspntmodeontoon jha l depmlovenytsesenponse rofrom the house yet? >> reporter: no response yet, david, but theresident today atd to any iranianft ira to if iran were totrike the ited states. this came on aay when he d fe mor reasoning for atta for theck attag,ck that took out qassem imlesoanen that >> well,r e, k non hearing about it tomorrow. we had tremendous information. we've been following hims th for a war crime. >> and you know what, if that's what the law is -- i like to obey the law. but think of it. they kill our people. they blow up our people, then we have to be gentle with their cultural institutions. but i'm okay with it. it's okay with me. >> reporter: the strike that killed soleimaniook place inaqsd prompting the iraqi parliament to vote to expel u.s. troops. yesterday, the u.s. military sparked coby sending then nfio iraqi government a letter announcing that american troops would be pulling out. the pentagon insists the lette

one of the military bases is in irbil in northern iraq, and the other in al asad in western iraq. the president went to al asad in 2018 and met with our troops there. the back up said quote we'll take all necessary measures to protect and defense u.s. personnel, partners and allies in the region. the president has been briefed and he's monitoring the situation closely. we are just learning he may address the nation tonight. we may be hearing from president trump about this attack tonight. do not forget iran had promised historic revenge for the killing of general soleimani as someone who murdered as many as 00 americano --as many as 600 amers on for the attacks on the u.s. embassy in baghdad. joining me former delta force member, retired lieutenant general william borsma. general, i will start with you. what is yr sense of what the iranians have done? they promised a historic revenge. when you hear about 1 ballistic missiles -- when you hear about 12 ballistic missiles launched from iran targeting u.s. bases, what's your response to that. >> if they are planning historic revenge t