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e-trade is your cow. milk it. >> e-trade is about seizing opportunity. >> and now, bbc "world news america." ♪ >> this is "bbc world news america." reporting from washington, i am laura trevelyan. iraq based onn in flawed intelligence. the threat was overstated according to a u.k. report. the prime minister at the time stands by his call. >> i made the decision on good faith on the information i had at the time. i believe that it is better that we took that decision. laura: president obama announces he will slowly the drawdown of troops in afghanistan, leaving

3000 more than planned into next year. after marathon trial, oscar pistorius is sentenced to six years in an african prison for the murder of reeva steenkamp. ♪ laura: welcome to our viewers on public television in america and also around the globe. after the invasion of iraq a british report delivered a damming verdict on the u.k. decision to join the american air campaign. john chilcot concluded the decision was made on flawed intelligence and criticized the planning for the war's aftermath as inadequate. tony blair believed the world was a safer place without saddam hussein. the bbc political editor reports. correspondent: those who let us

-- those who loved and lost. >> good morning. how are you feeling? correspondent: the man who took longer than the iraq war it self to judge what really went wrong. [bells ringing] then, not a sound in the western conference center where the chilcott evidence was heard and where the families waited for a final few seconds for the verdict that has taken seven years. concluded that the u.k. chose to join the invasion of iraq before the peaceful option for disarmament had been exhausted. military action at that time was

not a last resort. correspondent: polite, but clear and devastating. the judgments about the severity of the threat posed by iraq's weapons of mass distraction were presented with a certainty that was not justified. despite explicit mornings, the consequences of the invasion were underestimated. the planning and preparations for iraq after saddam hussein were wholly inadequate. the government failed to achieve its stated objectives. correspondent: he found no evidence of deceit, but simply the case for war was wrong. the report says it is clear that policy on iraq was made on the basis of flawed intelligence and assessments. they were not challenge, and they should have been. he found a lack of forethought for british forces and iraq's

future. despite promises the cabinet would discuss military contributions, it did not discuss military options or its contributions. tony blair did not ensure there was a flexible and fully resourced plan. were troops sent into an illegal war? nowhere in the 2.5 million words was a legal judgment made. it was not set up to do so. but the inquiry suggests it may have broken a law. which itrcumstances on was decided for military action were far from satisfactory. [chanting] correspondent: there was rage outside. anger will never be abated. the report catalogues the growing determination of tony blair and george bush to take on saddam hussein. at the bush ranch in 2002 a

strategy for a human ultimatum where saddam hussein would face the consequences. in a previously unseen note blair wrote that i will be with you whatever, still urging him to use the un. flawed intelligence led him to this claim. >> could be activated within 45 minutes -- correspondent: his determination was stronger than diplomacy. by mid-march the talking was over and the war had begun. and women servicemen are engage from land, air, and sea. their mission? to remove saddam hussein from power and disarm iraq. speaking of an easy transition that turned to dust. basics theyut the

needed were humiliated, the inquiry claims. [bells ringing] correspondent: tony blair, who made the decision, was full of sorrow and regret, but still thinks that he was right. >> the decision to go to war in iraq and remove saddam hussein coalition, in the where 40 countries led by the united states of america, was momentous,, most most agonizing decision that i took is -- i took in my 10-years as british prime minister. today, i accept full responsibility. without exception and without excuse. the intelligence assessment made at the time of going to war turned out to be wrong. the aftermath turned out to be more hostile and bloody then we

imagined. set one fact plan and encountered another. the nation of people we wanted to set free and secure from the people of saddam he, instead, victims to sectarian terrorism. this, i express more sorrow, regret, and apology then you may ever know or could believe. deceit, orno lies, deception, but there was a decision. moments ofnt: decision, moments of protest, willanger and anguish

never be forgotten. the iraq inquiry may suggest once and for all this was never mission accomplished. , westminster. violence has continued to this day. john chilcot underlined the suffering of the iraqi people, including one million forced from their homes when he spoke today. reporting from baghdad, the war sent shockwaves across the entire region. correspondent: the people of baghdad and the rest of iraq are living and dying with the consequences of the 2003 invasion. security is being beefed up yet again after the bomb that killed 250 people on sunday. of a sudden, random death is never far away. voices reached baghdad in april of 2003,

pictures of them helping iraqis topple a statue of saddam hussein went around the world. he started knocking lumps out to celebrate what he believed was liberation. now, like many iraqis, he is nostalgic for the brutal certainties of saddam's time. >> saddam has gone and we have 1000's of -- 1000 saddam now. correspondent: if tony blair was here, what would you say to him? >> that he was a criminal, and i would spit in his face. correspondent: these are iraqi shia militia trained by iran attacking islamic state jihadists. chilcott says the british government ignored a warning that removing saddam hussein would offer iran an opening in iraq. position seemed to

be prepared by trained soldiers, not foreign volunteers. i asked former iraqi officers who joined the jihadists when they dissolved the iraqi army. not all of the chaos and war in the middle east at the moment can be traced back to the invasion of iraq in 2003, but a lot of it can. it was like throwing a rock into a pond. ,t sent out shockwaves geopolitical, religiously sectarian, military, and 13-years later they are still crashing around the region. strife, about internal regional instability, and the rise of jihadists were ignored. the warnings were accurate. violence spread to syria, yemen, and elsewhere as leaders abused shia/sunni

for power.ght jihadists were on the attack before the invasion, but a rock after 2003 offered al qaeda a haven and launchpad that the islamic state is still using. small numbers of british troops who we found on the condition they weren't identified her back training iraqi soldiers. >> at this pace, australians and new zealanders outnumber the british. it is a long way from what chilcott caused the humiliating end of an intervention that went badly wrong with consequences to this day. jeremy bowen, bbc news, baghdad. laura: for more on the report's findings, i spoke with stephen hadley, the white house deputy security advisor at the time of the iraq invasion.

they found that saddam hussein posed no threat and the decision to go to where was flawed. you are part of that decision-making in the white house. no doubt about the intelligence at the time? stephen: we had no doubt at the time. there was a national intelligence estimate that had been prepared idle to the final decision. the executive summary which was declassified is pretty clear as any of the nie executive summaries i have seen. it was consistent with what we had been hearing from intelligence community since we had been in office. laura: the information on weapons of mass distraction, chilcot says was presented with a certainty that was unjustified. stephen: it is ironic. hidingwas clearly

something from the inspectors. we thought he was hiding weapons of mass destruction. it turns out what he was hiding was that he had gotten rid of his weapons of mass destruction. why would he hide that? the interviews the fbi did with him after he was captured suggest he did not want the iranians, with whom he had fought a 10-year war, that he did not have any weapons of mass destruction. laura: chilcot says the dangers of invading iraq were there, including that enron would become key in the region. also the intelligence warnings showed al qaeda and iraq could explode. stephen: there were mornings. there were warnings that al qaeda could try to exploit it. what we did not anticipate was that al qaeda would decide, particularly in the form of the leader of al qaeda in iraq, that they would make their stand against the united states, u.k.,

in iraq. we did not see the brutal and effective strategy that he adopted of killing shia civilians to try to provoke retaliation against innocent sunnis to plunge the country into civil war so that al qaeda could start the caliphate. that was a ghoulish strategy, and it almost worked. laura: hindsight is a wonderful thing, but chilcot is clear that the planning of what would happen to iraq post-saddam was inadequate. in the: i was involved planning. some people say there was no planning, that's not true. there was a fair amount of planning. there were some things we didn't plan for, or didn't come out the way we thought. laura: the former secretary has been clear that one of your to disband decision

the army blind-sided u.k. officials and some u.s. officials. were you blind-sided? stephen: he would say he did not disband the iraqi army, it disbanded itself. we thought, based on words we were getting from division commanders that there would be a rocky units that would surrender . our postwar planning assembly that have 150,000 troops that we vet to maintain security. all of those units melted away with their equipment. we were short. in the to arab states region and asked them to contribute troops to maintain stability. we got zero troops. that was the deficit that in some sense we never made out. we started to raise and train an iraqi army, but were consistently behind. that was a mistake. laura: thank you for joining me. from iraq to afghanistan.

president obama announced he would slow down the withdrawal of u.s. forces. he will retain a thousand 400 troops there until next year, 3000 more than previously planned. maintaining forces at this level, based on the assessment of security conditions and the strength of afghan forces, will allow us to continue to provide tailored support to help afghan forces continue to improve. from coalition bases in jalalabad, we will support afghan forces on the ground and air. we will support critical counterterrorism operations. laura: or more on this decision, i am joined by seth jones from the rand corporation. president obama wanted to not only end the war in iraq but the war in afghanistan. in iraq.hat happened why is he being forced to extend the war in afghanistan? seth: the taliban has been pushing into rural areas and

prevent oh capitals in afghanistan. they aren't going away. ae afghan government is in fragile situation between a president and ceo that are loggerheads in some degree. taste on that calculation and the encouragement of u.s. military forces, he has gone down a little, but not as much as he promised. laura: there some kind of diplomatic option that the americans are working on? could that come to anything? seth: maybe. usually, when a peaceful negotiation works and sticks over the long run, it retires a military stalemate. it is unclear if we are there. the taliban has not been willing to talk peace talks yet. you will see. geta: in the meantime, do the feeling it is the u.s.

military that pushed for the slowing of the drawdown of u.s. troops? seth: i think there was support from the u.s. state department. there was clearly support from the military. the u.s. intelligence picture was bleak on the future afghanistan -- of afghanistan if the military pulled out. factored into the u.s. leaving too quickly with two little numbers. laura: the taliban controlled as ath territory now as it did the time of 9/11. that is staggering after all of the u.s. effort. seth: the taliban does not control any serious urban terrain. no provincial capitals or any major district capitals. they do not control kabul. strategic ground they do not control. laura: what would you advise the next president to do in afghanistan? seth: many of the serious

decisions will be up to the next administration. interesting news is that the u.s. will keep open 6 major bases to provide an ability to move up forces if the next administration decides to. laura: we have been talking about lessons learned. what are the lessons learned by u.s. presidents in afghanistan? seth: no foreign country, the u.s., british, or others, can win one of these wars for locals. and the early stages, the u.s., british, and italians tried to win this for the afghans by doing the bulk of the fighting. we are doing a different model where the afghans are doing the areting and nato forces providing training, advice, and assistance. that is better over the long run. laura: thank you for joining us. you are watching "bbc world news america." still to come, oscar pistorius is given a six-year prison sentence for killing revis dane cap, ending -- for killing reeva

long legalending a process. the u.s. justice department is investigating the fatal shooting by police of a black man in baton rouge, louisiana. there is a video showing 2 white policeman holding the man down before he shot. in a parked car, a witness films what he thinks is an arrest. the first sound is a taser. tacklehite officers alton sterling, hold him down, before you hear one shout "he has a gun." both appear to have weapons pointed at his chest. >> they shot him? correspondent: mr. sterling died from multiple gunshot loans to his chest and back.

was known to the police. they say they were responding to reports he threatened someone with a gun. as news of the shootings bread and the video evidence, hundreds turned out to protest, demanding justice. they say the alton sterling is another black victim of white police brutality. that he was simply making a living selling cds to support his children. the two officers involved have been placed on administrative leave. their actions will be the subject of a civil rights investigation. fear and distrust in this community is quickly turning to anger. >> the video is disturbing. at this time, i'm asking for leaders in the faith-taste community, elected officials, and other leaders in baton rouge to work with me, all of us, to ensure we remain calm and peaceful as details unfold. correspondent: an investigation

could take months. bbc news, baton rouge, louisiana. ♪ years in prison was the sentence handed down today to oscar pistorius. the former south african athlete was found guilty of murdering reeva steenkamp after a long legal process. the judge described oscar pistorius as a fallen hero. correspondent: an undignified hero. a fallen oscar pistorius is led away to jail to begin his six-year sentence for murder. reevae father of steenkamp, his testimony revealed how his life had torn apart. relief that it was over. inside of a packed courtroom a centerpunch expectation -- a

sense of hushed expectation. >> by nature, punishment is unpleasant, uncomfortable, painful, and inconvenient. it is certainly not what you love to do. correspondent: then, the athlete is asked to stand. >> the sentence that i impose on the accused for the murder of the deceased, reeva steenkamp, is six-years imprisonment. correspondent: the family of reeva steenkamp drained of the motion, appear to be stunned that this day has come. a six-year sentence means that oscar pistorius will have to serve at least three before he is eligible for patrol. he begged the world to believe that it was a terrible mistake. the judge exercising discretion.

of, for the grieving family reeva steenkamp, perhaps a sense of closure. it has been three years since the athlete fired shots through a closed bathroom door, killing reeva. guiltyistorius was found of manslaughter, and a year later converted to murder on appeal. this is the prison where oscar pistorius has already spent time for manslaughter. he returns now a convicted murderer. it is the closing chapter of a marathon case. oscar pistorius crushed, broken, and said to be full of remorse -- a man that was once a sporting legend. bbc news, pretoria. laura: that brings this broadcast to a close. you can find more on our website, including the analysis invasion of iraq.

to reach me, go to twitter. i am @lauratrevelyan. from all of us, thank you for watching, and please, tune in tomorrow. ♪ >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding of this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation. newman's own foundation, giving all profits from newman's own to charity and pursuing the common good. kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and e-trade. >> e-trade is all about seizing opportunity. >> cut. >> so i am going to take this opportunity to direct. thank you. we'll call you. evening. film noir, smoke, atmosphere.

you are a young farmhand. e-trade is your cow. milk it. >> e-trade is about seizing opportunity. >> bbc world news was presented by kcet los angeles.

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