you should have never been to iraq. because he are everywhere. you have hundreds if not thousands of these trucks driving north and south on this route it's every day bringing supplies to other military bases. most of the people who are trying for. foreign workers they are from pakistan. india. sometimes there would be a national driving trucks u.s. civilians. heard about the jobs or another truck driver friendly calexico california we were sitting there waiting for a load he told me this was his last load he was going over scenes from there you know i sent my resume and. i thought i was really going to be doing a lot of reconstruction in iraq. well i could see me holy fuel maybe to a place i had loaders and dozers you know. we never wanted to go be in a battle or fight a fright we wanted to take over for a loser makes money to reconstruct iraq his brother wasn't any kind so he always wished that he had done something like that he's just a good ole boy and he thought it was such a great cause to go and help rebuild and got a job with halliburton

he wants to arm everybody. >> not leave iraq? >> not leave iraq. surge, surge worked in iraq. it didn't. a surge was going to work in afghanistan, he pushed for that. it didn't. you forgot about the surge we should have had in afghanistan after 9/11, as we went off into iraq. so it's this one size fits all, bomb, bomb, bomb, fill in the blank. so i guess obama has a light footprint, whatever that means, because he doesn't want to bomb everybody, arm everybody, and be a bull in the china shop in the middle east. >> do you think that -- even if they are coming from this place that i think you and i agree on is frustrating in terms of john mccain's prom nance on this subject. if the president wants to nominate susan rice for secretary of state, should they be taking the john mccain e threats seriously? do you think he could stop it? >> i don't think he could stop it. i don't think they should take seriously. his power is just about noise because the republican party really doesn't care about it. yes, there are a group of people in the house who agree with him. he's now lost one o

a special report iraq. tucked in between the russian mainland japan and the suckling island is the island of minute on named after french seafarer who discovered it it is described as the pride of the sakhalin region we'll take a look at what's in store for us here. until two thousand and four the island was part of the borders own and was completely restricted to visit this no this picturesque place is open to tourists unique plants and animals are its top attraction. treaty has been exploring the deaths of the world sees for several decades but it's here at more your own island where he has finally found what he'd been looking for . the water here is very clear the visibility is very good and the underwater world here is extremely rich i've been to many diving locations across the planet including the island of bali but mine are on top of my list while some go to the cycling region to enjoy the sights others convert the islands nature's riches into a healthy dollar it is home to the biggest seafood proces

the contracting business in iraq is very very lucrative. i was getting really angry i mean especially because i knew that a lot of these prisoners that i saw with ease injuries from from abuse and torture really hadn't done anything they were part of the insurgency they were just picked up for no reason at all who were interrogating taxi drivers and pizza delivery guys . it was just you know we call them average off it using methods such as torture and also using people who are not qualified to do this job has resulted bad information and therefore. problems for national security and for the soldiers because you're you're getting information that's no good in a lot of areas where you start noticing a lot of you know a lot of hostility against american soldiers it's not because the soldiers are doing a lot of long things it's because something maybe the communication that had been transmitted to them is going to transmit it to them probably and professionally as surface so most of us interest these i think they wish they were high i think hi

the contracting business in iraq is very very lucrative. i was getting really angry i mean especially because i knew that a lot of these prisoners that i saw with ease injuries from from abuse and torture really hadn't done anything they were part of the insurgency they were just picked up for no reason at all who were interrogating taxi drivers and pizza delivery guys . it was just you know we call them average off it using methods such as torture and also using people who are not qualified to do this job has resulted bad information and therefore. problems for national security and for the soldiers because you're you're getting information that's no good in a lot of areas where you start noticing a lot of you know a lot of hostility against american soldiers it's not because the soldiers are doing a lot of long things it's because something maybe the communication that had been transmitted to them is going to transmit it to them probably and professionally as surface so most of us interest these i think they wished they were right by i th

the iraq war began on march twentieth. on the twenty eighth just eight days later the soldiers came to see me. they called me at work and i came home. and they said mr suarez your son is a hero but you know he died tonight in the battlefield they were iraqi soldiers shot him in the head. i swear to those words destroyed my life. three days later a journalist called me. so you said mr suarez they lied to you and your son wasn't killed by the enemy so he was killed by friendly fire in he explained what happened. it is during the night of march twenty sixth. planes struck and twenty thousand cluster bombs. anything to see it on march twenty seventh my son's unit marched on baghdad. and he stepped on an american cluster bomb. i mean nobody's paying me to talk to you it doesn't matter what i do this will never come back to me my grandson will never see his father again. but in each of your faces i see hasten. if you think that i visited more than five hundred schools around the world. but just to go to the next generation at th

watching some of these guys abuse a detainee in iraq. it was not a horrible offense that he committed. i saw them roughed him up. i reported it but i felt uncomfortable about it. i was not said it was also the same day i was slated to leave. the report came out after i left. that is the way the timing worked out. it puts you in an awkward situation with another embed. going door-to-door patrol with troops as they do a search. a close up a block and searched every house. there i was, still bartending to be an impartial reporter and i parted to these people's houses after nightfall with a bunch of american troops. in the 10 minutes allowed, before we move onto the next house, i have to explain, i am not with them. i am a journalist, not a soldier. what do you think about the trial of saddam hussein? give me your honest opinion. do not mind the marines. it is silly. there were a couple of years there where that was as close as i could get to talking to civilians. >> the largest embed i went on was in 2004 in iraq. my father was a former nav

a lot of generals tried and failed in iraq. petraeus succeeded. here we have a leader who has done well. something happened between him and another person, a private consenting adults, nothing illegal, and we throw him out. i do not think we can afford to do that. we did not use to do that. dwight eisenhower carried on with his chauffeur, a very good- looking red-haired british woman. he was not fired. ike, you gotta go home, you had an affair. that would be crazy. that is kind of what we're doing these days. i think president obama should have said, you screwed up. you need to go home, make amends to your wife, do whatever you need to go -- do whatever you need to do. get some of that kobe bryant jewelry. your punishment -- you are staying in your job because your country needs you. i am sorry we throw them away. here is a guy who did three combat tours in iraq, a year in afghanistan. he and his family have given an awful lot to this country since 9/11. when the time came for us to be generous, we were not. i think it does say more about us than

well yeah just briefly before afghanistan and iraq you know it's interesting it's true that maybe from the thirty's to the late sixty's our policies towards places like central america were much more egregious and much more sort of blatantly in favor of dictatorship i can mention a number and go down the line but now yes it's true it's a little less egregious we can still talk about places like say hunder us where the obama administration has supported the military coup that took place there in two thousand and nine. a giant giant increase in human rights abuses as occurred by the government there were supporting paramilitary groups there are da basically commando style troops are in there there's been a number of incidents where civilians have been killed and this is all in the name of the drug war and but it's basically about keeping control over at least a few states and central america. so this is i mean and to mr caruthers point at you know what does it say about our commitment to democracy when it only occurs when democracy happens to conform to our interests which i think on the

the middle east it looks much more difficult and the interventions in libya and in afghanistan and iraq i think are are much more nuanced much more ambiguous and i agree with what john said and that is the u.s. is walking is walking very carefully here under under no illusions that to rush toward the ballot box in a place like bahrain or saudi arabia yemen would imperil some core american interests so john if we go back to you you don't see the united states promoting voting in saudi arabia any time soon do you though the people in bahrain are denied that no of course not. that's right the people in bahrain are denied several democratic rights and the people in saudi arabia of course that's one of the most horrible autocratic regimes in the world and it's also one of our closest allies and that actually happens that's you that's you can see that right through what charles said you know it's true that it's democracy promotion has been a creed of an american creed for a long time but all that really means is that it's been in bedded in the rhetoric of our political leaders where it hasn't

the iraq war began on march twentieth. on the twenty eighth just eight days later the soldiers came to see me. i mean. they called me at work and i came home to them. and they said mr suarez your son is a hero but you know he died tonight in the battlefield they were iraqi soldiers shot him in the head. i swear to those words destroyed my life. but that is the three days later a journalist called me. you said mr suarez they lied to you and your son wasn't killed by the enemy so he was killed by friendly fire in the explained what happened. in my face. it is during the night of march twenty sixth. planes struck and twenty thousand cluster bombs. into see it on march twenty seventh my son's unit marched on baghdad. and he stepped on an american cluster bomb. i mean nobody's paying me to talk to you it doesn't matter what i do will never come back. we my grandson will never see his father again. but in each of your faces i see hasten. it was he visited more than five hundred schools around the world. but just to go to the nex

well yeah just briefly before afghanistan and iraq you know it's interesting it's true that may be from the thirty's to the late sixty's our policies towards places like central america were much more egregious and much more sort of blatantly in favor of dictatorship i can mention a number and go down the line but now yes it's true it's a little less egregious we can still talk about places like say hundred of us where the obama administration has supported the military coup that took place there in two thousand and nine. a giant giant increase in human rights abuses as occurred by the government there were supporting paramilitary groups there are da basically commando style troops are in there there's been a number of incidents where civilians have been killed and this is all in the name of the drug war and but it's basically about keeping control over at least a few states and central america. so this is i mean and to mr caruthers point at you know what does it say about our commitment to democracy when it only occurs when democracy happens to conform to our interests which i think on

also in iraq nowaday. >> well, this isn't equipment. this is just pictures of equipment. >> yeah, but you can prove it if you wanted to. nobody want to prove it. that's the problem. >> we took all of cattan's documentation, had it translated into english, and gave it to jane's, one of the world's leading authorities on military hardware. at the time, john kenkel was the senior director of consulting, advising countries on military purchases. >> if you had $1.2 billion and you were going to equip the iraqi army, would you have bought what they bought? >> well, that's the big question, 'cause nobody really knows what they bought. kenkel told us the documents were so vague that he couldn't tell what had been ordered, or whether it had been delivered. >> i think the biggest thing was that you couldn't identify what the equipment was that was actually being delivered. to say that you were being delivered a gun, doesn't necessarily mean anything in terms of what you're getting. >> can you think of another government in the world that would ha

the iraq war began on march twentieth. on the twenty eighth just eight days later and three soldiers came to see me. you know they called me at work and i came home. and they said mr suarez your son is a hero but you know he died tonight in the battlefield the iraqi soldiers shot him in the head. i swear to those words destroyed my life. three days later a journalist called me. and you said mr suarez they lied to you and your son wasn't killed by the enemy so he was killed by friendly fire in here explained what happened. it is during the night of march twenty sixth. planes twenty thousand cluster bombs. anything to see it on march twenty seventh my son's unit marched on baghdad. and he stepped on an american cluster bomb. i mean nobody's paying me to talk to you no matter what i do will never come back. me my grandson will never see his father again. but in each of your faces i see hey so. it was he visited more than five hundred schools around the world. the next generation at the us. must have your say only you can save

iran has more influence than iraq now than ever. they are overflying iraq to reinforce syria. it breaks my heart we were so close to winning in iraq and obama administration dropped the ball. if they talked about leaving afghanistan rather than getting it right that will harm us for decades. when it comes to iran, why should the iranians believe that the obama administration is serious about stopping their nuclear program when all we talk about is leaving the region? if you are going to allow a side to kill 32,000 of their own citizens and do nothing about it because you have a hands off approach to syria, what kind of signal is that to iran. >> greta: afghanistan, as you look at afghanistan where is that country headed? >> when you make a list, like we are doing here, you can see in anyone would want to be a president. its problematic country. you have all the other countries and we say that by that time the government will be able to stand on its own feet. i think that is very problematic assumption. i think that government will be under horrendous pressure from the taliban

fork in iraq. it was the campaign for making billions of dollars for. forty bills exceed one billion dollars for sale. for profiteers. wealthy british pols. market. what's really happening to the global economy with. global financial headlines. when i woke up early that morning he was about to say about four thirty am we had to be out by our trucks and by seventy and we already knew what we were going on our mission we were told at seven pm the night before on the eighth of april a soldier that was sketching a map with his boot in the gravel. next to his vehicle while some of the saw part of some of that stood beside the road to rig and i wasn't sure what red meant we left the post. nearing eleven o'clock we're going down the road and we got pretty close to the i believe that the grubby prison and also the traffic there's no traffic. and right about then. i mean bullets came from everywhere sounded like we were in a hail storm there were coming through my doors that he might take or if they're hitting the windshield or put into it in the. you could hear

so many you might have died in iraq my son died in iraq don't agree you don't agree with the number of a my son even is married i don't know what his crafty are going to be for you if there's. going to be. my sone. if you do it. but he will always be remembered. yes. i repeat. independent of the war it might be due to the necessary that i support the marine corps specifically but believe. it or link. to. you will serve. i felt for. his source was an ordinary boy. it after our years he was mischievous. like to tease his sisters but he loved them a lot but. wanted to be a policeman until when he was thirteen he met the military recruiters in san diego . and you. told them that if he unrolled in the u.s. army later he could join the drug enforcement agency and become an international police officer. division do it we made the decision to move to the us under pressure from places and alleviate the early. to get ready they wanted to join the us army. i just thought of this you see we sold our home and our laundering business in tijuana and we started a new life here because i don't and ekit

well yeah just briefly before afghanistan and iraq you know it's interesting it's true that may be from the thirty's to the late sixty's our policies towards places like central america were much more egregious and much more sort of blatantly in favor of dictatorship i can mention a number and go down the line but now yes it's true it's a little less egregious we can still talk about places like say hundreds where the obama administration has supported the military coup that took place there in two thousand and nine. a giant giant increase in human rights abuses as occurred by the government there were supporting paramilitary groups there are da basically commando style troops are in there there's been a number of incidents where civilians have been killed and this is all in the name of the drug war and but it's basically about keeping control over at least a few states and central america. so this is i mean and to mr caruthers point at you know what does it say about our commitment to democracy when it only occurs when democracy happens to conform to our interests which i think on the

the iraq war began on march twentieth. on the twenty eighth just eight days later three soldiers came to see me. they called me at work and i came home. and they said mr suarez your son is a hero but you know he died tonight in the battlefield the iraqi soldiers shot him in the head. i swear to those words destroyed my life. but that is the three days later a journalist called me. and you said mr suarez they lied to you and your son wasn't killed by the enemy so he was killed by friendly fire in ca explain what happened. it is during the night of march twenty sixth. planes twenty thousand cluster bombs. anything to see it on march twenty seventh my son's unit marched on baghdad. and he stepped on an american cluster bomb. i mean nobody's paying me to talk to you no matter what i do will never come back. i mean my grandson will never see his father again. but in each of your faces i see hey. i visited more than five hundred schools around the world. but just to go to the next generation at the us. must have your say this on

the iraq war began on march twentieth. on the twenty eighth just eight days later if any soldiers came to see me. they called me at work and i came home. and they said mr suarez your son is a hero and he died tonight in the battlefield the iraqi soldiers shot him in the head. i swear to those words destroyed my life. but that is the three days later a journalist called me. so you said mr suarez they lied to you and your son wasn't killed by the enemy so he was killed by friendly fire in the explain what happened. it is during the night of march twenty sixth. planes twenty thousand cluster bombs. into see it on march twenty seventh my son's unit marched on baghdad. and he stepped on an american cluster bomb. i mean nobody's paying me to talk to you no matter what i do will never come back. i mean my grandson will never see his father again. but in each of your faces i see hey. it was it that i visited more than five hundred schools around the world. but just to go to the next generation at the us. must have your say davis o

the contracting business in iraq is very very lucrative. i was getting really angry i mean especially because i knew that a lot of these prisoners that i saw with ease injuries from from abuse and torture really hadn't done anything they were part of the insurgency they were just picked up for no reason at all were interrogating taxi drivers and pizza delivery guys. it was just you know we call them average off it using methods such as torture and also using people who are not qualified to do this job has resulted bad information and therefore. problems for national security and for the soldiers because you're you're getting information that's no good in a lot of areas where you start noticing a lot of you know a lot of hostility against american soldiers it's not because the soldiers are doing a lot of long things it's because something maybe good communication that had been transmitted to them is going to transmit it to them probably and professionally as surface so most of us interest these i think they wish they were high i think his lo

iraq is a success. it is because of the efforts of the united states and our allies and iraqi people. it is an important success because it is right in the middle of the middle east. it ties into every other problem from iran to sunni-shia relation and energy. it is a democratic state with a lot of flaws. it is a functioning democracy and that is a good day and we need to do our best to continue to encourage. the administration is putting a lot of quiet effort into this and this needs to continue. there are several serious risks. the biggest is that syria will pull iraq asunder as the various groups go in various directions. so far, that has not happened but the longer the situation in syria is allowed to continue, the more likely that very bad scenario will occur. one of the main reasons we kept our troops in iraq and lost 4500 tubes was to maintain the unity of iraq. that depends on plurality and democracy. that's all we have now with all its faults and the need to be supported. the other major threat

the contracting business in iraq is very very lucrative. i was getting really angry i mean especially because i knew that a lot of these prisoners that i saw with ease injuries from from abuse and torture really hadn't done anything they were part of the insurgency they were just picked up for no reason at all who were interrogating taxi drivers and pizza delivery guys . it was just you know we call them average off it using methods such as torture and also using people who are not qualified to do this job has resulted bad information and therefore. problems for national security and for the soldiers because you're you're getting information that's no good in a lot of areas where you start noticing a lot of you know a lot of hostility against american soldiers it's not because the soldiers are doing a lot of long things it's because something maybe the communication that had been transmitted to them is going to transmit it to them probably and professionally as surface so most of us interest these i think they wish they were i think his lon

is iraq. there's some indication, and i don't have the conclusions, but some of this anthrax may have come from iraq. >> no, that's not right. no we were not greeted as liberators and the iraq war wasn't easy. it turned out not to be cool to muddle through in afghanistan for 12 years. muddle through was his suggested policy proposal. he suggested back in 1994 our approach toward north korea should be to threaten them with extinction. he said when running for president in 2008, he said we are all georgians now and the u.s. should think about going to war with russia. u.s., war with russia, what could possibly go wrong. it's also often his basic grasp of the facts. >> it's common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al qaeda is going back into iran and receiving training and are coming back into iraq from iran. that's well known. >> i'm sorry. the iranians are training extremists, not al qaeda. i'm sorry. >> you and i are both students of history and seen this movie before. when ron

if we spent one day expenses of what's being expended on iraq. on the war how many thousands of schools could we build with just one days of war expenses how many thousands of boat centers could we build not just here but in every area that is like this that is how we're going to solve the problems we're not going to solve the problems by creating hatred animosity and and ill feelings that are going to last for generations. you know i love the united states very much i love the country very much of the conspiracy strong and i think fundamentally it is very very pure i think it is going to take the people as a body to stand up and say stop. there are people in california who are leading this effort to prevent army recruits people. and convincing seventeen eighteen year olds to. carry a gun and minefields and be shot at by disease because they're not old enough and mature enough to make the decision that. i. i. enough. the corrupt and criminal bush government takes advantage of our latin american brothers everywhere. but that's enough. thanks. to o

and forty bills exceed one billion dollars iraq's first sales. were profiteers. when i woke up early that morning he was about to say about four thirty am we had to be out by or trucks by seventy we already knew but we were going on our mission we were told at seven pm the night before on the eighth of april a soldier that was sketching a map with his boot in the gravel. next to his vehicle while some of the saw part of some of the said the road to read and i wasn't sure what read man we left the post. nearing eleven o'clock we're going down the road and we got pretty close to the i believe that the grubby prison and also the traffic there's no traffic. and right about then. i mean bullets came from everywhere sounded like we were in a hail storm there would come in through my doors and he might take her to him in the windshield or put into it and. you could hear it coming through one door hit the other door with a large gear and on and they're just coming in everywhere and that it just it reached a crescendo. just like it never stopped after that. they're going

if we spent one day expenses of what's being expended on iraq. on the war how many thousands of schools could we build with just one day's war expenses how many thousands of votes could we build not just here but in every area that is like this that is how we're going to solve the problems we're not going to solve the problems by creating hatred animosity and and ill feelings that are going to last for generations. you know i love the united states very much i love the country very much i think it's very strong and i think fundamentally it is very very pure i think it is going to take the people as a body to stand up and say stop. there are people in california who are leading this effort to prevent army recruiters from going in and convincing seventeen eighteen year olds to go run period gun and walk through minefields and be shot at by disease because they're not old enough and mature enough to make those decisions. enough. to corrupt and criminal bush government takes advantage of our latin american brothers everywhere. but that's enough. have

if we spent one day expenses of what's being expended on iraq. on the war how many thousands of schools could we build with just one day's of war expenses how many thousands of votes could we build notches here but in every area that is like this that is how we're going to solve the problems we're not going to solve the problems by creating hatred animosity and and ill feelings that are going to last for generations. you know i love the united states very much i love the country very much i think it's very strong. and i think fundamentally it is very very pure i think it is going to take the people as a body to stand up and say stop. there are people in california who are leading this effort to prevent army recruiters from going in and convincing seventeen eighteen year olds to go over and carry a gun and walk through minefields and be shot at by disease because they're not old enough and mature enough to make those decisions. enough. to corrupt and criminal bush government takes advantage of our latin american brothers everywhere. but that's eno

if we spent one day expenses of what's being expended on iraq. on the war how many thousands of schools could we build with just one days of war expenses how many thousands of boat centers could we build not just here but in every area that is like this that is how we're going to solve the problems we're not going to solve the problems by creating hatred animosity and and ill feelings that are going to last for generations. you know i love the united states very much i love the country very much of the good story strong and i think fundamentally it is very very pure i think it is going to take the people as a body to stand up and say stuff. there are people in california who are leading this effort to prevent army recruiters from going in and convincing seventeen and eighteen year olds to. carry a gun and minefields and be shot at by disease because they're not old enough and mature enough to make those decisions that. i. have. enough. of the corrupt and criminal bush government takes advantage of our latin american brothers everywhere. that's en

. >> i was having nightmares about iraq, a place i've never been. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening an american soldier accused of a horrific war crime watched in a courtroom as children described the murders of their families. there were two days of testimony in the case of staff sergeant robert bales. bales is charged with 16 counts of pre-meditated murder and six counts of attempted murder. prosecutors say that for reasons unknown bales walked off his post in afghanistan in the middle of the night then shot and stabbed civilians in two villages. the hearing at a military post in washington state was called to decide whether there is enough evidence to court-martial bales. john blackstone has been covering in the courtroom. >> reporter: staff sergeant bales watched the video feed from afghanistan show nothing reaction as ten afghans told of the night their two villages were awakened by gunshots. nine of the murder victims were children. the massacre was one of the worst crimes att

iraq war veteran shoshana johnson. i'm maria hinojosa. this is one on one. captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org shoshana johnson, you were taken prisoner in iraq in the year 2003. you are actually the first black female prisoner of war. and now you have written a book about that experience. it's called i'm still standing-- from captive us soldier to free citizen, my journey home. welcome to our program. it's great to have you here. >> thank you. >> hinojosa: you decided to write this book, but you didn't have to write this book. >> no. >> hinojosa: you could have just put this chapter away. what was it that made you say, "you know what? i have to tell my story about being the first black woman prisoner of war"? >> well, there was so much out there, floating around, misconceptions about the experience and what happened to me. i just really wanted to set the record straight from my point of view. since the book has come out, i've come to the realization that no matter what i say, there's going to be people who believe what they want to belie

what brought iran and the new iraq together, the post-saddam iraq? again, a common enemy. saddam first, and then after 2003 the american occupation. i don't think -- if you think about the new baghdad, now that saddam has gone, and isn't that a pity? some of us do miss him because it's difficult to not imagine life without him, but it certainly makes these complex issues so much more simple by comparison, but the iraq he so carefully constructed is gone. so what's the relationship between persian and shia, alawite, etc., etc. i don't think it can be reduced to the simplicity of those kinds of formulas, us against them, shia against sunni, persian against arab. i think their rivalries go back, as i said, a long time. you can go back to the seventh century when the mayans defeated imam hussein. don't bother with that. you can just to back a couple of years to the great rivalry that began in the '60s between saddam and assad, and this is a rivalry of longstanding. it doesn't change. relationships don't get simple just because a greater hated leader is gone. now, if you look a

forces in iraq and afghanistan. he was also considered by some to be a possible presidential candidate. cnn military analyst james spider marks talked with me earlier about petraeus' legacy. >> it's terribly unfortunate. i do know general dave petraeus. in fact, we knew each other in high school and certainly at west point and then i had the great good fortune of serving along him in a number of assignments to include combat in iraq early on and paula broadwell was a young officer who worked for me about a decade ago, and she's just immensely gifted, bright, talented, fit, a great representative of the very best our nation brings forward. so you have these two incredibly gifted folks, and they make a human frailty, but at the end of the day leadership is all about competence and character, and in the case of dave petraeus, no one, no one would challenge his competence. that's a matter of record. but at the end of the day his character indicated a bit of a frailty, and i would suspect he probably didn't have somebody

we speak about his role in iraq and afghanistan and the cia. then the nation marks of veterans day. >> in this country, we take care @of our own, especially our veterans who have served us so bravely and have sacrificed so selflessly in our name. we carry on knowing that our best days always lie ahead. >> a major new investigation reveals how thousands of veterans are being denied disability benefits due to errors by the department of veterans affairs. >> there is nearly out of resources and in about of accumulated trauma that these soldiers, marines, and air men are experiencing, because of the war itself, continues to accumulate the law the war goes on. the military is playing catch- up more than 16,000 veterans are homeless. an estimated 18 veterans commit suicide every year. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. "the new york times"is reporting high-level officials were notified in the late summer about the decision of david petraeus to resign. the relationship between him and his biographer pa

iran has more influence than iraq now than ever. they are overflying iraq to reinforce syria. it breaks my heart we were so close to winning in iraq and obama administration dropped the ball. if they talked about leaving afghanistan rather than getting it right that will harm us for decades. when it comes to iran, why should the iranians believe that the obama administration is serious about stopping their nuclear program when all we talk about is leaving the region? if you are going to allow a side to kill 32,000 of their own citizens and do nothing about it because you have a hands off approach to syria, what kind of signal is that to iran. >> greta: afghanistan, as you look at afghanistan where is that country headed? >> when you make a list, like we are doing here, you can see in anyone would want to be a president. its problematic country. you have all the other countries and we say that by that time the government will be able to stand on its own feet. i think that is very problematic assumption. i think that government will be under horrendous pressure from the taliban

well yeah just briefly before afghanistan and iraq you know it's interesting it's true that may be from the thirty's to the late sixty's our policies towards places like central america were much more egregious and much more sort of blatantly in favor of dictatorship i can mention a number and go down the line but now yes it's true it's a little less egregious but we can still talk about places like say hundred of us where the obama administration has supported the military coup that took place there in two thousand and nine. a giant giant increase in human rights abuses as occurred by the government there were supporting paramilitary groups there are da basically commando style troops are in there there's been a number of incidents where civilians have been killed and this is all in the name of the drug war and but it's basically about keeping control over at least a few states and central america. so this is i mean and to mr caruthers point you know what does it say about our commitment to democracy when it only occurs when democracy happens to conform to our interests which i think o

(laughter) how about iraq? >> governor romney, was the war in iraq a good idea worth the cost in blood and treasure we have spent? >> it was the right decision to go into iraq. i supported it at the time; i support it now. >> jon: but do you support it -- (laughter). now? >> we don't want another iraq. we don't want another afghanistan. that's not the right course for us. >> well, i guess that's not a flip-flop so much as a principled recognition because of the iraq war's current unpopularity. (laughter) you know what? iraq and afghanistan those are yesterday's wars. it's tomorrow's war that counts and if there's anything governor romney has been vociferous about lo these past 18 months it is his uncompromising belief that it's time to rattle our sabers at iran. >> this is a president who should have instead communicated to iran that we are prepared, that we are considering military options, they're not just on the table, they are in our hands. >> the president should have built credible threat of military acti

if we spent one day expenses of what's being expended on iraq. on the war how many thousands of schools could we build with just one day's war expenses how many thousands of vote could we build not just here but in every area that is like this that is how we're going to solve the problems we're not going to solve the problems by creating hatred animosity and and ill feelings that are going to last for generations. you know i love the united states very much i love the country very much i think it's very strong and i think fundamentally it is very very pure i think it is going to take the people as a body to stand up and say stop. there are people in california who are leading this effort to prevent army recruiters from going in and convincing seventeen eighteen year olds to go run period going to walk through minefields and be shut up like this is just because they're not old enough and mature enough to make those decisions. enough. to corrupt and criminal bush government takes advantage of our latin american brothers everywhere. but that's enoug

i was in iraq there, man. you guys are letting him spin. >> let him have his say, please. >> okay. >> listen, i was over there as a private businessman. i have been going in there for the last nine years, both in uniform and as a state department official, now as a private individual. and to suggest that iraq today is the same iraq that david petraeus saw when he walked in the door just demonstrates that michael hasn't been there and unfortunately it doesn't make the story for him so i can't help him. >> i spent more time in iraq than you have, man. come on. let's be honest. david petraeus fueled an iraqi civil war that the shiites won. we installed a radical islamist government in iraq. i'm glad the general was able to make money off his service now that he's out there and can go and get contracts and do business in iraq. great. i'm glad american capitalism can get something back from the trillions of dollars and thousands of lives. >> okay. this has drifted into -- >> as a final note, can i say it's veterans

so many like you have died in iraq my son died in iraq i don't agree you don't agree with brother dave my son is in the arena i don't know what is crafty i'm going to find it for you if there's. going to keep putting my sone at marie. and if you do original films. but he will always be remembered. i repeat. independent of the war in. the necessary that i support the marine corps specifically but please. to link. to the boys. and we will serve to make sure your thinking. for the rest of. his source was an ordinary boy only korean to it after years he was mischievous. like to tease his sisters was that he loved them a lot but all. this is wanted to be a policeman until when a single when he was thirteen he met a military recruiters in san diego v.a. when i see him sent on the you. a little they told him that heavy and rolled in the u.s. army later if he could join the drug enforcement agency and become an international police officer in the. division doing we made the decision to move to the us under pressure from bases and olivia the only. again they wanted to join the u.s. army and. ju

iraq with weapons for the syrians. syria because of our failure to intervene in any way, like providing arms, and establishing a safe zone, al-qaeda is coming in there, in droves. when this thing ends and all conflicts end sooner or later, we are going to have one heck of a time with the al-qaeda elements that have moved into syria and it is going to be very, very difficult. the eye -- the iranians continue on the path t nuclear weapons. afghanistan unraveling to the degree that everybody thinks the united states is leaving, because that's what the president said. and so, they are accommodating to that event -- northern mali has been taken over by al-qaeda. weak leadership has led to enormous shall i say long term challenges and chaos and frankly, difficulties that we will be facing for a long time. >> greta: if you were president which country would keep you up more at night egypt or syria? >> probably syria many egypt is very concerning also. syria is of much more near term problem in terms of the upheaval that is un

well yeah just briefly before afghanistan and iraq you know it's interesting it's true that maybe from the thirty's to the late sixty's our policies towards places like central america were much more egregious and much more sort of blatantly in favor of dictatorship i can mention a number and go down the line but now yes it's true it's a little less egregious we can still talk about places like say hundreds where the obama administration has supported the military coup that took place there in two thousand and nine. and a giant giant increase in human rights abuses as occurred by the government there were supporting paramilitary groups there are da basically commando style troops are in there there's been a number of incidents where civilians have been killed and this is all in the name of the drug war and but it's basically about keeping control over at least a few states and central america. so this is i mean and to mr caruthers point you know what does it say about our commitment to democracy when it only occurs when democracy happens to conform to our interests which i think on the

eight hour why did i go to iraq i was full of hate. for you know the out ahead of bush because he stole my dreams you see on it when he took my son and his death destroyed our family. action of thank. the tradition in the mexican tradition we plan to cross when the loved one has died. in one of the cemetery where he died we believe this is where the soul remains. her there. was. one. was the way and. of course we're going to meet the mother of a soldier who died in the right. got her son was an american citizen but she doesn't have any papers. been able to dish it out but i've got to. get mother she's fighting deportation. is everything ok. you know but it's not so bad. how are you dying and you. what's happening laughing i don't even know they sent parents don't have rights. already are they deporting you. think yes i met them are say. on the list i am during her. senior year of high score he said. i want to join the army but if i do they offer me financial help. let me go. i said there was a war. they told him they wouldn't send him