iraq fund and a board member of the credit bank of iraq could have you with us so our colleagues at al-jazeera arabic have reported that about $9000000000.00 is going on salaries for people who don't exist i'm wondering how does a problem like this continue for so many years in iraq it's not like everybody doesn't know that there are these ghost salary issues going on in iraq well i think you've hit it on the nail everybody knows that we have a large number of ghost employees whether the figure is anywhere near the 9000000000 dollars i think that's open for debate simply because we don't have precise numbers we have at best at best guess estimates because the the government itself does not have precise number of its own employees that's one of the challenges we have the budget recognizes we have 3200000000 and 2000000 employees however no one knows that true or not so the 9000000000 is is maybe is exaggerated but the the the damage it does to the overall economy certainly is not exactly everybody knows there is this problem made of go salaries in ghost employees where is the accountability thi

budget if you killed action in iraq. first of all that it is a war in iraq problems are full of terrorist so maybe the soldier or people will shoot out so. what is that. maybe. i'm good overall small and i am an individual who likes this freedom and why of traveling the streets to go for a new boss in my life and i think you're going to go to. the moon 1st was all of that was so for i thought about the scene 3 and a half 1000 flights. and about 30 countries that ever i think i don't know were checked out. ok everybody somebody in iraq and his name is more thought out. of all 3 are able to war or not is a balloon meeting in iraq so we had joe do you think that something in the year especially balloons would be fairly peaceful to show the world. possible in iraq. oh great everybody who is reeling to join me to turn to go to you. when you think of iraq you think of bombs and this things but i know that it's a very beautiful landscape you know iraq for me when i'm not you know i go into the world i've never been there and ju

iraq relations. well this was the 1st time the vide an administration responded to attacks on american interests here in iraq and that reaction was closely watched by the iraqi government and the public in general to try to discern what the biden administration's policy would be to war with iraq and also towards iran here in the region now compared to the trump administration the response was relatively measured we've heard the secretary of defense say that the aim was to deescalate the overall situation in iraq and syria and the approach stands in contrast to the tribe trump administration's policy let's remember that the previous u.s. government regularly targeted iranian backed armed groups in iraq and it did so unilaterally without consulting the iraqi government and without consulting other foreign nations that form part of the u.s. led coalition to fight eisel here in iraq putting those partner nations often in a very awkward position it's not a department of defense has said that it did consul

personnel in iraq. i'm rob others and this is all to syria live from doha also coming up brazil's covert death toll rises above a quarter of a 1000000 there are warnings of variation which is even more contagious is pushing it.

now ranked as the 4th biggest all producer in the world you'd think iraq had the financial resources to weather the pandemic and drop in oil prices but that's not the case it's fragile economy is struggling to cope and they may have to turn to the international monetary fund for assistance it has already devalued its currency by almost a 5th enabling it to eke out more did ask for dollars or this is these to sink phrasal of the world bank a precarious political situation weak health care system ineffective social safety nets rampant corruption and lap updated service delivery all amplify this fragility and have fueled large scale protests across the country or that begs the question where does all of iraq's all wealth go. a lot to 90 percent of iran's budget is dependent on oil exports this is budget is $113000000000.00 almost half of that budget is spent on the civil service but about 20 percent of those salaries go to people who do not exist in other words corruption it's deficit that's of course the difference between the money raises in the money it spends is expected to be about

iraq fund and a board member of the credit bank of iraq good to have you with us so our colleagues at al-jazeera arabic have reported that about $9000000000.00 is going on salaries for people who don't exist i'm wondering how does a problem like this continue for so many years in iraq it's not like everybody doesn't know that there are these ghost salary issues going on in iraq well i think you've hit it on the nail everybody knows that we have a large number of ghost employees whether the figure is anywhere near the $9000000000.00 i think that's open for debate simply because we don't have precise numbers we have at best at best guess estimate because the the government itself does not have a precise number of its own employees that's one of the challenges we have the budget recognizes we have 3200000000 and 2000000 employees however no one knows that true or not so the 9000000000 is is maybe it's exaggerated but the the the damage it does to the overall economy certainly is not exactly everybody knows there is this problem of go salaries in ghost employees where is the accountabilit

iraq fund and a board member of the credit bank of iraq good to have you with us so our colleagues at al-jazeera arabic have reported that about $9000000000.00 is going on salaries for people who don't exist i'm wondering how does a problem like this continue for so many years in iraq it's not like everybody doesn't know that there are these ghost salary issues going on in iraq well i think you've hit it on the nail everybody knows that we have a large number of ghost employees whether the figure is anywhere near the 9000000000 dollars i think that's open for debate simply because we don't have precise numbers we have at best at best guess estimates because the the government itself does not have a precise number of its own employees that's one of the challenges we have the budget recognizes we have 3200000000 and 2000000 employees however no one knows that true or not so the 9000000000 is is maybe it's exaggerated but the the the damage it does to the overall economy certainly is not exactly everybody knows there is this problem of go salaries in ghost employees where is the accounta

iraq fund and a board member of the credit bank of iraq good to have you with us. so our colleagues at al-jazeera arabic have reported that about $9000000000.00 is going on salaries for people who don't exist i'm wondering how does a problem like this continue for so many years in iraq it's not like everybody doesn't know that there are these ghost salary issues going on in iraq well i think you've hit it on the nail everybody knows that we have a large number of ghost employees whether the figure is anywhere near the 9000000000 dollars i think that's open for debate simply because we don't have precise numbers we have at best at best guess estimates because the the government itself does not have precise number of its own employees that's one of the challenges we have the budget recognizes we have $3200000000.20 employees however no one knows that true or not so the $9000000000.00 is is maybe it's exaggerated but the the the damage it does to the overall economy certainly is not exactly everybody knows there is this problem of go salarymen ghost employees where is

so we were in a state of hostility with iraq, not a state of peace with iraq. in 1998 president clinton actually launched cruise missiles against iraq and the inspectors who were supposed to be keeping his weapons of mass destruction under control left the country. so he was different for his having dragged the region into war several times, including us. the fact he was continuing, we believed, to build weapons of mass destruction and, according to the intelligence agencies, had reconstituted his chemical weapons, reconstituted his biological weapons, and was on his way to reconstituting his nuclear programs. he had tried to assassinate president george h.w. bush. he was shooting at our aircraft. he put 400 people in mass graves. he was considered the biggest threat in the middle east. as bad as north korea was, as bad as iran was, they were not in a category like iraq where there were 16 security council resolutions that said he was a threat to international peace and security. >> does that also account for the need to focus on the israeli/palestinian issues,

will increase from 500 personnel to around $4000.00 and train your duties for now include more iraq you security situations areas beyond boggled . discuss the ramp up copy to all come onto the program scott ritter scott's a former u.s. marine corps intelligence officer and aurthur and was welcome to have you on the program scott what do you make just doing the 8 fold ramp up of nato personnel in iraq. well it's interesting think the the the devil's in the details this isn't going to be instantaneous it's going to be a gradual build up and i believe that it would be your conditions based so it's not as though nato is going out american 500 to 4000 but let's just assume that they do meet this 4000 mark. understand that iraq is in extraordinarily the stabilized nation there is a you know he a none certain security. posture that these $4000.00 troops are going to be deployed in which means they're going to be confronting our. nato is not very good at taking casualties and they do is not very good a combat missions they call this a security training mission when you're beyond baghdad out

the pentagon says the operation was in response to recent attacks against american personnel in iraq to try to. make an impact on these groups and their ability to conduct. future attacks. and. and to to send a very clear signal. that the united states is going to protect its people and it's going to protect our interests and screw protect those of our. of our partners in the region. this was that these targets were chosen carefully very deliberately and struck in exactly the same manner so what a full team has more from baghdad. but airstrikes were carried out in response to attacks on american interests in iraq but the response was in syria and that's likely to put less strain on u.s. iraq relations that it appears to be a departure from the trump administration's policy because let's remember that that government frequently took unilateral action targeting these armed groups on iraqi soil and drawing condemnation from the iraqi government which accused the trumpet ministration of not respecting its sovereignty but also putting the u.s. allies here in iraq in an awkward position be

we were in a state of suspended hostilities with iraq, not in a state of peace with iraq. in 1998, president clinton had actually launched cruise missiles against iraq and the inspectors who are supposed to be keeping his weapons of mass distraction programs under control left the country. so he was different for his having dragged the region into war several times, the fact he was continuing, we believe, to build weapons of mass destruction and according to the intelligence agencies, had reconstituted his chemical weapons, his biological weapons, and was on his way to reconstituting his nuclear program. he tried to assassinate president george h w bush, he was shooting at our aircraft, he put 400,000 people in mass graves. he was considered the biggest threat in the middle east. as bad as north korea was, as bad as iran was, they were not as bad as iraq where there were 16 security council resolutions that said he was a threat to international peace and security. sec. shalala: does that account for the need to focus on the israeli palestinian issues? in the sense that it

the pentagon says that it was in response to recent attacks against american past now in iraq. with. the target that we were there for you know we. were property that that target was being you. know sorry shia militia. that conducted the strike. hezbollah and khattab saeed al shahada a 2 of the militias targeted them part of the popular mobilization force is an umbrella group of shia groups formed in 2014 to fight against i saw in iraq the tape hezbollah or hizbullah brigades was set up more than 10 years earlier in 2003 during the iraq war its fighters attacked u.s. and coalition forces and could see by side was founded in 2013 like hizbollah brigades it conducts operations in both syria and iraq which is there or should have returns in washington has more now on the background the air strikes. we understand joe biden authorized this on thursday morning the attack took place 23 g.m.t. and we understand that biden had been presented with several options and it's been reported that he picked the smallest targets of all the options presented to him by the pens again and we have a

how does iraq the new u.s. diplomats the united nations has begun to work greenfield has the task of bringing gaging with the with the u.n. after relations became strained on the donald trump's leadership a reporter who's been widely welcomed our diplomatic editor james bay is reports from the u.n. in new york. arriving at united nations headquarters on the 1st day in her job and bastard or linda thomas greenfield 1st presented her diplomatic credentials to the un secretary general antonio terrace. the 68 year old is a veteran u.s. diplomat forced to retire by the trumpet ministration after a 35 year career in the state department ending up as the u.s. official in charge of african affairs throughout my time representing america all over the world i found that diplomacy is about showing compassion it's about managing points at differentiation and it's about bringing people together the united nations is the world's most important forum for bringing people and countries together and i take that seriously as a u.

and he outlined the ways in which these militias were destabilizing iraq. on july 6, 2020, al-hashimi was driving home. as he pulled up to his house, a security camera captured a gunman firing four shots. the gunman escaped on a motorbike as al-hashimi's children ran to their father's body. prime minister mustafa al- kadhimi vowed there'd be justice-- not just for al- hashimi, but also for the young activists killed in basra. >> (speaking arabic): >> navai: despite the killings, i was hearing there were still some protests simmering around the country, even in basra. a senior government official told us we risked being kidnapped or killed without protection in the city. we're driving into the city of basra now and we've been met by a police escort, you can see them here beside us, and that's because foreign crews haven't been welcome since the mass protes and since the surge in assassinations of activists. ♪ ♪ basra is iraq's gateway to the persian gulf and neighboring iran. it is a hub for the shia militias, and has been plagued by violence. ♪ ♪ ou

iraq relationship. well the airstrikes were carried out in response to attacks on american interests in iraq but the response was in syria and that's likely to put less strain on u.s. iraq relations that it appears to be a departure from the trump administration's policy because let's remember that that government frequently took a unilateral action targeting these armed groups on iraqi soil and drawing condemnation from the iraqi government which accused the trumpet ministration of not respecting its sovereignty but also putting the u.s. allies here in iraq in an awkward position because those unilateral airstrikes were often not consulted with other nations that form part of the u.s. led coalition to fight this specific strike we've heard the secretary of defense say that the purpose was to deescalate the situation in both iraq and syria and of also heard the department of defense to death that strike was carried out in court nation with other coalition partners so it is a measured response. in respon

put away the pressure from that iraq u.s. relationship and it's unlikely it will be hearing any kind of statement come out from the iraqi government or despair tickler strike. ok so manifold seen in baghdad thank you. the u.k. supreme court has ruled that a woman who ran away as a teenager to join a little should not be allowed to return to britain to find her citizenship should be left london with 2 school friends at the age of 15 and married and i still find it she was stripped of her british citizenship on national security grounds after being discovered in a refugee camp in 2019 the u.k. government has argued bangladeshi by descent so she can live there for more on this we're joined by 4 in london she is co executive director of the legal charity reprieve thank you so much for your time or was your what is your reaction to the supreme court ruling that should mean that they can not be allowed to return to the u.k. to challenge the stripping of her citizenship. thank you well it's disappointing to judgment that in fact it

american personnel in iraq. with. the target that we were there we know we. were property that that target was being you. know sorry shia militia. that conducted destroy. hezbollah and sayyid shahada 2 of the targets of militias that part of the popular mobilization of forces on the brother of shia groups formed in 2014 to 5 i saw in iraq that he has ball all hizbollah brigades was set up more than 10 years earlier in 2003 during the iraq war its fighters attacked u.s. and coalition forces and. other was founded in 2013 like the hezbollah brigades it conducts operations in both syria and iraq let's get more on this now for months irresistible to full team is with us live from baghdad summer where does this put iraq in terms of its relationships with both the u.s. and iran. well the u.s. strikes came in response to the attacks on iraqi soil but they were not carried out on iraqi soil and that will definitely put less strain on u.s. iraq relations and it is quite a significant departure from the trump administrati

troop level training level in iraq of course we have be dealing with your rarely administration doesn't seem. i don't know which direction it wants to go but certainly it is with anti russia and china and that is just the top bullet points go ahead. i think the interesting thing is that during the trump years. former biden officials for obama officials often accused him on spending all his time simply trying to wipe out the legacy obama lost as it was the trump foreign policy and maybe today we're seeing the most sense by this trying to undo everything that trump did so that for instance although it's as you say true to say that in the. in the saudi question he is pursuing a rather ambivalent course because yes he's saying we would like to warn them and stop yes we're going to stop providing certain types of support for the war effort but on the other hand we support the saudi state but he also explicitly allowed his spokesman to say i'll only be dealing with the king of saudi arabia he's my counterpart not the crown prince and similarly he waited a month before he spoke to benjamin net

>> iran was traumatized by the iran iraq war. there's probably not a family in iran that didn't have somebody wounded. i had so many people in iran who cough acid or had their limbs amputated or certainly loved ones lost. it remains still a big factor in the iran iraq war. above all, the impact of the iran iraq war is to make iranians very careful about their security. as john was mentioning, this was a major impetus for iran's developing its nuclear program in the 19 nineties to have a nuclear weapon that we can use to deter iraqi attack. and various other kinds of preparations and concerns iran had in the nineties about iraq. of course iraq is no longer hostile towards iran. there's a friendly regime that we put in power which iran is pretty happy with. but the iranians are still pretty concerned about their military security. of course, we shouldn't forget that the u.s. participated in the iran iraq war and in some ways particularly enabled clashes in the gulf. so iranians look at the iran iraq war as also a reason to fear ame

and he outlined the ways in which these militias were destabilizing iraq. on july 6, 2020, al-hashimi was driving home. as he pulled up to his house, a security camera captured a gunman firing four shots. the gunman escaped on a motorbike as al-hashimi's children ran to their father's body. prime minister mustafa al- kadhimi vowed there'd be justice-- not just for al- hashimi, but also for the young activists killed in basra. >> (speaking arabic): >> navai: despite the killings, i was hearing there were still some protests simmering around the country, even in basra. a senior government official told us we risked being kidnapped or killed without protection in the city. we're driving into the city of basra now and we've been met by a police escort, you can see them here beside us, and that's because foreign crews haven't been welcome since the mass protests and since the surge in assassinations of activists. ♪ ♪ basra is iraq's gateway to the persian gulf and neighboring iran. it is a hub for the shia militias, and has been plagued by violence. ♪ ♪

iranian backed militia in syria the pentagon says it's in response to attacks on american personnel in iraq. hello and welcome i'm peter told me you're watching on 200 live from doha also coming up fears in brazil that more contagious courbet 19 strains pushing the health system to the verge of collapse as the death toll exceeds 250000. e.u. leaders to speed up the blocks vaccine rollout but warn of difficult weeks ahead. and armenia's prime minister calls his supporters on to the streets and accuses the military of an attempted coup after said he should resign. our top story this half hour the u.s. has launched an air strike in syria targeting structures that belong to iranian backed militia now it's thought the strike targeted the a military base near album kamaal the pentagon says it's in response to recent attacks against american personnel in iraq the strikes calm as tehran and washington continue to discuss what happens next with the 2050 nuclear deal. the target that we were you know we. were. being you. shia militia. conducted the strike well she habits and she is following developm

i mean because we know to support iraq. as being a danger in terms of. oh we're going to get it was not recommend you know by. really the beginning of the changing of the guard you know we're now handing the baton off to china is the number one economy in the 21st century the numbers are there the statistics are there their relationships in your here. are there the relationship with russia and iran is their you know their and their relationship all over africa is also there. it's been decades since the fall of spain's fascist regime but old wounds still haven't healed. me from you know. in the past at the 6 mean older than just the same question which we know. of newborn babies were torn from their mothers and given away and forced adoption. to this day mothers still search for grown children. for their parents. the world is driven by shaped. half. thinks. we dare to ask. well not to cross we're all things are considered. discussing biden's foreign policy. ok let's go back to mark in oxford you were trying to make a point before we went to the break go a

personnel in iraq.

the nato support for iraq and also involvement in syria as being a danger and tom so. they're going to get it was not recommended that you know. why they would not. join me every 1st week on the all excited i'm sure i'll be speaking to us from the world of politics for this list i'm show business i'll see you then. so this is really the beginning of the changing of the guard in our now handing the baton off to china as the number one economy in the 21st century the numbers are there the statistics are there the relationships in your career are there the relationship with russia and iran is there any other and the relationship all over africa is awful or. well about to cross up were all things are considered. discussing biden's foreign policy. ok let's go back to mark in oxford you were trying to make a point before we went to the break go ahead mark it's true the president really orkin allies of nato on all anxious to continue the involvements enough premised on iraq and the middle east in general because they see these areas of instability is causing for instance the

it's not just shiite militia in iraq. i ran has proxies not only in iraq but they have it in yemen, they have it in syria and even in afghanistan, at lebanon. you can look throughout the region where there is a presence and iran uses whatever money they have left in order to fund, equip and train terror groups and proxy groups that will wreak havoc in the region and that's why it's important to have a clearly stated and cohesive strategy. i know the biden administration is a month end but they are using some of the authorities that we also used to conduct these air strikes. the biden team, they will all need to determine what kind of embeddedness ration are they taking. but they need go back into syria? what are they going to do in iraq? what will they do in afghanistan, big decisions to be made. and katie by the way, iraq 7:00 p.m. >> katie: it really quickly, david was this a legal strike? >> it was absolutely legal, and justified it, it, retaliation for attacks on their personnel in iraq. morgan ott and i both served i

launches air strikes on a rainy and back hoops in syria in response to attacks on american personnel in iraq. a top u.k. court rules against a woman who was stripped of her british citizenship after running away and joining i saw. a large crowd marches outside the national assembly and armenia's capital calling for the prime minister to resign. we begin in northwest nigeria where more than 300 schoolgirls have been kidnapped it happened in the state has a gunman arrived at night shooting sporadically at the school complex and then took the girls into the bush amended your says more for a minute in central nigeria. residents say the gunman invaded shortly after midnight and operated for more than hour before heard in the goes into the bushes now police and other security services say they've deployed in large numbers trying to truck keep track of the situation and see how they can rescue the abducted goals 300 more than 300 girls and they've come from then this is even larger than she broke that happened when. fighters invaded a school in northeastern nigeria and kidnapped more than 270 schoo

troop level training level in iraq of course we have the dealing with iran the administration doesn't seem to know which direction it wants to go but certainly it is anti russia and china and that is just the top bullet points go ahead mark. you know i think the interesting thing is that during the trumpeters. former biden officials for bomb officials often accused him of spending all his time simply trying to wipe out the legacy obama as it was the trump foreign policy and maybe today we're seeing the most sense by this trying to undo everything that tom did so that for instance all the it's as you say true to say that in the. in the saudi question he is pursuing a rather ambivalent course because yes he's saying we would like the war namin stop us we're going to stop providing certain types of support for the war effort but on the other hand we support the saudi state but he also explicitly allowed his spokesman to say i'll only be dealing with the coup. he is my counterpart not the crown prince and similarly he waited a month before he spoke to benjamin netanyahu in israel both the

iraq is dealt with in the book. and the conclusions which i sure with the reader was that like vietnam where he discovered, iraq was wrong from the beginning. but having been wrong from the beginning, i could have turned out much better than it did the right programs in the right people been in charge on the ground. in other words if iraq was a disaster but it could have been much less of a disaster to the point that will be arguing about whether it was worth doing or not. hunger sony came back with these recommendations which were in fact implemented but it was too little too late. remember at the end of the day he was social one man against vast impersonal forces. spent to go to another example when i was taken with was the description of his interventions in the vulcan after the war basically in terms of the resettlement issues in the late 1990s. the issue there was what was possible in terms of bringing people back to their homes. maybe you could say a little bit about the perception of the peace agreement, what

to iraq in 2008. this- since i've been deployed to iraq in 2008. this is- since i've been deployed to. iraq in 2008. this is america and — iraq in 2008. this is america and this— iraq in 2008. this is america and this is— iraq in 2008. this is america and this is what's _ iraq in 2008. this is america and this is what's happeningl and this is what's happening right— and this is what's happening right now _ and this is what's happening right now. the _ and this is what's happening right now. the president - and this is what's happening i right now. the president needs to call— right now. the president needs to call it — right now. the president needs to call it off, _ right now. the president needs to call it off, like, _ right now. the president needs to call it off, like, call- right now. the president needs to call it off, like, call it - to call it off, like, call it off _ to call it off, like, call it off catt _ to call it off, like, call it off. call it _ to call it off, like, call it

forces in iraq. he was a commander of central command in the obama administration launching the war against isis in iraq. and joe biden based on the reports did not pick the most aggressive option here. he wanted to send a response and try to end the cycle of escalation, the risk, of course, is when you take a shot like this, there could be a rere-prizele and you could face escalation. >> the reports are that president biden chose the most minimal of the military responses. but my question about a meeting like this in deciding how to respond to this. is there someone in that room advocating no military response a response other than a military action? >> well, lawrence, what you would have is a military that worked up three options and the more robust option would have targeted other refresh your recollection associated with this militia perhaps in syria. and usually there's a lot of momentum to do something, particularly when there's been an attack on u.s. forces in iraq. this would be against an ir

personnel in iraq. are all the others and this is all to see a live from doha also coming up brazil's cova death toll rises about a quarter of a 1000000 there are warnings of aviation which is even more contagious is pushing its health system to the verge of collapse. i mean is prime minister calls his supporters on to the streets in accuses the military of an attempted coup after it said he should resign. rising from the ruins how artists in mosul leading a cultural revival in the iraqi city devastated by isis. and we're going to begin with breaking news u.s. president joe biden has launched an air strike in syria targeting structures that belong to iran backed fighters it's thought the strike targeted the military base near al book amal the pentagon says it's in response to recent attacks against u.s. personnel in iraq. we're confident in the target that we would after we know we. were confident that that target was being you know the same shia militia. that conducted the strike. often on this let's g

could have chosen to strike inside iraq itself. the fact that they decided to take out a location that is in syria albeit long the board we are iraq does indicate a certain level of awareness as to how tenuous the situation within iraq itself actually is at this moment. remember, the key battlefield when it comes to this ongoing conflict between the united states and iran is here in iraq. but it also comes with grave repercussions for this country itself. we all remember what happened with the fallout that took mace after the u.s. killed top iranian general qassem soleimani just over a year ago, and now we still have these calls within iraq, within some of the pretty goods who are close to these iranian backed shia militias and others who want to see all u.s. forces leave. it's highly unlikely we'll hear anything more than a tepid response from the iraqi government if even that. and it's also worth noting, don, that if we talk about the broader iraqi population they are beyond fed up with seeing their country used as a proxy battle

audience because the attack came from iraq on our bases in iraq. but why it makes sense is because it's not undermining the government of iraq which has a tenuous relationship with its people, and this is the first administration that has pushed back on the iranians. and that certainly is ad good thing. a good thing. but an attack inside of iraq arouses the people, arouses political opposition as well. and the second thing is an attack in syria against the same group is likely that this would escalate further. in iraq until probably escalate further. so good decision on the location as well. paul: okay. now, let's talk about the biden strategy as you've seen it so far regarding iran nuclear. it seems to me that there's some mixed messages going on. how do you see it? >> yeah. oh, boy, absolutely, paul. you mentioned one of the messages, which was encouraging to see, many officials stated to include secretary of state we want to lengthen and strengthen the iran nuclear deal of 2015. what does that really mean? that means we want to change the deal.

forces in iraq. it wasn't just his excellent military leadership, the many times i met him there, and his strategy. he was a consummate diplomat, as well. he worked closely with our ambassador to build relationships with both civilian and military leaders. able to project our power, amplifying our strength through our alliances, it was so important. there's no aspect of our agenda in 21st century leadership where the women and men of the defense department do not have a role whether it's helping curb the pandemic here at home and around the world or addressing the real threats of climate change that are already costing us billions in impacts on our bases and national security or being part of an ongoing fight for racial justice. you are essential to how we must rethink and reprioritize our security to meet the challenges of this century, not the last. we need to take on the dangers and opportunities of emerging technologies, enhance our capabilities in cyberspace, ensure that we are positioned to lea

on the other hand, you have iraq's relationship with the united states, one that iraq does also need on many fronts whether it's financial support or, as we have seen demonstrated over the last few years, the need for u.s. military support, the ongoing cooperation in terms of training up the iraqi security forces that still need quite a bit of assistance at this stage. and so when the u.s. and iran end up using iraq as their proxy battlefield, which is where the vast majority of this proxy warfare does end up unfolding, the iraqi government is in an impossible position. that is also perhaps one of the many reasons why this particular u.s. administration chose to launch that strike inside syria itself, to spare iraq some of the blowback. but then you also had the comments, michael, that came out from the u.s. saying that the strike -- the target was chosen in coordination with the iraqi government. this is something that the iraqis were very quick to try to deny, wanting to distance themselves from that actual operation. but talk to any senior government official here, and they will t

troop level training level in iraq of course we have be dealing with iran the administration doesn't seem to know which direction it wants to go but certainly it is anti russia and china and that is just the top bullet points go ahead mark. i think the interesting thing is that during the trump years. former biden officials for obama officials often accused him of spending all his time simply trying to wipe out the legacy obama lost as it was the trump foreign policy and maybe today we're seeing the most sense by this trying to undo everything that tom did so that for instance all the it's as you say true to say that in the. in the saudi question he is pursuing a rather ambivalent course because yes he's saying we would like the war now meant to stop us we're going to stop providing certain types of support for the war effort but on the other hand we support the saudi state but he also explicitly allowed his spokesman to say i'll only be dealing with the king of saudi arabia he's my count on. not the crown prince and similarly he waited a month before he spoke to benjamin netanyahu i

troop level training level in iraq of course we have the dealing with iran the administration doesn't seem to know which direction it wants to go but certainly it is anti russia and china and that is just the top bullet points go ahead mark. i think the interesting thing is that during the trump years. former biden officials for obama officials often accused him of spending all his time simply trying to wipe out the legacy obama lost as it was the trump foreign policy and maybe today we're seeing the most sense by this trying to undo everything that tom did so that for instance all the it's as you say true to say that in the. in the saudi question he is pursuing a rather ambivalent course because yes he's saying we would like the war now meant to stop us we're going to stop providing certain types of support for the war effort but on the other hand we. state but he also explicitly allowed his spokesman to say i'll only be dealing with the king of saudi arabia he's my counterpart not the crown prince and similarly he waited a month before he spoke to benjamin netanyahu in israel now bo

not an uncommon occurrence in iraq. why do you think people are reluctant to come to the hospital initially? >> maybe because of culture, iraqi culture. >> reporter: for some, it's fear of being stigmatized. there are people even now who say what is this corona? wafat's daughter tells us they don't believe the virus exists until it hits them. but it's also a misunderstanding that oxygen and vitamins are enough to treat the symptoms of the virus. and there's also a lack of faith in iraq's health care systems, which have yet to fully recover from sanctions dating back to the saddam hussein era and then nonstop war. >> this is very bad thing to keep patient at home, treatment at home. >> reporter: iraq's first covid-19 wave devastated the country. hospitals were overwhelmed. this particular infectious diseases hospital in baghdad that the government facilitated our access to saw its patient numbers triple in the last two weeks. are you ready for maximum capacity or more? >> we have beds. we have doctors. we have nurse. >>

troop level training level in iraq of course we have the dealing with iran if ministration doesn't seem to know which direction it wants to go but certainly it is anti russia and china and that is just the top bullet points go ahead mark. i think the interesting thing is that during the trump years. former biden officials for obama officials often accused him on spending all his time simply trying to wipe out the legacy obama as it was the trump foreign policy and maybe today we're seeing the most sense by this trying to undo everything that trump did so that for instance all the it's as you say true to say that in the. in the saudi question he is pursuing a rather ambivalent course because yes he's saying we would like to warn them and stop yes we're going to stop providing certain types of support for the war effort but on the other hand we support the saudi state but he also explicitly allowed his spokesman to say i'll only be dealing with the king of saudi arabia he's my counterpart not the crown prince and similarly he waited a month before he spoke to benjamin netanyahu in israel

personnel in iraq. with. the target that we were there but we know we're. here we're confident that that target was being you know sorry shia militia. that conducted the strike. she had pretends he has more now from.

personnel in iraq. we're confident in the target that we were there but we know you're. here we're confident that that target was being you know the same shia militia. that conducted the strike shihab rattansi is following developments from washington. we understand joe biden authorized this on thursday morning the attack took place 23 g.m.t. and we understand that biden had been presented with several options and it's been reported that he picked the smallest targets of all the options presented to him by the pens again and we have and that was this this facility which the u.s. claims was used by quote iran backed militias on the border between syria and and iraq and we have this statement which is seems to be the key message that the u.s. is trying to get out that this proportionate military response was conducted together with diplomatic measures including consultations with coalition partners the operation sends an unambiguous message president biden will act to protect american and coalition personnel at the same time we have acted in a deliberate manner that aims t

today we decided to expand nato training mission in iraq to support the iraq it forces us to fight terrorism and assure that isis just not return the size so a mission will increase from 500 personnel to wrong 4000 and training activities from now include more iraq to security situations and areas beyond bugout former u.s. marine corps intelligence officer scott ritter told us who he thinks stands behind nato as ramp up in the middle east when you're beyond baghdad out in the boonies in remote facilities training iraqi security forces that are in constant contact with with with isis or other extremist enemies there will be losses in nato is not configured to do this that prepared politically to do this so then the question is who will provide the combat backup and that of course is the united states and once united states employs combat force in support of nato the 2 missions become intertwined and then nato which has made a big point of saying hey we're being invited by the iraqi government which is the opposite of that the situation currently exists regarding u.s. forces this is just a hor

forces in iraq. he was a commander of central command in the obama administration launching the war against isis in iraq and syria. he knows this part of the world. henese knows these considerations. and joe biden based on reports did not pick the most aggressive option here. he wanted to send a response and try to end the cycle of escalation. the risk, of course, is always when you take a shot like this there could be a reprisal and you could face escalation. >> the reports are that president biden chose the most minimal of the military responses. but my question about a meeting like this in deciding how to respond to this. is there someone in that room advocating no military response a response other than a military action? >> well, lawrence, what you would have is a military that probably worked up three different options and the more robust option probably would have targeted other infrastructure associated with this militia, perhaps in syria. and usually there's a lot of momentum to do something

today we decided to expand nato is training mission in iraq to support the iraq it forces us to fight terrorism and the sure that our assistance not return the size so our mission will increase from 500 personnel to wrong 4000 and turn your duties for now include more iraq to security situations areas beyond bug the old former u.s. marine corps intelligence officer scott ritter told us who he thinks stands behind need as ramp up in the middle east. when you're beyond baghdad out in the boonies in remote facilities training iraqi security forces that are in constant contact with with with isis or other extremist enemies there will be losses in nato is not configured to do this up repaired politically to do this so then the question is who will provide the combat backup and that of course is the united states and once united states employs combat force in support of nato the 2 missions become intertwined and then nato which has made a big point of saying hey we're being invited by the iraqi government which is the opposite of that the situation currently exists regarding u.s. forces thi

today we decided to expand nato is training mission in iraq to support the iraq it forces us to fight terrorism and assure that isis just not return the size so a mission will increase from 500 personnel to wrong $4000.00 and training activities from now include more iraq to security situations and areas beyond bugout former u.s. marine corps intelligence officer scott ritter told us who he thinks stands behind it as ramp up in the middle east when you're beyond baghdad out in the boonies in remote facilities training iraqi security forces that are in constant contact with with with isis or other extremist enemies there will be losses in nato is not configured to do this that prepared politically to do this so then the question is who will provide the combat backup and that of course is the united states and once united states employs combat force in support of nato the 2 missions become intertwined and then nato which has made a big point of saying hey we're being invited by the iraqi government which is the opposite of that the situation currently exists regarding u.s. forces this i

directing a terrorist network of radicalizing young people and of helping them travel to iraq and syria so it wasn't just propaganda that he was spreading his actions had concrete consequences also in the case of the 2 twins were radicalized by his network who he helped to travel to iraq where they carried out a bloody suicide attack in 2015 and 2 it was the trial to well over 3 and a half years. it was a challenge for the prosecution and investigators to. produce concrete evidence that proved the involvement of of. and what eventually the case was based on was the testimony of informants so it took time to gather all the evidence one informant was a member of the security services who was imbedded in the network and who collected evidence over the years another informant was a person who was formerly radicalized by of one of those network who travel to syria was disillusioned with the situation there with radical islam and came back to germany and then decided to tell all about the network to german authorities how much of a threat is almost extremism in germany today. the domestic int

officials talking about a review of policy towards iran neighbor iraq wants going on there. well this is a very interesting aspect and it's part of this whole emerging diplomacy of the biden administration now the secretary of state tony blinken has confirmed that his department is reviewing the relationship with iraq and the nature of that particular relationship now included in that could possibly be a rip you off the sanctions that the trump administration imposed on the amount of energy for example that iran could buy from iran part of being consumed you couldn't pull the revision on that and lifting the level of energy resources that iraq could buy from iran now what this would do is so big number of things number one it would throw an olive leaf towards iran without doing so directly it is doing so through iraq assisting iraq it's this kind of somewhat come through to permit seat that is fascinating as one watches the bite in the ministration start formulating a new policy based on the policy of the past remembering as well that joe biden himself was vice president dur