Transcripts For ALJAZ NEWSHOUR 20240713

Fears the fuse of a destructive war has now been leaked. Also ahead yet another state of emergency declared in southeastern australia but catastrophic bush fire conditions are back. U. S. President donald trump says his forces acted to stop a war with iran not start one by assassinating Major General kassim so the money he added that the u. S. Is prepared for any reprisals so the money lead irans early could forces died in an air strike in baghdad alongside a commander of iraqs Popular Mobilisation forces the recent attacks on u. S. Targets in iraq it looting rocket strikes that killed an american and injured 4 American Servicemen very badly. As well as a violent assault on our embassy in baghdad were carried out at the direction of selami so many made the death of innocent people his sick passion contributing to tears plots as far away as new delhi in london today we remember and honor the victims of solemn a nice many atrocities and we take comfort in knowing that his reign of terror is over solemn a he has been perpetrating acts of terror to destabilize the middle east for the last 20 years what the United States did yesterday should have been done long ago a lot of lives would have been saved just recently solemn 80 led the brutal repression of protesters in iran where more than a 1000 innocent civilians were tortured and killed by their own government we took action last night to stop a war we did not take action to start a war. Earlier irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned of quote severe revenge for in his words the criminals responsible for so the moneys killing iranians protested after friday prayers chanting death to america iraqs Prime Minister says the assassination will quote lights the fuse of a destructive war and as other leaders around the world express concern and condemnation the u. S. Has halted all of its people to leave iraq immediately and its military personnel have been put on high alert we begin our coverage now with simona fultons report from baghdad. Heart break in the upper ranks of the Iranian Military at the official announcement of the death of Major General kasim so in money the commander of irans quds force the revolutionary guard unit responsible for foreign operations so the money was killed in a u. S. Drone strike in baghdad. And a spontaneous outbreak of joy in iraqi cities over the passing of a man many see as the embodiment of irans meddling here i sure wish i didnt have to listen to me i feel happy about killing solo money the reason is because of his foreign interference in iraq would you accept that our intervening in all the families issues everything has been trees. In the early hours of friday morning shortly after arriving at Baghdad International airport a u. S. Strike targeted a convoy of silly money and his close ally hondas the deputy head of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces an iranian backed part military group other members of the group were also killed for irans Supreme Leader ayatollah ali common a stolen money was a trusted confidant a member of his inner circle and he warned there will be revenge the cruelest people on earth assassinated the honorable commander who courageously fought for years against the evils and bandis of the world sulaimani is martyrdom well make iran more decisive to resist americas expansionism and to defend our values with no doubt iran and other freedom seeking countries in the region will take his revenge. While there is talk of revenge many iranians dont want to see war hero with us support and it will definitely increase violence but i fundamentally disagree with violence and conflict i believe people moving toward peace in negotiation to reach the goals is much better soleimani enjoyed some support when he led the charge to displace eisel from iraq a strong. Holds but many iraqis now blame iran for instability and interference in their country and soleimani directly for a violent crackdown on antigovernment protests which began in october the us assassinations are the most extreme escalation in tensions between to head on in washington in recent years and many in baghdad fear it will continue to play out on iraqi soil and if in any state that has she always syria and we condemn this its unacceptable for Something Like this to be happening in our country its a tween america and iran and in the end we will be hurt our situation is already not stable many iraqis oppose iranian and american interventions alike. Earlier this week mohandas himself let a crowd of Popular Mobilization forces supporters as they attacked and besieged the u. S. Embassy in baghdad he walked alongside. Another senior military leader of the pro iran group who has now called on his followers to take up arms against the american presence iraqs caretaker Prime Minister Abdullah Abdullah the to condemn the u. S. Strike as a violation of iraqs sovereignty and the rules of engagement of the american presence here he called the death of mohandas an aggression against the iraqi state. Parliament is due to hold an emergency session on sunday but analysts say the government beleaguered and divided after 3 months of antigovernment protests will struggle to mount a decisive response Iraqi Government is very weak for the time being there will be no more statements coming out of the. Caretaker Prime Minister or from the ministry of Foreign Affairs other than that i dont expect anything from the Iraqi Government but probably the Iraqi Parliament will. Call for an immediate session and do will discuss the current. Americans in iraq agreement and probably they will ask for the department of the American Forces from iraq. Whether their response to u. S. Presence in iraq will be political or military the assassinations have put an end to a precarious balance of power that had dust far accommodated both u. S. And iranian interests in iraq the iraqi capital already a battleground for tensions between the u. S. And iran is bracing itself for the aftermath of the biggest escalation yet with both u. S. And iranian backed troops on the ground the country risks being caught in the middle of a military fallout between washington and tehran similar 14 aljazeera but that. Ok 22 hours since eliminate lost his life along with several other people following on from a strike and according to the right says news agency airstrikes targeting Iraqi Militia or an Iraqi Militia convoy have been going on in the past hour or so perhaps north of baghdad 6 people have been killed thats the Reuters News Agency quoting an iraqi army source as strikes have been targeting an Iraqi Militia convoy north of the capital city back that how far north we dont know how many vehicles involved in the convoy we dont know was the airstrike a military strike or a drone strike perhaps we dont know but that is one report according to the Reuters News Agency more on that for you just as soon as we can well in the United States reaction to silly money as assassination is split between the Major Political parties Donald Trumps republicans are praising his actions while democrats are questioning why the president did not consult congress before approving the strike heidi jocasta reports from washington. President donald trump try to justify his decision to order the killing of Iranian Revolutionary guard commander qassam sulaimani by claiming to the money had been planning eminent and sinister attacks on americans in the region we took action last night to stop a war the us president said sulaimani was responsible for the deaths of thousands d of American Service people over 2 decades salim 80 has been perpetrating acts of terror to destabilize the middle east for the last 20 years what the United States did yesterday should have been done long ago trumps republican allies in congress agreed or to law this evil man operated without them strike and countless and often have suffered for now his terrorist leadership. I was going to democrats say trump ordered the drone strike that also killed the leader of tehran back Iraqi Militia groups without Consulting Congress and warned of serious consequences this is the equivalent of the iranians assassinating the u. S. Secretary of defense i do not believe the administration has gamed out. How very badly this could go for the us and our interests this action may well have brought our nation closer to another endless war exactly the kind of endless war the president promised he would not drag us into. Iran has promised retaliation the u. S. State department issued a security alert urging all american citizens to leave iraq immediately despite the secretary of states claims on u. S. Media that americans in the region are now safer after sulaimani his demise while no one is accusing President Trump of ordering fridays drone strike for political purposes and does overshadow all political headlines in the u. S. Including trumps impending impeachment trial the u. S. Senate was to begin this new year by taking on that as their 1st order of business and instead senators are preparing for briefings on the u. S. Military strike and whatever response it may bring heidi joe castro aljazeera washington. And the u. S. President donald trump has been rallying his evangelical christian supporters at an event in miami in florida and the guy is there and the preaching to the converted clearly whats he been saying. Well hes really been talking about the things that evangelicals 10 more about than anything else and not a speck of ocean rights gun control of the right to own a gun as a rights of christians hes really treating as he said to the converted and this is the beginning of president ial. Coalition you know all these on jellicoe if he wants to focus on particularly black and hispanic voters in a fall from a very short mention about what happened on friday the drone strike this is going about so make no mistake the president ial race now would fall down pain mode its important to remember that evangelicals have voted 80. A center for president ial back in 2016 in fact the president is just wrapping up as i speak right now but this is as if the drone strike on friday never really happened we spoke to a few people here they are wholeheartedly behind the president and everything that he does in fact one man completely unprompted came up to me i put his hands on my shoulder and said donald trump is the president we need and when he was talking a little earlier about the events in the iraqi capital he did clearly stick very closely to what was on the problem so what was on the script and he didnt take questions afterwards. Thats true that the tone of what he said here at the very beginning at the speech was almost exactly as it was when he left mara lago kind of a subdued tone but he did say to the crowd here we got him which we which made lots of people applaud but that was really only said on that particular subject he then moved on very quickly to the things that evangelicals really care passionately about about Supremes Court judges didnt Lower Court Judges and all the things that hes achieved over the past couple of years this is a concerted effort on behalf of the president to solidify or to concrete the evangelical support going into an all important president ial election later on this year and he thanks very much u. S. President there being sung off the stage to you cant always get what you want but you do get what you need to get correspondent there in florida u. N. Chief antonio ted has to live out his initial reactions to a spokesman who tweeted secretary general antonio terrace has consistently advocated for deescalation in the gulf he is deeply concerned with the recent escalation this is a moment in which leaders must exercise maximum restraint the world can also afford another war in the gulf. Well that statement was not well received by agnes kalama who reports to the u. N. On extrajudicial executions on twitter she said there is no more pressing time for the un and its leadership to step up the now but this statement does not bode well you have the legal tools and the platform please use them and she included the hash tag world war 3. Joins us now from las vegas i guess welcome to the news of the uns got the tools what do you want them to do with those tools. Look as you have well reported since yesterday the situation is extremely serious an extremely grave International Law may not be the response. Political will is required to move forward but the secretary general has a few tools at his disposal as a 1st and important 20 that you should involve article 999 of the un charter which would allow for the issue to become a priority on the edge and of the Security Council as well as a on the agenda of the genuine assembly. In my view of the 1st important step should be full of the secretary general to initiate an indepth inquiry not just on the targeted killing of jenny or sue him and me yesterday but on a blog called take send on the evidence that preceded the they are clearly a branch of grievances and this coalition into a conflict that must be taken into account for any kind of inquiry a conclusion to have some impact on the Current Situation i think importantly iraq would stary terry was indeed in my opinion by elites it buys a strike but also by by all their actions before including on. The rain and the. Iranian government themselves iraq crude make a specific request to use a secretary janeiro for. An inquiry to be a stablished very quickly so that the fact can be assessed under International Law as yesterdays tragedy is extremely complex and raises very. Difficult questions which demand indepth reflection and we ought to be careful not to exacerbate and the tension by suggesting. You know putting forward in the fast judgment on on the these ships in the past 2 hours weve had the u. S. President giving a preprepared statement about the circumstances in the run up in the run up to the decision taken to kill saloon money is there any way that donald trump stands which seems to be he had planned sort of money had plans meets any kind of International Legal test by way of justification. I mean the statement itself by donor trunk will never be sufficient to justify the attacks it does not to mean that the United States do not have sushi shunt events to back up when the deed but the International Demand International Relief gold justification for the killings are very high because its not only a question of whether. The us acted unlawfully in central defense which is questionable. It is not only a question of whether there was an International Armed conflict and thats so huge issue here you know nobody wants to address it directly but these seas are very much at the heart of the of the conversation are you going to deliver it just to interrupt you there are you going to deliver an awkward message to antonio terrace on this which the u. N. Secretary general may not want to hear it occurs to me that what youre actually saying is that the death of so the money and people in his entourage was retaliates sorry not anticipate saree and thats perhaps something that your boss at the un will not want to hear. Well look the statement that were called i did yesterday and the fact as we knew them seemed to indicate treaty the statement quote i did today by the president this afternoon seems to be empty kitching and t. C. Patrie self defense. Which is there was imminent threats even though the plans for can get to the action so get the United States i am not in a position to reach an exclusion as to whether or not this is. A justified under International Law as in full mission is far to lead this is why i am suggesting that we need an International Inquiry in order to get into the details but its let me and seized upon one more fact its not only whether selfdefense hes justified because there are also bodies over laws that must be a met by and by as he said jack and International Human rights he steal an important body of law and and assists the solo it too is doubtful in my view doubtful that suliman will as. That is killing or was there no food and going to National Human rights and he even will doubt that the all the people in his own to ash and people around the car that were also killed its extremely doubtful that those killings aware where under International Human rights law and its not because selfdefense applies that International Human rights does not apply and its not because International Humanitarian law that International Human rights are we not apply so you know this is a complex Legal Research you hear and we must and ceased on all. By you boys to be take turning to return and thats why i think the secretary jenny or i as a tool to weezer whole grain based edition but not only not only on their own what happened last night but i think to be to iran the impact to d. S. Kelly and the inquiry most people dont and that 10 must be taken into account what happened before yesterdays trite ok i was kind of out there in las vegas good song was kind about thank you very much thank you it. Was more still to come on the assassination of. This news up of the now were going to have a look at other top stories for you around the world australian firefighters say more homes will burn down on saturday but theyll be happy if they can stop any more lives being lost theyre dealing with yet more catastrophic conditions in the state of New South Wales where another emergency has been declared and also in the state of a torah live now to jessica washington whos in batemans bay on the New South Wales south coast jessica over to you. You know this area has already been here is incredibly hard by this bushfire season i mean batemans bay in New South Wales and im joined now by captain in 8 ken who is coordinating efforts from headquarters here in tell me about the the conditions that crews a facing today on the ground at the moment its the temperatures increasing will probably get to somewhere between 35 and 40 degrees today. The thrilled if you mean hes coming to get dropped so using version. Starts to rise see the conditions will get quite dangerous. Probably more to the south of us is going to be more affected most of the area to the north of us is fairly well but now so were going to be we still got some pockets where we were quite concerned about in our area and were trying to keep. As can time and catch and how dangerous are things on the ground for currys extremely dangerous this is extremely dry and here the winds can be quite violent and they have fought behaviors very very volatile captain thank you so peter as you can imagine its an incredibly tense situation incredibly dangerous for crews on the ground being advised to be on high alert to leave the area if possible but its that combination of extreme hate strong winds and low humidity making things incredibly dangerous for this area in New South Wales as it got to the stage jessica was difficult for the relevant authorities to rotate people into the firefighting operation because some of those times some of those communities they dont have a big Fire Departments are presumably people are coming in from well outside the region that is the case but the other thing to bear in mind is that these a small communities and they are all working together on this firefighting effort but some communities have been hit so hard we know of one not too far from here in the community of mogo where the headquarters actually burnt down in a fire just a few days ago so these are the conditions that crews are facing but the communities all coming together the tight knit communities everyone is working together alongside with the firefighting crews to try and resolve this crisis jessica ok jessica thank you very much. The libyan warlord holly for after his vice is now against a foreign occupier after Turkeys Parliament agreed to send troops to libya after us forces of laid siege to the capital tripoli since april libyas u. N. Recognized government asked turkeys president wretch up harbored one for support the e. U. The us and arab league all expressing concern about the turkish decision. Lots more still to come for you here on the news hour including well have more on the assassination of kassam cinema with an indepth look at his role in spreading irans influence across the middle east. 100. 00 babies dead in one month we look at the reasons behind the unusually high Child Mortality rate at a Public Hospital in india plus weve got the most toxic air in the world well its pretty sad. Here just. For. Australia sports stars play on with victims of the bushfires in mind. However the rain has been falling steadily and quite heavily in the east southeast and states of the u. S. District here heres whats bringing that rain is moving east has now or should be the Daylight Hours on saturday will see just drifting slowly or should still there in florida but this left places to the west so any potential flooding at least the potential has gone is cold and sunny for most other states not particularly cold at minus 3 is a high of minneapolis minus 5 when you pick from much colder not a month ago on the Pacific Coast latest storm system is winding down towards california its not particularly cold 8 degrees in seattle 40 in sun for San Francisco but it could be better however look at the sunshine elsewhere not a bad bit of january that. Moved on to was a caribbean and apart from a few showers weve not got much going on here there is cloud not cloud indicates those showers and its that obvious streak where you saw that just not just a frontal system which doris our physical stance for the yucatan but its total and it could produce some pretty big sunder storms and clearly an obvious shore breeze out of the gulf of mexico or mexican coast and even come sunday those showers and thunderstorms are still in mexico or guatemala. The un published the most comprehensive study of life on. They found 1000000 species face extinction thats more than 12 percent of known life on. While on track to destroy the much Oil Infrastructure on which our world had the report identifies the 5 main drivers of this big logical crisis 1st the way we use and abuse our politics resources 75 percent of the land and 2 bags of Marine Environment have been severely altered by human activity exploitation of species through over fishing and hunting Climate Change caused by our Greenhouse Gas emissions. Pollution and finally the have it creaked on local ecosystems by invasive species. Reports both to say the decline can be slowed even stopped in some cases but to do that we must transform our relationship with. Root. To move. Youre watching aljazeera this is the news our own peter dhabi the top story so far u. S. President donald trump today saying he ordered the killing of the Iranian Military commander customs for the money to stop a war not to start one he says so the man he was planning imminent attacks on american diplomats and military personnel. Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has vowed quote harsh revenge over the killing of somalia and iraqs Prime Minister has warned that the act will lights the fuse of a destructive war. And we have breaking developments right now coming to us out of iraq the state Television Channel there is reporting that new u. S. Air strikes of targeted the commander of iran backed Iraqi Paramilitary group or groups the attack happened near a camp in taji thats just north of baghdad that story still developing were still working information on that one for you will get more on that just as soon as we can. On hearing the news about customs the moneys death the israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cut short a trip to greece speaking in athens he applauded Donald Trumps decision to approve the deadly air strike. Just as israel has the right of selfdefense. You know this is exactly the same right doesnt feel the money is responsible for the deaths of american citizens and many other innocent people he was planning more for took our president broke deserves all the credit for acting swiftly forcefully decisively israel stands with the United States and is just struggle for Peace Security and selfdefense argument well under customs the moneys leadership irans could force has been instrumental in building a network of proxy armed groups across the middle east the string of nonstate alliances began with hezbollah in lebanon after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein iran was able to become a dominant force in iraq or it untrained the paramilitary groups who made up the Popular Mobilization units irans provided significant support for syria during its civil war that includes training and Intelligence Services irans influence extends to the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula where its accused of backing the who thing is in the war in yemen irans foreign minister says americas actions hurt the entire region and appropriate retaliation is imminent. Me in happened on the Islamic Republic of iran holds the right to respond any time and in any manner and it will we will not be involved in americas smear campaigns and their blackmailing we will give a proper response in any manner in time we will as stated by the Supreme Leader. Well from tehran those are jabari explains the significance of custom ceremony and the impact of his loss to iran. In his hometown of cam on in central iran thousands gathered to say goodbye to a man many saw as more than just the head of irans elite courts force. Major general hossam soleimani came into the role more than 20 years ago and had been one of the masterminds of irans military strategy in the region. Whatever anyone else thought about so they money. He was revered and admired by many in the Islamic Republic to give us a look like soon as. I heard it on the radio in the taxi this morning i was waiting for the names of those killed when i heard general salim moneys name i said oh god he was martyred on with us the former. Because. Unfortunately its clear that wherever the u. S. Enters it is after domination for its own interests general saloon money was one who stood up gravely especially fighting eisel doesnt motivate you to do or. He was a key figure 100 percent they were targeting him they knew where he was surely a role would leave it on on sort of will do something silly money rarely spoken public but gave this interview in october saying irans revolutionary guard had expanded what he called Islamic Resistance to half a 1000000 square kilometers connecting iran through iraq and syria to lebanon the courts force runs irans Foreign Military and Clandestine Operations so they money delegated iranian diplomats to meet u. S. Officials after the 911. 00 attacks and they brutally worked together against the taliban but that relationship didnt last long. The u. S. And irans pirate is aligned once again in the fight against eisel but then evolved beyond the battlefield in april last year the u. S. Designated irans Islamic Revolutionary guards corps as a terrorist organization but so in many had the full support of his government the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei awarded him irans highest military honor last year muslims all the money had survived many attempts on his life both here in iran and abroad and now his death will likely embolden the groups who support it as iranians mark 3 days of National Mourning many here are looking to see what will happen next. Aljazeera tehran. Ok lets get more all not aspects of the story thats developing as we speak pretty much in real time precious strikes in iraq north of baghdad al jazeera saw a silent binge of aid is on the phone in the iraqi capital sama hi there what else do we know peaches who probably heard from your. Sources in the Popular Mobilization forces is that there has been a strike on the road north of baghdad. Ruchir coalition pacifically the. Non u. S. Forces base this is the this is the base that is home to. Him and other coalition members. In action leaving there are basically. 3 crew. On that. Block who were. Killed but theres ready a lot of speculation that the men are. Faction are probably a rogue force one of the militia come out. The record of. Course were killed but were still waiting to get more information as it is just over 2 in the morning there in baghdad the creation of. The people of. Osama ok well talk very soon im sure and meantime thank you ok lets bring in michael preachments hes a fellow at the Hudson Institute and formally a u. S. Intelligence officer and an advisor to Iraqi Security forces he joins us of washington michael preachin when you were listening to what donald trump was saying because of the justification and telling us the back story is the Decision Making process is unfolding what were you thinking. Well we already we were seeing that intelligence before on different the planning stages of attacks against americans. Based on what the president said he also laid out some more warnings for the Supreme Leader and for asylum on his militias the remaining iraq and that is that were going to conduct more strikes if provoked and were seeing that some nights with the leaders of khatami mom ali being attacked and killed are you sure will and the another leader with what are called new job offer that means that other leaders like our chroma kabhie his cazaly idea lamarre are all wondering if their next and thats the message that i heard from the president today when he was speaking ok are you talking just to be clear and briefly michael preachin to you talking about whats happening right now in real time as you and i having this conversation on this road north of baghdad or is that Something Else that youre discussing no im talking about real time right now what happened south of taji ok its ok we will drill down into that as and when we know the facts and the speculation as as as and when that becomes more separate we have been talking to agnes kalama she is the United Nations highest most powerful lawyer in effect she doing a sizably long interview on this channel on this program she told me there is no way that the assassination of kassam so the money is legal right. Its its legal from a u. S. Perspective because customs all the money was designated as a terrorist a Foreign Terrorist Organization secrets force that makes him targetable. And any time a terrorist general is in iraq threatening American Forces have after having a law to kill an american is a target and yesterday because im still a mommy along with the leader of a dozen a terrorist group the top is will law were killed in a drone strike in ited states conducted a legal drone strike against qassam solo monny and i will meet in 100. 00 because they were doesnt it are terrorists just like baghdad is it doesnt need a terrorist czar car was a dozen of the terrorist a 1000100 is in the same category and general qassam solomonic was in the same category ok even if youre right and even if i accept what you say is legally correct nationally in the United States and when it pertains to u. S. Citizens operating in the theater of a conflict such as iraq Collateral Damage other people died that therefore has an aspect of criminal liability to it. There the criminal liability it should actually be custom solomonic directing his militias in iraq to kill unarmed protesters in Tahrir Square i would like to see this un attorney look at the legality of a Major General telling Prime Minister of double murder to sit in that chair over there all i take over a meeting to tell your military and my militia leaders how to turn off the internet and kill innocent civilians in Tahrir Square thats one Major General custom so the money did in october my god please illegal thats a terrorist offense do you accept sort of i dont think its who i am if youre going to ask me on this show no thats fine thats why youre here good to talk to you do you accept however there is something of a disconnect here and the disconnect is this 48 hours ago 56 hours ago a week ago 2 weeks ago the trump line was im here to keep americans around the world pertaining to the specifically americans in iraq safe your country then assassinates somebody whos on a par with your defense secretary on the sovereign territory of that dead persons quotes ally if you will and now today your state Department Tells all americans in iraq youve got to get out and get out immediately direct quote immediately so how does killing still the money make or keep americans safe in iraq. Ok so so lets lets clarify some of that language the americans that were talking about or americans that are not part of the military and not part of the state departments mission were talking about entrepreneurs were talking about people that are doing business in iraq theres a kidnapping threat and thats something custom so the money is very good at whats another reason customs all the money was doesnt it a terrorist i remember it was custom sell the money the directed case because ali kidnapped 5 americans from karbala in 2007 kidnap him bring him back to tehran in order to trade them for 4 captured are just a could force operatives because they were killing iraqis intimidating politicians and killing americans so the language is is this the president said were willing to talk to tehran but if you cross this red line this red line was communicated to tehran if you kill an american were going to do something about it the all mohandas killed an american at the k. One base when his militia could topple law launched a sellable of 30 rockets at an iraqi base in iraq a sovereign country. Hurting iraqi soldiers in adal the mehdi under immense pressure from customs all the money and sort of condemning that terrorist organization without visible law you condemn the United States for defending itself and attacking a base way on the border and all the kayyem were the target of a lot has no business other than sending a recipe just going to interrupt as you say it was ok thats enough that thats a journal of record we get of course we do we appreciate the clarity on that im going to stop you there because this argument that is basically whats about ism displays or betrays a lack of nuance not from you but perhaps arguably on the part of the trumpet ministration its not a binary issue its got to be more nuanced than that especially if you accept that perhaps the trumpet ministration doesnt understand that the nature of the person who youve killed this man wasnt on a mission he was the mission. Yeah hes the the one guy if you want iraq to be free of irans malign influence if you want baghdad to have a chance this is the guy you had to target some sort of money you also had to target the most powerful man in custom solo money isnt in iraq and thats hundreds these are the men that iraqi politicians told Us Government officials and privates we can do what you want to do but we cant because customs full of money and i will media will and us wont let us ive had iraqi politicians tell me i have to shake the hand of this because if i dont i can be disappeared were going to talk about who these guys are regardless of how trump says something or does something theres a strategy thats in place a strategy thats thats thats solid within the Intelligence Community and thats a Security Council state department and department of defense trump is the messenger but the strategy is at that level and its sound this is the person they gave iraq back its freedom if you look at the protesters in Tahrir Square cheering if you look at all the handshakes and smiles ive received today from iraq ease because customs so money and mohandas is dead and now with the disease reports we havent verified yet that we talked about earlier with haji ship will be and with hoda kotb being targeted iraqis are happy about irans hold of iraq is being addressed by a president that may not say it the right way but the strategy is in place ok always a pleasure to get your insight your take thanks for having these going to global events Michael Pietsch and thank you so much. Well the attack in baghdad is a dramatic escalation of the crisis between the u. S. And iran lets look at the timeline of events last friday a rocket attack struck an Iraqi Military base killing an American Contractor the u. S. Blamed a pro Iranian Group called the hezbollah brigades 2 days later the u. S. Launched air strikes against the groups military outpost in iraq in syria killing 27 fighters iran backed paramilitary groups in iraq then stormed the u. S. Embassy compound in baghdad leading to a 48 hour siege gabriel is on the joins us live now from washington clearly there wont be any reaction yet from the sources there that we usually talk to piece of the donald trump and what hes been saying what your reading of what hes been talking about in the past 2 hours or so. Yeah trump is basically was speaking to some evangelical groups just within the last hour or so and he didnt say a whole lot new quite frankly he only spoke for just a very brief couple minutes about the strike and just reaffirmed what he had said previously we did hear from Trumps National security adviser Robert Obrien who did brief reporters on a phone call and he said that the American Military had been tracking sort of money and that so money arrived in baghdad from damascus when he was pressed on that information he said he simply would not reveal anything more other than that the u. S. Had intelligence that sewin money was planning an attack against u. S. Interests or u. S. Persons and diplomats as weve been hearing throughout the day but this really goes to the question of there are a lot of questions only from journalists from lawmakers as well wanting to know exactly what was the intelligence and what was the supposedly imminent threat that caused administration to take this action that they did and whats hanging over all of this peter is the 2003 war in iraq because as we all know we dont need to go through the history of that but as we all know that was a u. S. Invasion into iraq that was based on a false premise of weapons of mass destruction not getting into all that that looms very large here in washington and around the world quite frankly and it still does and i think thats why youre seeing not only journalists of course like us but also lawmakers really trying to pin down this administration on what was the evidence what is it and what was the imminent threat so far the administration has given little hints but not gone in to great detail on that and what can we make of this Troop Deployment gabriel. In short the pentagon is worried clearly theyre sending the. 18th Airborne Division one of the one of this most seasoned hardened u. S. Army battalions that are deploying out of fort bragg North Carolina it gives you a sense that the pentagon and the administration does not know whats coming next from iran while there are many many thousands quite frankly of American Military assets already in the region bahrain qatar kuwait just to name a few its clear that they feel they need more troops there to respond to what could be coming up next thanks very much ok lets wrap up some of the top stories from around the world for you a shortage of medical equipment at a Public Hospital in the indian state of russia start as being blamed for the deaths of nearly 1000. 00 infants last year and investigation was launched after the death of 100. 00 babies last month alone it also revealed hygiene conditions at the hospital was so cool that pigs were living inside the compound. Is in call to the hospital where the infant deaths occurred. This mother has just heard of the news of the death of an infant her daughter was just 15 days old but doctors have not yet told her the reason of her babys death now there are many such families just in the month of december in this hospital in dr hassan in india a 100 infants died and even though the local government has ordered a quick cleaning operation the hospital is still pretty dirty you can look at that pile of garbage its just been covered in front of our eyes have a look at this window this is right outside the Maternity Ward there is that garbage bin weve seen women cleaning the floors still pretty dirty and that garbage bin. Very close to where the intensive care units of the ailing infants is now the hospital Authorities Say that this infants are dying because they already come in a very severe state theyre suffering from septicemia pneumonia and to have low birth weight Botched Commission for child rights protection their officials are also coming and they say that they have with their own eyes to see pigs roaming around theyve seen that this number of caregivers are far fewer than those who need care and that Life Sustaining equipment the ventilators have not been functioning many of them if not all according to the report. Ventilator in this hospital meant for infants are not currently functional now earlier today we saw a truck full of garbage leaving the premises of the hospital but the local government insists that the rate of infant deaths in the state over the years is going down and not increasing. An outbreak of pneumonia is causing alarm in china 44 people have been diagnosed in cases linked to a food markets in the central chinese city of one hand all are being treated in isolation and a further 121 on our observation the outbreak memories of the sars epidemic back in 2002 spains electoral board has ordered the removal of the president of catalonia as Regional Government court had already banned joking torah from Public Office for 18 months he was convicted of failing to remove separatist banners from public buildings during an election 9 catalan leaders have been jailed for their role in a failed secession bid in 2017 French Police have shot dead a knife wielding man after he killed one person and wounded 2 others in southern paris officers say he lunged randomly at several other people in a park they managed to run away the suspect was killed after fleeing to a neighboring suburb he didnt have a serious criminal record but had received psychiatric treatment in the past. The sports news is next one of ac milans favorite songs returns and makes an Immediate Impact peter will tell you more. Its time for sports has peter. Thank you very much victims of australias bushfires have been on the minds of top tennis players at the new a. T. P. Cup tournament taking place in that country the crisis has seen several stars pledge to donate to relief efforts among them the curiosity said he would give 200. 00 australian dollars for every ace he hit 20 of them against young men its true for on friday in a straight sets win a straight one tie against germany 3 nil in brisbane. How to really care about the prized you know i just think you know weve got the ability in the platform to do Something Like that obviously you know and camber weve got the most toxic air in the world well its pretty sad. So its just. Thought. Hard by the time we all feel like. And the tournament organizers have apologized to the moldovan team after they played the romanian and from by mistake before they match with belgium. South africas bowlers had the better of the opening day of the 2nd test against england in cape town the tourists closed on 262 for 9 after choosing to bet on the pope with an unbeaten half century for the tourists the prestigious jack already raves interaction in the middle east for the 1st time on sunday saudi arabia hosts the 42nd edition of the race after 11 years in south america the defending dacor champion is cutters nothing. He spoke to someone about the systolic moment. This is a really. Big step you know for the motor sport in the middle east and to have one of the best. Race in the motor sport you know and the difficult race you know to have it here in saudi arabia what does it mean for you to defend the title so close to home and to be the 1st one to win it in the middle east. To defend the title its not easy because. We need to prepare a lot you know but this year we. All the race will which we compete you know on. Our level really very very strong you know we need to understand you know. Its. 12000 kilometer its not one day out 2 days out 3 days you know its a 12 days did you have 2nd thoughts about taking part in the rally because of the blockade imposed on qatar by saudi arabia. The politics side you know its between 2 country its its a little. Bad situation you know but ok from sports side. This year if we see. The team of saudi as was competing here in qatar and also the team of. These was competing in saudi you know from a sports side i think its everything. Going very very well in this edition well see a new terrain for the drivers what talent does does it pose for all of them we know ducker is a difficult difficult race its. Not easy but we we love you know the. That french are you know how confident are you. Winning the race and who do you think will be your biggest challenge where we have a strong confidence i dont have any problem you know we need to respect all the drivers you know if. There is. Also some other drivers. Yeah there is. A few names but. Im the best swedish strikers Latin Abraham of which are scored his 1st goal in ac milan colors since 2012 ybor him of each scored 28. 00 goals in 32. 00 games in his last season but the club will be hoping for something similar this time around considering they are 11th in surrey are in the early signs are good the 38 year old helping themselves to a goal and in 90. 00 friendly win the rodin say. The miami heat to have got back to winning ways in the n. B. A. After their shock loss to washington earlier in the week the heat were up against the Toronto Raptors on thursday with a great defensive performance a bio blocked very tamed and then we played 15 points and 14 rebounds of his own in the 8476. Heat extending the home record to lead 16 wins and won. And in the western conference Oklahoma City thunder made it 4 wins in a row shea jol just salad xander the store man with 25 points in the victory over senator on your spirit in texas on tuesday night the fun take of this 1109103. Bears its a comeback. And thats all the sport we have for you for now stay tuned for more again later. Lots more news for you as always on the web sites the address as ever you know i know aljazeera dot com you can get the latest on Donald Trumps comments on the all the tsunami in the iraqi capital baghdad for us in the midst of world news when we come back on the other side of the break syria. January on aljazeera president only trump is that that president in history to be impeached what does this mean for the future of the u. S. Leader on the brink of an election before much chilian president ial candidate explores the defeat of left wing Political Parties a close watch in america a look at how this years World Economic forum to focus on ways to tackle the impact of Climate Change an expropriation a family links to the sillies regime examines if its early may now be embracing fascist ideologies most believed gone forever with the general election out of the way breaks it is now certain how moving you can proceed with the transition in the coming months january on aljazeera. Millions of workers a big in slaved in the british jones of india one i want to waste explores how Satellite Technology is now helping to set them free on aljazeera. Capturing a moment in time. Snapshots of other lives. Other stories. Providing the clips into someone elses work out the. Do the 4. Inspiring documentaries from impassioned filmmakers. Witness on aljazeera there are some of the media stories a critical look at the global news media spread across or on aljazeera government shut off access to social media. His reign of terror is over donald trump says he acted to stop a war with iran not start one by ordering the airstrike that killed top iranian general custom so the money. Irans Supreme Leader delivers his condolences to sort of manis family and warns severe revenge awaits those responsible. Well again im piece it over youre watching aljazeera live from doha also coming up yet another state of emerged