He is founder of American Veterans policy network and in iraq war veteran and in sydney we cross the alley risk he is a middle east expert as well as contributor with monitor all right crosstalk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i always appreciate well let me go to you 1st here if you were to believe the media things are settling down a little bit after this tumultuous week involving the United States iran and the entire region and were going to talk a lot about iraq here where do things stand right now because if we look at it from tweets and what not you know a ran his decided to stand down how do you feel about that being interim go ahead. I think iran feels that trump stood down because when the iranians. Launch the missiles all of them passed through the the air defenses and hit their targets so they were both accurate and the americans were unable to intercept them. So that was a major success and i think that was a signal to washington that all their military bases in the Persian Gulf Region are vulnerable and it also sends a message to the saudis their moralities and the battery any ruling family that the americans cannot defend them against iranian missiles and iran has huge numbers of missiles and huge numbers of underground Storage Centers from to where they will fire them in case of war so trump who is talking about bombing cultural sites and 52 targets suddenly he became much more. Lets say peace loving after after the attack so its the iranians feel its the other way around but more importantly i think the iranians believe that the americans have made probably the biggest mistake. That theyve made among the many mistakes that theyve made over the past decade and that is that theyve turned the iraqi people against the United States theyve turned the iranian people against the United States and theyve united iran in iraq in a way which we havent seen before you know chris that youre in iraq or veteran i mean talk about that because thats essentially whats happened and if you look at whats coming out of the pentagon and other places of power in washington d. C. What where does democracy actually stand now in iraq because it was invaded under the auspices to bring democracy to iraq now they have a parliament in a quorum of the Parliament Says thats time to go home but washington says i am not so fast so what is the value of the democracy that was forced upon the iraqi people in 2003 go ahead chris. Peter you know if i could figure all that out id be a genius because it has been on unsolvable since world war one i think this all goes back to so i. Pico treaty and world war one the middle east has been a carved up in so many power structures and its never fundamentally been able to come to a resting place where theres been able to be harmony throughout these governments and i would agree with you that it is just completely difficult to have this kind of long term intervention at this point i would i would certainly agree limiting the u. S. Footprint but the problem is 2 things one you know that resolution is obviously nonbinding its sort of a sentiment from the legislature weve still got reality on the ground of being able to do things and i think the u. S. Doesnt want to have. You know long term iranian influence whether a certain extent sam will have something i would also just but isnt it but isnt that really up to the iraqi people i mean why should someone sitting in washington d. C. Determine what kind of friendships a foreign country a sovereign country like iraq should have it seems very heavy handed and i dont see how it adds to American Foreign policy interests go ahead. Well i think youre you are right i mean the fact is that theyve already had their opportunity i mean they they would even fight for themselves and with the Iraqi Defense forces we left in place which is i think the low point of the war but i wouldnt what i would push back a little bit from my colleague is this idea of of the you know this successful iranian strike you hit none of us we just wiped out knocked out one of your key officers i dont think i dont think iran actually really wants to strike back i think theyre worried about the same sions i think that this is all really about the economy and i think President Trump has learned thats really where the real war is being able to take their economy and theyre feeling that so i dont think iran actually wants to strike back i think they want to do 2 things save face and avoid sanctions ok ali lets go to you and in sydney here what has been accomplished here i mean professor marandi did bring up a good point is that actually iran was able to show its strategic flexibility and strengths within the region here that is a very strong message and they launch the missiles from iran it wasnt from a proxy so they were actually sending a very clear signal and it is the signal is its time for Foreign Military to leave the middle east go ahead ali and sit me. Yeah sure answer the question just so i dont need to respond to what your previous guests iran wants to avoid sections of was leagues priority for iran i think that iraq would have wanted to and it made a deal with a drunken ministration from want to meet with president rouhani and general certainly in prison its hard it was the one who rejects it so i think. Iran just wants to relieve it so sanctions it is a huge loss tench now were going to go to your question. Here on yes this is a for certain we see iran actually all responding to american bases and announcing it too easily rouge retards actually announce even though it was one. Who watched this attack so it appears that we have been indeed entered a new phase in the american iranian confrontation i also have to her a bit if susan just about iran bush the us you have many. Nonstate actors which shot allied with iran that it will also could respond retaliate example of any youre so radiation. A lot of little like there will be movement to game didnt like the mobilization of forces in iraq a nice place for them. General sharon he was in they dont know i caught him and struck him so that money really there was something which will which had a very big effect on them and soon addition to iranian retaliation its very possible that iran says no i aspire to respond and all of iraqs nonstate to act a lot of the red in allies are actors which i mentioned has a lot with its exceptional theyve all proven themselves to be i thought to be reckoned with on a military scale ok lets go back to trent professor marandi asylum on the i mean he was he was murdered and hes been mourned but his deputy stepped in immediately so what is really happened how is the needle been moved by taking out quote unquote this. Murderous monster whatever you want to say and c. N. N. And all of that because that the policy doesnt change i mean the rhetoric ino and the bluster that you that last for what a few news cycles but were still back where we were ok i mean thats why i think the assassination was senseless ok because it doesnt affect policy go ahead muhammad. Well a couple of myths have been destroyed the in popularity of the sonic republic of iran at home through the enormous funeral between 5 to 7000000 people participated in teheran alone even the western media made it that it was extraordinary so it shows the strength of the jet m. S. E. And the and the capability and the anger of the the people of iran and this republic of iran the myth of iraqis hating iran and hating the Popular Mobilization force because the funerals that were held in iraq are also extraordinary the size the magnitude in the different cities it showed that the iraqis and the iranians were actually both. Very respectful for one another the funerals in iraq were for the iranians and the funerals in iran were for the iraqis. As well and then contrary to what your guest in the United States says the americans didnt achieve anything they murdered 2 war heroes at the iraqi at the back the International Airport and the iranian commander the iraq the iraqi Prime Minister said he was going to meet me at 8 am he was scheduled to meet him to discuss a letter that the saudis had given because the iraqi Prime Minister wanted to mediate and he was going to give the iranian response. And the iraqi Prime Minister said that trump knew about it and he welcomed it so this shows the degree of deception that comes out of washington so murdering war heroes in another country against the will of that country in complete disregard of the government the Prime Minister and International Law and sovereignty is not anything to be proud about or to gloat about or to to say you know to even discuss in public its something to be ashamed of ok let me let me theyre going tonight is lets go to chris is go to chris i want to man hey i just one sentence go ahead to one sentence ok go ahead go ahead i just wanted to say on the other hand the iranian missiles all. Were hit their targets and they destroyed buildings look at the satellite pictures they destroyed hangars everything inside them but they specifically targeted the hangars and buildings that were full of drones and helicopters and equipment and they didnt target their barracks where the american soldiers were sleeping in so the americans tried to murder you iranians at the International Airport but the iranians tried to destroy american equivalent inside of us being ok lets go to which side is humane lets go to court itis let me go to chris chris go ahead before we go to the break here respond go ahead chris. I mean ive had my fair share of america bashing for the day peter i mean look heres the deal he was a combat casualty he wasnt murdered and see i had some experience that war were a rant has been fun funding and pushing out these proxies to blow a soldiers eyes out and legs off so do i feel bad that he died absolutely not i might even have a beer later and cheers to it and the fact the matter is this is that more people died at that funeral i mean we could talk all day about the barbaric barbarism in iran i dont think wed have enough time so i just have to push back on this america bashing were on with you peter i would love to get out of there ok were going to were going to talk about that and theyre still going to talk about that in the 2nd half of the program here gentlemen were going to be murdered were going to a short break gentlemen and and after that break well continue our discussion on the u. S. Around complex stayed with our. Belief. It was. It will slow settle. Or so im so sorry it lead you. To sleep please. Please it would lead. Me to sleep. Lists lists. Playing. Very well now continue watching on since last. But if she warned you posted by you than i do. At the baltimore. G. s nudist beach and she me we to you. As and about that moment when you died c. T. s will be. In the news i mean that so that in football. Clock you will see slowing as a fight for the truth of the charitable side most called. It as it is to me as if i choose. The. Path that. He who is for producing new. Tuning in to. Welcome back to crossfire all Things Considered im Peter Lavelle remind you were discussing the us iran conflict. Ok lets go to ali in sydney we have a gordian knot in front of us and we have to cut it somehow in the gordian knot is the following donald trump ran as as a candidate in 2016 to end these endless wars ok we bring the troops home now we have a situation weve got in a very bizarre way and tragic way but weve got into a situation where he can have his cake and eat it too the troops can come home theyre not wanted in iraq any longer and why hasnt he embraced it its his Campaign Promise for good mistake and we know the majority of veterans that fought in those wars in that part of the world thought the wars were useless for. Listen in a waste of time and a new and theres also antiwar sentiment across the political spectrum this is an opportunity why doesnt he grasp it go ahead ali. And i would have to comment on what chris regarding ghost story money and the fact that sort of money was a casualty of war this wasnt an operation carried out in warfare this was a diplomatic will assess it have them so they moan he is the is a proud member of the or as a member of the senate or office of the military this is like counting the joint chiefs of the country so lets not thing to do with a casualty of war and its unfortunate and your guest says that you know he was so grateful as a brit after being here its up to the killing of so many when a celebrity played a pivotal role in defeating isis whether it be a hero in syria or isis which is the most notorious terrorist group in the world now in history your question i think that donald trump has given a lot of ground if you would like to the neoconservatives we havent before there was you know he was trying to confront the neo cons trying to confront the oregon washington but he appears to have succumbed to certain pressures and regarding to secession attempts it difficult i think. In this particular issue trump respond to the issues or listen to the own party or might point out specifically i think that the assassinations the real mind behind the of the brains behind this operation was like going to iowa what dont tell you is an evangelical a why do you logically hate sirhan is supportive of israel at the same time trying also has many muniz ready allies you have so theyre not figures who would support him in his Campaign Donors like children idelson i think thats the angle from which we could look at it but at you know i have to waterton for signs that are and think that the ascension of so many. Any broader strategy or i think that it just from pew i drew from some to the american students. The students from the on going and you dont just sit yes youre well in let me go back to chris because i cut him off because we had to go to a hard break here chris you know why doesnt trump and brace this possibility of bringing the troops home troops home because he campaigned on that and a lot of people are backing that i mean you have even in the other party pelosi gabbert talking about that and is it doesnt he risk losing part of his base because thats what a lot of people we dont know the certain percentage would vote exactly for that why doesnt he embrace that go ahead chris or i think that that option is Still Available peter i mean again though like all legislatures in the world they do a lot of talking and a lot of babbling but the executive still have to deal with the actual reality on the ground so i think if thats decisions going to be made theyre going to have to be prepared for all of the different logistical realities that will happen if that fully comes to fruition but another thing peter why are we talking about the deaths at the funeral from the crowds and the absolute lunacy over there i mean why do we never actually fully cover whats actually going on in iran again a government where the clergy runs everything every stretch of government is stacked with clergy that runs the entire government this idea of the iranian people are fully united there are many iranian people that have nothing to do with the government but theyre afraid so i dont think were really getting a full picture is housing chris you know really all that all of give you this even lets say everything you said is true what business is it of the United States what kind how the government is run in iran what is what is the problem its their country. I would i would agree i agree with you about limiting our footprint but im saying while were still there having to manage situations there are certain decisions that have to be made and i just have to push back on this complete celebration for military officers that have long been involved in iraq see the trans been very i am is that i am still at their hands i want to possibly off of it and i want to possibly celebrate the end of these endless wars thats most important to me ok let me go to mohammed in i mean. We just had a description from chris here i mean what what how does a rand look at how the region is of because and i think its only a matter of time before american troops leave iraq that means also syria how does that change the geo political reality or id like to say that american troops are in syria illegally under International Law they were not invited there by the government in damascus so they should even go even faster so how does the political terrain change go ahead in. Well ryan well obviously your guest in the United States knows nothing about iran and to call all those millions of people who went to the funeral lunatics is an insult to the nation what i do think is important is that trump himself admitted this is one of the ironies of this whole episode trump himself admitted once upon a time that it was iran and russia that were fighting isis and trump also admitted once upon a time that it was obama who created isis so. The the trump regime has admitted that soleimani because he was the key person who fought isis there were from the very beginning when isis was closing in on damascus he went in i dont know why this leader you know would help us and we dont have a right and then were here and we have as it were divided properly if we have elect lays kris kringle really regime as Chris Mohamed didnt you know thats why you have a very relatively regime you have a very ugly regime. You have a very ugly regime it is that we are divided on this period in many iraq 2000000 iraqis if it is helped and youre intolerant of opposing views because you keep interrupting me you have destroyed libya youve helped this so these massacre the people of yemen and impose a starvation siege your government has helped create isis according to your own president they have helped the saudis and others create extremist groups that have devastated syria they have destroyed afghanistan the United States helped create al qaeda i mean the list i mean im not im only talking about this region im not talking about bolivia or venezuela or africa or u. S. Support for apartheid in palestine or south africa but getting back to the point they met one of the problems of the americans is that they treat the people of this region with arrogance. They occupy iraq illegally then they ignore the government for example just recently the americans a contractor was killed americans informed the iraqi Prime Minister that they were going to bomb the popular Popular Mobilization force the Prime Minister told him not to do it they ignored him the Prime Minister of iraq said give me the intelligence they ignore that this is not the an ally this is an occupier and the u. S. Embassy being the size of the vatican is symbolic of an occupier and an empire so they go in kill bin when one contractor is killed they wont give the intelligence but then they go bomb 30 soldiers on the border on syria 500 kilometers away on the front line against isis why because they wanted to weaken the Iraqi Government footprint on the border to strengthen isis because they want to keep syria encircled they dont want trade to take place between syria and iraq because they want to strangle the syrian economy so the United States ignored. Iraqi sovereignty they murder people at the airport they lie about it because they said so they might the general saw any money was coming into the country to carry out an active attacks against the United States where in fact he is going to see the Prime Minister the western media will ignore all of this but at the end of the day when the Iraqi Resistance the u. S. Out ok when i want to get a blame iran i want to get to that point because they cannot accept the fact that people in iraq hate the United States occupation let me go to ali on this here i mean the focus in the media is the conflict between the United States and iran but really the story at this point in time is about the fate of iraq what is the fate of iraq here where do we stand right now. Well i would have to agree that the u. S. Has the big boon to its influence there are by this especially nation were talking about the sort of money but by the way the assassination of the iraqi commander of the population of forces beyond this hes an extremely important figure as well and so wholesome is something which ship received a very angry reaction from the iraqis so this wasnt just an operation again you have to recall its not just the oration against soviet money it was an operation which targeted a key here i think amanda played a key role in fighting isis so i think the u. S. Doesnt dont insult any favors whatsoever it did have some influence in iraq yes thats true it might still have some income but their influence that i believe is going to be diminished up a same time i think that irans influence has risen and incidentally i think that the u. S. The policies its pursuing in the middle east i think they stem more from this will the view that there is good and evil as if the u. S. And israel the good guys and iran and its allies are the bad guys and thats not a productive way to strategically does it make sense and its also even an immoral policy but the u. S. Continues with it and i think what were seeing is basically not just small bankruptcy in u. S. Foreign policy but i think were seeing strategic proxy as well ok chris im getting to the last minute on the program go ahead chris. I mean just iran is just a great place its just the most benevolent nation on earth i mean the bottom line is this i mean the going back to the iran iraq war its not peaceful over there gentlemen im sorry and you know what i would agree i think where we all were going to agree is i would like to limit the u. S. Involvement over in the middle east i would i would like to go in the direction that peter cited but there is obviously much more complexities there and frankly a lot of the opportunity thats been given with the new government in iraq has been missed and thats thats not the fault of the United States but well i mean its war i mean there now you have it chris i mean theres the United States is not faultless in all of this would wouldnt you agree. Look i think for him and hes running with this is all things are really not absolutely must and weapons they gave to Saddam Hussein i mean professor marandi is a veteran of that war ok and remembers that very well im sorry facebook took your approach because you used the picture from being a veteran i mean i dont know whats going on in the world here all right gentlemen weve run out of time here many thanks to my guests into round washington and in sydney and thanks to our viewers for watching us here are to see you next time and remember. This footage is unique because the zoe tribal lands are normally off limits to the public erics allowed in because hes losing his personal doctor. People here know him simply is dr eric hes rich famous some always on the move saving yachts and flying aircraft that just comments on. His own. Hes considered one of the best neurosurgeons in brazil. Thats happening amazon an. Hour or so since. Going out of the busy doing nothing is going to do the population much because hes going to people on a zone. Join me every thursday on the alex salmond show and ill be speaking to guest of the world the politics sports business im show business ill see you then. Trump is a new yorker and you know he looks at the global picture and he sees the tension in the middle east he sees iran doing a dance with the there and back at the neighbors and theres like you know what lets just cut to the chase this is take out a guy in iraq and were going to get more money printing right away because i want to make my yacht premed this weekend why fuss around this is the new york way of doing things i said it when he 1st got elected its like i have a new yorker in the white house and ive been in new york around the world im a new yorker some of you know my god i am one of the. The u. S. U. K. And canada claim a ukrainian on the shutdown by a missile but before its not like spurts it had a chance to analyze the days. News like this vote in the midterm trumps all 4 to play for the military action against iran apparently and convinced by his administrations up until all the lack thereof its fascinating to very mean general custom so the money post the name the new threat. See just need to refrain from preventing foreign media from operating in the country after telling employees that are the sister of the sputnik to sign