White House news conference the new sanctions target Iran's construction manufacturing mining and textile industries the president has been very clear we will continue to apply economic sanctions until Iran stops its terrorist activities and commit that it will never have nuclear weapons the Trump administration believes the sanctions will force Tehran to negotiate a new nuclear agreement downsize its missile development program and and its support of militias in the Middle East. house speaker nancy pelosi says the house will take steps next week to sand articles of impeachment against president donald trump to the senate we get details from a peas ed donahue majority leader mitch mcconnell says the impeachment trial could start next week he's anxious to get started in a long way to follow the old the president was impeached in the house 3 weeks ago palosi is been in a standoff with mcconnell over how the trial would be handled wyoming republican liz cheney says impeachment was based on assumptions and no direct evident it is not see the job of the senate side of gigs that completely faulty and plot us s. That they yeah asked democrats conducted over here but washington democrat adam smith says palosi is doing this the right way but pressure on the so to have a fair trial shine a light on the fact in the to the on is a lodge the affair in a connell wants a speedy trial without new witnesses ed donahue washington the u.s. Navy said friday that a russian ship had made what it called aggressive approach is on a u.s. Destroyer in the north arabian sea video from the u.s. Ass farragut captured 5 internationally recognized horan blasts signaling a danger of collision the u.s. Destroyer requested that the russian ship alter its course and ultimately it did but moscow denied friday that one of its vessels had come dangerously close the government's latest employment record shows that the job market remain strong but wages have slowed a.p.'s ben thomas reports a labor department says us job growth slowed in December with employers adding a relatively modest 145000 jobs with consumer spending appearing to spur games in the retail and hospitality sectors the unemployment rate held steady at 3.5 percent the job growth has so far fail to spur upward pressure on hourly pay with wages increasing at a 2.9 percent annual rate that's a.p.'s ben thomas for more a visit v.o.a. News dot com i'm david birds vo away news From Washington v.o.a. Presents issues in the news. Welcome to it she's in the names on the panel this week Tom De Frank contributing editor to The National Journal l a cat Washington correspondent and political analyst for The Jerusalem based alchemy the daily newspaper and our moderator is all braggarts White House order for West Wing the points and columnist for USA Today. Hello thank you for joining us and here are the issues the United States and Iran take a step back from war this after Iran attacked bases housing American troops which itself was retaliation for the killing of a top Iranian general a Ukrainian passenger jet crashes minutes after taking off from Tehran Western intelligence agencies believe it was shot down by Iran and more on Iran President Trump wants NATO the North Atlantic military alliance to get more involved in the Middle East and here in the United States the impeachment trial of President Trump looms Well Tom and say it I'm really glad that both of you are here let's just an awful lot to talk about and I want to start with the new Tom has war between the United States and Iran been averted or just delayed well at the very least delayed and possibly averted I think the the 2 countries who have no use for one another have been going at the brink in recent days especially after the drone strike probably the most prominent military official in the in in Iran and Iran launched some retaliatory strikes to bases in Iraq where Americans are stationed no casualties I think there's been some muscle flexing on the part of the Iranians but I think for vastly different reasons neither country Washington engage in a war president ironically has. Been trying to get out of the Middle East he says he does not support in the Us wars in that part of the world and if he had this his way he would just pull out but he can't pull out because of a variety of reasons the Iranians are strapped because of the economic sanctions issued against them by the West and I think there was muscle flexing there was a little chest beating and I think at the moment I would describe the situation as as a very tense stalemate So you'd put yourself in the shoes of the Iranians if you could what do they want well the rain is more than anything they want the sanctions lifted they want the world to abide by by what they see as an obligation that was signed into at the you know and 2015 and they feel that they have done everything under that agreement and accordingly they ought to be rewarded in terms of getting their their money back you know I mean people talk about how Obama gave them a lot of money that is not Obama's money or that Mr Asians money that is really their money they want to be able to export there or they want to be able to live and the region but they also want to exert their influence as a regional power that's what Iran wants and that is what it has been denied and of this present administration a couple of things that both of you have alluded to these domestic problems that they have the economy is in deep trouble their belief huge protests against the regime and you get the impression that the mall is a kind of hanging on by brute force in some cases why don't they focus on their internal problems rather than the kind of the you just said that while export their influence or stirring up trouble a brother got a bunch of troubles of but at home let's remember I mean it was and I remember this very well because I was in Iraq as they not initially spokesman for 5 years and I witnessed this firsthand it was really in many ways then I think that empowered Iran back into Iraq and there is there that influence and we can cite this military base for instance from the name of it this. Was named Al Qaeda c.-a which is you know a battle that goes back in history between Arabs and Persians and so on so immediately after the occupation they changed the name you know with the blessing of the Americans and so on I'm saying that you know in Iran was a lot to exert its influence in Iraq by the invasion and occupation of Iraq by the United States of America but you're right I mean you know they do feel that by having influence by having proxies in Lebanon in Iraq in Syria every way they can exert that pressure and they feel that they have a right to do so because Turkey is doing the same thing Israel is doing the same thing Tom President Trump campaigned for years ago on the notion that the so-called p 5 plus one deal with Iran the United States France Britain Germany Russia and China this nuclear deal with Iran he said it was a horrible deal and it wasn't too long before he got out after he got into office he pulled out of that deal the question is have a vents of the past week helped Iran in terms of getting the bomb it was it was adhering to the agreement everybody seemed to agree prior to this recent conflict and what the what about now well now the Iranians have said even though the United States has pulled out of the deal Iran would honor the deal but now in the aftermath of a military strike they've said we no longer we reserve the right to ignore the terms of the 2015 deal which if they follow through on them means they can continue and expand the enrichment of uranium and so maybe it's largely symbolic but I don't I don't see there's any impetus to get back the deal of the United States is not going to be a signatory any longer I don't think I don't think the prospects of the deal reemerging are very good and this issue of President Trump saying well he said that I am willing to work with anybody who embrace is peace that's a nice thing to say and he fancies himself as this master negotiator but if you look at say. In North Korea he's met with that Kim I think 3 times now and that really has not come to much what are the expectations that he could really accomplish anything with Iran who wants to take that route I think that well I mean look this president came into office promising that he wanted to have a better deal because this was the worst deal possible the truth of the matter this was a very thorough deal it ensured that Iran would never acquire a nuclear bomb you know the whole world agreed to it their past administration agreed to it in detail they had a very intrusive inspection system and so on there isn't much room for Iran to give I mean you know the only probably flexible issue here is what the so-called sun sunset clause you know and sort of 15 years maybe make it 25 years but not much else you know perhaps this administration and Israel wanting clude let's say the ballistic missile as part of this deal but that's a different thing altogether so I don't really see I agree with Tom I don't I don't see a new deal sort of emerging that it can satisfy the United States of threats by Israel and then on the other hand also be satisfactory to Iran unless we go back you know to basically the same deal except with Trump stands where exactly where do we go from I think we are probably you know a you know you view began by asking whether war has been averted I think air war is probably been delayed that war is ongoing you know there's a huge economic burden and placed on Iran because of the u.s. Sanctions the banking system they cannot do any business they're strapped if they feel this issue is unsustainable and will probably see more efforts to sort of stir the pot by the Iranians much like we saw by the attack of the cargo ships or that act on Iran well how does that help terms of them getting sanctions Well I mean you know it's pushing the world into the edge may make them think otherwise or the world makes them think otherwise you know we'll see what the commitment of the Europeans and how is it going to endure you know like Tom said without the United States this deal really does not have much of being alive in any way shape or form where Iran can sort of scroll back into a nation that can have sustained economic abilities and so on and and actually be able to live with some sort of harmony in the region. Of course it's very tragic and it's very sad and it could be more than likely it seems to be some sort of a tragic accident and they're saying that they were a news used a 15 I guess in a 15 Misso and it's an old missile and so on maybe the crews are not well trained but today we've seen the Iranians allow inspectors and you know from Canada from Ukraine and even from the United States I will see although they say that the crash scene has been all cleaned up but that I don't see how Iran would do something like this intentionally but it could conceivably I mean the experts are saying that could have been brought down by missile and one issue of course is the black box recorder on the plane which perhaps could yield some really interesting clues about this they so far I think have refused to turn that over to Western authorities had one point I heard that they claim that the black boxes were destroyed so we don't normally that and whether they were destroyed and so on there were conflicting reports they were probably share whatever you know remains on the black boxes if it's still audible and so on with inspectors Well let's pause for a short break more issues of the news in just a columnist for USA Today. Welcome back I want to return to the big story that we've been talking about which of course is Iran this week. The u.s. House of Representatives that of course is the lower chamber of the American Congress or Parliament if you will approved a resolution or strict in the president trumps authority to attack Iran without congressional approval now in the house a handful of Republicans actually crossed over and voted against the president on this it now goes to the Senate what is the Senate expected to do Tom Well I suspect there's a reasonable chance that a majority of the Senate will go along but it's really academic 1st of all it's nonbinding resolution president is not bound in any way even if it were to pass if it were to pass the Senate president almost certainly would veto it and he almost certainly would have the votes to override the veto but again it's a non mind binding resolution use important because it tells you that there's a majority in both houses of Congress own happy with the president's lack of transparency and lack of consultation in wars this is a fight that's been going on for ever since Vietnam and ever since the War Powers Act was passed decades ago saying the Constitution gives Congress authority to declare wars but in recent decades most presidents have decided that the better part of valor is to launch military action in defense of the country and notify Congress later and there's been this institutional back and forth and I think this is the latest iteration it's a way for Congress to say to the president you're overstepping your constitutional authority Mr President but President Trump just like predecessors will will ignore that is just a way to signal growing displeasure not just about the president's belief that he can do anything he wants more or less under Article 2 of the Constitution but also just to do suggest that there aren't happy with the lack of transparency there seems to be a real your attention on Capitol Hill about the briefings involving the attack that took out general. Even Republican senators who are very loyal to the president have said have described these briefings after the fact as soften more insane insulting the administration said there's action was taken because there were imminent terror attacks launched about to be launched by Iran but the evidence they have presented to congressional leaders according to those who have gotten the briefings Scott is not is not specific to put it mildly So the so you do really as Tom was saying it's really about the big picture kind of a fight between the executive branch and the legislative branch and it does go back to a bit on the War Powers Act the time I was referring to was actually some of the $7973.00 under the Nixon era and he Nixon actually vetoed that in Congress and the battle has been going on ever since but Tom said and I agree that the president would simply ignore this it's a non-binding thing does that mean that the president will just ignore them and do what he wants with Iran I think so I think that's what we have seen since September 11th 2001 after the the attacks so we've seen that time and again they always cite their predecessors they can they can cite that this is what Obama did with some of bin Laden this is what we did with that he and so on so there is precedent the problem is there's a great deal of leftism be in terms of defining that imminent danger I mean we've listened to the Sect of State on Fox News I think saying basically that eminent is not that eminent you know it wasn't that eminent No no targets were specified and listen to National Security Adviser Brian you know yesterday of saying he was Do saying that you know we knew they were planning something but they would not share the people in Congress the Senate you know and Mike Lee For instance you know a few of you came out and said there was nothing convincing there there is nothing there Rand Paul suggested the same thing so I think the problem is if concepts in a Manty it was time to be the defined. Designated to be the 2nd most important person and Iran after how many what if the and that Mr ational from decides to let it take out the spiritual leader Jaime you know if you've got the 2nd person you know than they could conceivably think the 1st president so what if they decide to do that and then all hell would break loose I think it's probably although it is symbolic I have no doubt that it would definitely shake the executive branch it would do you know maybe be a temporary it would have a temporary effect on let's say decisions like this in the future there's another angle to all of this too President Trump also had a chat with the secretary general of a NATO that of course the North Atlantic Treaty Organization founded back in 1949 he wants the alliance to get more involved in the middle east kind of vague about what that means you know Tom the president has spent 3 years breaking very dismissive comments about NATO other European allies he at one point even suggested that the United States could get out of NATO now he's coming to them and saying Help Well the ironies abound here that's exactly right he spent all this time jumping all over NATO saying with some justification that they haven't agreed to meet their targets for NATO spending but he is gone about systematically insulting many leaders there he's not happy with the French He's not happy with the Germans he's happy with his ideological soul mate Boris Johnson the prime minister of Great Britain and he and the NATO secretary general Stoltenberg they seem to get along very very well but the notion that after all this alliance bashing for 3 years is going to cause the NATO allies to roll over and expand their presence in an extremely volatile part of the world is a nonstarter I mean the president like all presidents I think he wants to have it both ways that won't happen 0 any goodwill between President Trump and your. Handsome in this doesn't seem to be a lot of gas in that tank obviously not he consulted with the with the Israelis he consulted with this Saudi Arabia he consulted with the Emirates allegedly before assassinating customs when Manny but they never told their opinions anything so I'm not so sure about how much of a goodwill there is between this president and the Europeans but also expanding NATO it was only a month ago when the United States sort of was shepherding some sort of an alliance a can to NATO in the Middle East that would include Saudi Arabia the Gulf countries Israel Egypt and so on and what happened to that I mean there is so much role that the NATO can play not forget NATO has been active in Afghanistan even in Iraq I mean that we seeing when pulling away actually in the last few days or saying they are they want to reposition and so on so I'm not so sure how you would include Middle Eastern countries into the NATO alliance but I can see where actually the United States could probably put into effect the plans for some sort of a another alliance and the region where his idea was to actually change the name of NATO we want to call NATO m.-e. In other words add the Middle East acronym to the end of that so that apparently is what he is thinking we've got a couple of minutes left and I did want to turn our attention to Lest we forget this president has also been impeached and is still facing a Senate trial which of course has not happened yet the House speaker Nancy Pelosi is under pressure to send over these 2 articles of impeachment to the Senate use of power obstruction of Congress when is that going to happen Tom And what are you hearing about when this Senate trial will actually occur well I suspect it'll be at the end of January I think there's probably some pressure to try to get it over with before the State of the Union address where the president comes to Congress every year every president and addresses the Congress about the state of the Union that's for more the 4th and Speaker Pelosi has recently. The Articles of Impeachment will be sent over and in a very few days nobody knows what that means she's trying to maneuver with the Senate majority leader Senator Mitch McConnell over procedures and McConnell has talked to the White House about the procedures of a trial but he hasn't talked to the Democrats and she's trying to see if she can get any leverage here I don't think she has much frankly because McConnell controls the Senate the President Trump will be acquitted in the Senate and will remain in office but there's an argument over witnesses the Democrats want some witnesses to be called McConnell in the White House don't want any witnesses to be call so I suspect the answer is sooner rather than later but not immediately the state of the Union which you alluded to I think is February the forest so that is less than a month away now and Saeed Tom was talking about these possible witnesses one of them former national security adviser John Bolton has said that he's willing to testify if he's subpoenaed but McConnell doesn't seem like he wants any witnesses what what's going to happen with that well if McCown doesn't want any witnesses Bolton will not be subpoenaed this is the think it depends on how much pressure the Democrats can put on McConnell how they can bring him around I mean if they want to side the Clinton and the president in of there were 3 witnesses that I think that were brought in and there they said that want to bring in 3 witnesses before hand so Palosi does have some level of influence and I believe she will probably turn in the articles of impeachment by the week of the 20th of January because of the time element because of the state of the Union address and so on they need to do it there but Bolton if he could be subpoenaed I think he could probably be very credible witness for the prosecution in this case is the House's work done here what's stopping the house from subpoenaing Bolton getting him to testify there at least getting his story out in public there's nothing that would that would stop that I mean you don't the house of or. Presented as is the Senate has brought investigatory powers so there's nothing to stop one or more committees in the house from subpoenaing John Bolton and compelling him to testify so that's a live scenario I believe now the other issue is of course that the longer this goes on sort of get the sense that the power of the drama of these 2 articles of impeachment says sort of the air is kind of hissing out of the blue of the longer this goes on the less impact it's going to have which obviously would benefit the president right Absolutely absolutely I think that the Democrats are caught between a rock and a hard place because on the one hand they feel they could hang on to it you know not indefinitely but they can hang on to these 2 articles for a period of time you know living the president's through in his own juices nth I want but as you said on the other with they would lose much of their left or if it brags on and so on so they need to do it but they need to use whatever leverage they have so they can have some with us and there's no sense at least according to the polls that this has really made much of a dent in the president's approval his approval at least in the Republican Party appears Tremaine rock solid though it's because it has to be pointed out that the public in party is still shrinking a little bit but his approval rating overall still seems to be low to mid forty's right other early buds and I think if given the strength of the American economy his numbers might be in the sixty's were it not for a variety of of other factors but his his support has remained below 50 percent but it's held steady and it's remained steady throughout the whole impeachment business I think the impeachment process has now been discounted the country believes that President Trump will be acquitted in the Senate and not removed from office and then the haggling on the hassling on the fighting will live for another day so I think impeachment's impact is now told there's a phrase that was applied to pry. Or president's That could almost be applied to President Trump and that is he is a Teflon president almost nothing seems to stick to him he has been remarkably lucky in that respect and as I've said many times before overnight is a lifetime in politics we now have about 10 months left until the next election and who knows what will happen but at the moment the president has and has more than a little Teflon attached to him I agree with you Paul All right we'll have to end it right there our thanks to 2 of Washington's most prominent journalist Tom De Frank he's contributing editor to National Journal and Saeed Erekat of gaily this program was produced by Kim Lewis her engineer Justin Thwaites and I'm Paul Brandis thank you very much for joining us. Bases This as thousands in Iraq. Mourn the death of Iran's top general Monny he was killed January 3rd by a u.s. Drone strike near Baghdad International Airport the Iranian missile attack happened just 2 hours before the crash of Ukrainian international jet carrying 176 passengers the flight was bound for Kiev and it crashed shortly after takeoff from Tehran's International Airport Iranian reports say there were no survivors and for the latest on the Iranian missile attacks at the Iraqi bases v.o.a. Pentagon correspondent Carla Bab is at the Pentagon Karl nice to see you and what is the latest after the Tuesday night attack or any attack on the 2 bases in Iraq. very topic but I know this is a planning organization and I know and I have heard from sources that there have been several plans mapped out I've been discussing over the last few days that there have been targets that were presented to General Frank McKenzie He's the head of u.s. Central Command and they were formed by some people in Central Command intelligence analysts there they were also using intelligence from other agencies like the CIA for example and they presented potential targets to Secretary esper who would then presumably. And I'm to the president but as of now I have not heard of any potential attack what are the assets United States has in the region and how many troops ships out there meant to other equipment. We've talked about this a lot on your show there are plenty of assets in the Middle East the United States has about 70000 u.s. Troops they have an aircraft carrier there the area stream is ready there's also been some additional forces sent in rather recently we know that when the embassy was being attacked and after there were about 4000 troops sent from Fort Bragg North Carolina brigade to go to Kuwait to help with further needs for security we also know there were about 6 b. $52.00 bombers that went to a British territory an island called Diego Garcia to be on the ready also so and the situation is fluid I'm hearing that there may be some Marines that are in the European area of responsibility that could be migrating over to the Middle East area of responsibility to set loss of power there at the ready should they be needed but because there weren't any American casualties we kind of have to wait and see if there's going to be a response comment you've been covering the Pentagon and defense firm for a long time tell me give me some sort of the behind the scenes you know what it's like when this all of a sudden you know the news that there is going to had their news of the drone strike by the United States Kilian and now this the attack by Iran what's what's it like at the Pentagon. Well everybody is definitely flying by the seat of their pants when they're trying to get the story because as a reporter you know we don't always get the entire story when it comes out but I do know that when Sulaimani was hit there were many at the Pentagon ready to respond and ready to say that yes it was the United States that conducted this this was in response to the nearly dozen attacks on America on bases housing American and coalition troops that had been. Carried out over the last couple of months as you saw with this recent attack I was getting word from the start v.o.a. Was actually the 1st to come out and say that al Assad was under attack we don't know the exact numbers the numbers kept changing was a rockets or their missiles being launched but now we've been able to sort that out but here at the Pentagon this is just an everyday occurrence there always ready for something new and there's a lot of late hours and a lot of hard workers here trying to piece together everything and try to present the options to the diplomats to move forward one of the one of things that we believe we've heard is that one of the reasons for taking was not just the past terrorism and the past but that there was some sort of imminent attack planned very difficult to find out exactly what the details are doing anything more to report on what the imminent attack might be or have been. Yes Fred as secretary of defense Mark asked for did say that an attack was and then it would then Dave they expected I had been told when single money was struck by a u.s. Official that it was an expansive attack that he was working on on multiple targets other than that though we have not gotten a lot of information because people don't want to reveal intelligence because then that leads to revealing sourcing and they want to keep their source the safe and they want to keep their sources working so they can use it in the future it's unclear at this time if they will release intelligence they have released parts of intelligence in the past when there was a a limpet mine on the ship we've got to see pictures of that but we're just going to have to wait and see what they're deciding to declassify and that's really leaving Because since all the money was among the most powerful men in the Middle East no military commander and no politician had the power that he had he was as I said the most powerful off to the supreme leader born in 1957 to a poor family in southern Iran Soleimani was a protege of the late Ayatollah Khomeini joining your Iran's Revolutionary Guard in 1979 he became a field commander in the 1980 s. During the Iran Iraq war rising to fame in the 1990 s. When he was given command of the elite Al Quds Force a shadowy unit which undertakes missions outside the Iranian borders he traveled extensively in the region building an alliance of militias that stretch from Iran through Iraq and Syria to Lebanon he was in living on when there was a war between. Israeli forces he was in Iraq when Iran was involved with with ISIS and he traveled to most of these countries freely and any that any time that he wanted so much money was a key strategist in a number of military operations assassinations and terror attacks including those against Western soldiers in 2003 after the u.s. Led invasion of Iraq so money is considered $1.00 of the masterminds behind the comeback of Syrian President Bashar al Assad and often travel to Moscow to help coordinate air strikes would Russian generals before his death in American drone attack so the money helped engineer the recent attack at the American embassy in Baghdad and the rocket attack December 27th at a u.s. Military base that killed an American contractor for plug did Miller say go v.o.a. News Britain has condemned Iran's missile strikes and urged the escalation and when so much uncertainty. Spending train missions in Iraq some allies have pulled the troops out of the country so what is the reaction by American allies in Europe they always Henry Ridgwell reports from London. Hours after the Ukrainian missile strikes Britain said all its $400.00 service personnel in Iraq were accounted for the military has put several helicopters on standby the Uranian attack was retaliation for the u.s. Targeted killing of Iran's top general. In a drone strike Friday speaking Tuesday before the Uranian missile strike Britain's defense secretary said the us has the right to defend itself Iran it's the top destabilizing activities in the region whether it was targeting dissidents in Europe or hijacking civilian ships this aggressive behavior was never going to go unchallenged as hundreds of thousands more death in Iran in recent days Britain France and Germany issued a joint statement calling on all parties to exercise most restraint British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is facing his 1st big foreign policy test trying to be a bit of a bridge between the United States' policy a confrontation and trying to keep the Europeans Free France Germany and also on the side with a continued policy of engagement that's quite a difficult act to balance Europe hopes that 2015 Iran nuclear deal can be saved despite terror arms announcement it will now disregard all restrictions on its nuclear enrichment activities in my view I don't think the deal is dire until there's an escalation that leads to war NATO has suspended its training mission in Iraq part of the Western coalition to defeat the Islamic state group a new conflict really in no one's interest Russia and China both condemned the killing of so lemony Russia's President Putin met in Damascus jus' day with his Syrian counterpart who is a key. Wrong in the Middle East and the u.s. Protests have spread from Iran and Iraq to Turkey the Palestinian territories Lebanon protests also broke out in Pakistan and India Meanwhile Iran's longtime. Praised what it called the decisive and swift u.s. Action. Most u.s. Allies are hoping responds drew a line under the standoff between Washington and Tehran and then you in the Middle East. And we Ridgwell viewing News London. Britain has had its share of terror attacks in the recent past and that is where our London correspondent Henry Ridgewell is standing by nice to see you Henry Henry we hear the very public keeping talking to the Iranians and keeping them part of the deal is far greater preference to having them going rogue and developing nuclear weapons and going back to nuclear Richmond's which the Iranians are now frightening to do do they not do they not believe what the United States is saying which is it's still a mani for instance was as a terrorist that he was planning an imminent attack that he had been the reason for many deaths of Americans and I presume other people in the u.s. Would tell you I mean did they not sort of see the significance in their eyes is. That that President Trump has. They do absolutely and you see the hardening of language today from Prime Minister Boris Johnson a Prime Minister's Questions today he said that. He had the blood of British troops on his hands and was behind many of the attacks that we've seen over the past years and decades across the region and we've seen those words echoed as well from Paris and Berlin of condemnation of the Iranian escalation of attacks not only in recent weeks against the United States bases in assets in Iraq of course but over the years even in several of those countries in the region most notably of course in Syria as well where we've seen several attacks not only on on Western forces but on other coalition forces there too so there is a general agreement with the u.s. Position on Iran's activities then the feria sect of its ease in the region but I think where we Europe differs from its transatlantic ally is on the way forward and at the moment you're seeing the Europeans try to create this bridge between the United States on one hand who has taken this confrontational path this threatening path towards Iran and trying to force it to back down and Iran on the air. Those channels are still open between the Europeans and the Iranians but it has to be said that's nuclear deal is must now be hanging by a thread Thank you Henry Reed Well from Vo is London bureau So what is the fallout from the killing of customs Somani and what happens now to u.s. Troops in Middle East and America's relationship with Iraq for a look at the big picture we're joined by Meghan O'Sullivan She joins us from Cambridge Massachusetts where she is Professor of International Affairs at Harvard University's Kennedy School she also served as deputy national security advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan under President George w. Bush and she was on the team that helped negotiate the interim constitution of Iraq is so solemn is also the author winfall how the new energy abundance bands global politics and strengthens America's power welcome to plugged in. Good morning Greg thanks for having me can you compare and contrast the significance of the death or the killing of Osama bin Ladin head of the al-Qaeda al Baghdadi head of ISIS and now the general Monny who was the general in the elite Quds Force. Sure there's a very big difference as your question suggests So the 1st Baghdadi and then Osama bin Laden these are very powerful figures their heads or they were heads of non-state actors non-state organizations terrorist groups by virtually every description of any ally including the Iraqi government and others and so when they were taken out by drones there was a lot of celebration but not a lot of calm done condemnation outside of their circles of terrorist organizations got some stolen money was a different kind of character we in the United States I think rightly see Him Our saw him as a terrorist leader but we also have to keep in mind he was not over the when the bread of them well year or 2 ago among the opponents of the administration in Iran how is he perceived So is this killing the Salmoni going to galvanize everybody together or is he going to draw a bigger wedge internally. Well your question really underscores one of the dramatic and I think extremely unfortunate. Results of the killing of saloon Monny is that literally a week ago a little bit more than a week ago we had protests in Iran that were against the government there and we had protests in Iraq that were against Iranian influence in Iraq so to nationalist forces that were very much in line with u.s. think for right now what we're seeing is his killing has consolidated power at the top and has brought the country together rather than fracturing it further which might have been the hope of some of the people who made this decision do you think that there's some wording when we just reported the minutes ago some people think and underline think because it's so hard to find out what's fact is that is such a fluid story and it's happened so quickly but that the Iranians deliberately when they fired those missiles fired in such a way that they minimize the risk that anyone would be killed in an effort to sort of save face internally you know that were taking action against the big United States and that the United States could say well they didn't get us into the deescalated or is that just a hopeful thinking by a lot of people. Well certainly those of us who are trying to game out what the Iranians might do thought that they would be looking for a scenario where they could claim a big and robust action and this is very different than other actions Iran has taken through proxies or in a state of denial by the state so it is very different but that Iran would want at the same time in taking that big action to also find something that did not kill Americans which quite clearly was and perhaps is the main thing that President Trump would respond to so it does kind of fit into where Iran wanted to come out on this retaliation but I would also say at the same time that really useful question isn't isn't to what extent was this calibrated not to kill Americans the real question is Where do we go from here can we take this as a moment for diplomacy for taking a deep breath for deescalating as a. As your colleagues have reported many of our European allies want certainly the Iraqis want and I think many people in both the United States and Iran would like us to take this moment and say Ok Iran has said it has retaliated proportionately we can argue about whether that is proportionate but the real point is they're able to say that to their constituencies and let's see if we can actually change the nature of the game right now we only have 30 seconds left but it no it is very serious issue and there's something sort of you know it's so unusual at this moment in time where we have the Prez United States tweeting and we have the foreign minister of Iran for tweeting back is that we watched this through Twitter. Yes it is remarkable and it's remarkable how normal it seems but a lot of important exchanges and parsing of the tea leaves about what the Iranians are thinking about what comes next Indeed thank you very much Meghan O'Sullivan professor at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge Massachusetts that's all the favorite singers you tell us what deploying it's requests and dedication and it happens every weekday right here on The Voice of America. This is a new time David for Iran is denying that one of its surface to air missiles took down a Ukrainian airliner killing all 176 people on board as a peace agreement Garner reports though the United States and other nations are blaming Tehran for the downing that jetliner secretary of state might pump aoe says it's likely an Iranian missile brought down the plane he's the highest level American official directly blaming Iran a day after Canadian Australian and British leaders did the same noting it appears to have been unintentional pedo says that investigation will continue it's important that we get to the bottom of it and he's confident the u.s. And world will take appropriate action as a response his Ukrainian counterparts urging caution as the probe goes on. Iran denies any missiles hit the plane solderer mag at the White House meanwhile u.s. Officials say the United States military tried but failed to take out another senior Iranian commander on the same day that an American air strike killed the Revolutionary Guards top general A.P.'s Ben Thomas has details the officials say a military airstrike targeted. He.