we re witnessing state collapse. to what extent do you think u.s. policies in the region played a role in how divided things are now? we were talking to general mccaffrey about the u.s. backing of sunni tribesmen during the awakening movement. do you think in retrospect that s looking like a strategic misfire? i don t think it was the backing of the sunni tribesmen that was the problem. it was the toppling of the regime in first place that created a sequence of ee vebts. saddam hussein was a horrible did dictator and what we re seeing right now is a result of that. sunnis ruled this country for 13 centuries, they were the minority populationwise but ruled for 13 centuries. saddam hussein was a sunni, toppled by forces that ushered into a shiite government,
the ground are involved in this. and involved in the decisions right down to who to release. that makes me a little bit more com comfortable, but i think it s risky and a gamble. martha: when you look at it from that spe perspective that has to be a longer term plan in afghanistan, if terms of building a government that is more friendly to our interests, certainly, and do you have to in some ways pick off some of the group you ve been fighting against to have any hope of that? that s right. i think the article has an antidote in there when they talk about releasing a family member of a group, and this group turned around and started helping us identify the locations of taliban fighters. if you can in a sense divide these inc insurgent networks you might be able to have more success. i mean sometimes we ve used unconventional means such as the awakening movement in iraq to
so, are these changes that have happened this weekend on craigslist enough to satisfy critics? we will ask one who recently said, quote, craigslist has made selling children a virtual stop and shop for predators. watch for that coming up at the half hour. speaking of our troops there is news out of afghanistan this weekend, president hamid karzai has taken another step that may well infuriate some military veterans and their families announcing he will establish a peace council to promote reconciliation with the taliban after more than nine years of fighting them. he has made similar proposals before but this is his most concrete step in that direction. the idea of luring lower level taliban fighters into a peaceful alliance shows some promise, somewhat like the awakening movement in iraq. what s not so clear is how or if such a program would work in afghanistan. so, when we come back i knew i didn t steal
ground tonight in baghdad, which by the way, they ll be heading their way towards baghdad. sam, not the safest place to be. reporter: it s to so horrify the shia population. the intent clearly is to get one side to attack the other so that then the country can start fracturing along the sectarian lines, leaving isis with their islamic caliphate they win to establish in the north of the country. that s been unsuccessful so far. the former members of the awakening movement was the sunni militias in fallujah and ramadi who joined the central government and united states and british forces to combat al qaeda in iraq as it then was. they are now volunteering their
editor at sky news sam kylie, on the ground tonight in baghdad, which by the way, they ll be heading their way towards baghdad. sam, not the safest place to be. reporter: it s to so horrify the shia population. they want sectarian carnage. the intent clearly is to get one side to attack the other so that then the country can start fracturing along the sectarian lines, leaving isis with their claiming to be their islamic caliphate which they wish to establish in the north of the country. that s been unsuccessful so far. the former members of the awakening movement was the sunni militias in fallujah and ramadi in particular who joined the central government and the united states and british forces to combat al qaeda in iraq as it then was. they are now volunteering their services once again to the