weakening iraq, by creating an iraq that was divided by sects, you created a situation where iran was going to be the dominant country in that part of the world. this potentially exacerbates it. because, again, you probably should ve not probably, you should have an american presence if you could. but the answer is you probably couldn t because the iraqis resisted the politics, the coalition. weapon wouldn t accept an situation where american soldiers were subject to iraqi law. the jury s out on that, certain people think yes, certain people think no. but the bottom line is the war itself set in motion historical forces in which iran was likely to gain influence, and partly because iraq itself has a plurality if not a majority of shiite. and you look at the leaders of iraq, the religious leaders of iraq from the very beginning. and they have been skeptical of the iranian experiment from 1979. sure. and from the very beginning,
bush administration our troops are all leaving iraq by the end of this year? well, i think, you know, the president, this administration couldn t reach an agreement with the iraqi government to leave our troop there s. we could not have troops there and have them subject to the civilian law enforcement or subject to iraqi law. so with no agreement the president had no choice but to withdraw united states troops. the concern there and others have mentioned it, is will this increase iranian influence in iraq. if it does, it is going to again destablize the region. iran is a huge problem. it is a cancer in the middle middle east. if it gets more influence, that is going to be problematic to the united states but also to other regimes that are friendly to the united states. saudi arabia and jordan. shannon: do you think iraq is at the point where it can stand on its own without the infiltration from iran?
even as recently as august, that suggested that the president and the iraqis made an agreement to leave some behind for security purposes so iran would not move in and fighting would not break out among the separate groups. clayton: it started under president bush who in 2008 laid the groundwork for the withdrawal in 2011 but the bush administration and the obama administration thought it would come to an agreement, the main sticking point? that is the immunity clause, that the u.s. troops could be there and having in to do with iraqi law whatever. they could walk the streets, hold guns, whatever needed and be immunized from iraqi law. the iraqis said, no, that will not fly. dave: our troops have that immunity elsewhere where they serve but they would not grant them that same immunity if they stayed behind. here is what bolton had to say about our troops coming home end the year. guest: if you say, what are
morning. the two-time indianapolis 500 winner died in a painful crash last sunday in a las vegas race. saudi arabia is mourning the loss of a royal family member, the crown prince sultan died earlier today in a new york hospital. he was first in line for the saudi throne and was the country s defense minister. he was believed to be in his 80s. he had been battling cancer. folk music icon pete seeger and arlo guthrie joined occupy wall street protesters. arlo guthrie said the protests reminded him of the unrest of the 60s. an update. the protester that climbed a 70-foot high sculpture finally made his way down safely. when he did he was greeted by police who immediately arrested him. louisiana governor bobby jindal is hoping to hold on the his job today. the state is holding its gubernatorial primary, a nonpartisan contest where all candidates compete. whoever gets 50% or more of the vote wins the race. here in america and halfway around the world celebrations as th
phone call. an nfl player is fined by the league, but when you hear who he called, you might think it was well worth it. welcome to this cnn saturday morning for october 22nd. 6:00 a.m. in atlanta, georgia. 5:00 a.m. in fayetteville, arkansas. 4:00 a.m. salt lake city. u.s. troops will be home for the holidays and the war in iraq will be over. that s the promise made by president obama who said troops are coming home by the end of the year. chris lawrence has more on what this move really means for the future of u.s. involvement in iraq. reporter: there are some important reasons why the president had to make this announcement but there are real risks with the announcement as well. some 30,000 troops are still spread out across bases in iraq and they have ten weeks to get out. today i can say our troops in iraq will definitely be home for the holidays. reporter: the u.s. military is running up to 400 transportation convoys a week and has moved out 1.5 million pieces