which led to medicaid, medicare, subsidized housing, and head start. five decades later, many say another war on poverty is needed. we will speak with peter edelman , author of, "so rich, so poor: why it's so hard to end poverty in america." dennis al qaeda linked militants take the key iraqi city of falluja, the obama administration moves to help arm the iraqi forces. >> we are accelerating our foreign military sales and deliveries and looking to provide additional shipment of hellfire missiles as early as this spring. they are one small element of that holistic strategy, but they been proven effective at denying ifi the safe haven zones it has sought to establish in western iraq. >> first, we look at the traffic package in the presidential aspirations of new jersey governor christie. the republican front-runner in the 2016 race. all of that and more coming up. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. at least 13 people have been killed and another 30 wounded in a suicide attack on a police station in baghdad. the bombing comes as the iraqi government is preparing for an offensive to retake the city of falluja from sunni militants. fighters from the al qaeda- linked islamic state of iraq and the love aunt seized parts of falluja as well as ramadi last week. the iraqi red crescent says over 13,000 people -- families have fled to escape the violence in the past few days. the united nations is warning anbar faces a critical humanitarian situation with 250 people killed already this month. iraq is facing its worst violence in six years, with over 7000 dead in 2013. we will ve more on iraq and falluja later in the broadcast. in syria, antigovernment rebels have forced an al qaeda-linked group to withdraw from its base in the northern city of aleppo. clashes among rebels have left hundreds dead in recent days, marking the deadliest infighting between the groups since the syrian conflict began. the islamic state of iraq and the love aunt was initially allied with other antigovernment groups, but tensions among rebel factions erupted last week. the rebels who seized control of the groups aleppo base wednesday found more than 40 bodies inside, sparking concerns the asup is executing prisoners they retreat. the syrian government meanwhile says rebels have attacked a pair regimesd sites for the chemical weapons stockpile. the news comes days after the first shipment of weapons was loaded onto a ship to begin the disarmament process agreed to last year. at the united nations for the top official overseeing removal of syria's chemical weapons as he expects the al-assad regime to meet a june deadline for the stockpiles complete destruction. we talked about is a collective expectation by the security council's first full support of the end of june deadline, that there is no reason to assume the leas should occur. all things being equal, we also have to remember syria is a country at war. the security situation can shift from day to day. but everything is ready and the authorities have shown that first movements have started to happen. >> the president of the central african republic is reportedly preparing to step down after weeks of violence that have left over 1000 dead. otodia could make the announcement today. tens of thousands have been displaced since violence between christian and muslim militants exploded last month. over 100,000 internally displaced people, the local coordinators for doctors without border warned of his monitoring humanitarian crisis. >> the population is living in very dire hygienic conditions. camps, it is aof very high risk of epidemic. hashe obama administration launched an internal investigation into a drone strike a reportedly killed 12 people in london last month -- in yemen last month. the victims were on the retro wedding when they were apparently mistaken for an al qaeda convoy. nbc news reports the strike was carried out by the joint special operations command. the white house probe comes after the human rights group reprieve released new video showing the victims burned corpses lined up on the ground for burial. in a statement, reprieve said -- utah has told hundreds of lgbt couples their marriages will not be recognized after the supreme court reinstated the ban earlier this week. tillie 1000 lgbt couples got married after a federal judge struck down the state's ban on same-sex marriage late last month. the supreme court halted the marriages on monday ending utah's appeal of the judge's ruling. on wednesday, utah governor bob herbert told state agencies tuesday not to recognize any same-sex marriages that took place in the two beaks when same-sex marriages were allowed. the case could end up before the supreme court. the death toll from records shattering cold across the united states has risen to at least 21. several of the victims are homeless people who froze to death. frigid temperatures are beginning to ease after the blast of arctic air envelops swaths of the midwest. northeast, even the deep south. you can go to democracynow.org to look at the connection between the deep chill and climate change. a political controversy surrounding new jersey governor chris christie has grown into a scandal after it emerged atop a deliberate leak order traffic delays to exact political revenge. newly released documents show chris christie's deputy chief of staff, bridget anne kelly, her story ordered the closure of lanes leading to the george washington bridge to punish the mayor of fort lee for declining to endorse christie's bid for reelection. in an e-mail to another christie appointee in high school friend, david edelstein, kelly wrote "time for some traffic problems in fort lee." causedsures cost -- massive traffic jams with just one the operational over a four- day period. avid while e-mail to steam. the scandal could threaten his candidacy for the republican nomination presidential candidacy in 2016. christie denied involvement saying he was "outraged and deeply saddened" by his deputies actions. we will have more on the story after the headlines. the white house is facing questions over a new memoir from former defense secretary robert gates that criticizes president obama and vice president joe biden. gates writes obama never believed in his own policy of escalating the afghanistan war with a surge of 30,000 troops will stop aids also calls i'd and "wrong on nearly all major foreign-policy insecurity issue over the past four decades. on wednesday, white house press secretary jay carney defended joe biden. >> the president and the rest of this year simply disagree with that assessment. as a senator and the vice president joe biden has been one of the leading statesmen of his time, and he has been an excellent counselor and advisor to the president for the past five years. he has played a key role in every major national security and foreign-policy debate and policy discussion in this administration, in this white house. allowed newshouse crews to take pictures of its weekly lunch with president obama for the first time. in his book, robert gates reports both hillary clinton and obama admitted their opposition to u.s. troop surge in iraq was "political" and who thousand six. over 100 people in new york including 80 reach our police officers and firefighters have been charged in the suspected disability scam dating back over two decades. manhattan district attorney fant said the accused made false disability claims, bilking taxpayers out of some $400 million. >> 1988, these men are charged with coaching hundreds and hundreds of individuals on how to convince the social security ministration that in vigils unable to work at any job because they suffer psychiatric condition and therefore, are entitled to monthly disability payments. now, it is a particularly cynical part of the charge scheme that approximately half of the defendants falsely claimed that their psychiatric disabilities were caused by their association with the terrorist attacks of september 11. >> at least two people have died in a navy plane crash off the coast of virginia. the helicopter was on a training mission when it crashed into the atlantic ocean. two of the three survivors are in stable condition while another is missing. the crash comes one day after four u.s. servicemembers died in a helicopter crash in england. nor for police chief told rocco -- residents to stay away from crash site. >> the ammunition came from the crashed aircraft. we do know exactly how much ammunition was on the aircraft and we also know the ammunition. as i said before, the community to not need to be concerned about the fact that ammunition is scattered about that site, but that is with the caveat that they respect the cordons and don't go near the site until we have recovered each and every piece of ammunition. >> wednesday was the anniversary of the tucson, arizona mass shooting that killed six people and when did hurting others. the injured included former democratic congress number gabrielle giffords who nearly lost her life. she and her husband mark kelly have since founded a group to take on u.s. weapons lobby and campaign for gun control. on wednesday, former congressman burr giffords marked the anniversary by going skydiving. giffords has previously skydived, but this was her first time since the shooting. in an opinion piece, giffords likened her difficult physical rehabilitation to the uphill battle for gun control, writing -- and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. >> welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. we begin today with news from new jersey that could have national implications for one of the republican party's rising stars. on wednesday, "the bergen record" reported occupants proving top officials to governor chris christie is to cater the closure of several access lanes on the george washington bridge in september, near the town of fort lee, in order to punish that towns mayor for not endorsing christine's reelection. the lane closures turned the town into a virtual parking lot for four days and delayed emergency workers trying to respond to calls, including one involving an unconscious 91- year-old woman who later died. in one e-mail, christie's deputy chief of staff, bridget anne kelly, wrote "time for some traffic problems in fort lee." e-mails were written to david wildstein, a high school friend of the governor who worked at the port authority of new york and new jersey who runs the bridge. --responded "got it or go "got it." >> later text messages mocked concerns that school buses filled with students were stuck in gridlock on the first day of school. one unidentified person wrote to wildstein "i feel badly about the kids, i guess." wildstein wrote -- text about the plan were sent while kelly was in line to pay her respects at a wake. in other text messages, one of christie's associates refers to the mayor of fort lee as "this little serbian." in fact, he is of croatian dissent. the scandal could hurt christie's chances of running for president in 2016. until now, christie's administration insisted the lane closures are part of a traffic study initiated by the port authority. este responded to the new revelations in a statement wednesday saying -- for months he has downplayed the significance of what happened. this is a clip of governor christie responding to questions about the lane closures back in december. cones. unbeknownst to everybody, i was the guy out there. i was in overalls and a half. i was the guy working the cones. you really are not serious with that question. >> [inaudible] because john was to ski is obsessed with this and loretta weinberg, it just shows you they really have nothing to do. i don't get involve in traffic studies were lane closures and i did not work the cones, just so we're clear on that, that was sarcastic. >> [inaudible] listen, i have absolutely no idea. >> back in november, the new jersey status of -- state questioning. >> i'm sorry, i heard you the first three times that you talked about the issue of whether or not there should be lanes, but that is not what this hearing is about. this is about the lack of communication and the poor conduct of the port authority. you're here trying to cover that up. >> hold on -- >> you are trying to tell us a study had a major disruption on your major bridge has no paper trail? there's been a single e-mail that explains how this was done? that defies all logic and nobody in this room believes that. >> bill baroni being questioned by new jersey assemblywoman has since resigned. on wednesday, new jersey , aembly men john wisniewski democrat who has led the hearings on the lane closures, responded to governor christie said niall that he was aware of the plan. mailsve not seen any e- that have the governor's name on it but clearly there is an e- mail that has the governor's deputy chief of staff on it. this is an administration that keeps very tight control over what happens and what comes out of the front office. we would like to get explanations as to who else the governor's office knew about this and what their role is. hearings holding a today. he has subpoenaed waldstein to wildstein has sued to try to prevent his appearance today. this is quite a scandal that is brewing, all starting with a traffic jam on the george washington bridge. >> i think it is going to continue for quite some time because, honestly, there are more hearings coming. i think the governor has announced he will have a press conference today. the reality is, christie is in a position where on the one hand owne did not know that his top staff were involved in this, that is a problem. and if he did no, it will become an even bigger scandal, just as he is preparing to thrust himself into the national picture as a presidential candidate. >> scandal rocks a lot of politics in new jersey, but all of these e-mails and text shows this goes into the governor's office. weall of these texts that were reading and e-mails, there are names that have been redacted. it is unclear who redacted these names. >> right. in the request the bergen record had it, it was a decision of someone in the administration -- and i guess they could have appeal that as well, the reduction of the names, but they felt it was important to get the information out at this time. the george washington bridge is a huge -- >> it is the most trafficed bridge in the world. >> millions of people use this on a daily basis. folks know there are traffic jams on the bridge anyway, but to have a tie up in a major town in new jersey this way and to create all of these problems -- the mayor has demanded a reimbursement from the state and an apology, demanded reimbursement for the public safety people that had to work so much overtime during those four days. this will continue as an issue and not only new jersey politics, but national politics, for several days and weeks. >> let's remember what was said at the time, there was some kind of traffic study going on. but no emergency personnel, no police, no one was told about this in fort lee. when it was -- when people kept continually questioning, it turns out there was no such traffic jam and then you have the -- there was no such study. then you have the situation where people who were sick, people who were ill like the 91- year-old woman who later died, emergency workers were seriously delayed in getting to them. >> the other problem is, christie, who is known as a hands-on manager, as someone who pays attention to details and also as someone who is not reticent to go after his political enemies, this is why i think there's so much -- it is almost beyond belief the governor did not have some knowledge, if it was at the level of his inner staff. we will see what happens. it is definitely a continuing story. >> meanwhile, across the bridge when you can get over it in new york, you were at new york city council. why this is important for global audience is, looking at what this new era, if in fact it is, is being ushered in in new york under the new mayor bill de blasio. what happened? >> as i said yesterday at the new york city council, the last piece of the puzzle in the transformation of new york city politics occurred when the city , 51 members members of the city council, voted unanimously to choose the east from a south bronx councilwoman as their next speaker, the second most powerful post in new york city government after the mayor. mark-viverito victims of first latina to hold a major citywide post -- becomes the first latina woman to hold a major citywide post. all of the major posts in new york city government are held by progressive liberals, democrats. it is unprecedented in the modern history of the city. it has been such a populous government. melissa was up against five or six different candidates. the last standing one was another democratic moderate liberal but much more favored by the business and real estate community who feel they have now no representative in the city government that they can depend on to respond to their needs. so we will see what will happen. the first thing she spoke about was,she accepted the vote or the position, was she was going to press immediately for an increased and among wage for low-wage workers -- for low-wage workers and others in the city. i think with the mayor behind it and melissa, it will only be weeks before new york city becomes the first major -- huge city in the country to sharply increase the minimum wage. head ofhe newly elected the city council is a former producer at wbai, the pacifica station, noncommercial community radio station here in new york that democracy now! broadcasts on. >> she was subjected in the past few weeks to numerous newspaper articles for many of them attacks on her, linking her to evo morales because she went there as an observer during one of the presidential races. just yesterday, "the new york post" lambasting her for calling for freedom for the cuban 5, espionage weref convicted of espionage against the united states. and for many of the other positions she is taken in the past, all basically turning the council members against her, but did not succeed. >> we will certainly continue to follow new york politics as well as the scandal across the river in new jersey. what will happen to governor chris christie, the person who's is talked about as being a republican residential front- runner for 2016? when we come back, it has been 50 years since lyndon johnson declared the war on poverty. what has happened since? then we will go to iraq to talk about what is happening in falluja and increasing violence throughout the country. back in a moment. ♪ [music break] >> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. atwe turn now to look poverty in the united states. this week marks the 50th anniversary of when president went in be johnson declared a war on poverty. his administration created many of the federal and state initiatives low-income americans rely on today -- including medicaid, medicare, subsidized housing, head start, legal services, nutrition assistance, raising the minimum wage, and later, food stamps and pell grants. during his first state of the union speech that president johnson called on congress to support his war on poverty. >> i would like to caution you and remind you that to exercise these privileges takes much more than just legal right. it requires a trained mind and a healthy body. it requires a decent home and the chance to find a job in the opportunity to escape from the clutches of poverty. of course people cannot contribute to the nation if there never taught to read or aree, if there bodies studded from hunger, if their sickness goes intended, if their life is spent in hopeless poverty just run the welfare check. open the gates to opportunity, but we're also going to give all of our people, black and white, the help they need to walk through those gates. the program i shall propose will emphasize this cooperative approach, to help that 1/5 of all american families with incomes too small to even meet their basic needs. our chief weapons and a more pinpointed attack will be better schools and better health and better homes and better training and better job opportunities to help more americans am especially young americans, escape from squalor and misery and unemployment. >> that was president lyndon b. johnson speaking 50 years ago this week. many are marking the anniversary by asking what the war on poverty has accomplished. >> today an increasing number of americans say they experienced direct economic hardship, according to a new study by the center for american progress. it found 61% of americans say their families income falls below the cost of living. as many as one third of americans reported serious problems falling behind in rent, mortgage, or utility payments or being unable to buy enough food, a ford accessory -- necessary medical care, or keep up with minimum credit card payments. for more we're joined by peter edelman, faculty director at the center on poverty, inequality, and public policy at georgetown university. he was top adviser to senator robert f kennedy and also a member of president bill clinton's administration until he resigned in protest after clinton signed the 1996 welfare reform legislation. his latest book is, "so rich, so poor: why it's so hard to end poverty in america." it is great to have you back on democracy now! let's go back 50 years ago this week to the announcement of the war on poverty by president johnson. talk about just what that war on poverty was. in fact, it was specific. >> it was very specific. first, thank you, i'm delighted to be with you this morning. there were really two layers to what president johnson did. one was the war on poverty and the other was the larger great society. when we think about that period of time, we need to understand the big things were medicare and medicaid and the historic civil rights laws and the first-ever federal aid to elementary and secondary education. the war on poverty was very specific. it was good things. it was headstart, legal services for low income people, community health centers -- all things we still have, all things that it made a difference. it in and of themselves, that narrow group of things was not going to end poverty will stop it has made a contribution to help in a variety of ways and it continues, but it was a narrow idea. >> peter edelman, what is it that made it possible for jobs to cobble together such an enormous range of legislative acts to pursue this war on poverty? >> it was in the context of the optimism and the positive feeling about america that we had after world war ii and the tremendous economic boom that we had had, although, there have been a recession at the end of the eisenhower period. in anreally were optimistic position where we thought we could do anything. later on, go to the moon, all of that. the civil rights movement made a major difference in terms of racialg injustice -- injustice, but it immediately became clearer as we achieved legal equality and as president johnson said, that that didn't mean somebody would be able to afford to buy a meal at the lunch counter. an upheaval kind of from the bottom through the civil rights movement as well as johnson himself, who has to get, for all the things we think negatively in terms of the war on vietnam, johnson is our great president after lincoln on civil rights and really cared about poverty from his own upbringing. >> as you mentioned the impact of the civil rights movement on the war on poverty, let's go back to one of president johnson's 1964 state of the union address where he declared that war. he drew upon his personal expenses as a teacher working among the partners to mexican students in south texas -- impoverished mexican students in south texas. >> never forget what poverty and hatred can do when you see its scars on the hopeful face of a young child. in 1928thought then that i would be standing here in 1965. it never even occurred to me in my honest dreams that i might have the chance to help the sons and daughters of those students, and to help people like them all over this country. chance,i do have that and i will let you in on a secret -- i mean to use it. responseedelman, your to a president making such a forceful statement about how he is going to use his power to achieve the social aims of his administration? course, it is something that we would like to hear from our leaders in that degree of deep feeling. it is it different time politically. it is also true that as of the election that gave us the 89th congress beginning in 1965, we had an enormous majority of democrats in the house and senate, and also a much more bipartisan approach to so many issues. the civil rights laws would not have been passed without republican support. food stamps come into recently, was bipartisan and support. richard nixon was the first president to send the message to congress asking for a national food stamp program. bob dole defended the food stamp program in the early 1980s. george w. bush recently was a strong supporter of the food stamp program. so we had a different politics than we do right at the moment, anyway. president obama has done a lot about poverty and i think we should be very clear about that. the medicaid expansion in the affordable care act is a historic dimension. what was in the recovery act was terrific for low-income people in our country. so we have leadership. and then johnson, those words do ring strong for us. >> wednesday, marco rubio of florida outlined sweeping changes to the federal government's anti-poverty programs. what's the current president and his liberal allies with a proposed to address, the proposal is to spend more on his fellow programs and increase the minimum wage to $10.10. really? this is their solution? to what the president has called a defining issue of our time? maying the minimum wage poll well, but having a job that pays $10 an hour is not the american dream. and our current government programs at best offer only a partial solution. they help people deal with poverty, but they do not help people emerge from poverty. therefore, what i am proposing today is the most fundamental change to how the federal government fights poverty and encourages upward mobility since president johnson first conceived the war on poverty 50 years ago today. i am proposing we turn over washington's anti-poverty programs in the trillions spent on them to the states. our anti-poverty program should be replaced with a revenue- neutral flex fund. it would streamline most of our existing federal anti-poverty funding to a single agency. then each year these flex funds would be transferred to the states so they can design and fund creative initiatives that address the factors behind inequality of opportunity. this worked in the 1990 with welfare reform. >> senator marco rubio of florida speaking yesterday. peter edelman, your response? rubiom glad that senator and some of the other republicans have discovered poverty this week. are not going to get us anywhere. there are a lot of workers out there who are struggling very hard who would find it very constructive if congress would act, if the republicans would support president obama's proposal to get the minimum wage up to $10 an hour. i am the first to say long before senator rubio that we need to have wages that are higher than that. we need to have returns from work that help people get out of poverty. he is now proposing one thing -- turning it over to the states is a shopworn idea. it goes back decades. what it does is it leaves it to states like mississippi and texas and others that could care less. national standards like food stamps? are people hungrier and new york than they are in mississippi? i don't think so. and say, well, the state will decide how hungry you are and how much we will pay -- makes no sense. >> i want to ask you about the records of some democrats in the last few decades in pursuing continuing to fight for the ideals of johnson's war on poverty. in 1996 you resigned in protest after president clinton signed the welfare reform act. can you talk about some of the retreat has occurred on this war, even among democrats? >> one of the unfortunate things that we have done over the last 40 years, along with doing smart things like expanding earned income tax credit and enacting the child health insurance act under president clinton and the affordable care act now, was to slash a huge hole in our safety net, which was ending the old welfare program -- which was not a satisfactory program and needed to be reformed in a progressive way. instead, essentially to throw people off the rolls. now we have less than 4 million people who are receiving cash assistance. and that is about women and children in our country. so we end up with 6 million people in our country whose only income is from food stamps. 6 million people. that is 2% of the american people, and income of $6,000. in other words, about 30% of the poverty line. that was the bad thing we did. in wyoming, for example, because it is up to the states and there's no legal right -- there are only 600 people, 4% of children in wyoming, and that is typical about half of our states. we made a huge mistake there. that was self-inflicted in terms of our safety net and are anti- poverty strategy. >> i went to go back to the moment in 1996, president clinton signs off on welfare reform. in thee the top person health and human services administration. soon after, you quit. we spoke the right after that. this is what you said. >> i'm deeply opposed to the current welfare law and very troubled by what happened last year in the congress. very fundamental entitlement of assistance to children in need. the way the law used to work -- and this has completely ended -- if a family with children satisfy the eligibility requirements, and those were national, federal requirements, they could get eight. what has happened now, it is entirely up to the -- to each state to decide whether it will help people at all, give them cash or help them with a voucher or whether it will have system run by public agency or by a corporation or some private agency. whenat was back in 1996 you quit. that wasn't under a republican president, but under a democratic president, president clinton. can you talk about following up on juan's question, the democrats roll? you have senator bernie sanders, who serves this loan boys who constantly is beating the drum for preserving social security. opponents are other democrats. they just don't speak about a very clearly to let you know what they are doing. >> we all need to do better. bernie sanders is wonderful. he is not alone. member of congress from chicago, the terrific bill she is done to put americans to work . kind of a new deals jobs program. which we still need. the people of our country are still in recession. partiesof our political is absolutely wonderful, but if you look at the things that have been done -- as i said before, many of them have been done on a bipartisan basis. we have done a lot. we have good public policies. if we did not have the public policies that we have in place now from social security to earned income tax credit, child tax credit, food stamps, on and on, we would have twice as many people in poverty as we do right now. so we have done the right thing. what has been happening is we have been swimming upstream in an economy that has changed just 1968 whensince president johnson left office. so we are now a low-wage nation. that is the heart of what has happened. even with the really important policies that have been led largely by democrats, but far more bipartisan than we have all ofow, even with that, we still have 46 lead people in poverty, which is terrible. and that is so significantly because of our economy, because of the structural changes due to globalization and tech elegy. we really need to wake up and say, what do we do to get good jobs? what do we do to get better wages? along with that, how do we educate our children for the jobs of the 21st century? and with that, we need a safety net that reaches all the people. we have 20 million people now who are in deep poverty, whose incomes are below half the poverty line, below $9,500 for a family of 3. these are things that across the board from a both parties need to pay attention to in constructive ways. that quote from eu displayed about what happened to welfare and what they have done at the state level on to tell us what would happen if senator rubio had his way and turned everything else over to the states. >> i'm wondering if you care to comment on the hope for change. obviously, the occupy wall street movement changed the aboutcal discussion economic inequality in our country, and now you're seeing it at local levels, many more progressive leaders elected. we were commenting about the transformation of new york city politics now with new york city poised to sharply increase its minimum wage now as a result of the new mayor and new elected official citywide. d.c. at the grassroots level for some new examination -- do you see at the grassroots level for some new examination will overcome some of the gridlock we are faced in congress? >> i do. i am so pleased to see the kinds of things that mayor de blasio is proposing to talk about raising the minimum wage in new york city. his proposals about early childhood, which i think are just terrific and so important. if you look at the activity around the country and minimum wage, this airport workers in seatac in seattle and the raising of the minimum wage statewide in california and a lot of the other things that jerry brown is doing along with the legislature there, so i think that is very, very important. however, all of that can't get us to where we have to go. i think those things will help support better national policies and a better national politic, but there are plenty of states, unfortunately, that don't have the same kind of commitment that new york or california or other places in the country have. we need to have a better and stronger set of national policies in a balanced way. not just public policy. we need to have people at the local level who are going to work in a civic way to improve our schools and build the child care systems and help young people get into the labor market. >> we want to thank you, peter edelman, for joining us. faculty director at this address poverty, inequality, and public policy at georgetown university. his latest book is, "so rich, so poor: why it's so hard to end poverty in america." this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. iraqwe come back, we go to to talk about the violence there and what is happening in falluja. stay with us. ♪ [music break] >> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. turn now to the increasingly violent situation in iraq. at least 13 people have been killed and another 30 wounded in a suicide attack on a police station in baghdad. the bombing comes as the iraqi government is preparing for an offensive to retake the city of falluja from sunni militants. fighters from the al qaeda- linked islamic state of iraq and parts oft seized falluja as well as ramadi last week. the red crescent says thousands of families have fled. the united nations is warning and bar province faces a critical human to train situation -- humanitarian situation. this is one of the residents of falluja. >> families are fleeing from falluja which is undergoing military operations due to the president's militants that are unwelcome in the city. random shelling against houses in the city so we were scared for our families and left the city. is ramping upes its delivery of military equipment to help iraq apple militants who have overrun parts of anbar province including the city of falluja. this is white house press secretary jay carney. >> accelerating our foreign military sales and deliveries and looking to provide an additional shipment of hellfire missiles as early as this spring. their one small element of that holistic strategy, but they been proven effective at denying ifil the safe haven zones it has sought to establish in western iraq. byfor more we're joined now feurat alani, a french iraqi journalist who was based in 2003ad during the war from to 2008. he has returned twice a year since then and made several documentaries including "road trip iraq" and "fallujah: a lost generation?" he recently wrote a piece called "syria's conflict spreads to iraq: violence and power struggles." >> in washington we're joined by , 24 year veteran of u.s. state department who served in iraq. he wrote a book critical of u.s. policy there called "we meant well." he was later forced out of the state department. we want to welcome you both to democracy now! feurat alani, i want to start with you. you begin one of your latest pieces by writing, how to stop the suicide bomber? that is exactly what happened in baghdad today, yet another suicide bombing. can you talk about the situation there and particularly in falluja. >> yes. take you for inviting me. i just talked today to many friends in falluja. their situation today was not like yesterday. it is moving. the center in falluja has reopened. people are used to being ostracized since 2004, so it is usual for them to leave -- live under the violence. fled to otheries provinces. the situation is very tense. people of falluja don't know what is going on and what has happened. >> can you describe falluja for us right now and exactly what is the dynamic that is happening when news reports around the world say al qaeda-linked forces have taken over? >> yes, i would like to be precise and clear about it. when you talk to people, they reject the idea al qaeda is taking control of falluja. they say it is false. tribes. members of we have to remind that one year ago, demonstration started in the square showing anger against the policy of the government, of the iraqi government. malikihe prime minister sunnis, angerest increased in falluja. what they're facing today is not a battle between al qaeda and the army, but a political battle. it is anger expressed many years ago by the people who are tired and angry and they just want to be recognized as iraqi. , i would like to bring you into the discussion and talk obama hasident repeatedly said since the united states troops pulled out that he ended the war in iraq. however, we know what exactly happened is the war has continued. what happened after u.s. troops left to create a situation that exists now? >> what happened was similar to what the gentleman before he was talking about. it is by to the future. the core issues that led to instability in iraq started in 2003 were never resolved by the united states over nine years of occupation. primarily, the need to create a unity government. the united states to decide as the kurds to factor created a new nation and stood aside as the sunni-she arrest -- shia rift developed. maliki sought to have his sunni vice president arrested. he fled and is believed to be in turkey. maliki has continued his persecutions, prosecutions against the sunnis, and now has resorted to open warfare in falluja in attempt to tame them, to marginalize them, and to maintain his shia control power. >> what about the u.s. sending military aid to the iraqi government? >> during nine years of war and occupation, the u.s. expended a terminus number of hellfire missiles and other weaponry. none of that was effective against either side. this is not a war that can be one like a game of chess. there are not lines on the ground where one forces on one side trying to capture territory on the other side. this remains a war to settle political, ethnic, social, and other types of differences. it is an insurgency. any attempts to blast your way out of this problem will and, for the malki government, exactly as they did for the american government. in a fictional pay nothing more than a stage for the next round of violence -- ineffectual, nothing more than a stage for the next round of violence. >> what about the same issue of u.s. rearming the iraqi regime, feurat alani? >> i think this is very bad news. i was at falluja three years ago. the use of u.s. weapons like white phosphorus, uranium, and hellfire missiles. it is very bad. there are in falluja, different babies rising in the city. is worse than corruption of because of the u.s. weapons that were used in the battle of falluja -- worse than hero shema because of the u.s. weapons used in the battle of falluja. this is not the solution. we have -- the iraqi government has to stop marginalization of sunni and and bar. , the unitedani states for nine conceivably, talking about finding ways to ally with the malki government to prevent the continued rise of the opposition forces in the sunni areas of iraq. what is your response to that? the tribes are divided in iraq. half of them are collaborating with the iraq he army and one one -- he is is the brother of one leader that created the awakening militia made up of members of sunni to fight al qaeda in iraq. today, as i said before, many people of falluja said they've never seen any member of al qaeda in falluja. so i think this is part of the government's policy to divide .he sunnis number will sto we face -- members of tribes were struggling against the iraq i army and others were struggling against al qaeda. it makes them very confused. it is very difficult now to know what will happen in the future. >> thank you both for being with us. we're going to continue our conversation with feurat alani in a post-show we will post online to talk about the documentary he did specifically in falluja and the effects of what the u.s. did their and what is happening there today. feurat alani is a french-iraqi journalist aced in baghdad. we're speaking to him in dubai. he was from 2003 to 2000 eight anniversary turned twice year since then i made several doctors. thank u so much to our guest and washington, d.c., peter van buren, 24 year veteran of the state department who served in iraq and wrote the book "we meant well." that does it for our broadcast. democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to 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[captioning made possible by democracy now!] >> every day, we turn on the tv and there is more bad news, an environmental catastrophe somewhere, refugees or innocent victims in war zones.

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