Al Qaeda Linked Militants Could Take Over Two Iraqi Cities
MALVEAUX: The State Department says that South Sudan has now gotten too dangerous, and it has evacuated more staff from the embassy there. All Americans left in the country are being urged to get out. As of tomorrow, the embassy won't be able to help any U.S. citizens still there. Fighting between rebel forces and government troops has gotten more intense. The government forces are about to retake a town from the rebels. Peace talks to stop the fighting are under way in Ethiopia. There's a lot of pressure for both sides to figure out how to deal with about 200,000 people who have fled the violence. There is now some alarming news coming out of Iraq. "The New York Times" is reporting that Sunni militants with ties to al Qaeda could take over two major cities. We are talking about Fallujah and Ramadi. Now, "The Times" says that the militants set fire to police stations. They've busted inmates out of jail, taken over mosques, and Fallujah, you might recall, is the city where many American troops died trying to defend. The defense ministry in Baghdad says that Iraq's air force has been carrying out military strikes in the area and killing terrorists. To sort all of this out, I want to bring in Christopher Hill, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq. And, Chris, thanks for joining us. Really appreciate this. You and I have talked many times in covering the Bush administration about what on Earth is going on in Iraq. It certainly seems to be a hot mess now. Explain to us how this is related to the civil war in Syria, which is now turning into a regional war that has spilled into not only Lebanon but now Iraq.</s>CHRISTOPHER HILL, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ: You've got it. It has turned into a regional war. It is not to say that there aren't internal issues in Iraq, but I think the prime issue is you have Syria becoming a kind of magnet for every Sunni Islamist to come and fight. And certainly one of the great struggles for the Sunnis in that region of the Middle East is the fact that the Shia now control Iraq. And a few years ago, the U.S. military did a lot. They, first of all, helped seal the border to prevent foreign fighters or to limit foreign fighters from coming into Iraq. Secondly, they worked with Sunni Sheikhs in the Anbar area where the two cities are located to turn them and get them to support the government in the Baghdad. So that is proving much more problematic right now. And many of those Sunni Sheikhs are really afraid to strike out against the al Qaeda elements. So it's very discouraging news for people who have worked so hard to try to stabilize that country and certainly I think dangerous.</s>MALVEAUX: Chris, you're talking about Sunni militants. They're angry the way they're being treated by the Shiite government of Nouri al-Malaki, and now they're aligned with al Qaeda. How do you stop something like that?</s>HILL: You know, I mean, I realize there's certainly a body of thought that somehow the Shia-led government under Nouri al-Malaki has not done enough to be inclusive of the Sunnis and that this has led to some frustrations. But I would encourage the viewers to understand this problem is embedded in a broader region, namely in the sort of metastasized is Syrian crisis. To be sure, Malaki could do better. I don't deny that for a minute, but I think, right now, to kind of blame the Shia for this kind of level of Sunni violence is to some extent really to blame the victim. So I think al-Malaki is going to have to see what he can do to meet this challenge militarily. He's going to have a challenge keeping Shia groups from reforming into militia from keeping a more radicalized Shia population. It's going to be tough.</s>MALVEAUX: Chris, I've got to ask you this. It certainly seems this has escalated since American troops pulled out at the end of 2011. President Bush went in there saying this was going to be some place of peace in the Middle East, that this was going to be some sort of model. Do you see where the U.S. got involved at all? Is there any success here or is this just really ultimately a failure?</s>HILL: Well, I mean, certainly the question of Iraq and the invasion is something that history books will look at for a long time. Obviously, a lot of good things have happened. Certainly one can't spend 10 minutes in the country without thinking it was a good thing that Saddam Hussein is gone. But the notion that the United States, or specifically, the U.S. military, could deal with some of the political -- the underlying sectarian and political issues, those are issues that need to be sorted out by the Iraqis and it's going to take some time.</s>MALVEAUX: Would you advise the Obama administration to start bringing American troops back into Iraq if things just simply turn into turmoil? I mean, it is the mess that the United States in some ways created.</s>HILL: Well, first of all, I don't think we created the mess. I think the Sunni/Shia problem has been there for a long time. We well may have underappreciated thinking the real fault line in Iraq was somehow between those who is believe in democracy and those who is believe in dictatorship. I think the real fault lines have to do with the fact that Iraq is one of these countries sort of on the edge between the Arab and Persian world, between the Arab and Turkish world. It is one of these countries that will always have these kinds of issues depending how well they're able to deal with it. Right now with a completely unmitigated situation disaster situation in Syria, I don't think there's a lot of Iraqi government. Even if it were God's gift to governments I don't think they would have an easy time.</s>MALVEAUX: Do you think it would help to bring back American troops?</s>HILL: No, I don't think that is a realistic prospect. Certainly I don't think there's a lot of stomach for it in this country. I don't think it's really what the solution requires. I think it's going to have to involve a lot of political work. And some security work to be sure by the Iraqi government.</s>MALVEAUX: All right. Ambassador Chris Hill, thank you as always. Good to speak to you. We'll be following that story as it develops. Certainly a lot of problems taking place and it is very worrisome. Chris, thanks again. We really appreciate it. People are scrambling right now at big airports, Midwest to northeast. I want you to take a look at this. This is actually the line at LaGuardia. There is a window of time between major storm part one and part two. That is right. Flights being canceled left and right today. Travelers, stay with us for an update. We'll have that next.