i mean, are we seeing parallels here to baghdad? >> i wouldn't draw any parallels to baghdad. this was a completely different -- completely different country, totally different political dynamics here. there is no sunni shiite divide in this country. in iraq you had kurdish divide. the iraq war was led by the united states. it was followed by an american occupation. nato intervention from afar that helped the rebels liberate themselves, according to their own view of this conflict. i don't think you can draw those kind of parallels that it was a liberation that descend et the civil war. it might happen but not because of the reasons that happened in baghdad. >> the fact is that rebels are different groups that have come together. now, if they are successful, what does that mean? how do we know that these groups can come together and govern who is going to dominate? there are those of us here who didn't want to get involved because we didn't want to see the united states get in the regime change. what happens now? >> i don't think that the united states is in the regime change

. >> on march 5th, 2007, a car bomb was exploded on mutanabbi street in baghdad. mutanabbi street is a mixed shia-suni area. more than 30 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded. this locale is the historic center of baghdad book selling, a winding street filled with bookstores and outdoor book stalls. named after the famous 10th century classic poet, al-mutanabbi, this is an old and established street for book selling and has been for hundreds of years. mutanabbi street also holds cafes, stationary shops, and even tea and tobacco shops. it has been the heart and soul of the baghdad literary and intellectual community. this tragedy is part of a wider and continuing tragedy, but one that we want to isolate and address, not only for the loss of lives but also for the implications underlying the destruction of a street where books were sold. book selling on mutanabbi street is no different from book selling here. we traffic in memory, ideas and dreams. in that sense, we feel that mutanabbi street starts at the front door of all of our book shops. mutanabbi

palestine and sheraton hotels, home to western journalists and one of the most fortified compounds in baghdad. it's also where carl was heading for a meeting. >> there was a car that was behind us. and the car that was behind us swerved from behind us and kept going down that road and headed straight for that checkpoint. and that was the second suicide bomber. and we were actually about to drive right into that. >> seconds later, the car that passes them explodes. >> it felt like the bomb came from underneath the floorboards. i said to myself, i can't believe we're about to die. i said, i -- i was just angry, and i was just incredulous, so to speak. and the tree that we were underneath was on fire. >> but the attack isn't over. and the biggest explosion is yet to come. manning a machine gun at the checkpoint is specialist darrell green. >> at that time, they -- the cement mixer was trying to come through our perimeter. >> a huge cement mixer filled with explosives tries to sneak through the breach made by the first blast and drive up to the

we go to "washington post" reporter annie gowan in baghdad. welcome. thanks for joining us. iraqi officials are staying that they believe these 42 attacks were coordinated. the question is by whom? who do they think has the ability to pull something like this off? >> well, i spoke to an iraqi army commander yesterday who basically assumes that it's al qaeda and iraq. the u.s. military is not saying yet that they think that as well but they're saying that it's very similar to a string of attacks that occurred in ramadan last year which were also coordinated and went, you know, where 53 people died in multiple cities in iraq. that was perpetrated by al qaeda in arak. although no one has claimed responsibility they basically think that it's likely the work of al qaeda. >> warner: you're talking about the sunni insurgency, al qaeda linked. to what end? i mean, what do iraqi and american officials think is their political objective with this? >> some say they're trying to destabilize the country so that the americans believe... will leave at the deadline that's prescribed which i

troops on the ground as we did in baghdad to try to establish order if this becomes a prolonged hunt for gadhafi and a prolonged resistance. >> that's probably the good news. we do have on the ground from nato considerable number of both intelligence operatives and special forces people. this is libyan revolution. it's a still of two million people. there's no police there. we think the rebels have possibly 4,000 fighters in the city. and it's incoherent. the only thing that's sure is this is the end of the gadhafi regime. we're talking about a bitter struggle, it might go on for a week or so before he's done and then the ensuing revolution occurs. which they try and put together governance. >> this is a society that is completely armed on a good day. so given the fact that there is going to be resistance from some loyalists and the need to try to collect weapons, how concerned do we need to be about the stingers and other serious weapons that are still out there? >> well, you know, i've listened to the commentary of the last two days. as a general statement i actually don't think we

her article "down and out in baghdad," is in september "playboy," magazine. with us like in the studio. used to be with the fox family back in the day. >>guest: that's true. good to be back. >>shepard: this is quite an account of nine days across a country that i think some military folks would call--. >>guest: i ran into a bunch of military gives from ohio and kentucky so i know a lot of guys over there and i ran into them and they are like, what are you doing. >>shepard: you were playing tourist. >>guest: i was on a tour. we had armed guards and going to archeological digs. >>shepard: tell us what you saw. it sounds like it is a disaster. >>guest: you know what? i would like to be more optimistic and i would say the roads are paveed which is an upgrade from a couple of years ago. but i am not that shocked that all that money was reported missing and i would not be shocked if it was quadruple that amount. >>shepard: you speak of a theme park. >>guest: an american company was granted $500 million license and money to go build a theme park and a zoo and by the

kind of reminiscent of baghdad. >> it is. it is. it's very reminiscent of that. the reality for a lot of folks, particularly this generation who have begun to understand what they can do, the power they have. they have watched their neighbors respond. they have watched the world respond to their actions in a positive way. i think, there are two overarching questions, what kind of civil society is created and the oil created. the reality for us right now is we are broke, folks. if the u.s. is going to find itself in a position it is going to have to write checks. it's going to be a problem for people here at home who don't have fireworks going off and not celebrating a lot because they don't have a job. it's going to be a very delicate balance. >> one quick point about oil, the price of oil is already dropping on markets because the industry assumes that oil will come back online after this long civil war. the other piece is that the oil company, the producing companies and the people in the field, their stocks are rising in futures. the assumption is by the marke

the fighting became intense as weaver and his unit waged the battle for baghdad. when it came time to pull the trigger, no hesitation. >> no hesitation. pulled the trigger. >> reporter: in august, 2003, he returned home to his base and family. but in the years after he got home, weaver was a changed man, physically and mentally, wrestling with injury, sickness, and the stress of combat. did you lose some friends? >> yeah, i did. so -- >> reporter: and since leaving the military, weaver has been fighting the great recession. >> i've been retired for a year. i'm still looking for work. >> reporter: weaver's military pension barely covers the mortgage payments on his modest small town home. you think the country owes you something now? >> the only thing i think is owed to me is the opportunity to go to work for somebody and prove to them that somebody coming from the military has a lot to offer. >> reporter: in small towns across america, like here in big timber, montana, where they post the name of every young man and every young woman in this county serving in the

given your love for the what's your assessment of the relations between baghdad and moscow is there a problem to develop corporation relationship in all areas. thank god our relations are developing well and we're making significant progress i think that russian foreign minister lavrov his visit to baghdad is a good confirmation of this our relations in political economic trade construction and military areas have become quite advanced they are very well thought through plans of russian iraqi military cooperation aiming at increasing combat readiness of the iraqi armed forces which for many years have used russian military equipment and armaments there is also a plan for russian oil companies to participate in a number of projects to develop the iraqi oil industry including some investment projects i think that we've proved that we make no preferences and do not obstruct russia's interests on iraq's markets as russian business circles might have thought earlier despite the fact that the u.s. and great britain are also active in iraq market and pursue their interests i'm sure that fair

now, unfortunately, it looks a little bit too much like baghdad at the moment. but one of the pieces of policy here for the weeks ahead is that the national council in libya, with the support of the obama administration, has decided it's not going to disband the libyan army, it's not going to disband the police force. >> we know the mistakes not to make. >> it's going to invite people from gaddafi's government, if they have relatively clean hands, to join some kind of a new coalition. it's easier said than done, but it's a different direction. >> you said there's not a great template here militarily going forward. have we learned any lessons diplomatically from some of these other arab spring about what the u.s. should and shouldn't do? >> well, we've learned a lot about the limits of what the united states can do. this one had to be done on the ground. we have learned that it's very hard to get the u.n. security council lined up and that there's no -- if you take a look at syria, the arab league won't vote that way on syria. to me, the immediate lesson is that

i was maybe backed out of baghdad with severe p.t.s.d. and i've been in recovery at walter reed. i can speak to my own pain my own suffering. you can't speak to the army's official policy but i can speak to what i know and what i've experienced and what i'm still living. the most the most difficult thing is the difference between invisible and visible injuries and. it touches on what we're talking about today the suicide the suicide rate. when people can't see something they don't know how to respond they don't know how to react they don't know how to help they don't know what to do and i've i've lived that for the years i've been there. now. i can go to give you an example i got one of them i wonder where event a group of wounded warriors and this happens repeatedly. over the event we all enter we walk in as a group. sometimes we have celebrities sometimes senior political officials sometimes senior military officials sometimes just local people coming out to say hello they walk right past me. to shake hands with a person who has a visib

and you know, so much of this is relevant to what we saw in baghdad in april of 2003. a regime that presented itself as populist and socialist, that was not only utterly brutal, but utterly corrupt, living in extraordinary luxury. i'm not sure i would use the word pornography that was used once or twice today to refer to stacks of "playboy" magazines. but living luxurious lives. and with odd things like that. what to make of that, it would be interesting to see what condoleezza rice -- >> that's my first thought, to. how are you going to ask her for a statement about that. it's so bizarre. >> i tell you what did come to my mind looking at that, was that i think we have to acknowledge that there's a good deal of complicity among the western powers. in all of this. a long time gadhafi was the number one bad boy. certainly was for long period before saddam went into kuwait. but then we befriended him. tony blair went there. condi rice went there. embraced him. the british even returned al ma ra hi who was the only man convicted in the pan am 103 shootdown. it wouldn't be

>>> baghdad, iraq. october 24th, 2005. it's late afternoon when a surveillance camera pointed at a traffic circle captures an suv slowing down. suddenly, it explodes. nbc news bureau chief carl bostic is in the traffic circle when it happens. >> everything around me was just orange, you know, from the front window and the side window, a big bang or roar. >> he's so close to the explosion that his heavily armored suburban is launched into the air. >> and it landed back on the four wheels. the thing about it is, you automatically knew it was a car bomb. i thought, i can't believe it. this is a car bomb. this is crazy. >> it's about to get even crazier. >> i thought the coast was clear, we were safe. we'd gotten away from this car bomb. i said, my gosh, somehow we escaped miraculously. >> but the huge explosion is just the beginning of a carefully coordinated attack on the security checkpoint at the palestine and sheraton hotels, home to western journalists and one of the most fortified compounds in baghdad. it's also where c

and you know, so much of this is relevant to what we saw in baghdad in april of 2003. a regime that presented itself as populist and socialist, that was not only utterly brutal, but utterly corrupt, living in extraordinary luxury. i'm not sure i would use the word pornography that was used once or twice today to refer to stacks of "playboy" magazines. but living luxurious lives. and with odd things like that. what to make of that, it would be interesting to see what condoleezza rice -- >> that's my first thought, to. how are you going to ask her for a statement about that. imts's so bizarre. >> i tell you what did come to my mind looking at that, was that i think we have to acknowledge that there's a good deal of complicity among the western powers. in all of this. a long time gadhafi was the number one bad boy. certainly was for long period before saddam went into kuwait. but then we befriended him. tony blair went there. condi rice went there. embraced him. the british even returned al ma ra hi who was the only man convicted in the pan am 103 shootdown. it wouldn't b

and you know, so much of this is of what we saw in baghdad in april 2003. a regime that presented itself as populist and socialist that was not only utterly brutal but utterly corrupt, living in extraordinary luxury. i'm not sure i would use the word pornography that was used once or twice today to refer to stacks of playboy magazines, but certainly living lives with odd things like that. what to make of that. it would be interesting to know what condy rice thinks. >> i was thinking wow who's going to get a statement from her and what would you say about that? >> what came to my mind looking at that was that i think we have to acknowledge that there's a good deal of complicity among the western powers in all of this. we were a long time, of course, gadhafi was the number one bad boy. certainly was for the long periods before saddam wednesday into kuwait. but then we wanted to get his nuclear weapons. we befriended him. tony blair went there, condy rice went there, embraced him. the british even returned the prisoner who was the only man convicted in the pan

when you look around it looks a little bit like the green zone in baghdad. saddam hussein's compound. a walled area where he could receive guests. where he could live. gadhafi didn't mingle much with his people especially the later he got in his years. he could live quite comfortably in here and receive guests. he'd drive around in golf carts and be prepared if this building ever came under attack because of the high walls and because of the massive amounts of weapons in here. >> richard, you mentioned nato's role being decisive at key moments particularly the air support that rebels received from nato forces which of course also involved american assets. my question to you is we see there's no shortage of weapons there. are those weapons being supplied by nato forces? where are they coming from? >> reporter: i'm not sure i heard all of your question. the nato role in this was clearly decisive. today there was a nato role in briefing the compound. we heard nato jets this morning as the battle for gadhafi's compounds began. we heard the loud booms, the unmist

suicide on top of all these kills and now you know, what a mar gin in old baghdad in the wrong place at the wrong time why you're mourning is going in one ear of the deaf tomorrow. and out the deafening utter. air cane. one, the sorrow these many months isn't because celebrities put eyes all over my body as i was in the u.s. again. not the other america. it comes from the footprint of a kick stab in my back. got riding a bus to a reading with some really destitute brothers and sisters in a 16, 3 office space. i am sitting in the rear of the bus reading a translation of the book of the concealed mystery. my eyes are risen from a black woman standing and talking on her cell phone. i voice decibeled, latino black and white workers. when i arrive, i accidentally grace her sleeve with an excuse me. she pushed me. shouts don't touch me with hate red and what the hell do you think you did to me. the eyes coiled and in denial or at once and set to spring. when my shoulders i bear a gentle but insistent arms and turning from a black man, you don't want to go here. here's your stop. he leads m

this could be baghdad all over again in tripoli. if we start seeing lawlessness and looters and all that going on captain nash pointed outrightly so we have a humanitarian effort you have the western tribes fundamentally took over tripoli. what is the relationship with the eastern tribes going to be? we are going to have power struggles there. the international community to include the muslim league, the u.n., nato. what role were they going to play to get a country working again and functioning. there are so many unknowns there and so many challenges. let's be ue fore rick tonight and we have huge challenges in front of us. >> i couldn't have said it better. general thank you. i want everyone to know that fox news is going to stay with this story all night long. we are going to be live. we are going to give you the in-depth. we will try to get the best beat on whether or not moammar qaddafi excited if so where. it's a state of panic he had the blanket over head. he has made a deal with algeria or likely one of the nations in africa