03/20/23 03/20/ [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! president pres. bush: coalition forces are in the early stage of military operations to disarm iraq, free its people, and defend the world from great danger. amy: 20 years ago today, the united states invaded iraq beginning a devastatingar that deroyed iraqdefied

international law, help destabilize much of the middle east. today we spin the hour with journalist feurat alani and poet and nolist sinan antoon. >> i think it is imptant to member the lies that were spad at e time to justify the invasion and occupation and toook at the legacy of what the invasion occupation has left iraqis with and what kind allenges they face as they live with the consequences of that illegalnd destructive war , which to my mind, amounts to terrorism. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. chinese president xi jinping is in moscow for talks with president vladimir putin in his first visit to russia since it invaded ukraine. beijing's show of support for

putin comes days after the international criminal court issued an arrest warrant for putin for war crimes for deporting ukrainian children to russia. this is icc president piotr hofmanski. >> the judges have reviewed the information and evidence presented by the prosecutor and determined there are credible allegations against these persons for the alleged crimes. the icc is doing its part as a court of law and judges issued arrest warrants. the execution depends on international cooperation. amy: putin could be arrested if he travels to a member country of the international criminal court. russia is not a member, nor are china, the united states, or india -- which is hosting a g20 summit in new delhi in december. in an apparent act of defiance, putin visited the occupied

ukrainian city of mariupol, a symbol of ukrainian resistance. he also visited crimea saturday to mark the ninth anniversary of its annexation. in other ns about the war, russia, ukraine, turkey, and the united nations agreed friday to extend a deal allowing for shipments of ukrainian grain via black sea ports for 120 days. here in the united states, the guardian is reporting the biden administration is quietly resuming deportations to russia after suspending them last year following the invasion of ukraine. many of those facing deportation could end up in prison or on the frontline if sent back home. over the weekend, protests took place across united states calling for an end to u.s. involvement in the ukraine war as the world marks today the 20th anniversary of the u.s. invasion of iraq. in the nation's capital, people rallied in front of the white house and marched the streets of d.c. this is claudia de la cruz from the people's forum.

>> here to let the world know we are committed as a people to shut the war machine down. we have got to fight. we have to continue to demand an end to the levels of sanctions the u.s. has all across the globe. here making those demands and recommitting ourselves to lift up the antiwar movement once again. amy: the costs of war project estimates up to 306,000 people have died from direct war related violence, while hundds of tusands moriraqi civilians have died from indirect causes d millions have been displaced. some estimates put the death toll in iraq at over 2 million. in the lead-up to the illegal u.s. invasion in 2003, tens of millions of people took to the

streets in thousands of anti-war protests around the globe. after headlines, we'll spend the hour looking at the u.s. invasion of iraq with iraqi poet sinan antoon and french-iraqi journalist and filmmaker feurat alani. in sharm el-sheikh, egypt, representatives from israel and palestine agreed to de-escalate tensions ahead of ramadan, including an israeli pledge to halt discussion of new settlement construction four -- for four months. the talks were also attended by u.s., egyptian, and jordanian officials. a similar pledge to curb violence was reached a month earlier but did little to quell the mounting violence. israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 85 palestinians so far in 2023 as members of the extreme-right israeli government have openly called for violence against palestinians. in gaza, protesters condemned palestinian officials for taking part in the egyptian meetings. >> attending these kinds of

summits while there are massacres, while there is this fascist government and it israel and during this critical time is disregarding the dignity of the palestinian people. amy: elsewhere in egypt, the foreign ministers of turkey and egypt met in cairo for their first official talks in a decade as the two countries move to restore ties. the pair agreed to re-establish ambassadorships as soon as possible. turkey and egypt severed ties in 2013 after president abdel fattah al-sisi, who was then army-chief, led the ouster of the muslim brotherhood's mohamed morsi, a turkish ally. tensions have also simmered over the conflict in libya and over maritime borders in the eastern mediterranean. ubs has agreed to buy smaller rival bank credit suisse for $3.2 billion in a bid to stem global financial turmoil following the collapse of two u.s. banks a week-and-a-half ago. the deal was brokered by the swiss government.

the u.s. federal reserve, the european central bank, and others welcomed the news as they sought to reassure investors of the stability of the global financial markets. here in the united states, new york community bancorp reached a deal to take over the failed signature bank and assume all its deposits a week after it was seized by the federal deposit insurance corporation. signature's 40 branches will now operate as flagstar banks, which new york community bancorp acquired in december. massachusetts senator elizabeth warren called sunday for an independent investigation into the collapse of signature and silicon valley bank. warren also called for biden to fire fed chair jerome powell, whom she blames for helping undo financial regulations and for continuing to raise interest rates despite forecasts it could cost 2 million people their jobs. french president emanuel macron

is facing a no-confidence vote in parliament today after he pushed through a highly unpopular pension law through executive powers friday, raising the retirement age from 62 to 64. protests continued to rock france over the weekend, with over 300 people arrested. garbage continues to pile up on city streets as sanitation workers have been on strike for two weeks. >> we continue. we continue. we resist despite the fatigue. our determination is more than reinforced since the reform was pushed through. so i hope everywhere in france, people will mobilize. amy: more protests and labor strikes are planned for this week. press freedom groups are condemning the 12 year jail sentence of two belarusian journalists after a closed door trial. they work for an independent outlet which was shot down by belarusian forces in 2021 and

labeled terrorists. this comes as a new report by the u.n. says human rights violations and refreshing carried out by belarusian authorities against protesters and dissidents could amount to crimes against humanity. in pakistan, police have raided and arrested dozens of supporters and aides of former prime minister imran khan following protests over khan's attempted arrests. on saturday, a court canceled arrest warrants for khan after he appeared in person, and scheduled a hearing on march 30. khan, who was removed from office by parliament last year, denies the corruption charges against him and is calling for snap elections. at least 16 people have died after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck off the southern coast of ecuador saturday, about 50 miles from guayaquil. one of the deaths was reported in northern peru. this comes as the region is still reeling from cyclone yaku, which killed at least eight people. >> my house was filled with water.

we have lost everything. i don't even have anywhere to sleep or to sit. amy: an estimated 60 people have died since the rainy season began in peru. elsewhere, intense flooding in turkey's earthquake-stricken southern provinces has killed at least 16 people. the torrential rains have also damaged dozens of camps in northwestern syria, which housed many displaced survivors of the february 6 earthquakes. in southeast africa, the death toll from tropical cyclone freddy, believed to be the longest-ever in recorded history, has risen to 522 across malawi, mozambique, and madagascar. meanwhile, california is bracing for more heavy storms this week, as the 12th atmospheric river this season hits the battered state. thousands were ordered to evacuate sunday in central california. in the san joaquin valley, farmers say damage to crops could impact national and international food supply. >> bridges, breaks.

i can't even begin to put a number on that. crop losses. my personal opinion, between hundreds of millions to a billion plus dollars. once those next storms hit, the flows will double, triple again. it is just going to keep coming and coming. amy: wyoming has become the first state in the country to ban the use of abortion pills. the law goes into effect in july, making it a felony to prescribe, sell, and use abortion medication, the most popular method to terminate a pregnancy in the united states. people found in violation would face up to six months in prison and a fine. meanwhile, the replican gornor mark gordon allowed another sweepi anti-abortion measure to become law without his signature. the so-called life is a human right act went into effect sunday and prohibits abortion under most circumstances, punishable with up to five years in prison. the maternal mortality rate in the united states skyrocketed in

2021, with black women more than twice as likely to die than white women. that's according to new cdc data, which said the u.s. saw a 40% increase in maternal deaths in 2021 compared to the previous year, largely due to the compounding impacts of the covid-19 pandemic. the u.s. maternal mortality rate is more than 10 times higher than the estimated rates in other wealthy countries. donald trump said he expects to be arrested tuesday in connection with the manhattan da investigation into hush money payments made to adult film actor stormy daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. in a post on his site truth social, trump called on his supporters to "protest, take our nation back!" trump is expected to be indicted in the case though the timing is unknown. a u.s. air force veteran from texas was sentenced to two years in prison for his role in the

january 6 capitol insurrection. 55-year-old larry brock entered the senate chambers in full combat gear and rifled through senators' desks. in florida, the city of miami beach declared a state of emergency, imposing an overnight curfew sunday after two fatal shootings this weekend and "excessively large and unruly crowds" during spring break. officials are meeting today to consider enforcing the measures again from thursday to next monday. and elsewhere in florida, hundreds of farmworkers and supporters led a five-day, 50-mile march demanding humane working conditions and better protections. workers are calling on food retailers to join the fair food program, an initiative that launched in 2011 to improve conditions for farmworkers and end modern day slavery. the march began outside a labor camp in the agricultural community of pahokee, where hundreds of farmworkers were

forced into brutal working and living conditions under threats of violence, deportation, and insurmountable debts. the owner of the labor camp was sentenced to nearly a decade in prison in 2022 for leading a federal racketeering and forced labor conspiracy across at least five states. the ended in palm springs march saturday. this is gerardo reyes chaves, a member of the coalition of immokalee workers which organized the action. >> we ve comhere to demand thubliandgerfor themo join t fair fo prograand putn eno the extreme labor abuses in this country. amy: and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. when we come back, 20 years ago today the united states invaded the oil-rich nation of iraq,

beginning a devastating war that destroyed iraq, helped destabilize much of the middle east. today we spend the hour with two iraqis, journalist feurat alani and a poet and novelist sinan antoon. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman in new york, joined by my democracy now! co-host nermeen shaikh. hi, nermeen. nermeen: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: well, it was 20 years ago today when the u.s. invaded iraq on the false pretext that iraqi president saddam hussein was hiding weapons of mass destruction. the attack came despite worldwide protest and the lack of authorization from the united nations security council. at around 5:30 a.m. local time in baghdad on march 20, 2003, air raid sirens were heard in

baghdad as the u.s. invasion began. within the hour, president george w. bush gave nationally televised speech from the oval ofce announcg the war had begun. pres. bush: my fellow citizens, at this hour, american and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm iraq, to free its people, and to defend the world from great danger. on my orders, coalition forces have began striking selected targets on of military courts to undermine saddam hussein's ability to wage war. these are opening stages of what will be a broad and concerted campaign. i wanted americans and all the world to know that coalition forces will make every effort to spare innocent civilians from harm. we come to iraq with respect for its citizens, for their great civilization, and fothe religious faith they practice.

we have no ambition in iraq except to remove a threat and restore control of that country to its own people. amy: and this is how we began our broadcast on democracy now! 20 years ago today 20, 2003. , marchwelcome to democracy now! , the war and peace report, i'm amy goodman. just about 9:30 p.m. at time last night, u.s. military began an unprovoked attack on iraq, air raid siren sounded throughout baghdad, just before the sun rose, antiaircraft fire filled the sky and explosions shook the city. pentagon officials at over 30 tomahawk cruise missles were launched from warships, to sell farmers. it is not clear what has been hit or the extent of the casualties. the iraqi news agency is just there are 14 injured and one dead. iraq responded by firing three

missiles into northern kuwait according to the u.s. military that could not be independently confirmed. the attack was not the beginning of the extent -- of what the u.s. calls the shock and all campaign but a targeted strike on iraqi president saddam hussein. it is not clear whether the assassination attempt was successful. hours before the attack, senator robert byrd condemned the bush administration's war plans. the west virginia democrat said "today i weep for my country. no more is the image of america one of strong yet benevolent peacekeeper. around the globe, our friends missed trust us. our word is disputed. our intentions are questioned." he continued "we flaunt our super status with arrogance. we will have to rebuild much more than the country of iraq, we will have to rebuild america's image around the globe." around the world, international

leaders condemned the u.s. war. top officials from france, russia, china, india, pakistan, greece, malaysia, indonesia, and new zealand were among those opposing the attack. that was an excerpt from our coverage 20 years ago today at the start of the u.s. invasion of iraq. last week, the costs of war project estimated over 550,000 people have been killed in iraq and syria since 2003. some estimates put the death toll in iraq at over 2 million. today, the u.s. still has some 2500 troops in iraq. well, we will spend their broadcast today with two iraqis looking back at how the unprovoked u.s. invasion devastated their country and helped destabilize much of the middle east. feurat alani is a french-iraqi journalist who was based in baghdad from 2003 to 2008. he travels to iraq frequently.

he has made several documentaries, including "flavors of iraq." his first novel is just out in french, titled in english, "i remember fallujah." his recent piece for "the washington post" is headlined "the iraq war helped destroy what it meant to be an iraqi." he is joining us from paris. and here in new york, sinan antoon. he is an iraqi poet, novelist, translator, and scholar born and raised in baghdad. associate professor at new york university. his piece in the guardian is just out, headlined "a million lives later, i cannot forgive what american terrorism did to my country, iraq." he co-directed a documentary about post-2003 iraq titled "about baghdad." a collection of his arabic poetry will appear in english this summer under the title "postcards from the underworld."

his most recent novel is titled "the book of collateral damage." we welcome you both to democracy now! sinan antoon, that's begin with you. your reflections on this day 20 years after the u.s. invaded iraq? talk about what happened to your country. >> thank you for having me, amy. i mean, what happened in the last 20 years is catastrophic by any measure. if you look at the figures of the people who have been displaced because of this invasion, a total of 8 million iraqis had to leave their homes. point .2 million are internally displaced in iraq. there have been at least one million deaths. we have 4 million orphans. we have an economy in shambles. we have a country ruled by

militias and a country that frequently is in the top most corrupt countries in the world with all kinds of economic and social problems. one country where climate change is manifesting destructive effects in horrendous ways. it is important i think since we are in united states citizens to remember the amount of lives and how easily they were sold this war. and as i mentioned my article, how the support for the war continues for several years. until recently, a lot of people still think that somehow iraq was involved with 9/11. i think it says something about the corporate media, about how information is disseminated -- except for democracy now! and if you are there outlets -- the media itself describes -- the

scribes are complicit in selling this war and continuing to give us these happy stories just before coming into the studio out here, i was watching msnbc and one of its reporters was in baghdad saying how great baghdad is now because there is tourism and going into one of saddam hussein's previous parishes which was turned into an american university in baghdad which is a private university and telling us, oh, it is a covert university as if iraq did nohave coed universities for decades. i can go on but i will stop here. nermeen: feurat alani, if you could give us your reflection? >> thank you for the invitation and i'm honored to share the show with sinan antoon who is an inspiration to me. as he said, the figures are

enough to explain how the invasion -- i refuse to use the term "war." it was an iraqi invasion, illegal and consequences on many, many points are a disaster. what is really important to me as a french of iraqi dissent is to remember iraq was a country. iraq was a concept. we did not know anything about the sectarian view that the u.s. brought in 2003. of course, it was in history but iraqi used to describe themselves as iraqis. there was a sense of identity, of citizenship. when i was a kid, i had the chance to go to iraq.

i was nine the first time in 1989. it was the only year i from the last 40 years -- your fps from the last 40 years. the country i discovered was the opposite of the cliff face i had about the country and at the same time i was rational of the nature of the regime. but i still remember and i refuse to forget that iraq was safe. iraq had a daily life that was comparable sometimes to the life i had in france. again, i would like to remind iraq was a forced dictatorship and it was difficult or impossible to go against the regime. people were jailed, killed, or silenced. my father left iraq in the 1970's. so we know that. but the idea that 20 years

later, we still are talking about how iraq now is a better place, how iraq is a democracy when it's almost impossible to have a sense of what the iraqi citizenship is today. iraqis are described -- they are described as sunnis, shia, christians, and muslims, which is something i would oppose. to me, 20 years later, iraq is part of a collective amnesia. i think very important to highligh how iraq rose and maybe to talk about the future of iraq. nermeen: feurat alani, if you could talk -- you just elaborated on what has happened to iraqi identity.

to what do you attribute the fact that iraq came to be seen along purely sectarian lines and that now, as you say, people continue to identify as sunni, shia, kurds, etc? >> when the american army and u.s. administration invaded iraq they came with the idea that iraqis were not iraqs, they were qualified with their sects. the day following the regime, we have seen on tv people that all iraqis do not really know, the iraqi delete that came with the, presenting a congress -- a concept of iraq through sects and religion and confession. we have to remind that

everything was destroyed as a country. the iraqi army was disbanded. the institution was dismantled stop iraq went from a very -- a dictatorship to a security and political vacuum that was filled with ideas that iraq is discovered to be really clear. the concept of dividing the people, of talking about a majority and minority, to me was dangerous because this security and political vacuum i was talking about was filled with people having a short-term vision, but iraq with their own interest, probably with revenge against the regime -- again, this very binary vision of iraq that the iraqi people were divided into. like people who supported tsedale and those against.

of course, it was much more complex than that. a lot of mistakes came after the invasion of iraq. paul bremmer, the american administrator of the country, did so many stakes by dismantling the army, talking about debaathification, n ot allowing iraqis to express themselves. i remember iraqis wanted to be part of something, part of a common project, but the system brought by the u.s. mindset at that time were completely against that. this is something that needs to be highlighted today if you want to understand how the iraqis are divided today. amy: i would like to go back to 2006 when then senator joe biden co-authored a "new york times"

opinion piece headlined "unity through autonomy in iraq." in the piece, he called for what's been termed a "soft partition" of iraq calling for the establishment of "three largely autonomous regions with a viable central government in baghdad. the kurdish, sunni, and shiite regions would each be responsible for their own domestic laws, administration, and internal security. baghdad would become a federal zone, while densely populated areas of mixed populations would receive both multi-sectarian and international police protection." sinan antoon, can you respond? >> i remember that. i wrote a response to that. you know, it is vintage colonial vision and attitude. mr. biden from delaware, co. writes a piece telling iraqis

how their country should be. despite the corruption and the sectarian sentiment of so many iraqi politicians, they were even fighting, but none of them had asked for this type of division, except for the kurds with that is a separately issue. these ideas were internalized by lot of iraqi politicians to start calling for a separate zone for this and that and of course would only be an excuse for even more organized corruption and more siphoning of iraqi resources. but i should say something that i have been thinking about and talking about is -- if the system of violence of the american occupation of iraq, which is my friend saying come is the destruction and erosion

of an idea of what is to be iraq i -- of course every identity is a composite. but what 2003 did, is try to dismantle the idea of iraqi nationalism and replace it with these other identities. and thankfully, the 2019 uprising by iraqi men and women who went out in the streets was actually the mt vociferous, eloquent rejection of the regime that the united states install. it was a rejection of everything it stood for. it showed it had failed in every respect. it had failed in providing living, dignified conditions for the iraqi citizens despite the wealth. and one of the early slogans of the uprising was "no to iran" and "no to the u.s." the consequences is the

disproportionate influence the iraniansad in iraq. the other thing is what was invasion did to the iraqi sovereignty. we have u.s. troops in iraq. turkey has troops in northern iraq and bombs wnever it feels like it. weave massive iranian influence. a lot of these u.s. journalists and so-called pundits and experts keep complaining about that. i remember in the first few weeks of the invasion, there was a news item saying the better brigades, the militia at the time it was called the supreme council for the islamic revolution in iraq, which was based in tehran because they were exiled -- but the better she came into iraq 30,000 armed men and were allowed to enter into iraq. these people went on a rampage,

assassinating and killing and exerting vengeance. so the other issue was to completely dismantle the state institutions in iraq and not replace them with functioning institutions. so disbanded the army but never really build a functioning army. that is why -- which is a product of american presence and occupation in iraq -- was hatched in the u.s. military presence, when isis comes about, there is no army to fight isis because of all of the corruption. let's remember who are the people who were sent to be experts, to help rebuild the iraqi army or police. i forgot his name, but the new york city police chief was himself corrupt, was sent to iraq -- amy: bernard character. >> exactly amy: who himself was jailed.

your viewers should go a look at how many people plan and call for the were then went into iraq as contractors. this was the elite of those who supported the war did not lose anything. their portfolios tripled, their investments went up and all of that. it is average citizens who pay the price. amy: i want to follow-up on something you said earlier. that was when the -- after the 9/11 attacks, president bush immediately started pushing to attack iraq. as you said, many people don't realize -- 15 of the 19 hijackers were from saudi arabia. a day or two after the attacks, get president bush -- you president bush with the saudi ambassador to the united states smoking cigars together.

but right at that time -- we interviewed soon after richard clark, the counterterrorism c zar, who said the day after 9/11, president bush questioned him and other associates at the white house to see if saddam hussein did this, see if he is linked in any way. clark was incredulous and said in his book "against all odds," "mr. president, al qaeda did this." bush said, "look, i want to know any shred." clark added later that he felt they were being intimidated to find a link between 9/11 attacks and iraq. and when the attack on iraq came in 2003, at the leading democrats -- joe biden, hillary clinton, as students were being dragged out of her office in new york, she was editor at the time, she voted for the war in iraq.

talk about the consensus at that point. the media was building this consensus for war. >> that is an important point. there was a convergence of different ways and factis. we know from the early 1990's, the group of neocons had already started this notion of changing the regime in iraq. not for the benefit of theraq is for liberty or freedom, but protecting the interest of israel and u.s. jiminy. then it converges with bush's vision -- let's remember, those who are old enough to remember but i think younger viewers should realize and should read about the type of messianic and insane vision bush has a mandate from god, the lingering issue of his father and supposed

assassination attempt. after 9/11, both bush and rumsfeld were let's go and attack iraq. the evidence was manufactured later and was very weak and flimsy evidence. so when so many until now are saying had we known back then what we know -- actually, everything was obvious. those of us who managed to read or did not have the -- it was obvious there were no weapons of mass destruction and no link with al qaeda. the question for u.s. citizens and for others is why is it there was a consensus? i think it is this colonial mentality and white supremacy that is internalized by so many. i mentioned in the article that the tourney was army used in iraq and afghanistan, "indian country." in the first few months i was watching tv and i saw an embedded journalist -- not only

embedded journalist, but even that it artists come review -- a film pro-war like "the hurt locker" is considered an antiwar film. the embedded journalist was with a group of u.s. soldiers and a humvee about it exit a military base u.s. at occupied to go somewhere in baghdad and the soldier tells the journalist, we are now in indian country. that stayed with me. what does it mean? indian country meeting lawless land where there are no lands or civilization? that simultaneously invoked the national view about spreading civilization on this continent and erases genocide and destruction, but also convinces the soldiers and the viewers they are spreading democracy and civilization. it extends to everyone.

a lot of journalists until today and many years into the war showwe did not do something good in iraq, so where is this assumption that somehow if u.s. army goes somewhere, they must do something good. complete denial of colonialism that is ingrained in this view of looking at the world and other parts of the world. amy: sinan antoon, we are going to continue this discussion after break iraqi poet, author, professor at new york university and feurat alani, french-iraqi journalist. we will also hear from sinan a poem and for feurat to talk about what has happened in the city fallujah, this as president putin is indicted for war crimes by the international criminal court. we are looking back 20 years ago today when president bush invaded iraq.

stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. our guests for this hour, this 2010 anniversary of the u.s. invasion of iraq, are two iraq is, sinan antoon, poet and author and professor at new york university and feurat alani, french-iraqi journalist whose family is from fallujah. nermeen: your documentary titled "flavors of iraq," we are going to a clip now in which your character visits the green zone in 2011 just before the u.s. troop withdrawal and your character tells american soldiers what he thinks of the invasion.

let's go to a clip. >> i told them freedom cannot be forced on peopl thehad empowered 1000ictators b trying to shoot one, that they had destroyed a country on the basis of a lie in it the world. today it start a war between armed groups supported by foreign powers. that they d done more bad than good and today, the country was in pieces. >> we had nothing to do here. yes, they had nothing to do here. the erect i had dreamed of as a child, the iraq my father fled, loved so much, the iraq split by the euphrates river, which i take mname from, that iraq no longer existed.

and because that is a clip from your documentary "flavors of iraq." if you could talk about that? >> the aim of this documentary is to go against the binary vision of iraq. that is why i struggled during my career as a journalist to give this objective view about the iraq i know and the iraq i have seen. the first city of seen along with baghdad was fallujah. fallujah was not a well-known city before the war. it was and still is 50 kilometers west of baghdad. it was a remote area, very green along the euphrat river, which is my name -- i father used to live around and play around this

river and had good memories. have you heard anywhere talking abt iraq in a beautiful way? it is very difficult today. i challenge anyone to look for any beautiful picture or image of iraq. my aim with this documentary history mind that. fallujah was a peaceful city a struggled like baghdad in 1991 -2003. the idea is to confront a concept that completely disappeared when the u.s. invasion happened in iraq. the sequence you just showed is about maybe the last moments of the u.s. troops occupying iraq,

and confronted the young soldiers who couldell you nothing about the country. our discussion went around the idea iraq was more than sunni and shia, or than baathists and militias. i was happy to give them news about the iraq i'd seen. surprised on how the u.s. soldiers knew nothing about the country and still thought saddam had a link with al qaeda and the 9/11 attacks. so the aim, again, 20 years later is to describe the concept of iraq that existed and hopefully as sinan antoon mentioned, will exist to this new generation of young people who protested since october 2, 2019, claiming iraq, going

against the idea iraq is between u.s. and iran. the first sentences in the street were around these type of phrases, "we are all iraqis. we want to get back our country." and this is the only hope i can see today after 20 years going back to iraq and to cover the news there, the only hope among all the destruction, all the consequences on every level of the iraqi society, the only hope is to see the youth claiming what once was their country. amy: i want to go, feurat alani, to a clip of your 2012 documentary "fallujah: a lost generation?" in this, dr. hana ahmed of fallujah hospital examines a baby born with deformities. when you made the film,

one-in-five babies born in fallujah exhibited congenital malformations. >> he needs an operation. at the moment, he is too weak for us to move forward with surgery so we have him on observation. we have seen many other types of deformities. he is not alone. some are more severe than others. we have some babies born without's goals, with -- without skulls, without organs, and sometimes with their looks totally twisted. amy: feurat, if you can talk specifically about your city, about fallujah? the extent of the attack, the the illegal use of white phosphorus, the second battle of volusia in 2004? >> you mentioned fallujah is my

parent's hometown. i had a specific look at the city for personal reasons and also because fallujah bece well-known in the international mmunity. fallujah was one of the first cities to resist the u.s. occupation and its behavior of the killin of iraqi people. when it started in 2003 until 2004, the first battle between the residence of fallujah and u.s. army was a political disaster for the u.s. administration. and then came back in november 2004 with the idea of erasing fallujah from the map. that is what happens. so when i me back to fallujah aftethis secd battle, i discovered a city that was

effectively, actually, completely destroyed. around 90% of the houses weren the ground. i hathe chance to talk to those who stay there. they testified tt the color in the sky changed, that a new kind of weapons were used. testimony about white phosphorus, about very heavy weapons destroying in an instant a house or street. we discovered later on that uranium was used. when i came back to do an investigation about some terrific and terrible news about babies born with deformities, the pictures were so terrible that i could not really look at them. i spent two weeks there talking to the inhabitants in full of, to the hospital doctors --

fallujah, to the hospital doctors, talking to families that were trying to hide those kids. we talk to a t of scientists. we had studies,inking the u.s. bombing of flujah and all the diseases and navies rn with deformities. you mentioned a figure that is still the caseoday, one -in-five babies are born with the form it is in fallujah. this is one of the most terrible consequences of the u.s. invasion and still today the city is struggling with the sanitary situation in fallujah. it is a catastrophe to me. nermeen: sinan antoon, you have written a poem that will appear

in your book when it comes out this summer. if i can ask you please to read that poem, also about the use of white phosphorus and uranium by the americans? >> sure. it was written years ago after the catastrophe that feurat was talking about. it is entitled "phosphorus." when i was a kid come the talent of my bike had a red reflector it glowed in the dark like the eyes of a cat illuminated by the headlights of distant cars tiny bits of phosphorus tiny bits of phosphorus what phosphorus illuminated disguise of fallujah years ago and now infants are born there every day with two

heads or without eyes. nermeen: thank you. that is very moving and beautiful poem. we are speaking as the russian invasion of ukraine has entered its second year and we've just heard now the international criminal court has called for the arrest of putin as they were criminal. the u.s. to any steps to ensure -- has taken its own officials and military would be protected from any such attempts by the international criminal court or any other international body from facing such allegation. if you could respond to that? you have just been talking about the use of chemical weapons and the fact that one has been charged with war crimes. >> well, i also want to go back -- >> sorry.

nermeen: sinan antoon, if you could respond? >> depleted uranium was used in 1991 and caused catastrophic consequences for iraqi citizens. the skyrocketing cancer rates. also, war crimes were committed in 1991 in so-called desert storm. horrific images of how the u.s. bombed withdrawn iraqi troops from kuwait. it is called the highway of death. there's only one american journalist who took those images. i think the most diyala's did not show them because they were too horrific. -- media outlets did not show them because they were too horrific. there are double and triple standards in international law. the law is weaponized when it

serves the interest. by any measure, bush, cheney, condoleezza rice, rumsfeld -- they are all were criminals. of course, they will not be put on trial. i think bush cannot travel internationally because he might face consequences. i mean, the attitude, especially of americans, but a lot of europeans, to the russian invasion of ukraine in so many ways shows the double standard and the hierarchy of human worth that a lot of people on this planet believe in, who really is a full human being that you can empathize with because they look like us, quote unquote, or they are european, and whose death really does not count whether they are palestinian or yemeni or syrian or iraqi or afghanistani, and the deaths

just become a statistic because they are not viewed as having lived full lives because our lives do not resemble our lives. so, you know, putin is considered a were criminal but we live in a world where war criminals are still going around and appearing on tv, dancing on the ellen degeneres show and bush talks about his painting. also these were criminals. as with rumsfeld, there's not even a mention of the catastrophic consequences of their decisions. as we talk now about uranium, this is in the unborn babies. this is in the wombs of mothers. this is in the air and soil. amy: let's put the same question to feurat alani. as president putin has been indicted for war crimes on this 20 the anniversary of the bush invasion, the was invasion of iraq, do you feel president

george w. bush, that dick cheney, and other high-level u.s. government officials, should be charged with war crimes for what happened to your country, to iraq? >> yes. as sinan mention, the list of crimes is very long, especially about iraq. but not only iraq. it was funny to see the reaction of joe biden talking about the icc going after putin when joe biden said something about, yes, this is great. but it the same time he said, us, usa, we don't recognize the icc. and we know why. bush would be on the list. a lot of people would be on the list. even if we can see similarities come of quest with the invasion of ukraine by putin anorak at that time --

amy: 10 seconds. >> it is important to remind that bush should be judged and it is not acceptable he is still joking about iraq. amy: feurat alani and sinan antoon, we will link to your works. ñtñf?o■ñ ■#■#■#■■

♪ ♪ ♪ hello. welcome back to nhk "newsline." i'm takao minori in new york. chinese president xi jinping has embarked on what diplomats have labeled a peace mission. he's arrived in moscow on his first visit since russian troops invaded ukraine more than a year ago. he's provided the strongest show of support for president vladimir putin since the war began. xi landed to a mar