Talk about sky high. We havent seen prices like this since the 90s. How to get more for your airline buck. This is ali velshi, and this is real money. Tell me whats on your mind by tweeting me at ali velshi or facebook. Com ali velshi. Iraq turmoil is building. Sunni insurgents are keeping up the fight against shiite dominated government of al maliki. Today, centered around baqubah, 35 miles north of the capital. But recently, they have stalled the advance of isis, the militant group. And even show so, they continue to hold cities like mosul. They are trying to push back the isis push. Tir ac cant be divorced from the crisis in the rest of the middle east where the u. S. And iran work at cross purposes to each other. The u. S. Backs rebel groups, and it could be a civil war, iran backs syrian president , alassad. Also bat lick isis rebels in syria, as well as next door in iraq. So any corporation with iran or any hint of change in syria, backs the Syrian Rebels like the u. S. Does, and sees iran as a threat to the gulf. Any it can create strange bed fellows. The u. S. Has opposed irans government for more than three decades. The u. S. Justifies the invasion of iraq in 2003 in part to counter the iranian influence for a stable and solid pro american regime in baghdad. The u. S. Installed a system that has built alliances with iranian leaders and iraq sunnis at the same time. When u. S. Troops withdrew in 2011, they left a country torn by violence, and fueled by sectarian rivalries. It woulds crisis threatens to tear the country apart again and create a fresh staging ground for the al qaeda inspired militants to operate in the region. In short, u. S. Nation building in iraq has been a miserable failure. Reporter sunni insurgents on the move in iraq, capturing territory as they advance toward baghdad. Investments that the u. S. Banked on in 2003 when they had an exercise that would eventually cost u. S. Taxpayers 1. 7 trillion. Well help the iraqi people establish a peaceful and democratic country in the heart of the middle east. Reporter since toppling saddam hussein, the u. S. Has poured money into the Security Forces and infrastructure and institutions, hoping to create a democracy, capable of binding iraq, sunni, shiite and kurdish fictions, but it didnt materialize with malikis power. With iran gaining tremendous influence over iraq. Iraq is not a beacon of democracy in the middle east today, and the iranians are the ones who have most of the influence in iraq and that does not serve americas strategically. Iran has supported iraq shia for 35 years, and the shia influence has allowed iraq to extend its influence with tourism in cities, and they also train iraqi shia militias. Iraqis have the best intelligence in iraq today. And oftentimes, iraqis among themselves, when theyre trying to reach compromises, will look to tehran for guidance. That level of influence is a threat to the sunni state in the gulf, where money, much of it from private donors, has been channeled to isis to keep them in check. The cautionary tale in nation building. Aljazeera. Lets talk now, the u. S. Experience in iraq, what does it teach us about the road ahead . For that, im joined by richard butler, the executive chairman of the united specialists in iraq, he was the chief arms inspectors in the 1990s. It was his conclusion that iran was not truthful about the weapons of mass destruction, hes the author of weapons of mass destruction and the crisis in global security. Good to see you, and thank you. How do you end up with a result thats so far from almost everything that the u. S. Set out to do in iraq. Whatever you do, do it for the right reasons. What was done in 2003, was done, what we now know, for the wrong reasons. And even the economist magazine this week, and as you and i know very well, thats hardly hardly everything is a disaster. Okay . What was done then was done for the wrong reasons. What has to be done now is to identify what is happening, and then why its happening. Identify exactly what is happening leads to immediate actions. Why its happening it towards longer term solutions. When you start to look at those alliances that i just talked about, the strange bed fellows, its hard. Americans have sort of seen the middle east for a long time in a blackandwhite fashion, in a good guy, bad guy fashion, and its entirely confusing as to what it is, that the u. S. And the west can influence for stability. What we want to happen in iraq. Thats why i raise what is happening, and that gives us the point of what to do. But ali, that introduction was superb. You told people very clearly exactly how complex the problem is, and how serious it can be. So lets look at iraq. What is happening, a terrorist group that doesnt represent is an ethnoconfessional group, hardly religious, has invaded iraq. Under the normal rules, iraq has to say, can you help us . And i believe it will be stopped because while determined, its actually relatively small. What exactly will be done to stop it, im not sure. It operates in fertile ground. Were sitting here saying, we dont like you, isis guys, and we dont like amal icky, and the sunni government didnt involve the shiites. This is what has to be addressed in some way. The long issue, where does it come from . And where are the interests . We need to identify irans interests with syria. Syria has got its interests now with iraq, and saudi arabia is sunni. You explained it all very well. And i said that twice now, and ill stop with the compliments, but it shows how complex it is. What has to be done is that a serious, truly serious discussion, leading past the problems with the iranians, has to be put together. And thats where the u. S. Could be most helpful, maybe with the iranians. They have been influential too, the dialogue that incorporates those that have clear interest in the region to work out what will stabilize. You talk about the economy, which is why i watch you. One of the things that will happen is there will be a fullscale conflict in the middle east. Middle east. It feels tremendous like instability, but it feels like this is hinging on making a bad decision, and this could all south. Exactly, we havent seen a spike yet. But the Northern Oil Fields production has stopped, the kurds have taken control of major oil facility. And thats another thing, but the oil fields are included, because turkey has an interest in the kurds. This several communities, major regional and International Political and economic interests. We need the parties that have clearly established interests to sit down seriously and talk this through. No one wants this group to succeed. No one wants the chaos that will then ensue. But some of them will seek to benefit an opportunity to benefit from this awful action that has taken place, and that has to be addressed too. The discussion of mutual interests and stability included of course in the global economy. Come back and well have this conversation more. Ambassador richard butler, thank you. Highspeed traders can make money faster than you can blink, and that got the attention of congress today. And speed versus strategy, giving some an unfair advantage. And first, the airlines are making it tougher for you to earn frequent flyer miles. Dont let them get away with it, how to beat the system after this. Should juvenile killers serve life without parole . The didnt even ask for the money they just shot him. Horrendous crimes committed by kids. I think that at sixteen its a little too early to write him off for life. Should they be locked away for good . He had a tough upbringing but he still had to have known right from wrong. Living in america is getting more expensive. To explain, matthew, good to see you. There are changes we have seen recently with the region u. S. Airlines sort of deciding that theyre going to reward the highest paying customers more than people who just fly a lot. So people who look for good deals will be at a disadvantage to those who pay full fare. Yes, its an interesting move by the carriers, i think that they go about it all wrong. When you think about it, the business travelers are going to fly anyway, and the genius behind the frequent flyers, they appealed to the flyers at the margin. Those who travel on a discretionary basis. You have an upgrade, a service where people pay you money for finding the best deal possible for using their miles, and you are involved in the trend of the what is the trend with respect to using the miles . Are we seeing them devalue . Are we seeing inflation in the way that you use miles as well . Unfortunately for consumers, were seeing a huge inflation for miles in travel. Delta, american airlines, u. S. Airways, they have all devalued this year, and its going to get worse. You see them squeezed from two places. You mentioned that people are using them less, rather than miles its points now, but at the same time, were seeing inflation of charges by as much as 80 in some cases, so its getting much much more difficult to use your miles in an effective way. So generally speaking, if youre a stockpiler of miles, and youve been sitting on them for a long time, would you recommend that people burn them now. Yes, please burn them now. Do yourself a favor. Airlines are banana republic. They inflate overnight, and the miles that youve saved for years are worth of much less. Miles are a depreciating asset, like a used car. I have 50,000 miles, and whats my guest value . You have people who say i want to go on vacation, and whats the best value that one gets for their miles these days. Well, it all depends on what programmed miles are in. But generally, when you are doing it from a mathematical perspective, its still a better deal for Business Class travel, those using it for the Economy Class awards, its nice to not have to pay for the vacation this year, but in terms of the value of the points, youre getting much much less value than say you redeem for a Business Class trip around the world. Ive seen how you work, you charge a fee, and you generally get people a better deal than they could have gotten themselves and for those who want to try it at home, give us a few of the trade secrets. Sure, the first thing to keep in mind, the airline is not the only place you go. Some airlines have better websites than others, and united has a very nice website for searching world travel. U. S. Airways, and delta on the other hand have much more limited features on the websites, so they are not by themselves. You can redeem your miles for more than just american airlines. They have partners all over the world. But lots of times you have to call in to find the partner space, and you have to be patient. The airlines dont spend too much time on training their agents on how to book awards. Why make it easy for consumers to redeem their miles . But if you do research in advance, you find the partnerships that the airlines have, and you search for the partners t. And chances are you can score a nice reward for the miles. Whats a mile wort . Is there a number in your head. Depending on the program, 1 and a half to 2 cents each. What about credit cards . Is that a way to redeem miles in this day and age . Absolutely. A credit card, as difficult as the airlines devalue their award charts, in inflation, it becomes advantageous to use them, but products like american express, with chase, and their rewards programs, they offer a bread basket of redemption. So when it comes time to redeem, you can do the research, and you get points and more for your dollar you spend on the credit card. Matthew, thank you for being with us, matthew is a blogger and he can help you get more for your miles. Thank you, matthew. Guns. There are two to three million guns in a population of only 8 million people. And gun laws. After those laws came in, there have been no more mass shootings. How Different Countries decide. Their father had a gun. Their grandfather had a gun. Who has the right to bear arms . 5 days guns around the world a primetime news special series all next week only on Al Jazeera America weekday mornings on Al Jazeera America we do have breaking news this morning. Start your day with in depth coverage from around the world. First hand reporting from across the country and real news keeping you up to date. The big stories of the day, from around the world. These people need help, this is were the worst of the attack took place. And throughout the morning, get a global perspective on the news. The life of doha. This is the International News hour. An informed look on the nights events, a smarter start to your day. Mornings on Al Jazeera America the stock market is rigged. That controversial and overly broad statement is at the center of a raging debate about how stocks are traded in the 21st century. The phrase caught fire after flash boards, a book about Michael Lewis about High Frequency trading. These guys use super Fast Computers and sophisticated formulas called algorithms to trade hundreds of thousands of shares per second. They are worried that highspeed trading firms are putting regular investors at disadvantage. How to deal with potential conflicts of interest between brokers and exchanges. A rigged game that favors highspeed traders over regular investors. The head of the panel said, theres significant evidence that these can damage retirement savings. Whether thats true or not is up for debate. But i want you to understand the debate, how they formed the stock market. Back in the 1920s, this is the latest information about a stock. Now, the information is almost instantaneously, traveling at the speed of light, and only the fastest can keep one the pace. Trading in the New York Stock Exchange. The acnism, the vast majority of stocks are traded here. To make you understand how the stock market really works, you need to go across the hudson river to new jersey. Now the markets are almost completely computerized. Data networks and surfer farms in new jersey are where most trades actually happen. Im in mmahwah, new jersey, and the data center is here, not on the New York Stock Exchange where almost all of the trade takes place. Youve got to be as close to the server farm as you can be. Thats called colocation. Only the biggest players can do that. Distance matters, even if its only a few feet. Its just one second faster than the competition, it could mean an extra 100 million a year for a High Frequency trader. Critics charge that the access offered by the exchange, buy before you do and selling it to you at a higher price. And the scrutiny of state and federal traders who are concerned that it might provide advantages unavailable to regular investors. High frequency trading is trading over speed over Everything Else. And in order to participate in that environment, you have to get keys to the exchanges. One of these exchanges will cost you 60,000 a month. Thats just one. The speed doesnt end with colocation. High frequency traders are willing to pay for my microsecond advantage they can get, even one between two different exchanges. Right now, for example, theres a fiber optic cable between mahwah, new jersey, but in the next weeks, a network will begin to link the exchanges. The laser itself looks a lot like wall. E and it uses technology for the department of defense. When putting it in empirical terms, it will take an 80 second time and bring it to microseconds. To put it in perspective, thats. 00036 second of a savings. Potentially it means a lot to a High Frequency trader. This relates to the time for a Stock Exchange between london and the New York Stock Exchanges. Currently, there are 12 fiber optic cables in the atlantic, the last one being engineered over a decade ago, but the new one will follow a little bit straighter line. By building the new table straighter than the twisting cable, it will knock off 500 kilometers, which makes it 5 milliseconds faster than the highest one today. But building it isnt cheap. The advantage for High Frequency traders, 200 million. The information is traverses the little fibers, and of all of the cable, the relevant part, Everything Else is occupying the signal. And its absolutely fascinating to think that this cable is linking the two continents. And it doesnt end there. Theyre thinking of constructing a Laser Network across the atlantic. Its a succession of 30 High Altitude flat forms, that would be geo stationary at 50,000 feet. With this technology, and that would connect new york to london . The price tag for the transatlantic air bridge that would save 30 seconds, 500 million. Now you have a sense of what were talking about, and lets talk about speed and the fastest animal on four legs. Used to describe High Frequency traders because of their lightning speed. They regular late futures and few people are in a better position than to explain how they present the threat to regular investors than bart chilton, hes currently with a Global Business law firm. And good to have you with us. Sever levin, a former prosecutor, said theres evidence that this is hurting people. Its anecdotal, but is it a threat to my viewers . I havent seen evidence that its hurting people. Clearly, they showed there to have speed, have an advantage, but they also have an advantage if theyre smart. They have predictable algorithms, and thats just the way of the markets, ali. When you think about floor traders, they had an advantage. Do i think modern markets are part of what were dealing with today. High frequency traders are going to be there, and are there legitimate sideboards, as i call them, regulations, rules, what have you, that should be placed upon them to see if the markets are sustainable. And we dont see things like the flash crash occur, or other Technology Glitches that really do hurt investors. Is there too much regulation in High Frequency traders . Theres exactly zip, nada regulation for High Frequency traders. Dodd frank is 2300 pages, and not one place in those are High Frequency traders