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tv   Inside Story  Al Jazeera  October 24, 2023 8:30pm-9:01pm AST

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as it should do the seasonal rice doing quite nicely. now. southern parts of india still struggling to stress, shut off those a seasonal range, good stuff during the showers. the last 7 to the western side of lanka. we do have a tropical system, patroclus thoughts. i me to, we can quite smart as it moves across the band with us, but some heavy rain coming in here, grassy, making his way. the photo faced the thing the the weather brought to you by visit cuts on the most expensive us, some of that to be a to israel. and it's more ongoing is that washington has been sending minutes. the assets to the region saying that for everyone's purposes could all they really and couldn't figure out why the conflict in the middle east. this is inside story, the
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hello again. only jane space refugee comes. hospitals apartment blocks nowhere in gauze there is safe, and israel's bombardment of the besieged territory. the humanitarian needs a diet and growing by the minute. israel's biggest ally of the united states is still not cooling for us. the spot, instead of sending more military assets to the region, washington says the aircraft carriers and naples support vessels will serve as a deterrent. but could american troops join the war? and what would this mean for them? at least plenty for us to discuss without paddling a bit. but 1st this report from sal raquel a grim milestone. 18 days into the will and gaza. these ready bombardment has killed more than 5700 palestinians daily life and the besieged territory is synonymous with the unpredictability of strikes. but throughout the offensive, the united states has maintained an unwavering commitment to israel. we must be crystal clear. we stand with israel. we stand with israel
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and we will make sure is who has what it needs to take care of it. citizens defend itself and respond to this attack. while international calls for an immediate cease fall gray louder the us and other west and allies have refrained from asking is route to scale packets attacks on gaza instead. washington has sent not one, but 2 across the carriers, a mess, right groups to the region. each has roughly 7500 military pos. now it's one of the largest deployments of us troops to the mediterranean. in decades. this additional deployment sends a another message to those who would do it, let's say to widen this conflict. as president biden said earlier, and as you've heard me say,
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if any group or any country is looking to whiten this conflict and take advantage of this very unfortunate situation that we see, our advice is dumped iran spartan minnesota has the keys, the white house of double standards may tell us how that we receive messages, asking us to practice restraint, and also ask us to invite others to show restraint about the us or the past 2 weeks has been sending military equipment to israel. so how can my site, they don't want me expansion and for now i'm saying to button stopped. you'll have focusing on the us types that support the israel and its own increased military presence in the region will be enough to prevent the conflict from whitening. but it's also clear that any miscalculation between the wrong and the united states risks changing the dynamics of the school very quickly. sorry, go the inside story. the. well, let's bring, you know,
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a panel of guess to discuss oldest further in doha, we have called in clock who's director of a search of the sofa and group the global intelligence and security consultancy in new york. it's o mode rama and he's a fellow at the middle east council on global affairs where he focuses on palestine, but least you have politics and american foreign policy in the region. and in boston is glen call career, a, c i a officer, he's a former deputy national intelligence officer for trans national threats at the agency. great to have you owe with us to discuss what is going on in the region and particularly what's going on with regard to the us deployments. because more and more us assets are going to the region, particularly naval assets. some people say it's the biggest amada that's being seen in the region since the 19 ninety's glen. would you agree with that? well, i don't know if that's true, but i certainly believe that it is true to the aircraft. carriers bring along as
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part of their combat. if we get to the terms, that's why my for the moment, but in any event, they deployed with probably a dozen ships or more each the so i think that's probably a true statement. yes. and calling. i've been looking, it's quite hard, quite a page to get information of the of the pentagon website, but reading through all the transcripts and everything is out there in public. as glen says, mean we've got the largest bullshit in the world. the us, as the general ford, we've got another aircraft carrier, so 2 at croft carriers, the dwight d eisenhower, which is also that. and then i think a total of 8 warships in that to start groups. and then we've got something called about time. i'm 50 is ready group, which has on 3 ships a total of full thousands taylor's. um marines on it. this is, this is a very large department, isn't it coming? yeah, it's a, it's a massive, muscular response from washington, multiple carrier strike groups. you know patriot batteries fed missile defense.
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there's only about, oh, i wouldn't get allowed. you all can just tell me what side is please quickly terminal high altitude air defense missile missile defense essentially forced protection to terms. and then if need be some potential offensive assets. there's also intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance on these carriers, right groups as well. so all around preparation from washington in case things do escalate and cold and staying with you. what is your reading of the main reason for sending so much to the region? i think, you know, 1st of all the turks, it's a warning to the iranians. it's a warning to around and sponsor groups like has bullet to remain on the sidelines or at least to keep activity at a very low and manageable level. but again, it's also to protect the basis of the united states has in the regions about force protection. and lastly,
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it's about preparation. the by the administration is still stone from the withdrawal from afghanistan. how poorly things went. busy there, and they want to be prepared in case they need these assets, including to evacuate american citizens from a number of countries in the middle east. let me ask you how you think this will be seen in the region because one person's determines could be another person's publication. yeah, i think uh, it was opinion on this will be split in the region to some extent based on your relationship with the united states. and where you're coming from and how you're viewing the current conflict. although i think across the air of world war, there is a heavy concern for this escalate in, you know, in some senses maybe not a prob occasion, but certainly the us is, is escalate and the situation by bringing in a huge, huge naval forces into the region and it's, it's an incense, emboldening israel to carry on what it's doing and gaza. and that is obviously the
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source of the escalation at the moment. that is the reason why there's anger erupting across the air of world. that would be the reason why you might see attacks on the us military bases in the region. or, you know what we've seen maybe who the rebels firing rockets towards israel if that's a actually where they were headed. so, you know, at the heart of it it's, you know, it's involving israel, like, i think the, carry out this mission in the region plan to see if i'm right, with my assumption here. my assumption is, but they sending this big a mazda, because they come to use the military bases of a base in the hall, and the naval base in bahrain because of the circumstances right now. does that seem correct to you? personally? correct. uh, it certainly would be a complicating factor to use forces out of doha, given the cut her, his relationship with hamas and the muslim brotherhood. however, i don't think that's really the primary reason i think, as i believe it's calling,
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the 1st speaker said clearly to me, the primary objective is deterrence to suasion. the build up is not really to enable the israelis to act, but rather to keep the conflict from spreading, becoming a regional or even broader war. and i think that most of we call them arrow governments . but there, in this instance is more relevant to say muslim countries. i understand that and, and don't want to see the conflict, the generalized, and so really are the accepting of the us deployment. now, the, what we call the arab street is another matter. and most of those, of course, will be dissatisfied and angered by what think well, characterized as a provocation. but, but to me, clearly, the objective of the united states has to stop brands proxies from the show
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provoking israel for the united states. that the conflict generalizes into a wider war the colon. um, we've talked about the terrans role, but there's also a role in protecting us assets that are already in the region. let me read you a quote from the pentagon. press secretary bracket a general pat rider. we will do everything and take all necessary measures to protect us forces. we've already seen some instances with regard to what has gone on in the red sea. what has happened in iraq and syria letting me take those one by one 1st. in the red sea, there was a us warship, the u. s. s. connie, which took down for atlanta tech cruise missiles. we think they came from the who this is that your understanding? yeah, it seems likely it's confident with previous behavior at actions by the who these and for the united states that just unacceptable, it's not going to allow it's personnel or a space has to be targeted by any actor in the region. and all not collin. um,
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do we know what the, who sees what aiming at because of the us. the pentagon spokesman, again said they took them down, but they didn't necessarily think they were aimed at the economy and they were going in the direction of his route to your knowledge. do that who sees have and nothing, but could it is ro it's possible. i think, you know, they is there, they very well could have been headed that way. i think, you know, one thing that this whole conflict has taught us is that we need to question prior assumptions, right? i think many people didn't think come off said the capabilities that are displayed on october 7th. so i will be very concerned about examining prior assumptions. about the capabilities of as bowl uh, the who, these are rocky, she and militia, and others. i think, you know, clearly the iranians have helped them develop capabilities. they've given them all sorts of different hardware and missiles. and so at this, this point, we're still in the early stages of this conflict, we're hoping to keep it to
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a low boil. it's best to be in defense and foster glenn, we've also seen a tax in syria and iraq. they're all still based in iraq. $2500.00 us troops and in syria there are not even 100 us troops, but also a lot of military contract. i mean, i think some people to start with will be quite surprised. there are so many us troops still in iraq and syria. what are they doing? well, multiple conditions. one of course is to continue to observe and try to stop isis or g hottest groups and elements from the conducting a terrorist operations. and these stabilizing things. another is to help their try to keep the governments in place from being the stabilize further by a search terrace actions. and the 3rd is, of course, to watch over to the extent possible, or rainy and efforts to extend its influence,
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which is a large component of what we're seeing happening with the t, with the groups in syria, with his below on the border. and with how much we've been around is planning or a cynical, very dangerous game disabled as ation and the trouble. the destin turmoil in israel is a good thing for a ran because it's hostile to israel on and see a logical, philosophical and political reasons. and to because it helps around extend its influence. so the, one of the missions of the us presence there is to try to keep this kind of d stabilisation from occurring. and really to stop the she a meaning, a rainy and the influence from the, from spreading even further that has all, apparently we think about 8 to attacks on us troops and 4 different locations in iraq and syria. and it's interesting reading what's being said by the us hierarchy
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of quite a depends on press that country before we don't necessarily see that the ron is explicitly order done yet the white house on the strategic communications coordinated junk cubby. we know that a ron is supposed to be monitoring these attacks and in some cases, actively facilitating these attacks. what was your view on how involved it? ronnie's is iran ordering this and whether they're ordering the attacks in places like see, or any rock. i mean, it's, it's probable, given their links to, uh, to, to those, uh, those groups that are operating in those countries. i think it was a little over stated, i think in terms of, you know, their, their connection to the initial how mass attack on october 7th. i mean, clearly there are, you know, as a sponsor, a financial background, material backer of how mass. but you know, there a lot of the reporting that came up out out of october 7th, you know, implied were directly sorted that, you know, iran was heavily involved in the planning process. i think that is overstating the
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overstate and the connection. but certainly i think their connection is much deeper to the arm groups that are operating. and so you're in a rock and so, you know, i, you know, i don't know whether they're directly involved, but it's, you know, worth it, it's worth considering for sure. okay, back to you called in because you brought up the acronym flat in the 1st place. what the u. s. is deploying it seems because of these specific attacks in iraq and syria is this terminal high altitude area defense system will fad. and also some additional and there's no specified number here. patriots battalions. all so just explaining to me what these things do. a patriot or missile vessel defense battery surface to air missiles that are going to be used to guard against what we saw of just the other day against the numerous attacks and provocations from various iranian bad actors in the regions of the united states. and that kind of gone clearly expects more of that in the days ahead. and so this is again
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a defensive and precautionary measures to protect united states assets. it's, it's nothing more, it's nothing less iranians for their part or doing what they always do. they're continuing to attempt to push the united states of the region and extend their own influence plan. we've got 2000 extra troops in addition to those marines. i told you about who are up, see, and all the, all the naval personnel to 1000 extra us troops are on stand by to deploy with holly readiness. i mean, is that what are the circumstances in which of these troops could actually do something? because the one assumes you deployed troops. yes, you deploy them isn't the tyrants. but you have to think about where you, when you might use them and then might be circumstances when they could be used. what would you say to that? the hello. this is where the line is or not easy to draw a very clearly, but i think the example of the carney gives a good indication of the video that i thinking numbers of us have seen which
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purports to be taken from the who do you fire the rocket to the non tutored i such as mine, it appeared that it was firing at the ship and you can hear the people saying, well, essentially, unless you have what america does to that and then take it america. but the response for the us was to, to shoot down the missile and then to say it had occurred and do nothing else. in other circumstances of the military united states, you want to eliminate the threat, the perpetrator of an attack like that. but it hasn't happened. why? because it seems pretty clear that the description of the fab system that we just heard from call, and i think it was the make describes what us the objectives are, which is to perry attacks and to keep the violence, the war from spreading. if however, the us forces and facilities were seriously harmed,
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the americans killed and the capabilities are destroyed. so then it would be much more difficult for the united states not to use the 2000 the soldiers, the marines. i think they are who are in place. those are just wasted measure. they are, they're not to be used. the success is not to see them have to be deployed. the failure of american objectives would be that the uranium proxy succeed in causing such harm . that the us, the, or is real, would feel obliged to respond with the would force rather than just or countermeasures o ma. so if the us are attacked, that is what the forces of apple i might and that's when they might actually be used. do you see any other circumstances where these forces could be deployed, given how on certain things off with regard to the war on garza and the possible escalation in the knolls bringing in his belong?
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yeah, i think the, the primary reason for them being there and this was obviously mentioned is that or the primary maybe cause of escalation would be a few us forces were attacked. but i think if there was a, a mass of assault on israel, so it has the levels to fire, you know, thousands of rockets into his row. you might see the united states response. and i think that's obviously part of the reason is there. i mentioned earlier, you know, it's enabling these realize obviously, you know, i didn't want to imply that the bus was seeking escalation in the region. the care forces are there to deter, but obviously, you know, that type of deterrence is read by israel as a what kind of a license to do what it wants. and that can cause that spark a type of escalation. so if it does come from loving on or if it comes from elsewhere, iran or syria or iraq and kind of a massive scale, something that can be, you know, handled with minimal effort. then i could see the us getting involved in this. and that's a very slippery slope and a dangerous a dangerous occurrence. calling to you quickly, i mean all, they're all the possible roles given. you've got all of these naval assets that let
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me give you some examples. could, could that be a role for them? an extraction of us citizens who are being held captive. could that be a role in intelligence and surveillance and whatever for israel? i mean, i assume they have quite a lot of capabilities in that regard. and could they be a base for some sort of cobra action by special forces of the troops are not purely ornamental. they're there for a reason. again, i think this is largely about our preparation. this is about the possibility of a neo and non combatant evacuation operation. of getting us citizens out of the region if need be, uh, logistical support. you mentioned that tell us intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. i think, you know, as a very, very last resort. you know, the us would use them in a kinetic way. but really, the united states does not want to get involved in this conflict. this is purely about escalation management. and these are the assets that are being brought into
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theater to achieve the lot. and we've talked about the possibility of the northern front becoming a 2nd front, a 2 front war. some of even talked about the west bank being a 3rd front. and we've talked about the possibility of has belong, getting involved in this conflict actively bought that role. so reports that these, right, the defense mis minister jo, i've kalonde, has advocated a pre emptive strike in the north against his below, whose he says it's 10 times more dangerous than how mice and so far is not one. the argument in these, right, the whole cabinet bought. israel would do that. that puts the u. s. that in, in a very difficult position, doesn't it? if it's israel, that stops the fight in the north. the way it could possibly be the case. yes, it depends. it would depends everything always depends on the size of a quote, pre emptive strike and the amount of damage killing that or cause
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it's certainly true. his ball a in conventional military terms is exponentially more powerful than hum us. and we all have, i think, heard the reports, the company that around has provided out his blog with 82240000 rockets, many of which can strike any part of israel. the range extends well beyond the borders of the furthest point. a way of israel. so israel has a real, legitimate concern about the it is an attack from our assessments imminent. and i would it be less dangerous to preemptively strive to try to stop that or not. and, and that's and very difficult equation. so far, the consistently, the israel each have shown restraint because they don't want to expand the war
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either. so, but that is the, the very complex equation that one has them. they can real time when the all decisions have negative consequences. if, if you go right, it's negative. if you go left this negative and yet you have to go some direction. this the, the hard challenge they have. but that certainly is why they would be considering a preemptive strike in the seemingly paradox of dr. cool, objective of limiting harm, certainly, but expansion of the conflict, it's actually cold. and how much restraint does the us have an ability to restrain as well? if it warms, i've read reports that the now is us, lieutenant general james glenn, who previously headed the marine special operations, was involved in the operations against iso in iraq. he's been and they did now in the come on the structure of the defense ministry and tell the beef spots on clear
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how much united states can limit. uh, the israel is response. i do think is real, will listen to us advisors. and again, i think united states has little interest in watching this conflict escalade and has 0 interest in getting dragged into it. so i think the united states is over there are providing advice, hoping that cooler heads prevail. let's not forget the human suffering involved here in the hostages that are involved in the children that are dying every day in this conflict. this is heart wrenching to watch. i think anybody with a heart is, is hoping that, that this war ends sooner rather than later. and i hope the united states is helping figure out a way to bring the fighting to an end of all major military power projection, like this also has a global diplomatic effect. how do you think this will be seen this us troop presence in the region by russia and china? you know, a little difficult to say,
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obviously china has warships in the region that have been there for a while, but are kind of making a tour to that. dynamic, i think, creates a certain type of tension that we, you know, we don't want to see escalate into the, into that arena. how those powers are perceiving it. it's difficult to say, but i do know that you know how this has evolved and if, if the binding administration in a didn't want to see the escalation that i don't think it does. but it's, it's reflective, a reaction to this whole episode from day one has brought us to this point. and if you didn't think it would bring us to that this point, then you know that this was a huge mistake on its end to think that you know and is really a bombardment of the god, the strip without a real plan for the day after, wouldn't bring us to this point and so, you know, the whole thing has been a kind of a dangerous reckless game that's escalating tensions in the region. and i don't think anybody really wants to see evolved into something much worse,
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but that's kind of the direction we're headed. glad and can i and our discussion with get your reaction to a great amount of us really just passed 40 years ago. ready was october the 23rd 1983. that's when a suicide bomber hit the u. s. military barracks it by route international airport, killing 241 us servicemen. that was a disastrous moments in the us as involvement in the middle east. and of course, now the president is joe biden. do you know any notices history? he lives it because he was a us senator at the time he said, we've got to change this crazy policy as he introduced the resolution calling from the us withdrawal from 11. what's your thoughts on, on that echo from history some of my colleagues were killed in the, the attacks of re barracks and the american embassy, which occurred not far distant in time from each other. one of the lessons that the us, some parts of the us learned was the primary reason for those 2 attacks was that we
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were seen to have been seen to have taken sides in fundamentally a civil war. but also in between the power co sign liberation organization. and israel, and so we are angered one of the sides enough to try to kill us. but a tactical, less than that, we learned was that the rules of engagement to the american forces deployed at the time or designed to avoid escalation, which is a laudable objective. but it meant that the, the response in real time was in sufficient meaning that some of our guards were not allowed to fire our approaching suicide truck and those rules of engagement. so there's something when we change, and i think in the current crisis, it is relevant because, but what we've all been talking about during this section session is the vast
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deployment of tremendous force and the repeated warnings that the united states will use it if provoked. so if someone tries to expand the the conference, the lesson plan the 2nd half, that it's not assigned to you very much for that, less than from history. for all the talk about pivot to asia, it seems to us as being forced by events back to the middle east. thanks to all guess calling clock. oh my rahman, unpleasant call. you can find much more detail on the conflict on a website. and if you want to watch this or any other of our programs go to i, which is 0 dot com. if you have your own opinions on what you just heard and then post them on our facebook page. that's facebook dot com, forward slash 8 inside story. we'd also like to hear from you to on x, formerly twitter, while we are at asia inside story for media in space and everyone on the team here in doha, stay safe and buy from the
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we understand the differences and similarities of cultures across the world. so not allowed to have the tank, it will bring you the news and current to fast that matter to you the, [000:00:00;00] the, the cloud. this is a news life from the home coming up in the next 60 minutes is rarely bombardment of the gaza strip continues with more than 700 palestinians killed by strikes and just 24 hours. one of those strikes was narrow hospitals, several hospitals across girls and now have no capacity to treat wounded civilian

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