the future in football russia shoots for gold in its bid to host the two thousand and eighteen world cup as a fee for a delegation that begins inspecting potential venues across the country. five years after the removal of israeli settlers from gaza and in violence thousands of jews

in the west bank fear they're also about to be forced out as part of a possible government peace deal with palestinians. all summer of extremes and after two months of a record heat wave and devastating wildfires russia now braces itself for hurricane force winds which have already hit st petersburg and the northwest of the country. coming up next it's the only on the show from our washington studios which today looks at arizona's immigration law and time muslim rhetoric in the republican party all this and much more with host i mean i'm in coffee. welcome to the ilona show really get the real headlines and none of the mersey are coming live out of washington d.c. and this weekend general david petraeus made the rounds of media outlets to defend

america's war in afghanistan but he did not promise of the july two thousand and eleven withdrawal date will still apply so how could that play out politically for obama and gates who want that date to hold all as dr james carafano who's really in charge when it comes to our troops fighting abroad next we're going to reexamine arizona's immigration law just as obama signed a new border security package critics are coming forward saying that the president solutions won't fix the real problem the drug problem so we'll look at how the drug war and immigration are looked at as one in the same by most americans and speaking of the us mexico border we're going to speak with one person who's taken matters into his own hands he's a member of the cochise county militia and he claims to do what the president won't but what is that exactly well you'll find out later then watch out america china is right behind us in the race to be the dominating economic power in the world china has now surpassed japan in the number two position and is gaining on the u.s.

so what does that mean for the u.s. his role as a global superpower in the future will ask american foreign policy council steven yates and we've heard from republicans from across the country that are up in arms about the ground zero mosque so with party bigwigs like nuking ridge using muslims and nazis interchangeably has the party given up on the muslim vote for ever that's at the end of tonight's show but now let's move on to some night's top story. general david petraeus went on a media blitz this past weekend in what we can assume was an attempt to reassure the public that we aren't fighting a pointless. or in his words he said we are here so that afghanistan does not once again become a sanctuary for transnational extremists the way that it was when al qaeda planned the nine eleven attacks in the khandahar area but in order to make sure that happens general petraeus could have promised the public that the withdraw all will

be can next year quite the opposite he said that it's too premature to say and the hill give obama his best professional military advice before the deadline happens but will his professional military advice clash with what's political what's politically viable will he try to strong arm obama into backing away from his promises here to discuss that with me is dr james carafano the senior defense policy analyst at the heritage foundation dr co-founded thanks so much for being here and i have to ask you here do you see a conflict of leadership going on with the train coming out saying that i can't promise this deadline date will still happen while as robert gates obama are still pushing for it no i don't think so first of all. the general never would have been permitted to come in the united states and go on a media tour if the president didn't want him to so we should be really clear about that so obviously everything you say is really ok with the president otherwise he wouldn't be here. but how can we have robert gates saying exactly the opposite to

the media that yes this withdrawal this deadline for the beginning of withdrawal does stand as we've stated first to start july two thousand and eleven you know i mean the i mean the deadline is it was really meaningless right the administration came out with a timeline for withdrawal for what reason which it was it was helpful the for the president politically in terms of domestic politics to kind of signal to his supporters some of which include people who don't want to support the war that look by two thousand and twelve this will be off the table as a presidential issue that was a promise and putting that deadline in two thousand and eleven was part of that now assuming he was meaningless how is that meeting because this isn't because perhaps sway the american people who are not. supporting this war anymore a new n.b.c. and washington post poll actually said that seven out of ten americans don't think this could end successfully so how is it meaningless to say hey we're going to start planning because they're all when you press the ministration of what that really means it all you know looks like cotton candy and it starts to disappear gets very fuzzy doesn't mean all the troops throughout most of the troops are out

there and the answer is it's meaningless right and the president discovered this because as soon as he said the deadline everybody started interpreted as meaning exactly what he wanted his political leaders that america's going to start to pull out by twenty love unfortunately that's what the taliban that's what the government believes that's what the pakistanis believe most with the indians believes are honestly by announcing that timeline he actually made his job a lot harder because people started out america's war on credibility so he's been kind of walking away from every other way other than he never say just by saying that a withdrawal deadline is set to begin the withdrawal he never said how many people you're right in that sense that you know they didn't say that this was going to mean that we're going to up and leave i don't think anybody believes that but now general david petraeus has just completely flipped the tables and essentially i think a lot of americans it looks like in their eyes like he perhaps is going against the u.s. president and all because even the president said this is everything is he even said you know the vents on the ground will drive what really happens what general

petraeus said he goes when we get there and we'll look at events on the ground we're going to get it and it's been a nine year war well you know it's been nine one year wars i mean it hasn't been one nine year war was a very significant it's a different strategy it's a different force structure it's a different set of commanders so it's all over you know i get tired of hearing the saying is you know when do we quit well first of all you should only fight wars if you're in the vital national interest so if you believe they're in the right national interest you ought to fight them until you win as long as you can and with your resources and capabilities think there's a way for us to win in afghanistan what is what is it exactly that is going to secure our success in our victory well i think it looks much like iraq which everybody admits. this is not the land of milk and honey but what do you have in iraq is a situation where the government can stand and have the capacity to exercise its sovereignty and defend itself that's kind of the end state that you know afghanistan and the the prerequisite for a significant withdrawal of american forces a lot of people would argue with that and say that the government in iraq is

nowhere near stable and will general david petraeus and strategy still hold there i mean just last week we had a new report saying that al qaeda is still going back and they're taking the sons of iraq which betrays first use as you know the success story and there is just starting to simply pay them more than the three hundred dollars a month that they get currently from the iraqi government so they're going back to al qaida so now that we're actually leaving iraq it looks like everything's going back to well i mean this is the easy button version of history which is i want all my problems to be solved and everything to be over and that's not the reality of what happens on the ground is iraq perfect no did anybody ever promise it was going to perfect you know you know is iraq still a coherent country yes i mean you know let's look at what europe looked like after world war two when we won ok all of western europe was completely destroyed and half of western europe was occupied by the soviet army. nobody complained they said well you know what do you expect you just for the big war and so my argument would be what do you expect iraq to look like they're going to go to iraq is going to

mean the horrible thing about it this iraq probably going to fall back into war it's going on that's the result of a war and the you know my lips my that's a think that's a presumption i don't know you know first of all no one ever and i can see resumption but you know if that wasn't the case then why wouldn't we have our top commanders saying that we're still going to have to have you know security forces stay there after the combat troops leave and we did right i mean there's and they're going to our combat right i mean and not only left and there probably won't even we'll probably have a u.s. presence there for some time because of all the u.s. troops left iraq probably would fail even with the number of troops we have there it's going to be a struggle but you want to take odds i mean iraq is a bad i mean let's flash but i don't let's let's go let's go now let's really get a bad let's just flashback for seven to two thousand and five two thousand and seven when people said iraq was impossible the country divided the genocide it was you could not resurrect this if nobody if you said look this is what iraq look like in two thousand and ten people said oh my god if you could promise me that i'd take

that so i mean come on let's not pretend that iraq is some big huge failure because it's not going to call a big huge success i don't know that i don't have it all but let's go back to afghanistan that is really where i would like to lay our focus here because that is the currently the larger the longest war that the u.s. is not involved in now it seems like dave petraeus is telling us that it's going to last even longer and even he's right but how is going to get the public to support that while the public doesn't have to support it and the american forces are probably american word if this is they're going to be fighting there and dying the merit of this because american moore's have never been popular if you look at every american work going back to the american revolution we've only had one war that didn't get a popular over time and that was world war two in every other war we've had from the american revolution the spanish-american war and every war or start out way popular. and as they drag on they get less and less popular if you look at the emergence of the lower two wars also aside from where i world war two is perhaps the prime example of a war where there is actually an end date and

a success and you know that you beat the enemy all right but if we don't you know we didn't win another war is like you know we are actually running out of time here but i just have a quick question for you to do is do you think that the people of afghanistan want us there oh you bet and here's more important as you know why don't you can we secure our interests me do they like the taliban to tell most horribly unpopular what's going to happen when the u.s. leaves the taliban is going to come back so i think that question answers itself i mean the taliban already just stoned a couple to death this past week something which hasn't happened since two thousand and seven which makes the argument that this is not people that you want back in charge will the strategy work i believe the strategy will work given time i thought the timeline for a significant drawn two thousand that was completely unrealistic i think america can help stand up afghanistan i don't think it'll be easier cheap but i do think it's in our vital national but i just don't know whether the afghanistan that stands up as you say is going to be one that america likes and will want to accept after that we'll have it or even the one run by the table thank you so much for

being here i don't go anywhere there's still a lot more to come on tonight's show president obama just signed a new border security bill last week with all the money and attention going towards the immigration issue here at the president is overlooking the real problem the war on drugs. the state of pennsylvania has consistently been fighting issues with repeat offenders and their judicial system time and time again criminals have been arrested incarcerated released on parole only to come back months or a year later to repeat the exact same process but

a professor out of the university of pennsylvania now thinks that he can break that cycle with a computer program that he developed richard berke claims that his software will filter through years of collected data by police departments in pennsylvania to figure out which criminals are pre-determined to be incarcerated again burke says the criminals who fall under the following criteria will most likely find themselves behind bars over and over and over again if the criminal is a male under thirty has an extensive history of violence has used a gun in past crimes committed his first crime by the age of thirteen or if he's being released into a high crime area well then all of those are viable reasons to assume that that criminal might be back now the state is very interested in burke software and his even given him a grant of two hundred thousand dollars to mass distribute the software to parole boards across pennsylvania but i think there's a bigger issue here this computer program ultimately decide the fates of prisoners

were formed or not and what are we and as a country want to leave that fate of the convicted or even the accused up to a computer program let that program predict what and when someone or when someone will commit a crime and that brings us to our next story here to. this is fifty two year old bobby stovall he is making the news because he's the first person to receive a life sentence from a judge for drunk driving a police officer said that they were called to the scene of an accident in two thousand and nine were stovl was charged with a do you why his breathalyzer shows that he was or times over the legal limit and after receiving nine drunk driving citations from the state of texas for driving under the influence the state's prosecutors felt it was unsafe to keep stovall on the road and so did the jury when they decided to give him a life sentence in prison now the district attorney defended that sentence by

saying that this is someone who very deliberately has refused to make changes and continued to get drunk and get in a car before he kills someone we decided to put him away so the district attorney thinks that he's done a public service by locking this guy i'll take a look at the other side of the story i'm not condoning the act of junk drunk driving in any way but is a locking up this driver for life really the right thing to do stovall has hurt passengers but he's never killed anybody and many psychologists also argue that alcoholism is a disease and he was suffering from it needs to find help they don't need to be punished and defense attorneys claim that stovall should be attending rehab classes not sitting behind bars on the taxpayers' dime no less now i'm a firm believer in the saying the punishment should fit the crime and in this case i just don't think that's what happened and i also don't think it's a good precedent to set locking someone up on the fear that they might commit

a crime because last time i checked you are innocent until proven guilty in this country so it's just another example of that knee jerk attitude to lock people up rather than help them and to help them rehabilitate just remember as american taxpayers that you're the ones that are paying for it. now last friday obama signed a six hundred million dollar border security package into law it will send fifteen hundred more security personnel to the border as well as fund unmanned surveillance drones and some lawmakers even claimed that this was the answer to arizona's immigration law but is there a disconnect here the debate over arizona's law was in large part caused by a shooting when fueled by drugs and anger is extended to all illegal immigrants and the violence over the weekend in mexican border towns where twenty three people were killed in a matter of twenty four hours was also attributed to the drug war so how do we set the record straight how do we have a serious conversation about drug war policies and drug war violence without

involving all immigrants who fall who cross the border some just to find a better life well joining me from our new york studio is michael whitney the online organizer for firedoglake action now michael i just have to ask you a question here you know you can't say that the two are. mutually exclusive excuse me the drug war and illegal immigration but how do you explain to people that not every illegal immigrant the crosses the border into the united states is doing so because they're selling drugs or they're bringing drugs with them. well the fact of the matter is that in the last four years more than twenty eight thousand people have been killed in mexico's war against the drug cartels and what has happened is as you noted the entire immigration issue has been distorted to be about undocumented workers and the real problems that are facing our country and our

border with mexico is really these cartels it's not about the people who are coming here to work because quite frankly they're coming here to work because mexico's government is so strapped to fighting these cartels they don't have any money to help the unemployed they don't have any money to do anything but wage war against the cartels and they're losing that's why president felipe calderon came out last week and said that mexico should have a debate about legalizing drugs and it's about time that president obama joining this debate as well well but you know if you ask the majority of the american public i don't think they would necessarily equate the two and look at them in that logical manner so how do you get people to change their attitudes to realize that our drug policies policies in america especially regarding the mexican drug war are very important that perhaps they need to change in order for that violence to stop . well i think what's critical is exposing the lies that are

the anti immigrant bills from arizona and florida i think it's also extremely important that people realize that what's happening is a failure of a forty year old policy that's cost us when one trillion dollars which is the u.s. is war on drugs that's why with firedoglake we've taken up a new campaign this month called just say now dot com the real goal here is to call for an end to the war on marijuana because as you said so few people so few people know about what's actually happening when the cartels make seventy percent of their profits from marijuana with just say now we're really doing a full on public education campaign and organizing people who are calling for an end to the war in marijuana and that's part of what needs to happen the second part of it is that politicians on both sides are supportive of legalizing marijuana but the problem is there's some so much stigma around it that they're afraid of

entering the culture wars and what we hope to do is create space where politicians can say what they actually think about the need to end the war on marijuana well there is a negative stigma but you know i mean how easy is it you know you can talk about legalizing marijuana as you said that's what seventy percent of the drug cartels profit is made up of but if we really were to legalize across the board marijuana in the united states would that wipe the drug cartels out and how big of a damper that put into their business. well they use the money from marijuana to fund all the rest of their illegal activities they use the profits from marijuana to buy guns that terrorize police or streets they use the money from the profits of marijuana to buy harder drugs like cocaine and heroin and push those on american streets the cartels are in two hundred thirty american cities right now up from just one hundred fifty two years ago and that's why i really think it's critical for people to pay attention to what's happening with california's legal the

legalization initiative which has consistently shown majority support from the states and californians and people in other states like oregon and washington and other western states are really serious about ending the war in marijuana and passing marijuana legalization initiatives and even people like former seattle police chief norm stamper a thirty three year log veteran has come out and said it's time to legalize marijuana because it's a waste of resources and it's a waste of lives and some waste of police officers who have much better things to be doing instead of risking their lives for marijuana busts but now mike i have to ask you know how big of a role does our own government play in some of the violence that's going on across the border because a lot of people have attributed. the violence in the past couple years to believe that calderon's policy is to the fact that he started this war by sending the military out and we fully support him and we aided him in that sense so should we

change that policy as well. absolutely it's time for the u.s. to end its funding of this crisis on the border as you said we just approved five hundred million dollars and the same drones that we send to pakistan to hunt al qaeda to the border with mexico it's an insane war that the u.s. spends way too much money on and that is only endangering the twelve hundred national guard troops that have been sent down to the border as well as the lives of police officers across the country and while calderon. this war has led to this increase in violence he's come back and said well i think it's actually time to debate legalizing marijuana and he's not just talking about mexico legalizing marijuana because the appetite for marijuana is actually in the u.s. bats where the mexican cartels go to sell their legal marijuana and it's really a matter of the u.s. changing its policies and having this debate to legalize marijuana and the debate to end the war marijuana with philippe calderon and other former latin american

presidents who have come out and said it's time to legalize now and president obama needs to come to the table and have this debate but good luck convincing conservative tech this that in order to stop the violence all they have to do is legalize marijuana it's the thinking that you're wasting michael thanks so much for joining us. thank you are we taking a break but just ahead on the show we'll speak to someone right on the arizona border heels of the violence is out of hand and then it's up to him to take matters into his own hands a member of the coaches county militia when we come back. every month we give you the future we'll do you understand how we'll get there and what tomorrow brings the best in science and technology from across russia and around the world. join us for technology update on our g.

some americans of decided to take border security into their own hands americans that have volunteered pay their own expenses bought their own weapons joined the militias and headed for the border they say that they're doing the job the president refuses to what job is that exactly what earlier i caught up with harold hubbard a member of the coaching county militia and i asked him just that. to go to the families and what we do is we go to different areas on the border here in southern arizona night and they said that they do and it was for illegal people crossing and money and they drug smugglers and people smugglers and we

notify the border patrol and the sheriff's department one way saying i'm on our side of the border and they come and got him back and we may no contact we don't speak to him or anything we just notify the border patrol to come and pick them up but why do you say that's that the president refuses to do that job for example on friday they just signed a new border security package with fifteen hundred more security personnel headed right there towards the border but i've been here on this border my house is four miles from the border twelve years and i haven't seen any increase in any stats and if you want to really know the truth the border patrol officers that i've spoken to near my house and over in another part arizona tell me their supervisors hold them back and will not let them do their jobs what would that be what is it that they hold them back from. and then go on to say there is

a if they leave the illegals alone and don't do it then it's them time to get him and tell him to turn them loose. now harold you know you live right there on the border so of course but for miles from the border i'm not asking for your description of course but you know reports in the homeland security department say the borders more secure than it's ever been before so why is it that you don't you'll get it it does go to sheriff larry dever and you'll tell us that that's a that's a bunch of propaganda and it's a lot of political propaganda because they come across and attack our people and go back your question are rich and counted and i don't care when the pilots i know says that that final step in the right says. that speaks to it. now harold i have to ask you when you talk about border security for you is this simply illegal immigrants that might be crossing over to perhaps i don't know get

a job build a life in the u.s. or are you specifically referring to the drug violence. i'm referring to the people smuggling and the drug smuggling now as compared to two years ago it was all controlled by organized crime. from the mexican side. it is no longer just illegal street go across the border coming to look for work organized crime gather some on that side and control those guns and make them carry back section just to border and. that was across the border it's not all controlled but organized crime and my sheriff and my johnny david will tell you that but what evidence does he have to prove that you know for me and what i know there are so a lot of people that are crossing the border because they're in search for a better life here in america the what they can well that's that's propaganda and that's the stuff you all believe up there larson and everywhere else the united

states but if you know that they're on the border. certainly they capture the legals on the other side make them wear backpacks and they put in the back thank goodness and they left come across and be eyeing them well the well could after you cross the border behind them about thirty yards is a member of the cartel with an eight to forty seven as they drop the back and run they shoot at that tell me what did you get enough out of down no doubt no doubt those are the same thing while you're alive from california is safe it also has a lot of. large immigrant population a lot of people crossing the border and i can tell you that i've never seen you know what you described i do know in fact a lot of people a lot of families the did cross the border in order to live a better life clearly there are two sides to it and you know that's what i think people need to do that is that arizona that is so do they have close or pretty much in california that.