dozens. of forces can cope in the wake of the withdrawal of u.s. troops. russia is giving more people the. cases of crime and corruption but in the past would have gone. near new jersey.

which is. concentrating troops in afghanistan spending hundreds of billions of dollars. is a deeply flawed strategy but that's the view. outspoken critic of u.s. policy in that country he thinks washington is being inconsistent in his military pursuits as he explains to. i. does the wall match the cost that is something many americans are asking when it comes to the u.s. strategy in afghanistan and members of the of ghana's then study group call on the president to bring the majority of the u.s. troops home abandoning the strategy of defeating the taliban and matthew hoh is heading that group he's a marine officer who resigned from the state department in protest over obama's

policies the in afghanistan it happened last year and he he's here with me now thank you so much for joining that matthew so the war in afghanistan is the longest and it has cost a lot poorer to the united states you are saying american interests at stake in afghanistan do not warrant this level of sacrifice please explain why. the war's cost us about four hundred billion dollars it's lasted for over nine years american dead or close to twelve hundred there's been fallon's of afghan deaths. we're spending one hundred billion dollars a year next year will spend about one hundred twenty billion dollars a year according to the congressional research service in a country whose g.d.p. is only fourteen billion and knowing that according to our cia there's only fifty to one hundred al qaeda members in afghanistan so you're talking about spending one billion to two billion dollars a year on each al qaeda presence in afghanistan matthew i know that you had been

working in iraq for a while before going to afghanistan was that war worth it was that war programatic no i mean we've seen from where rock was a few years ago yes the country has stabilized you know you've gone from four thousand civilian deaths some months down to a few hundred it's still by no means a story and i don't know if i will ever say it was worth it. i don't agree with those who believe that we needed to be. iraq in order to make the middle east a safer place or a more democratic place and certainly if you look at the reasons why we were given for going in there ties to al qaeda that wasn't true what was a mass destruction that wasn't true. you know saddam was was effectively contained as i saw it he was no threat to its to us or to his neighbors i don't see the expenditures you know the over the forty five hundred american dead near trillion

dollars that we have spent there the near one hundred thousand iraqi dead i don't see that in any way to us to find the invasion of two thousand and three the other thing too is that since we're talking about iraq and afghanistan one of the larger problems i think with us foreign policy particular national security policies are not consistent if they're if we are in afghanistan because of al qaeda and if there are only fifty to one hundred members of al qaeda in afghanistan then why are we pulling out of iraq where there are one thousand to two thousand members why do we see and we need to keep. one hundred thousand troops in afghanistan when those operations come out of somalia and yemen as when and pakistan yes so that consistency is not there in our in our foreign policy particularly in our now security policy and that's very worrisome to me because you don't have consistency if you don't have good critical thought if you don't have a degree of intellectual honesty in your policymaking you are going to have bad policy and you're going to have things like iraq we're going to find yourself nine

years into afghanistan and paying over the civil war spending one hundred billion dollars a year for a purpose that does not make the united states safer matthew you've been saying that stabilizing the government in afghanistan does not the feed al qaida and and that it's like using a flash hammer to kill our fly do you think it's such a fly and if not a sledgehammer what should be used to kill that fly you know i mean sure of fly can bite you short before i can affect you he could get in your. make your food mold to your what not but you try and kill with sledgehammer you end up wrecking your house and if you look at our successes against al qaida they have not come from occupying afghanistan yes it was based in afghanistan we showed up they fled to pakistan they dispersed around the world they became this near virtual with these centralized loosely for militarization that uses individuals and cells and doesn't rely upon large physical tracks on land are successes in. against al qaida and there's

a good new yorker article not too long ago about this. have been through more of a police or law enforcement or intelligence role and we capture khalid sheikh muhammad then by the fact that we've got tens of thousands of u.s. troops occupying. two muslim countries out also suggests that we need to look at our strategy in the sense of that our policies have been counterproductive when we've turned to using military occupation as a tool to beat a terror network that is more similar to a mafia organization or a criminal organization and that is only composed of a couple thousand or a few thousand members worldwide well let's get back to the taliban are you saying the u.s. should not be afraid of taliban afghanistan i don't believe so. i'm not i mean i don't want to apologise for taliban you know and i don't want to be accused of that or be seen as that but we have to recognize the taliban is not

a monolithic movement the taliban is composed of many different groups within afghanistan that have diverse motives supporting the taliban a lot of times that being financial financial the sense of not only give you ten not because they give you ten dollars to put a bomb aside because in your valley on a give this group a couple thousand dollars and that's going to make that group the most powerful group in that valley a lot of the groups that support the taliban have very vocal concerns. things are not going to affect you and i here in washington d.c. or other folks throughout the united states also to the ties between the taliban and al qaeda are not really there there or certainly elements of the taliban that have ties to al qaida but you can you can isolate them do not because there is ten or fifteen or maybe even twenty percent of taliban that are irreconcilable or do have links to transnational terror groups does that does not mean we should not do

our best to negotiate with and work with that other eighty percent or ninety percent of taliban is reconcilable and that we can get and negotiated settlement with because they don't have ties to al qaeda. mathewson you also said that afghanistan's neighbors say china or russia have actually more to lose from the instability and afghanistan that the united states and i would have more reason more and more reasons to get involved in keeping everyone and then quiet and you think countries should like take turns saying waging war think afghanistan oh bill absolutely not i think it's in. every other nations interest to see a negotiated settlement in afghanistan it's been a proxy war or. a real war in one way or another for the last thirty thirty five years in afghanistan and it has improved nobody's economy has approved nobody's way of life i think for nations like the central asian states for russia for china to have issues with their own ethnic minorities or muslim minorities i

think it's important for what's happening in afghanistan not to spread across boundaries was the biggest issue for russia is the dragging flow of the argument you know that's a great point i believe it's about ninety percent of the drugs that leave afghanistan go to russia or to europe to huge huge issue but you're not going to feed that you're not going to feed the drug trade there and to you stabilize the country until you stop the war until you stop one side from having an incentive to utilize that drug trade to you know provide the money to fight the war until you take away the aspect of the war itself you're not to be able to address any of these issues and that goes for the drug trade that goes for women's rights that goes for other ethnic or other human rights and that goes for development as well in terms of i mean it's a very it's an incredibly poor credibility desperate country it needs a lot of assistance it's not going to develop it's not going to grow without there

being stability so for so many different reasons but if someone has to keep them stable they can do it on their own i'll get all the money they have to bolt. they have to do it on their own as long as you have outside powers backing up one side or another and putting one side in a position where it's trying to subjugate the other side you will not have stability the situation as we can see in afghanistan is as bad as ever the corruption is rampant and the casualties way to get thirty one percent right are you saying that the us should go out should pull out now no one's seen him well we're not saying about afghanistan study group is not saying abandon afghanistan unfortunately when you get these conversations you kind of get it it gets characterized you're all in or all out war you want to cut and run that's not the case we're saying the problem is inherently political not country so utilize political solutions. take the foreign troops out of the places where there are

catalyst for the violence whether a catalyst for people to join the insurgency engage regional nations find a better way to do economic development it's important the way we're doing it now is not working it is doubling down the effort is not going to work and prioritize the u.s. interests u.s. interest in that region and pakistan's nuclear weapons so have a policy that goes after al qaida and helps stabilize pakistan in the region so that those nuclear weapons are never put in jeopardy and that's what we're advocating we certainly are not advocating wave the magic wand and disappear tomorrow afghanistan figured out for himself well thank you very much it was matthew hoh with me here in washington d.c. who resigned from his job where the state department because he thinks the u.s. is fighting for the wrong cause in afghanistan and paying too big a price for that i.

are you. going. to have a rally will sell lots of beer will. will wear uniforms that will damage is in the black and them anything but very little damming the white. and they are the key to our problem our own right.

her. mother. in law. on the one hundred a month. this is tree still keeps its secrets but now it's time to reveal the hidden in the soviet files house on the embankment on oxys. they faced it this is not a provocation but warns of. a full of shit and we should just step in what is sure to suppress the trieste because they have no idea about the hardships the face. they wanted for this is it all

to tunis and for any army to life ever use a phantom it is the most precious thing in the world. is of self-sacrifice and heroism of those who understand it fully but you have to live a. real life stories from world war two the success of victory nineteen forty five dollars on t.v. dot com.

dozens dead. whether iraqi forces can in the wake of the withdrawal of u.s. troops. justice the internet. is giving more people the chance to highlight cases of crime corruption in the past would have gone. a long time. new jersey to find out what options are left for those who have lost everything. to be celebrations in the republic of south ossetia which is twenty years since it declared independence from georgia. and the

sport is next with. hello and sign for spore n r t come and see you every day from the russian capital i'm on cos forever now let's take a look at our top stories in brief. one more set serbia reaches its first ever davis cup final. closing the gap rubin moved to within a win over leaders is a meet in the russian premier league thanks to a last gasp goal. of the pile the inaugural russian challenge cup comes to an end just outside moscow with spain's carlos del mar all the man writing his way into the record books. but let's start in belgrade where serbia have come from behind to beat the czech republic and reach the finals of the davis cup for the first time in its history the czechs were two one up in the best of

five going to the final almost vertical and roddick the panic won the doubles rubber on saturday and it was vertical the opening set in sunday's first singles match but world number two jockey that's managed to find his rhythm much to the delight of the partisan home crowd in belgrade the u.s. open file this reading of the following three sets six three six two six four to put serbia back to a level in just over three hours so it went down to the wire young going to getting the crowd on its feet with this dominant display against a panic tips or average hitting a total of nine a says to six they'll seven six six four big three waiting in the final are nine time champions france who completed their thing sweep of argentina on sunday third is the ocean small one and arnold three meant. let's move fish side where rubin's quest for a third straight russian championship received a boost on sunday the man from cousin securing maximum points against with virtually the final kick of the game. away and then. was it.

has it's ation aplenty in the freaking build up but with good cause as given these cards and these rifles and what are all ninety plus minutes relieve the overriding emotion on the face of rubin manager good bond between the there he is the full time whistle blowing seconds later sealing the one mill win for the champions still a lot of work to do though say they're crowned leaders sydney may be just three points in front but they hold a hefty three matches in hand. meanwhile in the days early kick off local months even couldn't be separated in psalms a lot of good things rolling for a local five minutes from the break before and by a fan of the back of his old team's nets to make it one one and that's how it would end both sides remaining in mid table. on mondays and he can reestablish their six point advantage of the summit the st petersburg side aiming to keep their unbeaten run intact in chechnya where terry gross they lie in wait then there is

a clash of the two sports socks in that game also taking place in south the russian third placed says scott will fully expect to claim maximum points at the expense of rock bottom seed in the late game. and has returned to russia the first ever challenge cup reaching its conclusion at that will go from pole of club victory going the way of carlos del mar all meeting the spaniard now has a great chance of getting his place on the european tour proper next season as andrew former reports. so it was a fitting finale to what has been a hugely successful tournament jack nicklaus designed course colace the moral started the day four shots off the late but by the final hole he'd fought his way to the top of the leaderboard with a one strike advantage over his nearest rival denmark's the organ and although del moral found the sand he recovered well to finish on eleven and overall and that was enough the victory after all isn't missed his part means that the moral walks away

with twenty eight thousand euros in prize money and also boost his chances of qualifying to play on the european tour next season i came here four years ago for a european tour event but it filled awesome i mean we went to the red square it was just a very cool week filled awesome especially with great conditions great golf. so tonight. we only have to see here so he's smiling but so too is the russian golf association it has big plans to promote this sport across the country and the sleeve a golf course here has proved itself to be of championship quality and is being raved about by the players i think the reflection from the players certainly the players i've talked to which is pretty much everybody has been a good response. have enjoyed the course immensely they have told me that it's been prepared to the highest standard. the practice facility. every facility even

down to the catering in the club. has been welcomed by the players they've loved it while it is only the second time the challenge tour has come to russia which still only has a handful of courses but after the last week who knows russia might just have found its way on to golf calendar on a permanent basis andrey farmer r.t. moscow region. and there's another scan you're celebrating on the greens of adam drug jose mine. lara edging a tightly contested final round at the australian open the thirty three year old carting a sixty four to catch out with a joint overnight leader david len it's to work side at seventeen under par after seventy two holes it was lower of though it would be in soon playoff to win on the first extra hole bogeyed but lara made par on the replay eighteenth to claim only his second victory on the european for his previous title coming three years ago in

hong kong danny willett who shared the lead heading into the finals they both get his last three holes and had to settle for joint third place with the u.s. open champion graeme mcdowell and alexander nor in all sweden. now let's check on the latest scores in the kontinental hockey league where seven games were played on sunday and sell about you live stuff with their first defeat of the season at the hands of jaromir joggers ave guard draw in regulation and overtime and the home side eventually winning the shootout in kazakhstan a double of brandon but chance he helped local side bar is beat and usually comes if he may got a hard earned home victory against after mobilise five four and looking at the needed overtime to overcome moscow reagents lines sixty five the final score there . another three games took place on sunday words in a moscow top the league's new converts bugrov scott st petersburg last game four of six this season the latest by wales or pedal three two in overtime there as well

and finally in left the arena and of course because i needed the shootout to determine the winner victory and two points going through the garden cup holders are bars. cycling now and after coming into existence just last year a russian team cut off at capture their first major title as they won the same classification and the last three grand tours of the season. cut you shocked at local favorites face to parnate to the coveted title by twenty nine seconds and were in no small debts and guilty rodriguez who. the mail from spain the thirty one year old finished fourth over roll while also placing high in the points king of the mountains and combination classifications russia that's also contributed to cut you to success after clocking the thirteenth fastest so i'm individual author's words a way of it's hadn't been chance on a body to maintain his forty one second lead after the symbolic stage twenty one in madrid brits and mark cavendish triumph in the sprint category. in a multi g.p.

there's been a race a first at the inaugural aragon grand prix forward champions cases daughter and nicky hayden posting a first win and first podium finish of the season respectively stoner started from pole in spain but was closely followed by informed that he could draw for most of the race by the two thousand and seven champion pulled away towards the end to be the home favorite by more than five seconds championship leader jorge lorenzo loose on course for third place finish but a starting last lap by american hayden solo renzo slipped down to for this first finish outside the podium in the grand prix so far this season the stand here however sits a huge fifty six points clear of the draw at the top of the standings with just five more races to go stoller is now third overall he may be out of contention but still reddish to the well deserved when. we're able to get the bike working on much the way we wanted it to you know had a little slip off this morning which was a little bit worrying going into the you know staying away from everyone could want

to get too close but yeah we were able to pick up the pace when we needed to during the race and you know bring home the wind for the team for everyone who's stuck by me and you know i sorry it took so long. and that's finished with some big waves where kelly slater is marched towards an unprecedented half century of elite sword certain victories shows no sign of abating the florida native wrapping up title forty three on the opposite coast line at the latest stop of their holy pro event the ninth world champion. looking good to reach double figures heading to the top of the overall standings at trestles south in california but he was pushed hard by the man who defeated slater on the same piece of beach in two thousand and six. durbidge alcee a slew of high ranked pros to reach the decider but that's where the australians highlights what and thirty eight year old slater dominating the two metre waves suis to victory and pocket hundred and five thousand u.s.

dollars in the process i'm just i'm just trying to soak in this and not think about everything right now. i just want to week i mean we think that that's well forecast path now we're taxiing in like laughing on the phone going look what we're going to get next week and i just told pat i'd like one hundred five thousand people punch me in the face to surf these ways by myself and you pay me money. that's all for the moment but remember i'm more russian an international sport can be found on our website artsy dot com by for now thanks. every month we give you the future we help 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 six knology update on r g.

wealthy british style. markets why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy with max conjure for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into kinds a report on our. first.