four seasons hotel. from the russian capital. thank you for joining us. iraq. u.s. officials. the country. killed a thirty six people. local forces indeed and. russia is becoming a new front line in the fight for. growing number of people are getting a global audience when they expose corruption. twenty years. of independence from georgia one nine hundred ninety s.

their public has been plagued by violence try to bring it back under control. well concentrating troops in afghanistan and spending hundreds of billions of dollars on trying to hunt down al qaeda is a deeply flawed strategy well that's the view of the. outspoken critic of u.s. policy in the country he thinks washington is being inconsistent in its military pursuits as he explains to. does the goal 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 d. 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 to the united states who are saying american interests at stake in afghanistan do not warrant this level of sacrifice please explain why. the wars 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 members in afghanistan so you're talking about spending one billion to two billion dollars a year on each al qaeda presence in afghanistan massoud 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 someone's 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 i 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 weapons of mass destruction that wasn't true. you know saddam was was effectively contained as i saw it he was a no threat to it's 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 justifying 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 u.s. 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. hundred thousand troops in afghanistan when those operations come out of somalia and yemen as when and pakistan and 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 entangled in a civil war spending one hundred billion dollars a year for a purpose that does not make the united states safer matthew you have been saying that stabilizing the government in afghanistan does not defeat al qaida and and that it's like using a flash hammer to kill a 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 sort of fly can affect you he could get in your. refrigerator make your food moldy or 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 when we showed up they fled to pakistan they dispersed around the world they became this near virtual decentralized loosely for motivation that uses individuals and cells and doesn't rely upon large physical tracks on land are successes in. against

it and there's a good new yorker article not too long ago about this. have been through more of a police or a law enforcement or intelligence role and we capture of 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 and 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'm not one be apologist for the 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 taliban a lot of times that being financial financial the sense of now i'm going to give you ten not because i 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 it 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 in the go see it with and work with that other eighty percent or ninety

percent taliban that is reconcilable and that we can get in the ghosted settlement with because they don't have ties to al qaeda mathewson you also said that ghana stands neighbors say china russia have actually more to lose from the instability in afghanistan that the united states and i would have more reason more and more reasons to get involved in keeping afghanistan quiet and you think countries like take turns saying waging war thing afghanistan oh bill absolutely not i think it's an. 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 the spread across boundaries was the biggest issue for russia is the drug inflow the argument you know that's 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 producer but you're not going to feet 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 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 a incredibly poor credibly 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 were asked to keep them stable they can do it on their own are you know legally they have to ultimately 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 the ag is thirty one percent right now are you saying that the u.s. should go. out should pull out now no one's saying them but what we're not saying about afghanistan is that a 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 they're a 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 and just 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 a magic wand and disappear tomorrow but afghanistan figured out for himself 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 causing afghanistan and paying too big a price for that. when

something really. what you want to get down to. is strong. discussion expertise. on the pricing issues of the region. markets foreign. interests. question. the news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images. from the streets of canada.

this is street still keeps its secrets it's time to reveal. the song. on.

the headlines. because being hit by the worst violence since the u.s. officially ended its military campaign in the country three car bombings killed. the forces. russia is becoming a new front line in the fight. fandoms growing number of people are getting a global audience and results when they expose crime corruption and bully. plus. twenty here since its declaration of independence from georgia since nine hundred ninety the republic's been plagued by violence sounds to reseed try to bring it back under its control. hard while those who are our top stories for now

but not so i had when i was a rock. what's happening in russian football after the latest round of action well it's not quite over yet so we've got some more games that will be held a little bit later today but things are getting interesting as leaders in needs are losing points giving others a shot of the more just a moment so stay right there. hello welcome back to c four an r t coming to you every day from the russian capital i'm wrong cost and let's start with the headlines. closing the gap being moved to within four points of leaders is it meets in the russian payment thanks to a last gasp goal and she. won more step serbia reaches its first ever davis cup final. and top 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. and let's kick off with the russian football premier league where is it in st petersburg failed to reestablish their six point advantage at the summit however as far as his men have managed to keep their eye on beats and run for a goal the straw in chechnya against the local outfit sara growls and so the way finished over there the chechen capital two more games are coming up a little bit later where there is a clash of two sparks socks in that game also taken place in south in russia and third place says scott will fully expect to claim maximum points at the expense of rock bottom severe in the late game. rubin's quest for a third straight russian championship receive the boost on sunday the men from secured maximum points against anji with version of the final kick off the game as they should have plenty of the free kick builds up but with good reason as good denise carruthers means rifles in the winter on ninety plus minutes relief the

overriding emotion on the face of rubin manager could've been better via for the full time whistle blowing seconds later saving the one mill win for the champions still a lot of work to do though if they're saying their ground leaders suneet maybe just four points in front but they hold it soon matches in and. and to look at what's even f.c. someone couldn't be separated in psalms along to talk about things rolling for a local five minutes from the break the youngster found himself in an unlikely position in front of the goalie but didn't think twice when the scores teammate they're not going by seem to have tried too hard in this next episode as he found the back of his own teams that to make it one one that's how it was and both sides are meeting in the table. tennis now and serbia have come from behind to beat the czech republic and reach the finals of the davis cup for the first time in their history the czechs were two one up in the best of five psi going into the final day on six of those thirty radix the final one the doubles rubber on saturday and it

was burdick who took the opening set in sunday's first singles match but world number two live on jock itch managed to find his rhythm much to the right of the force on the home crowd in belgrade the u.s. open final this reeling off the following three set six three six two six four to put serbia back to level in just over three hours so it went down to the wire got that it's already getting the crowd on its feet with his thumb and display against the funny it's originating a total of nine a says on route to a six love seven six six four victory of these. nine time champions for. their needs are seen on sunday there is a small and are no limit. pro golf has returned to russia the first ever challenge cup reaching its conclusion and that dave a golf and polo 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 sora proper next season as andrew farmer reports. so it was a fitting finale to what has been

a hugely successful tournament this jack nicklaus design 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 model found the sound 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 it filled awesome i mean we went to the red square it was just a very cool week so it felt awesome especially with africa's great conditions great golf dignity. so tonight. 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 part of the facility even down to the catering and 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 into golf's calendar on a permanent basis andrey farmer for r.t. moscow region and there is another stand your celebrating on the greens of x.m.

broke jose manual. the tightly contested final round at the australian open the thirty three year old courting a sixty four to catch up with joint overnight leader david lead to work side at seventeen under par after seventy two holes it was lara vogel. and didn't seem to agree on the first extra hole the englishman bowl good but lara made paul are on the replayed eighteenth to claim only his second victory on the europeans or his previous title coming three years ago in kong kong than what we shared the lead heading into the finals a ball get here to settle for the joint third place with us open champion graeme mcdowell and it's under no written about sweden. now let's check on the latest scores in the kontinental hockey league where seven games are played on sunday and celebrate the live stuff with their first defeat of the season at the hands of. adam garde drawing regulation in overtime and the home side eventually winning the shootout in kazakhstan a double by brad but chance he helps local side virus. and usually comes it to he

may got a hard earned home victory against someone billings to fight for and look at which he needed overtime to overcome the reagents of client six five the final score. another three games took place on sunday where. the league's new comers you groff scott st petersburg last game four off six this season by way of three in overtime . in a. shootout to determine the winner victory and two points to the cup holders. cycling now and after coming into existence just last year russians. have captured their first major title as they won the team classification as the last of the three grand swords of the season. local favorites based upon a so they coveted title by twenty nine seconds and. gives winston reveals from spain the thirty one year old finished fourth overall while also placing

a high in the points king of the mountains and combination classifications russia's even a card that celebrating his birthday today also contributed to success after clocking the thirteenth fastest time individual honors went the way it's out and been centanni body will maintain his forty one second lead after this stage twenty one in madrid brits and mark cavendish in the sprint category. in mosul g.p. there's been a race so firms that they know girl are gone grand prix former champion and nicky hayden posting a first win and first podium finish of the season respectively stoner started from paul in spain and was closely followed by informed the droll so for most of the race by the two thousand and seven champion pulled away towards the end of the home favorite by more than five seconds championship leader jorge lorenzo lives on course for third place finish starting last lap by american hate. for his first finish outside the podium in thirteen grand prix so far this season however

a huge fifty six points clear of. just five more races to go under is now third overall he may be out of contention redish the well deserved one. we're able to get the bike working on my so i wanted it to you know i had a little slip off this morning which was a little bit worrying going into the inner eye so i was staying away from everyone i 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 a win for the team for everyone who stuck by me and you know sorry it took so long . and finally it's still four years to go before the next fee for world cup fans in the football craze of brazil are already being treated to some international action as the homeless world cup got underway at that copacabana beach to give hope to those in need as the name suggests the annual global event only features players who live on the streets it was designed to promote changing

the lines and helping the whole let's get back into work around twelve hundred players from more than sixty countries including women are taking part in this year's tournament teams consist of three players plus a goalkeeper with more with four more players in reserve and they play matches that are only fourteen minutes long the champions will be known at the end of the week but the organizers say it's what's being done off the pitch that matters the most. we do research every year what has happened to the players many of the players nearly seventeen seventeen eighteen. jobs have got houses of come of jobs some very hot dogs gone to college. some even stay in football become football coaches and so on interestingly some of the managers who are here people so they've changed their lives completely so for me it's all about impacting change the game is beautiful we have some very exciting football which will happen during this week to watch but the important thing is what happens afterwards that's all for the moment more stories from russia and around the world can be found on our website r.t.

dot com take a look whenever you get a chance thanks for watching. question is that so much given to the huge musician they can find in the market why are the overwhelming majority of muslim populated countries governed by either non democratic regimes or unstable democracies and those.

wealthy british science. sometimes. markets why not scandal. find out what's really happening to the global economy in these kinds of reports on march. fifth.