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nice for instance on t.v. don't comb. welcome back you're watching our t.m. these are the top stories as a war in afghanistan and or as it stands here today public support for the campaign is rapidly dropping u.s. troops aren't helping matters either and many have been uploading videos of the or questionable behavior while qaida and the taliban are using the material against them. to hand out of us overseas broadcasting seeking to pump its influence to combat the rise of what it called autocratic t.v. stations list includes our t.v. now we explore why washington doesn't seem to accept freedom of speech coming from russia iran venezuela well china. and kyrgyzstan investigations underway into

a fresh wave of violence just days out of the parliamentary vote a wednesday a mob stormed the half waters of a leading political party after protests staged by relatives of those killed in april's riots. it may be the ninth anniversary of the war in afghanistan but the long and bloody years of conflict have come with little reward them while the u.s. might claim it's not only fighting against taliban but also fighting for democracy and freedom afghans have seen little sign of success in any of those author and journalist and jones shared her thoughts on the decade old war. r.t. is sitting down with journalist and author ann jones her most recent book is called war is not over when it's over and thank you very much for sitting down to speak with art it's my pleasure i'd like to begin by asking you about your time on a u.s.

military base in afghanistan and to tell me what you saw and experienced well i was at a forward operating base on the border with pakistan and. it was a strange experience for me but i think the the foremost thing i learned there was from the base commander when i talked to him about the counterinsurgency strategy in afghanistan and he said i'm not fighting counterinsurgency here i'm fighting conventional war since his battalion had taken over this base only a few weeks before he'd lost a lot of man. he was right there on the border of pakistan and there was a lot of activity and of course all the news that was being reported here was about the build up to the great assault in khandahar and all the journalists who were in

the south and i apparently was the first american journalist to go to that base and they were really fighting for their lives at at the same time it was very bizarre because the base itself is very cushy it's very much like home you can go to the chow hall and have lobster tails not not very well cooked but they are loves details. so on the one hand there's this great effort to separate the troops from the war to make things seem as much like her. home as possible and on the other hand every time they go outside the wire they were they were in danger of losing people and they had lost a lot so there's this disconnect between the base and what's out there. and they go out in their enormous armored vehicles and

patrol and get ambushed or run into bombs while the afghans and the taliban are out there running around in their little cotton he's fighting the war their style. and when these american troops are fighting in an area that is particularly destitute and when they go outside the wire they have to see that this civilians surrounding them are terribly poor and struggling people i don't i couldn't figure out how the soldiers computed what they were being asked to do and why they were doing it and how the commander was officially fighting one kind of war but actually fighting quite desperately another kind of four and and why he was the folks in the in the eastern part of the

country were just kind of on their own wall all attention was concentrated in the south in the east they didn't even have enough military helicopters to evacuate the wounded you mention the taliban and i want to also ask you about something you recently wrote an article about afghan women being abandoned you said the taliban do terrible things that the problem with demonizing them is that it diverts attention away from other equally unpleasant and threatening facts let's not make the common mistake of thinking that the devil we see is the only want. as i continued reading your article i made the assumption that. another devil you were referring to as also those that are in charge and the government that is backed and supported by the united states thanks actually the us the devil in afghanistan well the us is yeah i think you could say that in

a way because we are supporting an administration that is not only corrupt but of course as fundamentalist in many ways as the taliban. not just the executive branch and the cabinet but the parliament as well they're all controlled by former mujahideen. islamic extremists that the u.s. the bush administration put in power and so we're on the one hand talking about spreading democracy and equal rights for women and all of those nice things and on the other hand in many ways there's not a dime's worth of difference between the government we're supporting and the taliban were fighting against and how of course where we keep talking about having negotiations cars i want wanted to negotiate for years in the us opposed it but now

seems to be supporting it as a way out but you can be sure that if these negotiations go forward with the taliban and the karzai government. it's afghan women and minorities who are going to suffer in the long run based on what you saw when you were in afghanistan what does the u.s. fundamentally want with afghanistan at this point in the position there and what is victory or what is stabilization what is spreading democracy and what does the u.s. lot i have no idea i can't answer that question. and and many of the soldiers i talked to couldn't answer that question many officers couldn't answer that question certainly there are a lot of people in our political system who couldn't answer that question i think they're struggling with that in the white house as well. of a friend of mine just contacted me from kabul this morning complaining that last

night. in kabul general petraeus was on the news broadcast on the one hand saying that negotiations with the taliban were going forward very well and on the other hand saying that the united states was gathering all its forces to fight the taliban to the death and she said in a very desperate way. what does this mean please make up your mind we afghans are suffering who benefits from hundreds of thousands of americans being there i mean the soldiers many of them it's been reported in some of come out on the record saying they don't want to be there clearly the afghans never asked for america to invade and occupy their country who benefits from all this well that's happening more contractors a lot of money is being made off the war. the armament suppliers the contractors who are supposedly providing the security. for the people who

supposedly are developing the country. there are many reports of the u.s. paying the taliban so that the taliban shoot at their convoys so that they can supply their troops so that they can go out and battle against the taliban that if you're on the ground there you see all kinds of catch twenty two like that doesn't make any sense. people are making money off it and some of. those people are afghans and some of those people are americans and and others but the generality of afghan people are suffering enormously you know we've been we've been at this since we went in the late seventy's to try to lure the the soviets to come in we've been

meddling in those affairs and we've consistently backed the wrong people who have blown back to haunt us and i think that the this whole that we've made for ourselves in afghanistan now is is so entangled so complex. i don't know how the united states could extricate itself with some sort of honor and consideration for the afghan people you know when you look back in history when it comes to war and conflict uprising we've seen a soviet union fail we've seen britain falle but we've seen those like china is caught on alexander the great succeed but they had to exterminate majority of people any chance the u.s. would use that type of measure go to that extent i really have no idea there's

a possibility i think that today so much of the planning and even so much of what's being carried out in afghanistan is secret from us just as our operations there against the soviets in that proxy war were kept secret from the american public so i think there's too much that we don't know that we have no way of knowing to make any kind of educated guess about that the thing that's troubling. is that obama has said consistently that he wants to begin withdrawing troops he doesn't really want to be there but at the same time the generals are offering him. no range of options at all they're just wanting to remain wanting to increase the number of troops and this

raises i think a very troubling constitutional crisis because the president is the commander in chief and as we see his generals boxing him into a corner what does that say about who's running the government in this country when it comes to our military affairs and foreign policy it's very problematic and with respect to the people of this pantry to americans do you think a day will come where this war will follow us home and americans chip you know the public will be suffering the backlash the blowback of all the years that the u.s. has spent in afghanistan and all the death squads well we've already suffered that that's what nine eleven was it was a blowback for our interference in that part of the world and now it comes back to us in many other ways. obama himself said he hasn't ruled out the

possibility of another similar terrorist attack that would be blowback for our continuing involvement there but also it comes back in what's happening to our own country in. as our soldiers come home in terrible condition with. appalling physical and mental injuries and casualties and of course in what it costs this country to fight the. illegal unnecessary wars and what it's costing us at hold now in the deterioration of our own structures and our our own constitutional structure and jones thank you very much for your time thank you.

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from stock totty dot com. as a born again of standards of stand here today public support for the campaign is rapidly dropping u.s. troops aren't helping matters either many have been uploading videos of the or questionable behavior while al qaida and the taliban are using the material accounts down. the path of us overseas broadcasting is seeking to pump its influence to combat the rise of one. called autocratic t.v. stations the list includes our team and we explore why washington doesn't seem to accept freedom of speech coming from russia and iran venezuela or china. and kyrgyzstan investigations underway into a fresh wave of violence just days ahead of a parliamentary vote on wednesday a mob storm to waters of a leading political party after

a protest age by relatives of those killed in april's riots. are back at the top of the hour with more updates for you the meantime we'll take a look what's happening in sports. hello and welcome to the sports means thank you for joining me and here are the headlines must win game russia head to dublin for that crucial european qualifier against island. while one win away caroline wozniacki closes in on serena williams' number one spot in the w.t. a rankings. and rowing back thing is russia rejoin us forces with the u.k. to help regain the country's called the rowing glorious. let's start with football and russia are preparing for their crucial euro two thousand and twelve group the qualifiers against the republic of ireland on friday and macedonia on cheese day

the squad have left the dublin with coach dick advocaat saying they must win their next two games following defeat to slovakia in moscow confident but on path as well . russia's spinal two miniatures of two thousand are just around the corner and dick advocaat side haven't had the best of starts of their euro twenty twelve campaign but they're looking to put things right over the coming week just so simple we did not. we didn't we were in a sinking losing for again slow the game with if you lose another game you have to win away games advocate has called up two names to the squad. from spartak and put on my fourth test card but it's likely the same names who are so disappointing last month against will have the chance to make amends on friday again alsa said it last time it did to younger players i mean to get to know the way it goes in the national team was training in a different level for them is important to feel. that they are part of that the

republic of whirling top group b. on goal difference from sol back here will russia wise third the irish have a strong home record and will take on raw. sure at the newly constructed of us stereo and doubling on the eighth of october the boys in green will try not to upset their passionate fans in what's likely to be a sellout encounter little principle just as come on i haven't seen lots of matches about and for the past few years but i know that all the key players like shay given robbie keane damien duff and aiden mcgeady are all in the squad and about their play i would say that you can see the results of giovanni trapattoni has worked with his team he's a very experienced and emotional manager and you can see that the irish play with the hard dick advocates charges have already three some trouble because of injuries to the trunk of tottenham hotspur would probably miss the match against ireland as well as alexander kids from senate who has a return to the national side but if you reckon fever has recovered from his injury

and his feet to play so russia getting worse minute preparations ahead of their two away mantras dick out of its man will be needed to prove that a home was to slovakia was nothing more than a blip however it is going to be a challenge as anything other than all six points will be seen as a failure back home concern about out of. moscow meanwhile english premier league side liverpool say they've agreed to sell the club to the owners of baseball team the boston red sox and the bulls board announced the sale to new england sports ventures on the club's website however they will now face a legal battle to force through the south of the club's current owners tom hicks and george gillette the pac claimed the deal has dramatically undervalued the club after they put it on the market for five hundred fifty eight million dollars they faced in mid october deadline to settle refinance their four hundred forty five million dollars debt to the world bank of scotland. tennis now and caroline wozniacki is just one win away from securing the world number one spot after

beating italy sora irani in her opener in beijing fresh from her triumph in tokyo last week the dane got a quest for a sixth title of the year off to a quick start she received. the buy in the first round was very much veronique in the second from her opponent out in straight sets six four six two all she needs to do now to unseat serena williams at the top of the rankings. at trick christopher and reach the quarter finals should wozniak you succeed at the twenty year old will become only the twentieth woman to take the top spot since the likeness began thirty five years ago i. was on the right could become the world number three she came from a set down throughout this fellow russian no he had five seven six four six two the final school spawn a rival moving into the last eight and is certain to overtake venus williams in third in the world however the french open champion francesca schiavone could beat

them by the spot on the right about the each other in the quarter finals the italian beat another russian directorship in a. kind of mistake i don't care became only the eighth active player on the tour to record four hundred wins the world number six defeated prolapse marin church for the first time in his career to reach the landmark next up for him is american wild card john isner top seed novak djokovic should receive over into the last eight after mardi fish pulled out of the tournament. in ice hockey severe hard edged metal and others nets on penalties to pick up their fourth straight win in the k h l that's about twice came. from that time of the game thanks to all that just a minutes ago but the forward went from piro to zero in the shootout as he fell to the signature buddying tops off. the same could be going into a goal for the hosts elsewhere because that side bodies run away in the second

period to trans am or five to also on home ice. and finally the one hundred fiftieth anniversary of russia's first rowing club has been held in some petersburg it was built by the british and us out. correspondent which is the firm that relations between the two countries in the sporting field is still going strong. europe has played a crucial role in the cultural development of some petersburg over the last three hundred years italians took care of the architecture french was we are soccer season language of choice but dutch gave the city's distinctive canals while the united kingdom helped set up the country's first ever rowing club one hundred fifty years ago but which unfortunately over time has fallen into a state of disrepair original water existence. and a couple hundred metres from this place. during the sea go for a second goal we're. building. much of. this here in the. one hundred people in the russian only sport decided to

initiate a structure not just for yulia i need the director of the russian army to rowing association this place has a special meaning she learned how to row here during his student days and personally wanted to restore the club to its former glory to help a new generation of to learn the sport. this idea came to us a long time ago because a lot of us used to train here and it was sad to see just how low the standard of rowing in russia had fallen to we all got together to see how we could try and restored the place and keep the tradition going ascent because burke has always had a number of places where people have pro. links in the field of rowing between russia and the u.k. still remain strong one hundred fifty years on five time a limbic champions as steve redgrave has visited both sides of a clubhouse has a distinctly british feel so it's from a technical and coaching expertise the u.k.

is able to watch it's likely to see a marked improvement in the standard of the sports not just around some petersburg but across the country as a whole who would like to or suborder. eight for centers and a verse to. all the other things to help them to attend and they're all regarded a rear and a struggle for the. special. meaning in regard to. the also brother would like to use the experience of britain coach is one of the main aims of a promise to help develop you can interest in a city especially among students the oxford and cambridge boat race is famous the world over and university rowing is popular in the u.s. but the same can be said of russia and beside it has the backing of one of the world's greatest ever rowers junior rowing is that every two years is completely

new people coming into it. in the seniors you our athletes that will go on for five ten some even longer. and you stiff to break in. if people at the top what happens is you slowly get your everybody's level goes up by then the older people retire and the next level of their business imperative given the current state of russian rowing the country is just one one gold of the last prelim big games and the prospects are looking good for london in less than two years time this is a far cry from fifty years ago but the roma lympics privy to be one of the greatest moments in rowing not just for russia but also for some petersburg leningrad as it was known then twenty six people from just one club. came there and michelle team and half of them were back with the medals so. probably hundreds of thousands of

people went for all of the. different other cities over russia. now days nation has become. proper again it would help the helper to do well with an abundance of water one would for. petersburg will be a mecca for rowing lovers from around the country however the swans fall upon hard times of the last couple of decades but due to a long standing partnership with the united kingdom there are hopes rowing can return to its former glory in russia hopefully don't see some petersburg. and that's all the support for this bill isn't.