u.s. foreign policy towards israel sahil copper from raw story will join us for that when it's being called a war on unions public sector workers in wisconsin are fighting a proposal by the governor to cut wages and take away their bargaining rights so we'll speak with laura clawson of the daily coast about this escalating conflict and who she thinks is going to win out then did you know that one of our wars side projects includes having colleges brought up there's currently american universities and beirut afghanistan and iraq just to name a few but one of these schools really teach well ask author or speaker and we joked about it but could it really be happening could machines be taking over our world after seeing watson school humans on jeopardy for the past three nights we're learning that i.b.m. is now creating assistance for doctors and other fields so chris wilson from slate is going to join me this gus this potential robotic apocalypse that's at the end of the show though now let's move on to our top story. this week marks the one year

anniversary of the u.s. military offensive in marjah in the helmand province in southern afghanistan it was called alteration muster up and it was the largest military operation in afghanistan since the fall of two thousand and one it was announced through a massive p.r. campaign reported the world over marjah was meant to signify a new escalation of our war effort to target the taliban secure key population centers but despite what the obama administration and military officials have been saying as they try to sell this idea of progress helmand province where marjah is located saw insurgent attacks double just in this year and about the fact that the u.s. has now spent at least two billion dollars a year to keep the area secure and then the picture becomes even more bleak so a year later what if we learnt earlier i caught up with matthew hoh senior fellow at the center for international policy and the director of the afghanistan study group so i first asked him to look back to one year ago. the way that this marjah

offensive assault the very high profile p.r. campaign that was launched and i wonder if that was a smart move. is this part of warfare information operations psychological operations whatever you you want term you want to use propaganda whatever your comfort with that's powerful warfare part of we did when we advertise so heavily was one to let the civilians get out ok because we don't want to as a policy we do not inflict civilian casualties necessarily also to what it did was allow the taliban to get out because what would happen if the taliban had not known we're coming and we had shown up and got into a big big fight that lasted for many many weeks and actually the fight in march one for longer than we thought was going to but say it didn't go as well as it did the all in bet a journalist this is the rolling out of president obama's escalation of the afghan war this is the ruling out of general petraeus last year in the crystals new strategy for the war if it had gotten mired into a bloody nat knockdown drag out fight in the fields of marjah real quick it would

have been a very very bad p.r. move so one of the why we advertise so heavily was the taliban know so they could get out so the fight wouldn't be so intense and that sounds a little detrimental right i mean if our entire strategy here is to weed out the taliban defeat the taliban and secure these small towns and if you know wanting them to to get out first of the fight isn't as bad just seems a little odd to me well steve i remember that perception is the most important thing this conflict has said it several times there's a great rolling stone article by michael hastings recently that lays it out very clearly that perception is the most important part of this conflict and not the perception of the afghan people but the perception of the american public jhumpa trace study this when he was up at princeton he was thesis on vietnam and american public perception of it so the important thing for our generals and for our ministration the u.s. is for the perception to be that the war is going well. ok so the strategy is

working so that the president can look like he's winning the war which is important for the twenty two elections so the pentagon can look like they've won the war because they just came off the iraq war which by no measure can be counted as a clear they can get a clear w. in afghanistan if the public perceives it that way so perception is key but so they keep telling us right now that that we're seeing progress right that we're seeing some small semblance of success but where is the evidence to back that up i mean what does marshall look like today have they had i have and the amount of insurgent attacks doubled in the last year. nationwide in afghanistan coalition casualties have been sixty percent greater than they were the year before which is roughly the same number was the year before that civilian casualties of twenty percent again an increase over the previous year which would increase over the previous year this past january eighty percent rise in activity by the taliban compared to january two thousand and ten which generally two thousand and ten was

a rise over two thousand and so actually we're seeing is that these trends that are negative have been going on since two thousand and five that the war has been worsening the conflicts been getting awards or the taliban have been growing in strength in the karzai government has been losing support of people every year since two thousand and five so this new strategy really isn't a new strategy it's just an escalation or a larger or super side's version of strauss you've had in place in two thousand and five which by any metric by any standard by any independent evaluation is a feeling a feeling strategy but the you're just talking about how important perception is right even though it may have been getting worse in the last five years it's now that really the american people seem to be also turning against us for the latest gallup poll said that seventy two percent of americans want congress to speed up this withdrawal and in fact this week there is the first ever anti afghanistan ad being played on t.v. let's play a short clip of that because it's time to end the war in. nobody's grandchild

should grow up to bite and kill somebody else's grandchild because it's time to imagine what this nation could be if we focus the same resources on jobs and education as we do on the war. so americans are saying it's time to end this war now doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon you recently wrote a piece about this and you said that it's our responsibility to make sure that that our voices of her are her that the people that get to wage these wars and make the decisions in congress and the generals that get to keep pushing it you know don't get away with it so how do we do that well people have become much more active and it's understand why people are as active yes it's true that seventy two percent of the american public wants a fast fast withdrawal from afghanistan however in the exit polls from of members two thousand and ten midterms we saw that only about two percent of american public felt that this was a priority for the congress and why is that because there is no draft so people aren't directly affected by the war and to we're not being taxed on it this is a free war for the american public is war being done on borrowed money from other

nations so people aren't being directly affected so it's understandable with the housing market being terrible with unemployment being horrible with concerns about health care in financial regulation other issues that directly affect people that's why. afghanistan may not be a primary concern for many people but it's absolutely important because when we have young men and women over there fighting every day we have afghan civilians who are caught in the midst of this we have a regional problem a sense that pakistan continues to get less and less stable and they're in possession over one hundred nuclear weapons and then in terms of what we're hearing we're inheriting morally you know i mean i like to say that you know you we've got the vietnam memorial on our national mall right now with fifty eight thousand names and you look at those names and you're not really sure what those young men and women died for and you know what we say when we interact they have nowhere else for these wars to but you know perhaps americans should care because like you mentioned earlier it's two billion dollars a year that's being done time police. yes we have cities at the same time here in

the u.s. that are cutting their police force thank you so much for being here. now when he was running for president back in two thousand and eight candid it barack obama promised to close the prison at guantanamo bay and just after taking office he signed an order to close gitmo but as we all know that closure hasn't happened yet and now we know that it isn't going to happen anytime soon either all testifying on capitol hill cia director leon panetta said that if osama bin laden or his deputy i'm on also ari were ever captured they would be held at guantanamo bay and that's that's pretty big news considering it's the first time anybody in the obama administration has even outlined a detention plan for all his top leadership and u.s. officials do caution that there's no hint that a capture is imminent which i think is pretty obvious considering it's been ten years they still can't find the guy but of course the bigger point here when that

is comes is they give no is open for business and ready to take in more detail but a statement indicates that the obama white house is actually contemplating the future use of good mo even though they say they're still committed to closing this facility now we should point out that no detainee has been moved there by the obama administration since they came into office two years ago george w. bush's administration last moved a person to the facility which now still holds one hundred and seventy two detainees and as we talked about on the show numerous times congress has barred the administration for moving any good mo detainee into the u.s. for any purpose by refusing to fund it so while the obama administration talks to a good talk i think that that's all it is it's all talk but that is common should not be ignored because i think that they show the true intentions of this administration which is keeping get mopin detaining people indefinitely without due process and making sure. for some very new very high profile prisoners. now still

to come tonight union workers force a showdown with lawmakers in wisconsin won the battle between republicans and state employees and with protests spreading across the middle east the u.s. says it will support the feeling of security council resolution censuring israel for building settlements in palestinian territory so are we about to see a major shift in policy to hash it all out in just a moment. for the full story we've got. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers. protests

and crackdowns continue to ripple through the middle east from iran to bahrain yemen algeria jordan and the u.s. responses have varied from country to country but could this unrest be forcing a change in our stance towards israel this week it was reported that the united states intends to support a u.n. security council resolution censuring israel for building settlements in palestinian territory now allegedly are going to back a draft saying of the security council doesn't accept the legitimacy of the settlements although they may also veto a stronger resolution denouncing those settlements as illegal but even if this small gesture happens it would be a very dramatic departure from longstanding u.s. policy so could there be some connection here to the protests that we've seen in recent weeks we were discussing with me a washington correspondent for the raw story it's a whole think so much for being here now to start with with this u.n. resolution here foreign policy originally reported that the u.s.

was going to support this statement we haven't really heard any kind of a confirmation yet have we we have heard mixed messages from obama's new press secretary the new white house press secretary jay carney was asked about this today he didn't confirm or deny the new resolution he said you know i'm not going to comment on an ongoing negotiation but the fact that he didn't confirm or deny it suggests that there is something going on because the obama administration has already taken a lot of criticism for it from democrats and republicans in congress so they would about right tonight if it wasn't true. honor us left in vocal as usual has already taken a strong stance here and absolutely denounce the on ministrations policy but the thing is that the obama administration has they've always had this stance when it comes to settlements in israel so why would this be such a drastic shift it would be a drastic shift because what every u.s. president going back many decades has officially said that the united states does not support the settlements in the west bank and east jerusalem because there are

recognizes. out of israeli territory as part of the un resolution one eighty one and one nine hundred forty eight it would be a pretty extraordinary statement for the united states to say israel or any other country can build land in territory that's not recognized as its own so the united states has officially said it does not support the settlements but when it really when push comes to shove the united states has stood behind israel as far as the security council resolutions go now when it comes to the language so they may sign on to this statement that says that they believe that these settlements are illegitimate and yet on friday there's supposed to be a vote for another resolution that says that they're illegal when it comes to diplomatic language are these two words just worlds apart some might argue that there are some and that it's just semantics but it could be very significant because if the u.n. passes a resolution supported by u.n. . supported by all the members saying these are illegal it could mean israel israel is brought up for crimes and that's not something the u.s.

wants it's obviously something israel will do everything it can to avoid the settlements have been going on for a long time that it's been happening in the west bank in east jerusalem which were annexed by israel and after the nine hundred sixty seven war. at this point according to estimates there are between four hundred thousand and half a million jewish settlers in the west bank and east jerusalem and that's you know the israeli leaders have generally for the most part supported this and the current leader prime minister netanyahu has strongly stood behind the settlements his attitude is jerusalem is not a settlement it's our capital now do you think that if the obama administration does go ahead or you know the u.s. in general make the shift and support this resolution do you think that has anything to do with the protests that we're seeing a ripple across the middle east right now because if we do see a change in government not only in tunisia and egypt but elsewhere than that could mean you know quite different attitudes going towards israel towards u.s.

foreign policy. right i wouldn't draw a straight line between the protests going on in the arab world and this because it was brought on by an israeli announcement earlier this month that they would build one hundred twenty new homes in east jerusalem but it's absolutely relevant and it's absolutely significant because egypt has been a very central front to regional stability and president mubarak as hated as he was by his own people was a reliable partner to the united states upheld and stood by a peace treaty. brokered by jimmy carter in the late seventy's and egypt and israel you know they share a border the gaza border. i'm sorry the palestinian territories gaza border and president barak i stood by this resolution so obviously if there's a new government in egypt it's unclear if they would continue to support you know the current arrangement because there is a pretty significant continue seeing egypt which would like its government to stand behind the palace because of the palestinian people more by just want to because you have to imagine that israeli officials are nervous right now as they see this

spread throughout the throughout the middle east i think american officials also don't necessarily know how to handle it because we've seen that their responses are very very much what they fumbled on egypt for about a week iran they immediately supported the protesters there as they always do and then when it comes to yemen they've been incredibly silent in comparison and yet we've also seen violence there so interesting to keep watching so i hope thanks so much for joining us thanks for having me. now has the president abandoned workers in favor of corporations that's one question that several workers are asking in the town of metropolis home of superman so they're the real men of steel are in a battle against the bad guy meg a defense contractor and political donor money well now the workers see it as a david versus goliath with the future of the working middle class possibly at stake artie's lauren lister has the story. at six am a dusting of winter weather and

a flicker of casualties. are nearly all that's visible on the frontlines. of the battle made in the usa we're fighting for our rights united states is struggling as a whole for the working man the battleground is best known as the home town of superman and as the sun rises the. signs everywhere of the sides taken mostly support for the real men of steel here the local steel workers union. their allies no on the other side we have a big corporation with powerful turning. stockholders who have. demands that could pick corporate america against middle america in any working class town but here in metropolis illinois this where on her twenty four hours a day is the labor showdown of our day i think it's an outright war. an alleged war launched by one of the most heavily armed defense contractors that got all the

money but all the money and all the bar and manufacturing giants in the world the union president leads the charge fighting back for more than two hundred workers left out in the cold fourteen degrees since honeywell lock them out of their plant the nature of our job we deal with the forecasts of which is of course acid no ma'am we deal with the rain that's right it's your rainy i'm not kryptonite posing a threat in superman's real. hometown honeywell is a company on track to post thirty five billion dollars in sales this year selling things like jet engines to fuel the u.s. army in the war on terror it wants workers to foot more of the bill for their medical costs the union refuses and believes that company really wants them out and i take that as you know want to honeywell claims this is about money they say they've lost more than one hundred million dollars over ten years at this plant alone but the workers claim this is about their livelihoods and more than that

their lives they've constructed more than sixty crosses here the represent people who have either died or survived cancer they believe was related to the radioactive chemicals they were exposed to working at the plant i was fortunate to live through that colon cancer that was honeywell's parting gift for retiree bob schneider i didn't make the connection. and this there was such a push own the planet time to get up and running is the honeywell credo that retiree bill clinton smith believes led to the near fatal chemical burns on his face and lungs once the union is gone he argues workers will be more vulnerable this company will push them to do you either do it or you have to road but even small town workers are supposed to have an ally in a high place fighting to protect your benefits and protect your safety and protect your rights to organize and collectively bargain the u.s. president would be a powerful force to face off against honeywell namely c.e.o. david cody according to labor activist mike elk there's absolutely the the the most

prominent union buster in the united states of america right now but the so-called union buster and union supporter are cozy during the lockout cody went to india with the president touting job creation and he got a spot on the fiscal deficit commission to have a say on government spending he was on there recommending that we have cuts in troop salaries cuts in troop health benefits rather than cuts in. weapons manufacturing as someone who makes money off weapons manufactured honeywell has received thirteen billion dollars in government contracts mainly in defense since two thousand and five and appears poised only to rake in more how did they get this influence honeywell's at the top of the heap when it comes to putting money into politics at the federal level they spent nearly four million dollars on political contributions in two thousand and ten and as much on lobbying we're fighting goliath this is a multinational corporation as for the locked out workers at the union hall they

stock up to get through winter without work really well in face throat and they sharpen their rallying cry this is a class war this is a war all across the country a war on the middle class but corporations post record profits and unions have devolved to a dirty word they have a long way to go still we're not going anywhere fighting at all hours for rights they say workers in this country can no longer afford to lose starts down here in in rural illinois and we're hoping that reverberates throughout the nation lauren lyster r.t. metropolis illinois. an estimated twenty five to thirty thousand people came out in wisconsin today to protest governor scott walker's plan to cut wages and take away barring bargaining rights from public employee unions and it's what he calls an effort to fill the state's budget gap well tonight the wisconsin senate is also supposed to vote on walker's plan and schools are closed as teachers called in sick students walked out of classrooms to join those protests it's what many as you are

describing as a war a war on unions but the people aren't going down without a fight so here discuss it with me is laura clawson contributing editor for daily coast laura thanks so much for being here now do you buy walker's statement here that this is by no means a political attack on public sector unions but it's all in order to just you know fill this budget gap that the state has not at all for one thing reporting has come out today that says that the budget gap is actually something that walker has manufactured in the six weeks that he's been in office the three point six billion dollars that it's supposed to be a. he they were on track for a surplus and he passed various tax cuts and spending measures and all of a sudden oh my gosh there's a budget gap that only public workers can fill so you're kidding me so scott walker here passed various tax cuts that helped created this entire budget gap and now he's blaming public sector employees exactly that is absolutely incredible you know

obama made a statement today where he actually agree that he thinks that this looks like an attack on you and i need to you chose to take a stand at the same time you have a lot of politicians going the opposite direction and we have a clip here from chris christie let's take a listen to what he had to say. things that the public sector unions don't understand about my approach in new jersey is they think i'm attacking them. i'm attacking the readership of your. because they're greedy and they're selfish and self interest. now what do you say that because on one hand especially the way that obama is saying in today's these people are your neighbors right these are employees but have union leaders because a little too greedy do they really represent the people you know who are who are members of their organizations i mean union leadership is typically elected to wave but they're elected vary from union to union but you know they are elected leaders

just as chris christie is and any given contract is going to be voted on by people in the union so it really is a case of these are the workers these you know and it's organizations that represent the democratic organizations how do you think that this is all going to turn out because there's supposed to be a vote sometime today we've been waiting for it all day the democratic lawmakers didn't show up do you think they're going to go for it well i mean the democratic lawmakers have apparently now just been located in illinois where they've gone to avoid a vote so that there can't be a quorum without them they can't hold the vote there was a similar situation in texas a few years ago when the texas legislature tried to redistrict in between normal redistricting years and democrats fled across state lines in that case someone broke and went home and it passed hopefully the wisconsin democrats will stand a little stronger do you think this could be some kind of a of a turning point for labor in the u.s.

you know that perhaps there are people out in the crowd today the thousands of people in wisconsin that were comparing this moment to what we just saw happen in egypt you know her colleague scott walker which maybe is a little bit of a stretch right there calling scott walker a dictator but they're saying you know they were the american people were the american worker we want to take the democracy back so do you know it could be a turning point where either they win or they lose and we're going to see this same move happen across many states i mean right now there are similar bills being introduced in many states and i do think this could be a turning point as far as people's awareness. what's going on this bill in wisconsin is not that different from some bills in ohio and in missouri and in ohio actually today thousands of people turned out to protest a bill there. whether we're going to be able to win this i don't know given a lot of states. last november's election a lot of states flipped to republican control in some states it's just going to be

really hard to stop but what we can do is send a message that you know if you're a republican state legislator from a swing district two thousand and twelve might be a little uncomfortable for you but how do you think that up until now they managed to craft the message so well as they always do republicans are always so good at crafting this message where they have really painted the public employees as the people that need to pay here and need to cut back right i mean well for one thing they've had millions of dollars in corporate funding to do that especially during the election. and you know right now there's not a strong press like labor press so they've had control of the message and this is a moment where maybe you know people are starting to just take notice in a way that goes beyond campaign rhetoric and there are some real reporting happening. but i think this has been a failure of the media a lot of people did not know what these republicans were promising if they got

elected will definitely be keeping our eye on it now that people are seeing it in action and out on the streets protesting laura thanks so much for joining us thank you and still to come tonight what do the global warming is really good for the planet a lawmaker in montana thinks that climate change is a great thing some are calling it a nice little time segment and millions here in the u.s. are living on food stamps after the economic collapse in two thousand and eight but soon i will show you how one big bank is now raking in the cash thanks to those who are depending on food stamps that story and more returns. the official. told talk from the. video. you want.

to. see at the check of the headlines at home. that uprising in tunisia and egypt continue to inspire a wave and rest across the middle east and north africa as demonstrated as aborting the train general soon clashed with police in several countries as the rain caused a must ration as the military now running egypt has arrested the former interior minister over the police crackdown on protests before dictator hosni mubarak was toppled. in the pentagon officials have been before senate budget committees seeking to slash markets tendering fourteen trillion dollar national debt the pentagon wants to keep america's cup prosody to wage war but critics say more should be spent at home as many americans phrase they threaten. the

great has called on the u.n. security council to investigate vacation is making top politicians including the current prime minister touchy to all the traffic and other crimes during the nineteen ninety nine ball the call comes as people. on the said anniversary of it in the lunch collaboration of independence from said he. has the headlines now the second part of the unknown the shadows after next. hungry for the full story we've got it for. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers. well it's time for tonight's tool time award and it goes to a montana state lawmaker republican joe rhee doesn't.