foreign intervention in troubled libya gets clipped as the u.s. repositions its naval forces in the region and the u.k. refuses to rule out using military assets against gadhafi regime. at the same time military state that no airstrikes which the western media have been reporting have actually occurred on the ground in libya more on that in just a few moments. also key western nations have been quick to back the arab uprising to spot years of helping the old regime newton raises questions over a selective approach to democracy. and his big day one of the much heralded over russia's police triumph public trust in the force but many say the sony skin-deep we report.

hello are you watching r t at midnight moscow time my name is kevin owen and our top story the u.s. has started repositioning its heavy hitting warships in the mediterranean triggering speculation of foreign invasion of libya britain is vowing to set up a no fly zone in the region and is threatening to use military forces against colonel gadhafi his regime. in london with the latest. the strongest saw in among several strong signs that they are ramping up this pressure is this repositioning of the u.s. is warships in the region we've seen the aircraft carrier u.s.s. enterprise which is literally bristling with choice of planes. from pirate patrolling for pirates off the coast of somalia down now to the mouth to do as suicide canal which is within a flying distance of libya and there's talk that it might be moved even closer but

we've also heard u.k. prime minister david cameron talk about setting up a no fly zone in libya that essentially means that any aircraft that takes off inside libya will potentially be able to be shot down by u.k. and allied forces under the assumption that aircraft that do take off are headed to be turned against the libyan people themselves and that in fact is similar to a position that was taken against saddam hussein no fly zone was imposed in iraq ahead of the invasion of iraq and we also heard talk that there's a possibility that jets will be based in u.k. across bases in cyprus to perform those functions and we've also heard reports. that western powers are also preparing to. forces inside libya and of course this all comes against a backdrop of a very strong statement from the u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton who said that the u.s. is ready to offer and i quote any type of assistance to libyans who wish to oust

gadhafi and in all of this we shouldn't forget that there is still usable u.s. naval base in paul rain that's the headquarters of the u.s. navy's fifth fleet and thousands of sorties jury in the gulf war were flown in from bahrain over to iraq and it could be an important base in any military intervention that is could take place in libya inside the kremlin is cooling kind of a living political. corp's but not withstanding russian feels that the international community should concentrate on sanctions in order to punish gadhafi the un has imposed trade restrictions an arms embargo and has also frozen foreign assets all of which is intended to starve the regime of cash that might be intended to hire foreign mercenaries to support russia is also against this no fly zone that's being proposed by cameron and others and also the international community

together with russia supports a u.n. security council unanimous vote she referred libya and more specifically could jackie the international criminal court for an investigation into. this of human rights during this time of crimes against humanity that may have taken place in libya whilst he is seeming to turn the army on his own people the argument being that of course gadhafi and his loyal supporters will presumably think twice about turning the army and another weapons on its own people if it thinks that the full force of international law will be brought down against it remains to be seen whether this military intervention will in fact taken take place to whether this is just threats to get saffi and his supporters and whether in fact these sanctions and this action by the international court of human rights will be enough. to use london correspondent laura will the reports of libya mobilizing its force against its own people spread quickly around the world as we all saw but washes military

chiefs now been monitoring from space from satellite and the pictures they saw tell a different story that is really good explains. at this point we have information from russia's joint staff were are saying that they have not monitoring the situation in libya from space by satellite since the beginning of the unrest in the country and according to them some of the reports why they made by the western media are not entirely corresponding to the pictures that they are getting to be more precise according to al-jazeera and to b.b.c. on the twenty second of february libyan government has inflicted the air strikes on bin ghazi and on tripoli and according to russia's military the have not registered any of those air strikes according to them that picture show that nothing all of that sort has been going on the ground now if we also focus on the pictures the out on the footage that we've been getting from that country we may be able to notice

that there are absolutely no signs of any destruction inflicted by attacks from air or by leaving the air force in those pictures so at this point russia's military is saying that as far as they're concerned they have not seen any attacks so they can pretty much make a judgment that those attacks which the western media has been reporting on have not been made the russian military is also working in very close cooperation with russia's ministry of foreign affairs than they're monitoring not just the military situation not just tripoli and other cities and leave it there also being a very close attention to the oil extraction facilities and they are keeping us up to date as to what is happening on the ground from space. but he's really international relations expert told me the moves are designed to get a foothold in crumbling countries. i certainly think military intervention is on the cards we know it's on the cards because the government leaders have said

they're not ruling it out libya is an important state and the west does want to try to establish some sort of control over the situation it's because it wants to recuperate the situation it wants to muscle in and appropriate to itself developments which he did die which he did and did not initiate it's a way is a repeat of the west muscling in on a situation and trying to present itself in a virtuous light by bringing war crimes or other prosecutions against the libyan leadership whereas of course as we all know the west including my own country britain has got its hands very dirty with the libyan leadership over recent years british opposition labor m.p. jeremy corbyn told me earlier that the repercussions of military intervention in libya could bring consequences which echo iraq it's looking very dangerous is looking quite possible that they will launch such an attack with or without un approval and so we're looking at almost a repeat of what happened in iraq and indeed as

a result so suspect to be largely the same i think the important points are that there is a great deal of oil in eastern libya the western interests in libya have always been about oil and the idea that suddenly the west is deeply concerned about human rights abuse like your various with the very close relationship they have enjoyed with gadhafi no no fly zone was ever proposed over israeli attacks on gaza any more than any supporters been given to the opposition in bahrain i get the feeling this is more about geopolitics playing itself out rather than any genuine concern for the people. and ralph schoenman who's an american peace activist and radio host says the u.s. media is doing everything it can to promote foreign intervention in libya. it isn't necessary to demonize the good nothing further than the facts already established by creating these false. data about his destruction of the population on the

grounds you air attacks they create an atmosphere which little welcome and intervention and creating hysteria about the necessity for military intervention no fly zone seizing of assets would serve is nothing more than the aims of us intervention is forces to establish once again bases in the region extended milling out regime. and come into from john reese from the stop the war coalition who said that the libyan people are fully capable of dealing with change by themselves or that outside interference could do more harm than good they need to keep out the record of the of the western powers of the imperial powers generally in the middle east is one of the piled upon bizarre and of the very the very first lesson that should be learnt is that especially given recent events is that the people of the middle east are entirely capable of dealing with these dictators on their own terms we really don't need to see the british air force or the british army or the

american marine corps the american navy helping these people out there completely capable of ruling themselves and of dealing with these dictators on their own terms of the important point about this is those who do the liberating and get through to the ruling out afterwards if the revolutionaries do the liberating they get to rule their own country afterwards if the eighty second airborne do it we know what happens when they get them to run the country afterwards i just remind you if you want to catch up with the latest reports we've sent back from the region and the latest developments throughout the night in the middle east north africa keep breast of our web site r.t. dot com. i'm. well it seems those behind the arab uprisings having no trouble finding friends in the west right now but that's an abrupt change of heart for those

countries who've been supporting the previous regimes for decades. now reports on the deep suspicion in the middle east that the u.s. and its allies the tailoring democracies to fit their interests. demonstrations for regime change across the arab world have spread like wildfire western powers of come out backing the protest amounting regime change dramatically changing the colors in supporting the ousting of authoritarian rulers they backed only weeks ago as demonstrations sweep across the arab world western governments support a call for change but is it a call for change or is it actually a call for regimes if they want in power it's not the first time the west has shown an eyelid cart approach to democracy in the arab world six years ago elections in gaza were hailed internationally as a massive milestone for the middle east to have representatives from the west renowned political figures and organizations who were present during the election and monitored it confirmed its authenticity to the world. but when the results were

in that authenticity was ignored for the general. standing here is the. very worst support democracy as long as it's good for them and if it is not good for. them they're. supported and the west most certainly did not support them you have must government despite being voted in by more than sixty percent of gazans western power was labeled hamas a terrorist organization yet there are not really many instances of genuine democracy in the west the appeal for democracy but when people make a democratic choice like choosing a mosque they refused to help a western democracy is a false democracy a democracy of double standards for the benefit of europe which is why as soon as hamas was voted in western governments got busy with trying to booted out through boycott and sanctions which raises the question why support free elections in the

first place but not there i'll come. with you i believe the west is in constant need of regimes that go along with its policies the shooter serve the west be approaches or be elected by their. people. i believe to the americans. don't really know how to handle this situation relationship is gadhafi will. go there were times when post him and go bother him and there were a time when this or both of them when he gave them the oil but now he's no longer of use and like to take his elsewhere who at the start of the year were in favor in the waist he's been ditched the hopes of the arab world for change under obama appear to be dwindling among some political figures at least than that of president bush there are a lot of criticism. after the advent of president obama there was a lot of. of a welcome to the new america and mr obama. i would have

hoped that. the administration under president obama would have done better the protesters across the arab world hoping to topple dictators in the quest for democracy may find that their choice may not be as free as they'd hoped for with a meddling hand from a far still pulling the strings policy r.t. tel aviv. now stay with us if you can to discover who is messing with the minds of leading a very current politicians bit later in the program. the pentagon wanting to extract more resources from the senate to support their mit mission used one of the techniques they used against the taliban against the united states senate the headache on capitol hill right now over reports that military men were asked to use psychological mind games to keep the war cache coming its report not to miss if you haven't seen it so far today. meantime it is a new start for russia's police force with a major overhaul including

a new name her roots and branch reforms are ordered after a series of high profile scandals or public trusts to an all time low as it is a katrina zone over reports next there's a lot riding on this plan to. a change of title and hopefully a change in attitudes these law enforcement officers are abandoning their soviet era name of meats or in favor of the world the recognizable police for the government it's a first step down a long road towards modernizing the service and arresting a sharp decline in public perception the people stressed of the boys in blue has been dealt a huge blow in recent years it's led to anxiety amongst officers and outrage from those they're supposed to protect incidents like the supermarket rampage by officer who opened fire on innocent shoppers killing two and wounding seven it was the final straw that fueled calls for reform but can changing their name bring about

a change in behavior while some insist that any change is long overdue for others it's purely cosmetic or the very fact that there were so many dents with police offices behaving illegally in russia. years. this very fact is not going to be changed by the change of the law because these illegal practices were contrary to the previous legislation as well as the current the big question is whether there is the political will to really. take it under control the police themselves though are preparing for the changes to come. a huge part of our ratings well depend on the people of this country how they evaluate our performance this kernel is already grasping the essence of modernizing the force her students seem eager to absorb as much information before their upcoming exams

so that. everyone will be tested physical ability knowledge of new law civic duties all those are included in the exams there will be no indulgences for anyone either pass the test or leave the force other changes are a mix. blessing there will be a twenty percent cut in personnel but the remaining officers will get a pay rise there will be better screening of new recruits with every detail of an applicant's background put under the microscope but until all that takes effect officers have to knuckle down to the job in hand restoring honor to russia's police is a tough task and the public are no pushover judges but the force is determined to turn that around reexamining staff redesigning the uniforms all those changes will take a lot of time to be fully implemented but one of the first things to change or be signs like these which soon will feature internationally recognizable policing cashin is r t moscow next claims that the american military has been getting its

own way by psychologically manipulating the country's decision makers has been raising her calls on capitol hill rolling stone magazine says army officials ordered groups known as psyops teams to put pressure on congress visiting afghanistan to get more money and support for the war is going to comes got the story. were u.s. lawmakers brainwashed by the military when making key decisions on supporting the escalation of the war in afghanistan that's a question posed by rolling stone magazine which alleges lieutenant general william caldwell the man in charge of training in afghanistan ordered psychological operations against visiting senators and congressional delegations to manipulate them into backing more funding and troops for the war there they have a special unit that conducts psychological operations now termed a information support operations said he was told to provide quote deeper and now

it says of pressure points we could use to leverage the delegation from more fronts my job in psyops is to play with people's heads to get the enemy to behave the way we want them to behave and perhaps is it from doing that to our own people when you ask me to try to use these skills on senators and congressmen you're crossing a line moreover it's illegal to do so according to the defense department's own definition psychological operations imply the use of propaganda and psychological tactics to influence emotions and behaviors and are supposed to be used exclusively on hostile foreign groups but instead of fighting afghan insurgents holmes and his team were systematically ordered to use their training to influence u.s. members of congress it is a methodology used for enemy yes this is not something you do with allies or members of your own government tasked with oversight responsibilities of your operation that's why the senators were there not to be pals not to be partners but

to have oversight over what the pentagon was doing and because the pentagon not wanting that every oversight as much and wanting to extract more resources from the senate to support their men mission in used one of the techniques they used against the taliban against the united states senate that's that's incredible the long list of high profile targets included carl levin. as the chairman of the senate armed forces committee steve israel a member of the house appropriations committee senators john mccain and out franken i don't see how it could have affected my positions. in any way. so we'll see what happens but back in january last year steve clemons reported on the sudden shift of some senators views after their visit to afghanistan was a very big jump and shift and i felt that there's something i wrote about and i called while this is like a confidence game it's you know you feel as if the military is manipulating people

but i didn't know about hastings article at the time or about psyops one example is senator al franken who in january last year went to afghanistan with strong doubts and criticism but came back quote feeling much better but some say the reported use of psychological tactics to influence politicians could be happening not only in afghanistan but here in washington as well there's tends to be a belief that you can't necessarily trust the political leaders behind the war but you can't trust the military commanders behind a war that's not really the case and that the military is just as eager to spin the events that it thinks will be to its own benefit and. unfortunately congressman are all too willing to believe that now the pentagon is looking into the matter experts say they're going to try and downplay the effect of this report lieutenant general caldwell has already denied having given such orders but if true for many it's going to be

a for the testament to the what will be innocent civilian control of the military in today's america i'm going to check out our to washington d.c. . before us congressman tom andrews told us they should need to broaden best a geisha because this could prove to me more than just manipulation. what it becomes is in effect an attempt at a coup d'etat i mean it's not taking out. civilian authorities with an a k forty seven you're taking them out taking out their objective oversight capacity by training psychological weapons of war against them this is a very very serious serious charge this is a three star general responsible for the training of afghan troops placing this order for the psyops division to to to intervene in this way it's outrageous so we need a full investigation not only in this instance but the four range of instances in which this could have happened how widespread was it who gave the order who was affected and who's responsible. just ahead tonight we look at space exploration and

how it could help prevent earthquakes stay with us as our team talks to alan smith from the my space science lab in london coming right up for. this year we're celebrating fifty years since daryn became the first man in space and you are presenting a new project a joint project between russia and the united kingdom could you tell us briefly about twenty project for those who don't know what it is the project would involve as it has a name implies two spacecraft which will which will be. about four hundred kilometers

apart and they will be. on board which will study the eye on a sphere from above and what we're looking for is the signal signatures in the on the spare which are precursor. as to earthquake phenomena and volcanic eruption phenomena what would happen would be that after twins out there would be a mission which would be an earthquake prediction program and the data from that would be correlated on the ground and what you'd have is something like a website or something which gave the earth quite probabilities. around the world is it just the earthquakes and tsunamis i mean is it the same does it affect anything else any think there's major movements the volcanic eruptions are also so and in fact they might even be easier to detect in a way. and of course there's a whole different issue associated with volcanic eruptions as we've seen recently

in iceland where. civil aircraft has been has been affected so once again what kind of. timeframes do you get we would we would look for a launch in about twenty fifteen would be when we would expect a launch and the mission as a mission by the end of. twenty eighteen we should be in a position to know where to go why have you chosen russia as a partner we had some russian scientists visiting us in the u.k. and they were talking about a single satellite mission that they had in mind and we had in the u.k. . some ideas for a small satellite which would follow a larger satellite around the sky bringing the two together look like a really good mission and we've built on that's absolutely true that russia has a huge heritage space sector so that counts for a lot because you know working with people who is within that it's their culture

their way of life and so that's fine and that makes them a very credible partner to work with let's now talk about mars five hundred our ground based experiment simulating manned flight to mars how realistic. would you say it is after all there is no weightlessness and it's just a warehouse with a scientific laboratory going to mars is a very complex endeavor and we can't simulate it in one go so what we have to do is separate out the various different difficult aspects of it and then try to isolate those aspects and then understand those aspects so the one of the real problems in going to mars is getting people to get on with each other for that period of time and still be effective when they then i arrive six or eight months later on the surface of mars and then come back again so it's not meant to be a perfect. simulation of a trip to mars it's meant to just tease out some of the real issues and some of the

issues are things like the difficulty in communication with the growing time lag in the communications with the the sense of general sense of isolation the fact that they have only a limited amount of supplies etc so all those things have been well simulated. the it's never going to be possible to simulate low gravity or the actual sort of weightlessness of the trip but i think hopefully this will go on to the next generation of simulation which will be. more fidelity which will mean that they will be using equipment on their mars sandpit which is more likely equipment that they would be using when would you say we would be able to travel to mass if ever if we decided to go to mars tomorrow we could be there in ten years. and it's a matter of political determination just like going to the moon or something like that why did the americans not stop their moon program in

a way you see america. wanted to first ok my view is that man on the moon. first but was there done that tick that box the question then was what was the purpose of future lunar missions and the lunar science. was never the main reason for going to the bridge because apollo wasn't really a scientific program they did some good science but there's an awful lot more that could have been done if there'd been a couple more missions they canceled the last missions on and those were the science missions ones so i think that what happened is the box was text and political imperative how much in your view does the politics today effect of science it's not so much these days about national prestige it's more about national economics these days we have to work together because it's just all too expensive to do it on your own and when we do work together we try to maximise the

benefit to our individual nation the scientists of course are irritated by this but the the politicians if you like have to bear that in mind so the politics is there it's economics more than politics and one thing that the scientists are doing all the time is trying to encourage public interest because without public interest we're not going to get funding and so we need to be relevant.