that when they come to power that they whoever is the leadership will remember that it was the u.s. who tried to come to their aid but let's not forget the secretary of state has said nothing's off the table the prime minister david cameron has said there's a possibility and then there's that dr of the mainstream media a lot of the cable networks sort of beating the drum laying the groundwork making the case for some sort of action take a look. we were expecting this coalition opposition forces to ask the united states to declare in force zone. over libya is this what that is meant to counter the idea that libyan planes are are bombing their own cities hundreds of tanks and anti-aircraft artillery pieces turn to syria two million into a fortune anything of value that they did was stripped from them at the checkpoints being run by good deputies militias are until also these checkpoints being done by militias the streets are not safe planes bombing the cities what do you think about that i think that the reality is the human rights situation across libya is

a disaster i think that people are suffering a great deal and i think that people want this to be over quickly with the overthrow of gadhafi in some form i think the vast majority of libyans want to do it themselves the price is already horrific i think the reality is most people know that sending troops from somewhere else to that region at this time is the worst possible outcome this is a region that desperately needs demilitarisation u.s. policy needs to be demilitarized the u.s. needs to start basing its policy in the region on the old style of oil israel instability as the triad that would be enforced by u.s. weapons u.s. weapons sales u.s. military aid to israel's occupation into dictators in the arab world we need an entirely new set of policies starting with a demilitarization a nuclear weapons free zone throughout the middle east including the israeli existing nuclear weapons arsenal we need something entirely different the people of

libya are suffering there is no doubt i don't think this is being exaggerated it's being used but it is a reality and we have to recognize there are some in libya saying we want a no fly zone those of us who remember what no fly zones lead to must be the ones to say there is an opposition this unlike the other uprisings across the arab world in libya it's not only. more militarized but there are military forces on the side of the people the military of gadhafi cannot be deployed by gadhafi any longer and just what about let's stay on this idea of sort of the messages that are out there i want to point out an article that was in time magazine really quick and it says u.s. counterterrorism officials have noted the disproportionate number of libyans turning up in the ranks of al qaeda both in northern africa and iraq that's reason to get involved i've got to say it's i would like to know where they get the intelligence to know the nationalities of who they think is in al qaeda when they

can't find them you know so i think that this is a lot of posturing i don't think that this is real i don't think that anybody believes that and i don't think in fact i think one difference with this administration than the last i don't think i'm not sure but i don't think this administration will try to use a patently obviously false claim like the danger of al qaeda or something the way they did in the way the bush administration did in iraq that maybe one lesson they've learned doesn't mean it's not a danger it just means it's a little less likely and let's really briefly do you sort of compare and contrast in terms of some of the stories that are coming out from libya and as you say you know a lot of them a lot of atrocities actually are happening but making this case for some sort of involvement not taking anything off the table as some have said let's compare that to other places i mean well the reality is there are far worse atrocities involving far more people being killed across the continent in africa in ivory coast right now over recent years in the democratic republic of congo somewhere between three

and five million africans have been killed in what has been called the second world war two because it was the equivalent of a world war fought among african countries we did not hear and it's i don't think anyone believes this either that there is a humanitarian reason for this intervention there wasn't in somalia there wasn't in iraq there wouldn't be in. in libya that doesn't mean that the reality isn't real i think that what people are asking for and what is appropriate for the united nations is sanctions against the ruling forces things like freezing assets so they don't have access to be able to buy more weapons and a weapons freeze on the entire region starting with libya would be absolutely appropriate that's very different than further militarizing the situation just real briefly i mean i've got to bring up the elephant in the room here and it's something that harry clinton secretary of state even brought up take a quick listen to what she said. if you follow as we follow all of

the websites that are looking at what's happening in the middle east you see a constant drumbeat that the united states is going to invade libya to take over the oil and we can't let that happen well we are not going to do that and the elephant in the room of course being oil sponsor we're going to switch gears a little bit i think that hillary clinton is very smart to respond to the reality that everyone knows that oil is what distinguishes libya what makes it possible for the u.s. to even threaten to move its troop its forces its ships through the suez canal and take these very menacing postures this is about oil but it's also about the politics of a region that is in transformation the u.s. is desperate to make sure that it has the kind of first first position with whatever the new government looks like in libya just like it wants to do in egypt in tunisia and now i have enormous confidence in the peoples of egypt of libya of

tunisia of all of these countries of bahrain of all of the countries that are rising up against their u.s. backed dictators the u.s. is not going to be able to pull this off but it doesn't mean they're not going to try all right i want to hear a little longer to react to our next report you may have heard about this the u.s. army's alleged use of psychological operations on congressman to try to secure more military funding and support for the war in afghanistan this has created quite a stir here and has posed the question of who can be trusted to check on how 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 community late them into backing more funding and troops for the war there the head of

a special unit that conducts psychological operations now termed 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 science is to play with people's heads to get the enemy to behave the way we want them to behave and i'm prohibited 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 or 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 mission in using 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 who's the chairman of the senate armed forces committee steve israel a member of the house appropriations committee senators john mccain and al franken i don't see how it could have affected my positions. 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 in shipped and i felt it was something i wrote about and i thought

wow 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 these things article at the time or about psyops one example is. 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 what you call leaders behind the war but you can't trust the military leaders behind a war that's not really the case that the military is just too stiff and they. see its own benefit and. unfortunately congressman are also willing to believe that now the pentagon is looking into the matter experts say they're going

to try and downplay the effect that this report lieutenant general caldwell has already been night having given such orders but it true for many it's going to be a for the testament to the worldliness of civilian control of the military in today's america i'm going to shut down i can washington d.c. . so full of thoughts about i mean do you think this changes the game at all do you think people will question who they trust well i think there's a lot of questioning going on and i think part of the reason that the military probably felt it was necessary to use these kinds of psyop. tactics on their own government was precisely because there is such widespread opposition to the wars both in iraq and especially in afghanistan almost three quarters of the american people say that we need to get out much faster then president obama has promised to start a very slow withdrawal i just think that obama's plan is too fast the generals think obama's plan is too fast but what we also have to keep in mind is that the key factor that leads to so many members of congress supporting it despite the widespread opposition it's not about votes it's about the very skillful use of

military contracts to produce tanks and bombs and bombers and bullets and all the things they use are made in every congressional district in the country and that's what makes it so difficult to say we don't want to fund this war any longer when they know that there are factories there are jobs at stake in their district what we need to do is talk about the cost of war right now in wisconsin where there is this massive rebellion underway there is a one point eight billion dollar deficit in the state budget well it turns out that the people of wisconsin this year are going to spend one point seven billion dollars almost the exact amount of tax money going to the war in afghanistan just those in wisconsin if people knew that i think there would be another uprising here at home to demand that their members of congress stop listening to the military and start listening to their voters and i think in addition to those jobs jobs something we certainly need right now are always gets translated into

a few simple words that need to support our troops phyllis bennis director of new international internationalism project at the institute for policy studies thank you. well we've previously reported on the growing gap between the rich and the poor in the united states in light of the economic crisis now as food prices continue skyrocketing we take a look at how this is playing out in two very different spectrums the very lucky few versus the many more who are a lot less fortunate artist and it's not going to take a look at the dinner tables of two very different america. america the land of plenty but these days that twenty is only reaching a few with one country split into two planets it's a tale of two americas right now new york city a place where the number of people on food stamps this story in a record three million it is also a place where one hundred seventy five dollars by wall street fat cats a burger

a black truffles and meanies with gold we were marching for ten thousand dollars at an exquisite new york hotel at ten thousand dollars a month costar mark because the crying is basically buying the experience this is you know if you score record site. what makes you. unique and so special here we're going to. the desert for a staggering one thousand bucks nobody is ever had buyer's remorse that's that's for sure with a forty eight hour dance order this thousand dollars sunday is purchased up to five times a month again with the article twenty three karat gold leaf gold doesn't really have a flavor but it does have a very cool texture so three caviar and i double sugar flour which takes eight hours to make and the rarest and most expensive chocolates in the world the ice

cream is served in a crystal goblet similar to the one used at the vatican yes in the past couple of years people are suffering and they're saying you know why would you have a thousand dollar. scream well you know why would you have a bentley a short ride across town a degree in the mail to manage whatever felony. peltries like this one for the money that from new york to spend on a desert is seen as a water with him oh thousand dollars over a thousand. over a thousand close to two thousand individual would have gotten a meal a fifth of the number of people this place beads among them the people that came in for. over a million people fled here last year and one hundred percent increase in demand for crude this place knows her face of hunger demand for any available produce simple

food such as can be few and keys has been skyrocketing or pantries like this one as the gap between rich and poor is at an extreme so is the number of people who need any help they can get to put food on their tables sixty year old said regina is on disability and a father of three and a family with a ration that couldn't be simpler sweet potato juice. ground beef grids turkey to my family members. or we. will last. a retired single mother of three a maid calls floor and i make steenkamp reach on disability after being born in an explosion she struggles as food prices continue to rise produce vegetables it's hard i mean is our wages that are a. problem for bread for these people luxuries not even a dream survival is their only priority there's just something amazing about

ingesting gold lace given to very nicely it gave out we can get a ham but i got a big turkey and a lot of food so it's pretty cool netspace giving might not be so lucky for carol and millions of others as experts predict the gap between those with full and empty stomachs only widen. and since you're going to bertie new york so this tale of two tables it seems to be a tale told time and time again these days of this widening gap between the haves and have nots in america the differences are stark and i want to talk about some of the causes and effects of it all charlie mcgrath is the founder of wide awake news dot com hey there charlie you know we just showed the story that highlighted some extraordinary cases and i'll read you the description of something in new york right now called the richard nouveau burger japanese kobe beef topped with gold flakes black truffles

a fixed slab of fog gras and age grier cheese it's one hundred seventy five dollars and served in a cafe on wall street this of course just one example of the tale of two americas i want to get your take talk about the bigger picture here. well you know the story is not surprising i think happened. and that the years. greatest crime in the planet and that was a result you know we have all the happier and healthier than ever before they can afford two hundred dollars cheeseburger the thousand dollar wrenches and you know. the crime that was committed on not only the american people the world a lot of people in the alternative media they were going to pay a price but and i think that's what we're seeing you know when you when you have stories where. the number of people a lot of them in new york writes a few years we go from. seven to forty four million people on it

now and the anger and outrage is being generated being directed towards one another now rather than it brought us a little bit earlier in the game and i think that the you know the the number one comment an e-mail thank you mark radio program is ninety nine ers and they're about to run out of unemployment there on two years. this point and they just don't know what they're going to do because they can look in the corner has doubled in the last month is doubled or will double but he talked about eleven world is short of. commodities. and wars are now being waged by the world because people out of the boat he sort of like and it's absolutely i think it's so important to bring these various cases and and you know i know i

get all and sometimes playing the blame game but we got a look at some of the different places people are pointing these fingers on and there are some who blame wall street of course and have specific ideas about you know goldman sachs betting on cannot commodities but that also in this article by the washington times according to some of their sources that was actually terrorists that had a hand in waging a war on our economy i'm curious what you think about this. well i did that commentary video on the article and i started out the video by reading the headlines and thanks to the mainstream media the truth ended at the headline everything there on a blank everybody and anybody on the planet other than in my opinion the true financial peril. this economy and the world economy and i think we have you know we have people dying in the middle east right at the direct result of the monetary

policy action and banks are. and you know it's really interesting charlie all you have to do is turn on the t.v. to see that change is in the air i'm wondering let's talk about how to talk about the facts do you think that this inequality is playing a role you know here in this country from wisconsin to even what we're seeing today in columbus ohio absolutely one hundred percent it is a direct result you know a year and a half ago people started making writing stories and making commentary about the austerity will come and i believe i truly believe in the last we have seen social unrest in earnest in this country and it's not based on what's coming down the road it's underground based on the prosperity of the people to be the most horrific part of all this is when i when i watch movement or think i see the mainstream media articles that were posted just a week ago where a how did somebody on the right at the legions live ammunition and then they put

out another article the same day about the on the left thing it's kind of just what the problem is it works too well. and getting hot at least for one another absolutely not the answer i think the indignation is right in the sense that we should be upset and we need to look at the two big products here and until we have an integrity on wall street and in our government know this is going to change we need to purge want some of these financial terrorists abroad at the. it certainly is interesting to watch the discussion on various cable outlets as they start to point to the labor unions and you know sort of the different talking points and the different ideas on who's to blame certainly a wide range of ideas out there charlie mcgrath founder of light awake news dot com and that is going to do it for now but for more on the stories we covered go to our team dot com slash usa also check out our you tube page at youtube dot com slash r t america i'm christine for see you in an hour and

a half. me me me me. it's all marvin here broadcasting live from washington d.c. coming up today on the big picture.

and. the in. the a. following welcome to crossfire i'm peter lavelle as he turns eighty middle got a child's legacy sees him loved abroad in loath to home as glasgow some perestroika become distant memories we ask how will history judge the man who seemingly ended his tricks the and.

the and just. it's a legacy of the last soviet leader i'm joined by stephen cohen here in the studio he's a professor of russian studies and history at new york university and his latest book is the victims return survivors of the gulag after stalin in london we go to geoffrey hosking he is that emeritus professor of russian history at university college london and his latest book is rulers and victims the russians in the soviet union and also in london we have lagged sobel he's an analyst at the i would securities and another member of our crosstalk team on the hunt all right gentlemen this is crosstalk that means you can jump in anytime you want stephen i want to go to you first here as well which of his eighty years old today and let's talk about global legacy and then let's go to specific to russia what is his contribution to history at eighty years old remembering his rule ending the soviet union well one contribution is already recorded in history he set free the countries of eastern and central europe that's done where they go from here is up to them what's not

settled or written history is the fate of democracy in russia there are different opinions about the condition of democracy in russia whether and he has very strong opinions and for good reason he wants to go down in history as the father of russian democracy in the west we attribute it to yeltsin but that's not true now if . democracy flourishes in russia one day and stabilizes russia will go to gorbachev or go down as the greatest reformer and russian history if democracy falters and fails in russia and he'll go down in history as another tragic russian reformer he knows that and that's why his blood pressure about what's going on in russia is rising on a genius first or a maybe he's just protecting his legacy here ok but it was true that i was going to go to you anyway go ahead life the thing is here is that maybe some people attribute democracy to one leader or another but most russians don't attribute

democracy to either yeltsin or got a job go ahead. i would just like to make one point that i think that gorbachev was actually responsible for peaceful disintegration of the soviet union and i think this is a very important point especially when we see what's happening in the middle east so that would be my first point and secondly i would argue that russian democracy is proceeding on course i don't think that little bit of authoritarianism in the mean time and stabilize the political system to stabilize the economy will actually do very much harm and i would add to that that president president did yes is now leading a new way if similar to perestroika and i would guess that you know both then you will see genuine democratization in russia it's very and jeff if i go to you in london i mean it's very interesting here because we see live lived here for twelve years and and we don't hear the word perestroika but a lot of people would attribute the attributes what we you all of us here would

think of said a strike is coming about under putin now the under yeltsin or got a bunch of. well i was going to say that i don't think global trust reputation depends on what happens in the future now i think his reputation is there to see he was in charge for five years he launched democratic reform there's no doubt about that he started the process he dissolved the communist party of the soviet union he set up elections in which there were genuine parties conducting a fight with each other but he didn't and couldn't take the process through to its end i mean for one thing he never himself stood for election as president of russia which would have been or of the soviet union which would have been the logical outcome of his democratic reforms he didn't have the courage or the insight it seems to me to take that process of democratization through to its logical conclusion it steve if one of the things we talk about would put a striking glasnost is reforming the soviet union but was it reform a ball ok let's look at the economy ok the that type of command economy failed

now how do you fix that you just have to exit don't you know i mean many countries have introduced elements of another economic system into their economic use or my bread would have worked but it's not a hybrid i mean most economies in the twentieth century have been mixed economy state market economies i mean world roosevelt's new deal was an attempt to introduce a large state sector into what had been an uncontrolled private sector gorbachev tried to do the reverse to introduce market into a state economy the chinese did it the hungary and have done it even before virtue of of course it's doable but it is going on around the world to believe it was going in the reverse direction because what do you that's the data that's the difference but on the other hand there's no evidence that it wasn't possible i mean it's a long process and i don't actually agree with jeffrey in the sense that he didn't carry the process through to the end you would have had to have the temperament and the power of stalin to oppose full democracy on russia in one thousand nine hundred nine hundred ninety the problem was grow rich off was the quintessential anti

stalinist he had come to dismantle the system and let me remind you of one other thing i admit i don't go to. for twenty years i'm not entirely objective to be fair but george washington was elected president united states by the american congress not by particularly vote it's a process that has to begin someplace that was a step forward ok let's leave you're talking about other countries and i agree with you that mixed economy is in fact the general rule in the twentieth century but the question really is was the soviet union reformable now when introduced elements of private enterprise into the soviet economy what the private enterprise did was to suck goods out of the state economy and create an economic crisis where there were desperate shortages in the cities so that the way he carried out the reform did not work or it worked badly vlad what do you think about that i think the soviet economy will so dysfunctional so wastefully thought impossible to reform me the only way to what is there and complete collapse in disintegrate.