this time is the worst possible outcome this is a region that desperately needs demilitarisation u.s. policy needs to be demilitarized the us needs to start basing its policy in the region on the old style of oil israel and stability 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 is 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 it 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 less real 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 weapons freeze on the entire region starting with libya would be absolutely appropriate that's very different than further militarizing the situation everyone knows that oil is what distinguishes libya what makes it possible for the u.s. to even threaten to move its true 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 now i have enormous confidence in the peoples of egypt of libya tunisia

of all of these countries of bahrain of other 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. and that was phyllis bennis director of new internationalism project at the institute for policy studies. so if you hear is now a story about trust or rather a sign that it could be fading even among those within the u.s. government as you may have heard a new report in rolling stone magazine says a general in the u.s. army has ordered his soldiers to use psychological operations on u.s. congressman visiting afghanistan to try to secure more military funding and support for the war and it's a story that has caused quite a sir stir and may have some far reaching implications and it's a chicken has the report were u.s. lawmakers brainwashed by the military when making key decisions on supporting the escalation of 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 relate them into backing more funding and troops for the war there the head of a special unit that conducts psychological operations now to be information support operations said he was told to provide quote deeper and now a series of pressure points we could use to leverage the delegation from more fronts. my job in science is simply with people's heads to get the enemy to behave the way we want them to behave and for had been from doing that to our own people when you ask me to try to use the 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 afghanis surgeons 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 without or members of your own government tasked with oversight responsibilities of your operation that's why the senators were there not to be pow not to be partners but to have oversight over what the pentagon was doing because the pentagon not wanting that every oversight as much and wanting to extract more resources from the senate to support their mission and use one of the techniques they used against the taliban against the united states and 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 the historial and 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's eve climate's reported on the sudden shift as some senators use that to their visit to afghanistan was a very big jump and shipped 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 these things article at the time or about biopsy one example is. senator al franken who in january of last year went to afghanistan with strong doubts and criticism but came back quote pili much better but some say the reported use of psychological can't fix 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 if the leaders are going to work but you can't trust the military commanders behind a war that's not really. serious just. keep it.

to its own benefit. unfortunately congressmen are all too willing to believe now the pentagon is looking into the matter experts say they're going to try and downplay the effect of this report the plan in general caldwell has already been night been given such orders but if the troops the many it's going to be a for the testament to the what will be innocent civilian control over the military in today's america i'm going to shut down our key washington d.c. . well the republican controlled ohio state senate has just passed a measure that would restrict the collective bargaining rights of hundreds of thousands of workers that we're talking about three hundred fifty thousand teachers university professors firefighters police officers and other public employees the legislation passed on a seventeen to sixteen vote with all yes votes coming from republicans this is a state that like wisconsin we've seen protests and earlier i spoke to cory ancyl

he's the organizer for the columbus ohio branch of the answer coalition it's only when it's like on the ground there. not only are these protests that we've seen and thousands of dozens of union workers coming out against this bill we've also seen other workers on unionized people's students and other activists we have massive mobilization coming out again and the fact of this bill is passed in my opinion will not be much i think the people will continue to mobilize against this very anti worker legislation that there's nothing good about it. from what i understand your governor there hasn't doris this measure and says he'll sign it i mean any indication that you're getting from the time you spent there that there's going to be something done to stop that well i think not only is protests are we seeing people coming out again senate bill five people are also very opposed to the direction the governor case against taking ohio i've got governor cases you know he has his ties to corporations to banks to executives and he's serving the interest of those able to go he claims that he passes all the budget crisis in ohio but

never once did he talk about taxing the rich or the corporations he just is at least eight go to the working class people of ohio and people will not take it anymore now from what i understand this bill that just passed actually includes jail time for workers who strike pay is this something that people are talking about. i guess you know the multitude of things that are wrong with senate bill five have all been on the table you know we do realize that there are many aspects of this bill that are purely just ridiculous you know if you look at it on paper it's almost absurd to see what this government is attempting to do to the working people of ohio and the massive mobilization of unions again you know this is not something popular in ohio this is something that the right is trying to force upon the working people of this state and i'm assuming i'm not going to hire recently but i'm assuming that a lot of the top on the ground there like wisconsin is that a lot of these our lawmakers are trying to say that by doing this this will help balance the budget rather has been the reaction of people that you've spoken to

about that as as a result. it's almost kind of laughable to suggest that there we need to balance the budget by you know harming the people who are the foundation of this country that the working class people of this country who make everything are the ones being scapegoated that was cory and so organizer for the columbus branch of the answer coalition talking about the passage by the state senate in ohio of a bill that severely limits the collective bargaining rights of public sector workers the bill now goes to the state house and the g.o.p. holds a fifty nine or forty majority and pass there and so the desk of the governor will almost certainly senate into law. only for everything reporting 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 haves versus the have nots honest assets are going to take

a look at the dinner tables of two very different america was a miracle the land of plenty but these days that plenty 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 at a record three million and it's also police where one hundred seventy five dollars buys wall street fat cats a burger black truffles and meanies we were martini for ten thousand dollars said an exquisite new york hotel the ten thousand dollars a month unis cost so much because they're crying in spades to be buying the experience this is you know it's used for rico site. what makes you. unique and so special here we're going to order a dessert for staggering one thousand bucks nobody's ever heard buyer's remorse

that's that's for sure with a forty eight hour dance order this thousand dollars sunday it's. purchased up to five times a month again with the edible twenty three carat gold leaf gold doesn't really have a flavor put it does have a very cool texture salt free caviar and edible 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 years people are suffering and they're saying you know why would you have a thousand dollar ice cream well you know why would you have a bentley a short ride across town a degree in finance bill age water barley and fairly. pear trees like this one for the money that some new yorker spends on a desert is seen as a liar we wind up of thousand dollars over a thousand. over the course of two thousand individuals would have gotten a meal

a fifth of the number of people this place aids a month but the amount of people that came in for food. over a million people fed here last year and one hundred percent increase in demand for crude this place knows the face of hunger demand for any available produce simple food such as canned beats to you and peas has been skyrocketing of 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 so dr jacobs is on disability and a father of three and a family with a regime that couldn't be simpler we've been treated jews. ground beef with turkey for my family members. for a week. the last. kill

a retired single mother of three make calls floor and i'm going extinct cabbage on disability after being born in an explosion she struggles as food prices continue to rise produce vegetables it's dark. i mean it's our wages but our. bread for these people love stories not even a dream survival is their only priority there's just something amazing about and just in gold they skin was very nice and it gave well we didn't get a ham but i got a big turkey and a lot of food so it's pretty cool next thanksgiving might not be so lucky for carol and millions of others as experts predict the gap between those with an empty stomachs. and is this insured or t.v. new york and earlier i spoke with frederic hof men who is the author of this book a short history of the american stomach we talked about the tale of two very

different dinner tables as well as some of the causes and effects of this great divide what's that happening lately is that these food markets the big grain markets in chicago the chicago mercantile exchange have really been kidnaped to the interests of very large banks in the united states and that's because of a new kind of product called a derivative in other words we've had derivatives and mortgage backed securities we've got all sorts of derivatives that have driven world economy into a tailspin well what's happening now is that there's a food bubble that's being caused by very large financial interests taking it increasingly large stakes in the global food supply why are they doing this because there's value in it because increasingly what we're seeing is that arable land fresh water grain food these are going to be the most valuable things on earth going forward this is what's the next century's wars are going to be fought over

christine well here's something interesting for you according to a new article in the washington times this article says that it was not in fact well three big banks or mortgage lenders that led to this economic economic crisis they say it may have been terrorists and that quote out fine forces may have launched an economic attack your thoughts on this on people trying to think the blame away from wall street. look you know a circumstance like this where you only see the globe facing food crisis is bowie's a very complicated situation people would like over simplify it people would like to take whatever villain they can deliver that we can and put them up there in fact there are issues so i write there's trout there's blood in canada and united states argentina and china the world's great producers are under pressure on supply demand pressures these issues are overdetermined and of course speculation by wall street plays a tremendous role. let's talk about kind of what we're seeing around the world these

days from egypt to libya to even right here in the u.s. and i'm wondering do you think that the un raft at least in part could be caused by the frustration of so many living in poverty and just living in this great divide well i think what's interesting here is once again we're seeing this kind of eye for cation on the one hand a very rich on the other end a very poor but what's going on in the middle revolutions are really started in spurred by a middle class and what we're seeing throughout the middle east is an extraordinarily changed middle class because what's happening is that suit inflation in those countries at least in egypt in the months before the uprising was at seventeen percent a month in food scepter and so of course the very core it makes no difference to them the very rich it makes no difference to them but the middle class all the sudden they can't buy milk for their kids they can't buy protein they can't buy fresh vegetables they're going to get very angry so what's a way to deal with this i mean we see this gap getting wider and wider is there any

way to begin to start closing and to start making the great divide a little less so that like you say you know the middle class can actually afford things my groceries. well there are there are a couple of things that can be done is the situation is over determined by cause there are also all sorts of all sorts of things you can do of course it's complicated not once again let's get osama bin ladin in that and we'll be done with it now in fact what we need to do is we need to figure out a way that there can be a global grain reserve again so that people are holding grain and they can bring it into world markets when needed as opposed to this kind of increased nationalism with everybody building up their own secret grain reserves not letting anybody go and hoarding it and bring it to market to make their own money at the same time as we need to have more regulation in markets throughout the world you know there's a six hundred trillion dollar derivatives market well the united states there's a regulatory agency that's supposed to govern them their budget is just about one hundred million dollars how is one hundred million dollars agency going to regulate

a six hundred trillion dollar industry it's impossible a good question now i'm curious just kind of bigger picture here when you see people in new york living these extraordinary lifestyles. what do you think i'm wondering what you think outside perception is people living in other countries that look and i think you know these pictures on the news of homeless people in the street when i also think in lavish you know fashion than people eating one hundred seventy five dollars burners what do you think that does and in terms of sort of the outside perspective. well we're talking about rome and it's carried of decadence i mean are we what are we talking about in terms of business outside perception i mean clearly people are jealous of this country people of people clearly also our age in this country and so there are all sorts of a perception is going on out there whenever you have this kind of widely divergent thing going on i think however most people want to be like america i think most

people out there would like the callers would like the meat in their diet and this of course also is part of the problem with the emerging middle class which is that the american lifestyle is just not sustainable over the globe and i'm just curious in your research i mean i know you gave us some solutions and good ideas for how to start closing that gap but what's your prediction i mean is that realistic or do you see it getting even wider well you know i'm sorry steve i am a pessimist and i do believe that. america in particular is it is in a difficult period and it might come out of it but certainly for the next decade or so america is going to be going through a difficult period in a period in which there are going to be increased crawley's other parts of the world we're going to see that inequality gap lessen but here i think we're heading towards some rocky times all right frederick not content thanks so much for joining us from new york thank you and that is going to do it for now but to see my full

interview with frederick hofmann or for more of any of the other stories we've covered today go to our t. dot com slash usa also check out our you tube page you tube gun r.c. america i'm christine frizz now i hope you have a great night. news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. trying to corporations are the day. live. bringing you the latest in science and technology

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follow in well in the cross talk i'm here a little as he turns eighty mailed out of a child's legacy sees him loved abroad in loath to honk as glasgow some perestroika become distant memories we ask how will history judge the man who seemingly ended history live can. you discuss the 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's an american 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. and we have lad sobel he's an analyst at gallup securities and another member of our crosstalk team on the hunger all right gentlemen this is

cross not 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 and set free the countries of eastern and central europe that's gone 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 opinion 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. down as the greatest former 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 its radius first or a maybe he just protecting his legacy here ok it was true that i was going to go to you anyway go ahead live 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 bunch of 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 i that would be my first point and secondly i would argue that russian democracy is proceeding on course i don't think that so forth or if arion isn't in the meantime to stabilize the political system to stabilize the economy will actually do very much harm and i would add to that that president go to visit in that video

if it's now leading a new way if similar to perestroika and i would guess that in about ten years media will see genuine democratization in russia it's very and 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 trying to strike is coming about under putin not under yeltsin or got a bunch of. well i was going to say that i don't think public transportation 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 stephen thank you and one of the things we talk about i want to strike and glasnost is reforming the soviet union but was it reform of 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 of introduced elements of another economic system into a very confusing hybrid would have worked but it's not a hybrid i mean most economies in the twentieth century been next economy state market economies i mean would 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 grover charge of course it's doable but it is going on around the world you know if it was

going in reverse direction because what do you that's the deal 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 the year and you would have had to have the temperament in the power of stalin to impose for democracy on russia in one thousand nine hundred nine hundred ninety the problem was grover trough was the quintessential anti stalinist he had come to dismantle the system and let me remind you of one of the thank god i admit i've known governor. 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 popular vote it's a process that has to begin someplace that was a step forward ok you're talking about other countries and i agree with you that a 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 cervical.