it's an assault against libya targets marks and missiles flying but exactly how accurate are these hits r t is on the ground from tripoli with the latest. i also have stated. it is u.s. policy that gadhafi needs to go and to each presidency is only war so could libya be obama's push to liberate the people of libya the president forgot to consult with his own voters right here at home. and the battle for bradley manning protesters block logical marine base demanding the release of the wiki leaks whistleblower will their cries be heard and will the

pentagon listen could use starts now. the international minute military intervention in libya continues to unfold western powers you appear to have tighten their grip on libyan airspace following the latest wave of airstrikes now the ongoing bombardment in the libyan capital of tripoli comes as more forces arrive to take part in operation odyssey dawn but the united states france and the u.k. remain the principal participants among these allies are to polish leader is in tripoli and she joins us now from there with the latest paula good evening to you now what are you seeing what have what have you seen as the situation unfolded essentially before your eyes. but about half an hour ago there was a massive explosion here in the capital city of tripoli it sounded like it was coming from the south of the city i cannot be any throat from where i'm standing at

the moment but we are hearing reports of smoke in the southern part we also hear reports of explosions around the compound of duffy now it's too soon to say exactly what has been hit but for the last thirty forty even fifty minutes they have been rounds of and crossed gunfire at the moment the situation is quiet but as you can well imagine it just about here i ring we are hearing that we did hear earlier today monday from coalition forces that they had hit one hundred and twenty four targets else saying that this operation is a sextape a status of the last two days since the coalition forces have conducted a strike could that be a force has not been in the sky and that they have managed to stop the advancement of his ground forces at the same time though there is still fighting in three predominant cities across the country the worst of that fighting is happening in the city of misrata which is about two hundred kilometers to the east of tripoli it is the last wiggle held town in the waste of the country and some of the reports

we're hearing from there are quite terrifying we've been told that civilians are being brought in from other areas they are being used as human shields against these airstrikes we've been told that the gadhafi soldiers have surrounded the whole city and that they stopping supplies of electricity of fuel and of water quite a critical critical situation it sounds like now as you just said the coalition forces are reporting the fact that they have destroyed several key assets but i have to ask i mean how accurate are these attacks are there any rumors or perhaps of justina whether they've hit an intended target perhaps the vision of civilian casualties in this whole effort. well the only confirmation we've had in terms of a target they've hit here in tripoli has been good at his headquarters there they struck a two story building in fact it was a three story building that was hit by two missiles and we were told that this was the command and control center of his operations we were taken earlier today and the areas completely destroyed there was a small group of protesters they shouting abuse at the international community and

echoing what essentially has been gadhafi is message that the world has no right to interfere with internal libyan affairs but the civilian count is what people here are worried about throughout the day today and yesterday stay till a vision has been showing pictures of funerals they put the toll of just yesterday's strikes at more than sixty seven civilians who have been killed right now they're reporting under the banner of tripoli and attack so no doubt as we see more civilians die in this conflict there will be more questions being asked on the ground exactly what the international community is doing here now hala there's a difference between asking for help and actually seeing bombs raining over your head essentially what is the atmosphere like on the ground in tripoli are you afraid for your security and how are the residents reacting there. well as you can well imagine it's incredibly tense here i mean today monday was the first day that it was simply no one on the streets i had noticed this in previous days there were

no cars we've had almost spontaneous demonstrations since we've been here if you time we go some way people know that we're journalists they're going to come and talk to us and tell us essentially how much they support it's very difficult to tell how much of that is genuine support and how much of it is essentially gadhafi paying these people which is certainly some of the rumors we've been hearing now there have been thousands of supporters who have gone to his headquarters they've gone there as a sign of support they've gone also to acts of human shields and have done the same thing in the airport and other key installations around the city what we do know is that they're asking questions such as we will all of this and we hearing from rebel groups that they are preparing to ed rollins waste words to try and recapture some of the towns they lost with the ultimate goal of marching here on to tripoli now they are calling for international coverage international air cover while they do that and people here are saying what for just how much longer is the international community going to be involved and as they march further and further into these towns they will inevitably be more civilian deaths so as we see that civilian death

tally and increase in number certainly here the sense of anger and a sense of condemnation against the international community is going to grow i just want to mention also though that the mixed reports coming from the arab league are certainly being interpreted and i just did hear people here seem to think that the arab world and perhaps many others in the international community are not completely behind this operation despite the fact that they came on board and we do sense that that kind of criticism will grow as these coalition airstrikes continue paula looks like a changing situation on the ground please stay safe for us we do look forward to more of your reports thank you so much. now president barack obama defended his administration's approach to the libyan crisis today and for sizing that hey it was an international mission and that other countries are going to be taking over in just a matter of days now optimistic words from an optimistic president joining me to make sense of all this is independent journalist and war correspondent keith harmon

snow keith thank you so much for being here now you heard what the president had to say so is all the hand-wringing about another protracted conflict a waste of time when obama said we're almost done right it's interesting that he says that it's immediately going to transfer over to the other foods when it was supposed to be an international coalition that we would support and also he says at the end of the first paragraph of one of the speeches that he gave to relieve the burden on the u.s. military the nation's taxpayers would be shifted to an international coalition this is such nonsense it being cared about america's taxpayers who are funding all of these words he would take some serious steps not to be embroiled in these kinds of things yeah i love how they just pick and choose when to emphasize international part of it and when not to i mean if you look at libya i mean this is a country that most americans probably couldn't place on a map even if you had it labeled so why do you think we choose this so-called just cause and not the myriad of other oppressed countries that we took leave nor. that is an easy target first of all the media is now saying any administration is saying that there's less than two percent of the world's oil comes out of libya this is

nonsense he has a significant oil producer with massive concessions across the country it involves italy france united states and britain oil oil operations big oil in there the it out is an easy target it's easy to take him at this point because they knew that he was weak and was weak because he had militias that supported him and he had the u.s. had allowed these and the coalition had allowed these rebels to generate a movement against gadhafi which included a pro a very nationalist popular uprising component and then once could now be rolled against these other forces these rebel forces to justify taking khadafi having already convinced the american public for the last forty years that you know if he is the number one terrorist when as you were pointing out why libya when you've got massive terrorist countries being run by terrorists we're workwomen always including president yoweri museveni in uganda and president in rwanda so the argument that obama made that this is a work war warlord running

a country is just nonsense well and the thing about i don't really buy the whole war for oil argument because if you look at what happened for our air with iraq for example i mean i think even the most hardened neo-con can see that that whole invading a country for their resources just doesn't work i mean it takes a parivartan roll right you break it you pay for it by the time you actually get the operations up and running out really have very much to make money off i don't know if i really buy that so what is it lucy do you think that it's a debt selling defense weapons or testing new weapons of the united states navy or they got some of that one despite the fact that twenty two they haven't seen anything about us being as a player they are definitely testing new weapons at this very moment this is just another american on illegal this clip it's. adventure in attacking people and calling it humanitarian and. just a sign on the bases that supposedly it's humanitarian it's for the best of the world but really it's about seizing control of libya and making sure that any

popular uprising in libya is limited and it seems i'm advancing our interests boil defense you renia goal in libya these are big neutral concessions. you know one of the two words the frequently hear from the administration is the whole limited intervention of a limit intervention right but i've read some analysts calling the whole concept of a limited intervention to being akin to a gateway drug for expanded conflict and if we do go through history and almost all of the multilateral interventions in recent times from korea to somalia to virtually every single case there were multiple un resolutions authorizing even greater and greater military involvement in a conflict so can we expect that this is also going to turn out into another drawn out war or do you think that this will be limited as a client. so to say lucy could be quake it could be would it could be the plane is and always has been to just go in there sending out hundred ten john hawks in the first set of bombing sorties and bunch of planes and here's

a massive damage and then pull back and say ok let's clean it up france look clean it up italy let's clean it up korea let's clean it up and oh no sorry we can't use debian anymore so that made it clear and he had banned exact hearsay as anything but this is to say. sorry so it may be that there's going to be a protracted conflict here which is also what's in the rest of the united states wants another protracted conflict and one hand obama saying well we're not we don't really have the capacity to get into this we just have to make some strikes and for humanitarian purposes we don't want to charge miracles taxpayers too much money anyway and put a burden on them so just right here and there and we'll be out quick that's what we do we had done that in the past for example grenada or panama two fairly quick operations that we not they're not killed off anybody who would say anything we didn't like and then to control the country and at the same time we don't know it could be short it could be long it's hard to say hard to same thing if there was work or spawn and keep harm and now. this action in libya has been somewhat

surprising to many americans who perhaps thought that you know president obama let's spend his presidency getting the united states out of previous wars well turns out that president obama has his own little war and what seems to work become a tradition for the last several u.s. presidents are his christian personality to look back at history. here in the united states it's become an unspoken identity the job description. become president of the united states. declare war on my fellow americans my fellow citizens president ronald reagan in one thousand nine hundred sixty a familiar attack on a familiar enemy despite our repeated warnings gadhafi continued his reckless policy of intimidation is relentless pursuit of terror he counted on america to be passive he counted wrong turns out so did saddam hussein just two hours ago

allied air forces again an attack on military targets in iraq in kuwait for his successor president clinton the target was slobodan milosevic today our armed forces joined our nato allies in air strikes against serbia and forces responsible for the brutality in kosovo president george w. bush said it was weapons of mass destruction that threaten the world and invaded iraq in what was supposed to be a quick and limited campaign on orders coalition forces have begun striking selected targets some military importance undermine saddam hussein's ability to wage war most thought it would end there with president obama running on an anti-war platform he has spent most of his presidency trying to end the wars started by his predecessor until now the u.n. security council passed a strong resolution that demands and so the violence against its. it authorizes the use of force in the timeline of recent history there have been some glaring

similarities when it comes to the use of force by u.s. president none have been in response to a military attack or even threat of an attack on u.s. soil none have ever been formally declared wars we are prepared thousands of innocent people in kosovo from a mounting military offensive we are determined to knock out saddam hussein's nuclear bomb potential we will also destroy his chemical weapons facilities self defense is not only our right it is our duty the definition of duty often changing the result eerily parallel thank you god bless you. thank you very much christine. our team. still ahead an r.t.s. striking hard in libya american and allied forces pushed to quote liberate civilians but is this really a humanitarian intervention or the opening up the floodgates to yet another american war. plus while the united nations calls for protection of human rights in

libya what about the rights of an imprisoned whistleblower right here at home after next see how far protesters went this weekend to plait private first class bradley manning the dramatic arrest i want to go marine base coming up next. a charmer over here broadcasting live from washington d.c. coming up today on the big picture. so

the subsidy it's the. fees so what drives the world the fear mongering used by politicians who makes decisions to break through a third who can lead who can you trust no one will is there and deal with the global machinery see where we had a state controlled capitalism is called actual so when nobody dares to

ask we do our t. question more. the the. lead. actress lindsay low in the back you. know that isn't limited to the r.c. she loves her no she says she's a star. now

whether we like it or not the united states is now engaged in yet another war within a muslim country almost space of one decade now it has been cause called a just cause but the details of this do remain murky for example what is the american taxpayer going to end up paying for this conflict and what does victory in libya even look like and of course we as a country were quick to get in but can anyone over at the white house explain how important more importantly when we're going to get out well one u.s. congressman is calling this assault a grave and says that it actually lacks constitutional authority earlier i spoke with dennis kucinich a democrat representing the state of ohio and here's part of that conversation. you could look at a war as a swan or one step in a swamp you can suck down there is no limit intervention one hundred tomahawk missile that's not limited one hundred twenty four sites hit not limited to eighty

two thousand pound bombs according to one general to be or have been dropped not limited and this is a massive intervention already in the name of a no fly zone which isn't like telling people you just can't park in this space it's really a massive attack on a different structure of a nation we're in a war and it has to be recognized as such and it was south without the approval of the united states congress so is this president sinking this country in a swamp is this president's thinking the united states in a slump he's taken us in a direction in which there is that it is. very dangerous. and he should be taking us out of afghanistan and he's taken his deeper into afghanistan and should have taken it out of iraq and he's keeping troops there for whatever period of time he should be incurring into pakistan he has now we're in. libya it's not what people expected the congressman we talk so often

about the financial situation but this country is in right now if you listen to the republican governors of certain states where so broke in fact that we have to bust unions if you look at some of the bills that the body that you're a member of that's passed home heating assistance is apparently not something that we can afford where we find money for this war. half of discretionary spending right now goes for the pentagon three trillion dollars will be the cost of the war in iraq. we're already up there half a billion to have a trillion dollars in afghanistan the cost of this war for one week will be about a. half a trillion dollars in afghanistan and a half a billion dollars this war in libya will cost for one week. the money is coming where you're borrowing it or we're fighting domestic priorities we're telling people we can't have jobs programs but they get war you know you can't have health care for everyone in america but we get war you can be education for all but you get war you can't say people zones which are going to have war so i think we have

to start changing our priorities maybe we should focus on jobs and housing going to cation and health care and retirement security and come home and start taking care of things here at home instead of telling people around the world that we have the solution to their problems we will bring their mark which suited them or we will protect them as they strive for democracy and i don't i think that's beyond our capability frankly and what is within our reach is taking care of things here at home and maybe we should start to focus here at home with all due respect i mean you've been saying a similar kind of message for quite some time from iraq to afghanistan to today do you have any sense that you are not alone placed on the hill for this but i don't think about a lone voice but i'm probably a more vocal voice because you know i come from community that's been wrecked by a double dip recession and we've seen industries lost and people are just struggling to survive and we look at these wars and being just are useless

adventure on the part of a nation that's losing its way and we have to call america home and start taking care of things we can't be. running the world looking for dragons to slay it's about time we started to come home. i guess remains to be seen when the united states my into a little tired of being the world's policeman i want to switch gears a little bit to talk about the case of bradley manning the army private who is right now being held in quantico in virginia i know that you've spoken out about this issue there were some protests this weekend where folks that tried to call attention to the legit torture conditions or just very unpleasant conditions that he's been held and kill imports like a lot. in photos he's a smiling twenty three year old army private. but for two hundred and ninety nine days bradley manning has been behind bars accused

of passing top secret cables war logs and videos to whistle blowing web site wiki leaks here in quantico hundreds of activists and veterans have gathered outside of the military base for bradley manning is being held in solitary confinement twenty three hours a day they say he's being tortured to call for his immediate release although president obama says otherwise i have actually asked the pentagon whether or not. the procedures that have been taken in terms of his confinement are appropriate and are meeting our basic standards. they are state department spokesman p.j. crowley called manning's treatment quote ridiculous counterproductive and stupid and was forced to resign. well meaning scott there denounced the pentagon for stripping his son of his clothing and forcing him to stand at attention naked i mean it's shocking enough that i would. come on you know our silence as

a family and say you know now that and this you know you crossed the line this is wrong protesters here denounced obama and say guantanamo bay has been brought to virginia they say the president can do better than simply trusting manning's jailer i can sing brother in confinement and i can tell you probably it's not to me. like it's new. public to believe anything with a blower daniel ellsberg responsible for leaking the vietnam war logs known as the pentagon papers called manning a hero his. courage for other people. the more that other people realize that the descriptions rip your bond together as a. traitor. truth. appreciated by everybody that we recall. before being arrested with thirty five others for refusing to move from the entrance to quantico. but

not everyone in the space town felt bradley had done the right thing knowing. that this man who the people are protesting for were my husband's life residents friends lives in danger it's just. it's frustrating and denied that he was being tortured the word torture they can do is to give him. it's not he's not being forced even as amnesty international and other human rights groups say his conditions are quote degrading and bring back memories of abu ghraib the pentagon has not set a trial date for manning who faces twenty two charges including aiding the enemy which could carry the death penalty activists here and around the world so they won't back down until he's free wheeling forward artsy triangle virginia congressman it's obviously a very serious situation here cells have tried to see bradley manning has been putting in multiple requests. the runaround even so that you're prepared to

potentially on this program take legal action against the secretary of defense over manning's treatment what is the latest when we heard from the department of defense and they told me that they would agree to permitting me to see bradley manning they also said that it would be up to bradley manning and his attorney to make the decision we were in touch with mr manning said turney today he was meeting with bradley manning today we're told and we should have an answer very soon and no word yet on his condition before that he's been catatonic and i don't know i mean i that's one of the you know in hearing all these reports i thought it was really important to see for myself and so we're awaiting word hopefully we'll find out today that i will be able to visit with him and i hope you'll come back on this program and tell us how that goes and what's the latest with him now i do want to switch gears one more time we all remember the terrible photos that came out of that i'll grab scandal years ago unfortunately it looks like there are new photographs out about the kill team the so-called kill team in afghanistan u.s.

soldiers who are currently on trial accused of some egregious acts against afghan civilians. the german newspaper has published some of these photos we have them here they're a little bit blocked out and frankly quite graphic and image what does this do for america's image abroad and what does this say to you that this these kinds of acts can be perpetrated by allowing people on trial won't see any kind of were violent their rights but the kind of pictures that you're speaking of once published and i read the spiegel story. it once again points out that we're losing our way in these. military actions now most of the people who serve in our country are drawn to these things but we shouldn't be there and action is everything and your submission to them very well this is a look at these images are riveting just as we remember but if they kind of have

a way of imprinting abu ghraib images these images whether we have been printed and be seen in the muslim world they will be the cause of much consternation and even more anger that already exists towards america and that world are we want to believe that our country is always has the right motives but when you see pictures such as are being published now. people who do not believe america has a right motives in their country occupying it are going to find all of their worst . suspicions confirmed honestly did you ever expect us to be in that situation another conflict in libya continuing on the breast as president was elected on the promise to close guantanamo and these wars are you surprised at where we are today i am i it's you know when i when i first came to congress which was then one thousand nine hundred sixty i was electric. ok i came to congress so i

could help create jobs and help people get an education and have good health care and protect social security and and although all that's been going on over the period since nine eleven if we're talking about wars we started lose our way after nine eleven there was a serious attack on america but the way in which that was handled and interpreted sets the stage for a global war on terror which has been a disaster and we have to protect our country to be sure there are people don't like america i understand that but the manner in which we deal with it has been actually counterproductive and i think. it's really time for america to come back home refocus and try to make our peace with the world and defend the united states while we building things here at home hopefully those words will be heard by the president and others in congress say thank you so much congressman kucinich thank you again being here well that doesn't burn out for more on the stories that we've covered let's go to.