al-qaeda and its allies was the invasion of iraq was a gift to them that they kind of always wanted but they never expected to get it because the invasion of iraq was the perfect predicate for a job it was a religious predicate it was an infidel country invading a muslim country occupying it and installing man made laws rather than rather than god's law and so as i said earlier in our talk we did for bin laden what he had not been able to do for himself and that is to create a situation where a defensive jihad against the west appeared perfectly acceptable and perfectly correct and the duty of many muslims so there is no upside to iraq's or it's all downside for the united states and its allies mr sure you said something personal a minute ago and i want to ask you a personal question if i mean michael you said i quit my job in the in the in the

agency because i wanted to speak out publicly those that mean that you think that speaking as a public figure as an independent public think figure you can do more good for the american people then working in the central intelligence agency. well let me say first of all i left a job that i loved i had no intention of ever leaving but from one nine hundred ninety three when we started to work at least in a small way against al qaeda until two thousand and four i had seen three consecutive presidents tell the american people that we were at war because. they hate liberty they hate freedom in and all the rest of the kind of can't there comes out of the mouths of western politicians and what i thought and it sounds corny certain sounds trite but i thought it was time to be

a good citizen and from certainly from the cia i could not publicly say that for example whatever you think about our relationship with saudi arabia our support for a repressive arab police state really empowers al qaeda and other islamists to attack us i couldn't say that from cia and i couldn't say that no matter whether you support israel or whether you oppose israel our relationship with the israelis is a poisonous relationship in terms of u.s. interests in the muslim world i certainly couldn't say that from from the cia so and rightfully so civil servants shouldn't be able to say those things but as a private citizen i thought i could perhaps at least add to the dimensions of the debate in the united states. those states today are facing serious financial problems and do you think that to some extent it may

be a result of the hyperactive foreign and military part of this is of the bush era and do you think that that that that today's financial problems may influence and change the military and the foreign policy of the united states. well i think certainly the bush and obama administrations and the clinton administration before hand have been very interventionist in their foreign policy in terms of both military activities and for bombing the serbs back in clinton to the war on terror and the expansion of the effort in afghanistan all of that is very expensive you know i think the main problem for the united states is really an enormous number of useless politicians who spend too much money domestically and it will it affect our. behavior overseas i think if it has to because we're not going to be able to afford to keep doing what we have been doing and i think it's a very it's

a very useful thing to listen to what the enemy says and what he intended to do osama bin laden from one thousand nine hundred six forward was very clear that the they could not defeat the united states militarily but the through the three things they used the three metrics they used to define whether they were making any progress were the following first to take care to take advantage of whatever international economic conditions were to help lead the united states to bankruptcy and i think just as we've talked a rock afghanistan and many other things are helping could lead us to bankruptcy the second thing al qaeda mentioned as a goal was to spread out u.s. intelligence forces and u.s. military forces to the point where they had no flexibility and very little reserves and i think receiving that accomplish and the third goal was to create as much public dissent in the united states as the north vietnamese did during the vietnam

war and to strip away. our allies kind of one at a time and i think we've seen many many of our allies just abandon us in the field so from my perspective when osama bin laden died he was a success not only in terms of inspiring. young muslims to fight the west but also substantively and what he laid out is the only way that he thought the islamists could defeat the united states thank you thank you very much and just to remind you that my guest on the show today was my i told sure as the former chief of the us that i'm a been allowed in tracking units in cia and that's it for now from all of us here if you want to have your say on spotlight have someone in mind who you think i should be next time just drop you know who would be back with more first time comments on what's going on in and outside russia and until then stay on our take and take your.

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review of the latest in science and technology from. the future covered. russia city of jaroslav obed's an emotional farewell to the victims of wednesday's plane crash that killed nearly all of the local ice hockey team live video you're seeing right now the locomotive stadium in jaroslav with a commemoration ceremony is underway. thousands of people streaming into the stadium where locomotive jaroslav all played i'm sean thomas in jaroslav as a city mourns and grieves of the loss of their stars. the u.s. prepares to memorialize the events of september eleventh a day that unleashed the war on terror now feared by some to have an even bigger threat to the youth of the world. a crowd of egyptian storms the israeli embassy in

cairo in a rage by the deaths of five egyptian border guards last month. noon in moscow i'm not going to have you with us here on r t our top story families and fans of russia's lokomotiv ice hockey team have gathered at the home stadium where the players who died in a plane crash on wednesday played their last game the sports world is mourning after most of the locomotion if you're asada or ice hockey team perished on wednesday a correspondent sean thomas has more. thousands of people are streaming to the locomotive stadium here in slidell to pay their final respects it is a cold day it is a rainy day and in many ways the weather echoes the feeling in the air the very sad ahead. and somber tone because this was a much beloved teen. there were three time world champion or champion ship team

rather and they were the stars of this city so people from all over russia hockey players officials as well as the entire city of ja slidell is coming here to the same stadium people are streaming up by the fourteen caskets of people who perished in this plane crash there were forty three people confirmed dead two people survived it was a multinational team those who are not from. were sent to their home countries yesterday and today the fourteen who will be buried here after this a visitation. they are laid to rest so the people can pay their final respects as this three day mourning period starts coming to a close we know of one player who had just proposed to his girlfriend it was planning on getting married and this of course a very young team with their lives tragically cut short we also know of another

player who had said i've had enough of hockey but i'm going to play one more season just to get one more go and of course the first game of the season on their way to . the plane crash and of course ending his career and is a life one other story of a flight attendant on board three months ago just got married and was planning to retire from the aviation business she wasn't going to be a flight attendant anymore she was going to try to not having children as well so a wide range of emotions here and jaroslav. celebration of the teen in their lives also to the somber sad final goodbyes there's hope of moving forward from the investigation itself to the. getting the announcement that the engines of the plane were fine but there may have been some sort of problem with the fuel and some people are taking comfort in the fact that they are starting to get answers as to what caused this tragedy but moving past that former jaroslava low. a lot of players have announced that they will come back to help rebuild this team so that

there can be this spirit of hockey here and also that they don't have to lose that connection with hockey a sport that this city loves so much but we have the opportunity to actually speak to some of the younger players of the locomotive franchise the next generation if you will the people who are training to hope to be a contact of the jaroslava locomotive professional team as a city continues to mourn one very dedicated group of young men have choosing to honor their heroes in a unique way by getting back on the ice with the book because. simply for. this chris it. was. for these players practicing fear is special as it was from this very with the doomed team on their skates for the final time. on the fifth and sixth of september their training sessions before minsk they were confident and quite optimistic and

determined all of them were in very high spirits. one coach working with his youth team was supposed to be on the flight and though he's back working now and stars are still strong for those affected by this tragic loss i think it's hard hearted. by their families relative sense to research this them. to. go. on this everybody and for the next generation of jaroslava lokomotiv hockey players it's not just about rebuilding the team for the future of the city it's also about getting back on the ice as a form of therapy to help them get through their grief. also i have a strong wish to reinvigorate going capuano the use championship and indicate to reach my friends who died. and while this team practices. even younger group is ready to follow in their footsteps. some of the players from times square from

school he told us about them in cannot one one hundred eighty page and the team only ever going to talk not kids who will i want to be in a new team that will repeat this extensive knock on the t.v. next to me come scheduled to be tested for the count the count is going to come right stay on school. proving that even though they have gone from the ice the members of this ill fated locomotive team will continue to be in the hearts and minds of the people of jaroslav all and the nation for generations to come in your us local sean thomas. i mean if it turns out of a story of the tragic september eleventh attacks security is being stepped up across the u.s. to defend against what's being called a credible threat of a new terror attack yet for many who still feel no sense of safety the cloud of the just never surreal has no silver lining as artie's worried a court and i reports that our special coverage from iraq. ten years ago

america was blocked by unprecedented terror. nearly three thousand innocent lives were lost in a post nine eleven world was born. our war on terror. begins on our countdown. but it does not end there. it will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found stopped and defeated washington's military reach began with the hunt for osama bin ladin america strikes back afghanistan is home to put bombs and missiles from the air and sea then a preemptive pounding into iraq. in the decade that followed america's fight for freedom has been stained by torture secret detention and renditions human rights violations symbolized by landmarks like montana mowbray grave and the blogger

airbase prison we had garnered the empathy not only of the world but the muslim world and if we had the courage to be vulnerable we would be far safer and more secure than we are today instead we drank deep from that very dark licks or of nationalism journalist in office chris hedges says america's terror unleashed throughout the middle east has opened a pandora's box of evil estimates are over a million iraqi kids since the invasion. you know hundreds and hundreds of civilians killed in pakistan thousands killed in afghanistan not to mention millions of people displaced in the refugee camps i mean the terror that we have unleashed will not go unpaid it is and it will strike us. however in a post nine eleven america citizens have been forced to compromise their. freedom in the name of security the past decade has paved the way for new state practices

such as warrantless wiretapping intrusive airport screening and greater authority for law enforcement what some call a police state and then making as this national security state we rose and as it becomes easier for the government to scrutinize the guys in this in all aspects of our lives i think americans are really we worried about the issue we is your view then it was the specific isolated order as it is in the ether that is all around us much of it white here at home from people in our own country. since nine eleven a rising tide of islamophobia house passed through this tolerant nation according to the f.b.i. the poor man intended to carry out their plan today dozens of muslim americans have

been arrested and convicted in so-called f.b.i. for oil terror plots plots that were orchestrated and manufactured by government paid informants these cases have been created by the government and yet we're supposed to feel safer because criminals that would not have come up with a plot had it not been brought to them on a platter by the u.s. government are now in jail we have you know snowballs of violence that's going on around the world only raise more hatred only raise more bad feelings only reinforced many americans very violent you know narratives of american imperialism around the world and we i think we've created more enemies than friends you know be targeted communities rather than making them partners not only has it not made us any safer i think that it has undermined you know the very fabric of american society the fabric of a post nine eleven america the united states has conducted an operation that killed osama bin laden the leader. of all card skilled in the. americans

can't even get there began the first strike but in that same year the military states. around the world the man behind me and. the international seat and yet the letter arena artsy the. u.s. war on terror launched after the attacks was sold as a vital measure to stop further attacks on u.s. soil but brian becker from the anti-war answer coalition says there are many who no longer buy that argument so i would say the american people who originally bought the position that this was a war to stop another september eleventh they have no longer believe that position they now believe that it's a war for something else bill define for the broad public did bush administration launched the war in iraq for instance on a completely false pretext the war on terror in fact has become

a slogan it will be ultimately no one in history is the ultimate pretext to do whatever the u.s. government wants but in the case of iraq they invaded iraq hundreds of thousands died millions were made into refugees a beautiful country was torn apart and and divided along ethnic sectarian lines and iraq had nothing at all to do with september eleventh and likewise in afghanistan we have thousands of troops who are going to be in afghanistan for decades because this is part of a grand scheme to keep these countries under u.s. control as part of a us americans for europe influence. our special coverage of the nine eleven anniversary continues here on our t.v. coming up we asked people on the streets of new york if the post nine eleven world is a safer place. at our web site r.t. dot com the stories of those caught up in the fight against terror farmers and village elders in afghanistan influence why bombs and missiles are pouring down on their country. for the war on terror came the war on drugs but ten

years later afghanistan remains the world's biggest producer of opium with much of its income rooted in the legal narcotics but as nato forces to struggle to force a struggle to destroy drug production in afghanistan the u.k. harvest a new crop of parties to plug a growing painkiller shortage or he's lauren it reports in the rolling fields civil stitcher at this time of year you'll probably see we are right playing for the harvest but troy springs and warm summer's have been able to plant a very different type of crop opium poppies that contracts to a pharmaceutical company that turns the opium into morphine and coating to plug a shortfall in strong painkillers in the national health service in fact there's a global shortage of drugs made from poppies the opium here will be put to good use but thousands of miles away need to treat so wiping out existing afghan poppies

with bombing burning and spraying the main question is why we destroying crops and then having to grow poppies in fields in the teacher is being used by the american and british governments repeatedly one of these so-called soft all cubans that they want the liberal it was that bush is their party the war on drugs is completely pop was they it's not true it's not what the war is about and we should know not so it's easy to understand why afghan farmers grow then sell opium to the taliban there's an effective distribution network and they can make. around seventeen times more profit per hectare than they could on wheat despite the obvious economics farmers are still being encouraged to grow other crops courses m.p. frank field think that policy has failed but the americans won't budge from america and we follow interest behind them. and makes a nonsense of what this relationship should be it's when you're put in which is.

not to be able to use it as a position with the americans to rethink a strategy which i think most people think over the years has if we look historically has probably troy and you chuck frank fields and his group poppy relief think afghan opium should be legalized instead it would benefit afghan farmers raise much needed revenue for the governments nation rebuild and stop the opium falling into the hands of the drug cartels field says it should be military strategy to. have chosen problems rather than brains and anybody who is thinking about how do we get ordinary people ordinary farmers to see poppies as a cash crop. to protect the backs of our troops we will be thinking about how do we harness this core how do we pay them for it and have been used. to transfer it into

medicines to. burned in afghanistan and kept a secret here in britain no one wants to talk about the u.k.'s opium growing program we asked the farmer and the company they grow. if they would give us an interview but parlance said they wouldn't allow the farmers to talk to us because it's part of their contract with the home office that they keep the poppy growing. the home office also declined to comment well poppy's. increasingly harvested in britain the so-called war on drugs is being stiffly the u.n. says opium production in afghanistan has been on the rise since the us occupation began in two thousand and one you were and it's. still with us here on r t coming your way a pill too big to swallow president obama urging voters of lawmakers in the u.s.

to back his job creation an economic stimulus plan some say he's fighting the wrong battle in his war against unemployment. and look at what's behind the reshuffle of the u.s. highest ranks as general david petraeus moves to the top job at the cia. but first egyptian police have been put on a state of high alert after protesters attacked israel's on the sea in cairo they destroyed a wall near the building and tore down the israeli flag replacing it with an egyptian one hundreds of demonstrators had been injured police using tear gas on the crowd israel's ambassador along with his family was flown out of the country anger swelled last month after israeli forces responded to across the border a militant attack mistakenly killed five egyptian police the protests also came out of china in time of change seven months after the popular uprising that ousted hosni mubarak from power thousands i gather in the capital stalker square urging an end to military rule and pressing for urgent reforms the president of the arab warriors' associations are worries islamic groups might ultimately benefit from the

. the various political movements vying for part of the ad trying to show who is bigger than the other i think this demonstration it's only the liberals this slimmest not taking each side is accusing the other one of trying to show their power the islamists are not concerned that not what the election because whatever form election no takes they will definitely get higher votes than the liberals and demonstrations will continue i think the egyptian people will not accept the military continue to be in power this five most of the military as everybody knows the same old team of mubarak people who were handpicked by mubarak with the approval of the americans the americans would be happy for the military to stay there but i don't think the egyptian people would. president obama is pressing

voters across the us to get behind his half trillion dollar stimulus package aimed at creating jobs and pressuring american lawmakers to pass it the latest white house plan to rescue the economy includes a mix of tax breaks additional investment in our government investment and funding to states but you're also lent a publisher of the trends journal also the politicians are fighting the wrong battles in the struggle against of employment. if anybody watched you could wonder how any self respecting adult could have any respect for these politicians jumping up and down and clapping like trained seals that every two bit lawing all this speech was is obama's campaign speech on one and you have the republicans that want to cut back in title minutes and anything going to the people bring in a stereo measures and obama promising empty promises the federal reserve and some sixteen trillion dollars in stimulus package to our loans etc and they couldn't

create jobs for all obama said he wants to create infrastructure jobs perfect but they creating them in the wrong place is creating him in afghanistan carried building iraq and now they're going to be rebuilding libya oh it's simple there's a way to solve this back on these announce of wars and defense spending and repatriate the money number one and then listen to what else obama wants to do he wants to put on more free trade pacts oh great export jobs overseas why don't you export americans over to china panama indonesia and vietnam to do them so we have to re trench we have to stop these trade agreements that are raping america of its resources mental and natural. america's former top commander in

afghanistan general david petraeus has taken up a new job as the head of the cia bidding farewell to the army after thirty seven years in uniform or his military contributor looks at the reasons for them. it may seem and consequential but. the first decision ok general petraeus has made on his way from the pentagon to langley and was stationed his military uniform and to present himself in a new incarnation as a total civilian according to their official story general materials has an option to come to the cia as of a military or as a civilian and allegedly the white house did not force him to resign and took out his image as a four star general and to downsize his figure on their way to his new job if the official story is to believe general petraeus bend over him.