he's still involved in the libyan conflict a prominent british journalist what he thinks of his nation's role of the intervention simon jenkins is the guest in today's interview stay with us. i'm joined by simon jenkins author and journalist who now writes for the guardian newspaper some like to speak to r.t. now you've written extensively criticizing the way the intervention in libya has been handled what was wrong with it was it wrong to begin with or do you view of course during the process yes anything wrong with the way it was handled i just didn't you should have taken place in the first place. i do not believe that sovereign states have a legal right or an obligation or a duty to interfere in other sovereign states is written into the united nations charter this is not a country to threaten britain didn't threaten any of its neighbors and invaded in the neighbor it was going about its own business which is not a revolution it was. said you think the original just a vacation preventing

a massacre in benghazi was that not entirely true that i'm sure last two days with random bengazi nasty things happen all over the world. the excuse that there might have been something nasty about to happen the justification for invading to be invading a country and bombing its capital is i find quite extraordinary it's an it's a noble concept. clearly there were other interests in play in libya that the oil people close to the mediterranean they were lighter skinned people i mean all the kind of things you get lying by british foreign policy. there was no justification for it except the theory that there would have been a massacre had we not gone in benghazi those all teary motives things like leaks to oil contracts that are now being fought you know more important then than say preventing loss of human life well i would if we were going to go in wherever there's a possible loss of human life we're going to go invading countries all over the world all the time i'm assuming more than assuming i think i know there are mixed

motives in always interventions we tend to intervene in countries where we think we like when you know moral attitude we tend to really be interesting country. where we have some interest in this critical that we tend to intervene where we think i think there's almost quit glory to be hired as was the case i think in iraq and clearly was the case here there are always mixed motives but i think we always need to examine all motives and ask us of the simple question are we going to do good rather than harm in this case it seems we've done good but that was by no means guaranteed the fact of the matter was it was not our country has gone to plan and this is the claim they thought they were going to get quick lawry did last a bit longer than they thought but some of the yet as well i mean they came close to panicking i mean they thought bombers could do the trick bombs can never do the trick they said they would do the trick in baghdad they didn't they said do the trick and belgrade they didn't bomb was never do the trick after a few months of it clearly not working they decided to put in gret what is

effectively ground troops and special forces went all over the place they did what i think probably they should on the very beginning which say that we want this one over quickly it would be over quickly if we go in with ground troops as was the case in kosovo and eventually after six months they did indeed when there's no good pretending this was done by the libyans it was done by western forces britain's role in this as you just mentioned they had special forces on the ground and we even know the full extent of that because it wasn't even legitimate in the first place was it well i mean we wrote the un resolution is concerned i mean we this is entirely are doing we we decided to do it then we found reasons for doing that we decided there's going to be a massacre in benghazi we decided we need un resolution written a certain way we claim to be going to protect civilians will be ended up bombing. i mean the things that were done were done with the intention of justifying a pretty stringent within the law of libya. i'm assuming that will make much more

over time because all the special forces will start running their memoirs as they always do the mission creep was saying he was it planted you think or is it just an inevitable unavoidable consequence of him. invention i think is a very difficult question mission creep. invariably when it happens in the great cases it was in buddhism boles now people say at the beginning we we won't let this happen we are only going into a humanitarian relief would have been might be in this case we were only going in to save the citizens of bengal and from what we're hearing that circa would've been a pretty unpleasant things a person. but at the back of everyone's mark why the on the so reluctant. is the knowledge that mission creep always happens you cannot control the situation on the ground. you've got to be prepared for the worst because the worst is what usually happens now in this case it was looking a real mess and all the very end and the very end you got special forces surrounding tripoli they didn't just get lucky even though they used may fourth of

using helicopters they were using british weapons to bash through walls and everything in the end we did what we probably should go to the beginning which is make sure we are going to lose when david cameron and nicolas sarkozy visit tripoli recently they were given a hero's welcome people cheering chanting then names wanted to shake their hands saying it was all good for them or that something they wanted and expected i think just totally ill judged i mean it was clearly a triumph. very soon from the boot when the in the midst of a lot of. you can't pretend it wasn't from football strong for the rubys or to batter the prime minister's going to a foreign country when you didn't get cheered i thought it was tasteless and of course weakens the authority of the of the domestic governor who at this particular juncture should've at least been allowed to present themselves as being the victors it was abundantly clear this was a british french victory and that's what the visit was designed to signify and what

does that mean now does that give them a responsibility that they might not be able to meet i think it does i think the british and the french now have a very strong responsibility to make absolutely sure this doesn't. fail that may well mean sending in troops when you invade a country you can't then say we've done our job we're going to go because people look to you to continue the revolution that you started or you. i just don't see how we can abandon the if if as is at least possible possibly improbable unlikely breaks out what about gadhafi david cameron since we washed his hands of that is she saying his fate is in the hands of the n t c is that shirking responsibility i'm assuming that british and french forces are now trying to find gadhafi inserting i mean i can't see the point of not finishing the job you know we claim just two subs and no fly zone was a joke. i just it just seems to me that if you're going to attack a country in this way you must at least finish it and then you end the country and

the really difficult thing is to transfer power from yourself as the powerful authority to the local people and i think we're going to find that very difficult more sort of message does this send down then our kind of controlling this and it's going to need to learn you know what. well we the message it sends out is provided you make enough stink in a country then britain or france might come along and help the revolution that happened in kosovo off to bosnia it was abundantly clear what happened but a bunch of gangsters who were running kosovo effectively said you know we're being massacred by this which is certainly true come and save us we went and saved them and to create a new country we partitioned yugoslavia i mean the message is the west is actively mercenary army for any rebel group that cares to make enough of a stink about it and i just think that's dangerous to world peace how different is this really from iraq afghanistan and previous interventions i mean they say

they've learned their lessons have well they're the only lesson i draw from any of these is don't do it they haven't learned that lesson the they're clearly going to start looking for another one i mean i imagine it's going to be some trouble in syria i don't know what they're going to do with i mean iran is if you do not invade iran and this you're out of your mind and it's a huge country iraq is a pretty big country and we found that very difficult afghanistan at least a small but we're getting a bloody nose that. i mean i guess the lesson of libya is if it's a really small country might get away with it. applauding themselves this is the model of a successful intervention why is this not happening in syria and yemen and places i think the reason is that they thought it would be a good idea and it worked. it was easy to do you could run it from a few aircraft carriers and bases so it was a doable enterprise you could put in special forces quite easily got too many people noticing. i just think of it if it came along at the time i was couldn't

realise why didn't do burma when the famine was on and that was a very good example where you could have. total forces available in there to do it in a cave. i mean i think these things are completely random now it's difficult to see how you orchestra. great a foreign policy based upon these random interventions as the nature of what is it to do with nato native north atlantic alliance against the russians it is i repeat it's like kind of a mercenary force roaming the world looking for things to do completely stuck in afghanistan he may yet get stuck in libya it can intervention work that the principle works if it works. it toppled saddam is a. it punished the taliban it's topple gadhafi it works how should this it being handled how should libya i just a little listen we've left syria earlier with bahrain allied with let's let yemen or than why libya is not turning your back on oppressive regimes killing civilians

where are you were you to watch your back there in the first place and why i don't understand the argument with. me turning our back on somalia. i mean are we turning our back on to be turn our back on the congress of the congo in somalia or far worse in libya no one's going screaming why aren't we attacking congress and some other i'm afraid just because they're black. and i think you will see that in the very very racial office operation. for some reason we've got it in for me as new cars are going into the third one meeting grady. hospital for the girl in question and. the mystery gives out to the world is that when the west is highly biased it's ladies interested in oil it will help you if you if you look as if you're in the chelsea winter if you're not. as of the rest of africa. what does this mean now for the arab spring does this intervention reinforce it or undermine it i did it

remains for are we what is the arab spring i mean the arab spring was was was a number of rebellions most of which were suppressed. too now three of which you got away with it was from egypt your general spring. could well be that the battering the better off the top of the governments before that. in the run for the top and i just don't know all i knows is more modern responsibility there is no british empire anymore you know we are not charged by the electorate or by the world or girl around invading other people's countries we don't like their regimes it's just not our job simon jenkins thank you.

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after the government passes another round of austerity measures in a bid to avert the looming economic disaster after the greek prime minister held talks but the german chancellor have to restore confidence that things is on the right track. nato peacekeepers and kosovo have injured seven serbs in clashes of the border area the alliance says it used rubber bullets but a local news agency claims were fired and has released x. rays that it says show gunshot wounds to the victim. international community slams israel's decision to build new settlements on occupied territory palestinians say the israeli rules i would any chance at bilateral peace talks. with stay with us. hello and welcome to the sport on r c coming to you live from moscow with. pursed

the headlines. army man disarm says back from two goals down but still loose after a five goal european called filler in moscow. inspiration from paralympians and award ceremony has been held in the russian capital honoring athletes and others trying to overcome serious illnesses. russia's rugby team enjoy. the world cup testing their mettle at his bench or pork in new zealand. one of the biggest nights of the russian football year has ended in a disappointment for the home side says moscow going down. in their second champions league group match of the season it was lucile. who had the visitors after only twenty three minutes but says the gods in the first reducing the deficit on the stroke of half time. before grabbing

a deserved equaliser seven to seven minutes from the back are locked but it was there who would have the final say. eleven minutes from simon earning in the landmen their first win of the campaign. which. it was emotional and with it we stood really sort of difficult to admit so much it would be crucial to show that we were going to do it we. didn't have much time left but nevertheless when the stage another storm a big goalie. i know there are strong in the correct there because at the end of the match also. they draw the match. i spoke with him i play your side he said because of food because until the end we have to suffer. the other matching ruby between the turkish side. from france and in a one one draw it's a group of four points inter milan followed with three. two draws and says scar

last with just one point. in group a barn munich are now forced to answer their latest home win against manchester city while not put he claimed their first win in the campaign and six seconds of the german side will yet ryall our last with no points and all goals. three three home draw against manchester united moved to the swiss seem so the group seen with four points along with the guy who won their first match against romanian outfit a little. before my month before i really glad with three three and look at it in a positive way and i think it's a great result and we deserved it and earned the drums as a coach it's a highlight for me to come here it's rare that i've been to clubs like manchester united or the likes real or barcelona as a coach i'm very impressed by my team's performance here i suppose menu is. so welcome to european triple for them you know because we've been able to for most

parts of the game i thought. but. it was a. fantastic game and agreeing to the game the same and. group d. matches that use the action in the champions league where leon moved up to second place after a home win against. and real madrid have a hundred percent record so far in this tournament with the dutch side being their latest victims. the second game week of the champions league group stages continues with teams from group to h. kicking off on wednesday evening in europe russian champions is needs are hosting league winners porto in the days earlier now despite missing a few key players including the former captain bruno alves who is suspended for this match which on a split his men are feeling confident after a successful recent domestic run that propelled them to the top of the russian premier league now that means is they need to last a minute from cyprus in their opening game it seems like

a distant memory right now however another defeat would seriously damage the st petersburg side's chances of progressing to the next stage. aside from agreed achievements or tools made in his history but you produced a lot of very strong players look at full football and quite a lot of strong managers through and it says a lot about the strength of the club but it's well organized and has great traditions the portuguese side it's all group g. at the moment and will be hoping to extend their lead with another win statistics show that russia is a happy hunting ground for porto as the club's four previous trips to the country all ended in triumph however none of those winds were against zanies who are known for their stronghold records. as a new. schools need as one of the strongest teams in europe it's enough to see that through the aldershot who used to play now it seem now please them everyone knows danny who plays in the national team alexander cocksure calls. and luciano smile

a t. is a manager who's well known you know your own around the world. meanwhile arranged. are preparing to be the belarus side but who are enjoying their second ever appearance at the tournaments the council on powerhouse starts of their title defense a fortnight ago but only gained a points from their home clash with melanne however the belarus champions game against the czech side then on the first match day also ended with a droll meeting fourteen's our side with the points at peace in the standings. elsewhere to experience champions league outfits jealousy and prepared to go head to head at the midst of english side league group after beating by your liver coups and sunil with looking for a win after drawing their opening game against building once again chelsea midfielder juan mata adds to the game's intrigue after completing he's moved from earlier this year. over to paralympic news now where the third.

national award ceremony took place in moscow on tuesday the event names after the famous russian jim that's who was badly injured during competition in one thousand eighty one of the major awards going to four times our limbic champion russian. although it wasn't only paralympians who's shown at the ceremony pretty amazing. has been suffering it was a muscle disorder since he was born showing that serious illness can be overcome the canadian showing off the same dance that he performed at the one to ten winter paralympics opening ceremony. eight years ago i wasn't able to do this. six years ago i could only take three steps today i'm taking one step thank you. let's move to the rugby world cup and musial ends where russia's final match

of the tournament takes place on saturday against australia the players using that fits and an adrenalin facts outs are known in our correspondent richard long portly went along and was let's say a reluctant purchase of fans as well. it's been a tough debut world cup of the russians but they were finally given a chance to lead back. a blue collar pinch hogging route to ruin. jumping off a forty forty meter plan for one will be everyone's idea of fun but it certainly was for denise implicated sure. the twenty year old completed one lifelong ambition recently for scoring a try on his world cup debut album over christmas native also on the soakers very first bungee jump however we know it wasn't the only one wanted to get the action is followed by a fussy up team if he truly is keen to free himself all from among guiltily highlights. on the farms in st clair said it was

a fantastic frail. bustling i've dreamt of this there's a while before and this is a dream come true hopefully i'll have a nice strength to go to the bungee jump as. the play is more likely to be can still find the right time telling my time. even though some of the roughest challenges seem more interested in getting better acquainted with the local animal population. england recently got run be criticised for doing similar adventure to tease the russian coach kingsley jones couldn't have been more different in his approach saying it was a wonderful distraction from the play is plus it's important you know we've worked hard for the last. hundred twenty days and they need to refresh recharge now. she's a lot of technical things we can work on but think it's going to. make us part of

the reforms constrain years everybody refresh mentally physically and you know the mental thing mental rest and change from coaching is and getting coach and training every day is important of course discipline testing breakable russian players to make great use of their free time while many of whom productivity's like this for the first time in their lives but there was no label nazis correspondent was going to get away scot free. or. bright or very married not. so i am forty meters on their. own say. i managed to live to tell the tale just about. but didn't prove to be in the money fine frill seeking experience.

the russian favorite it's all good this ought to give it a try as well on a roll. of a sudden company so let's go to. russia with my midget nelson on wednesday ahead of their final world cup game i'm told of the finish of an on saturday table so may have some fun times to memories. friends remember afraid entre roots are. richard's new zealand adventures plus many many more stories are available on our youtube channel at r.t. sport news thanks for watching.

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the grim financial fate of greece comes under scrutiny from european and i.m.f. officials they're due in greece to assess the scale of the country's progress and scaling back its debt. that comes off nights not thousands if we get it right that the government's latest round of. order disorder nato forces in kosovo clash with the serbs as a local news agency reports live rounds of gunfire in. the international community slender israel's decision to build new settlements on occupied territory which the palestinians say rules out bilateral peace talks called for at the u.n. . and business lessons school college innovation complainers a lucrative contract with b.p. as a result of the company's long lasting conflict with the us market we'll bring you the latest from that this is what's.