it is. the occupy wall street movement is rocking the boat this time they're trying to shut down ports up and down the west coast with one simple message for the us government shape up or ship out. they want to be able to have freedom of speech but they don't want the freedom to interfere with them and anyway and it looks like the freedom of assembly might not be so free here in the u.s. thanks to over excessive police force so as raid after raid continues to happen at occupy protests r t asks whose interests are police really protecting and serving.

and while police forces play dirty and president obama is trying to play nice with iraqi prime minister al maliki today and trying to coerce him away from the so-called dark side another country on america's long list of enemies iran but that is easier said than done so eight years and billions of dollars later what did the u.s. actually achieve in the iraq war. it's monday december twelfth five pm here in washington d.c. i'm christine and you are watching our t.v. . let's begin with the latest moves in the occupy wall street movement over the weekend two camps in major metropolitan cities were shut down here police in boston very early saturday morning taking apart the occupy camp there protesters had been there about two and a half months and nearly fifty people were arrested it was

a very similar scene in san francisco late last week although there seventy people were arrested when this is a police in riot gear came to the camp and gave protesters five minutes to clear the area and clear the rest of the camp themselves police that apparently tore down the more than one hundred tents and threw the well the rest of the protesters belongings into a garbage truck all right so clearly this is a ramped up effort by police and other authorities around the country to put a stop to the occupation aspects of this movement but those who are part of the movement say you know no worries they have some strategies in the works anyway in new york city this morning protesters stood outside of goldman sachs headquarters building you may see they're holding a giant squid that's what that thing is that they're carrying there that's referring to rolling stone journalist mattei levy's description of goldman sachs as quote a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money. but we want to really take

a look at what you're seeing here this is a protest along the west coast just part of a major chord made an effort by protesters to cripple business and industry many call wall street on the waterfront and the goal today to shut down ports from san diego to alaska you're looking at a map of all the ports occupy wall street protesters are expected to gather at today that support of anchorage the port of los angeles the port of long view we the port port i need me the port of oakland the port of portland the port of san diego the port of seattle tacoma and last but not least the port of vancouver now this is a major effort and we want to talk about what it means and how unfair. it's been to talk about all of this today our teams were among the uno in los angeles artie's half an hour here in washington and from oakland christian snelling west coast occupy coordination committee member and a christian i want to start with you i know that you're in oakland and the port of oakland is a place where you know hundreds of blue collar workers are employed many of those

workers couldn't make it into work today others were actually sent home because they had to shut down parts of this i want to get from you your message to those who are a little confused by today's cordon ated shutdowns in effect in quite a few of those in the ninety nine percent what do you say to them. well when we shut down today we decided to shut down four terminals one of which is the s.s.a. terminal which is owned by goldman sachs. and we decided to stretch this call across the entire west coast in an effort to. really put. you know wall street on the waterfront is kind of our our tagline that we're using address the issues of. repression of labor and also in addition to that.

each east longshoremen issues in long view washington against each. you is the most one of the most powerful unions in the country and the g.t. is effectively trying to break apart that union and. if they fall then all other organized labor throughout the country it will just be a domino effect so you see this more as a bigger picture of unions really needing to make sure the employees are treated well making sure these unions stay together and you're doing so at a place where the unions have been around for one hundred years it sounds like ramon i know you are in l.a. you were up early this morning did you see and did the people there that you ran into did they see this as a success for failure. well the people that we spoke to definitely saw this as

a success now this morning hundreds of people showed up here in long beach there's been hundreds of protesters in oakland and in washington state and although they didn't have massive numbers like the port shutdown that we saw in oakland last month people saw this as a great success even though the shutdown of certain terminals was only temporary no this was a very big symbolic victory in their eyes now we saw a huge police presence which was brought in all in order to keep the protesters at bay and the protesters did. go out and accomplish what they said they were going to do which was to protest these terminals which are partially owned by goldman sachs so. you know even though we didn't see the huge numbers i was definitely surprised to see as large of a crowd as we saw today especially because it was so early in the day it was a poor weather day and from what we saw in from the people who we spoke to they

were very encouraged about the turnout and the message that they keep sending to who they consider to be the one percent a really interesting i we showed just a little bit earlier the video from new york also sort of gathering around different part of goldman sachs their headquarters in new york but to see this to see so many people gathered along the west coast along the water it really is interesting and listen i want to talk to you about this because this is kind of a different chapter a new chapter of this movement no longer camping out in parks across the country a lot of these encampments have been dismantled talk a little bit about what you're seeing here and sort of the broader scale but i think it's really significant i mean sure port shutdowns aren't new thing for the west coast or for the oakland area in particular but i think it's been a critical development for the occupy wall street movement because they're starting to see out of necessity because they indeed they were rated upon they're starting to see. that they can have an impact they have built an infrastructure of

supporters you know organizers people who come out when they issue a call to action and so that sort of gives them a sense of their strength their ability to effect the national debate effect dialogue and actually hit the so-called one percent where it actually hurts about this and i was asking christine about this earlier about what about this notion that people are complaining that you know this is a place where blue collar workers work you know gathering around the headquarters of goldman sachs in new york people who get that gathering and making so people that earn just very modest wages are sent home what do you think is the occupy message i think that's a valid concern but the same time for example the shutdown in oakland they send the union workers back and they have pay so it's not that some of them you know i think that's an argument that you sort of see more from wall street critics and it's not like it's a sustained shutdown for several months i mean it's one day and sort of gets the conversation going but it's also reflective of the much more radical nature of the occupations in the west coast whereas in new york they are

a little bit sort of more intellectual and talk about these big issues in oakland they are and there is i'm sure they are not not ashamed to say that they want to bring down the system of capitalism and that divide sort of the sort of more radical side of occupy wall street and people who sort of want to work more within the system is one that the movement is going to have to grapple with and resolve somehow before the spring and kristen you were mentioning earlier a little bit about the unions and about some of the things that the occupy demonstrators want to bring to light i guess i want to get your take i don't know how much you know about the international longshore and warehouse union i know that they wanted the support that you guys one of the support of them and it didn't happen talk a little bit about this relationship and what you're still hoping to achieve regarding unions we even without their full support. well in regard to support we do have overwhelming support from the rank and file workers what has been released to the media has been

a lack of support from the international leadership and the international leadership has stakeholder in. the companies that these rank and file workers are working for you know they have contracts that they have to. respect so their official nonsupport is not necessarily indicative of nonsupport from bring three file workers rank and file workers were not given a chance to vote on whether or not they said more to the action individual. local union i.o.w. huge union branches house. voted to support this in portland they voted to support it and here in oakland the local ten. b. voted to not to have their workers not cross picket lines and they sent out

a check to all of their workers last night that they were not be. escorted in by by police and so you know there is an overwhelming support of rank and file workers we have rank and file workers who are coming to our meetings we are going to file workers who have come out. to get are to receive help from us for example down in l.a. there are a great number of court truckers who are not unionized and they came to occupy l.a. and and requested their help with their struggles and also in hawaii they have seventy percent of their goods and and products are imported and their local you voted to not cross picket lines there and that sends an extremely. immense statement to the rest of the country that this

small island chain state is. is going to shut down effectively shut down their. village get food and out for an entire day because they have their own issues they want to be a self sustainable state i think that's so interesting christina and a really good point to really think a good thing to keep in mind is that even within and among these unions there's sort of a different kind of hierarchy and that you know sometimes the people at the top are not necessarily making the decisions for the rest of the people certainly an overarching message of occupy wall street but one that's sort of been twisted a little bit by the mainstream media a lot of these cable networks saying today oh well the unions these big international unions are actually rejecting occupy wall street talk about lucy i know that you really looked into a lot of the different ways that this movement has been covered what's here is shed some light for me on what you're seeing today and. you know the bigger picture here

and what's next in your opinion well i mean i think that the mainstream media has sort of come into the coverage of occupy wall street a very reluctantly it was something that was dismissed in the beginning that was left out and as the movement grew i think beyond even the organizers expectations they were sort of forced to cover it and actions like this these ports shutdowns even of them they're not effective for stopping all commerce and really hurting you know goldman sachs or whichever of companies that run them they still shift the national attention in the debate and sort of force outlets to cover it more but i think that a lot of the mainstream outlets have underestimated the true power of this movement i mean i think i would make the argument that what we've seen over the past three months now with the occupation has been almost a dry run a warm up i think that you know they'll continue to sort of try to struggle through the winter pull off these kinds of actions but the main the main focus is going to be on the spring when the whole world will be watching us for the obama reelection campaign and that is i think when they're going to get their strongest actions out should be interesting ramona i want to go to you now i know that the west coast

particularly southern california is supposed to be aware. you know serious occupier's head for the winter a lot there was a lot of talk to see was talking about a lot of the movements around the country doing a lot of planning during the winter but i've also heard quite a bit of talk about people when they get too cold in new york or in d.c. they're going to had to l.a. why not right i'm wondering if you're hearing any talk about sort of the next stages for places like l.a. and san diego when it comes to the occupy movement. christine well the mobilizations are expected to continue for the next several weeks as we speak there's rallies happening in in seattle there is another march here in downtown los angeles right now and today interestingly enough at the attempted court showdown in long beach we saw people who came from as far as las vegas and some even farther who really wanted to be part of this movement so it's still we still have to see

whether they're going to make the migration all the way from the east coast over here to the west coast but we're definitely seen a very strong show of solidarity from people in other parts of the country who have either lost their job have you know are struggling to pay their bills who are really starting to latch on to this protest movement that we're seeing here and of course you mentioned it is much easier to mobilize large groups of people when the weather is not as as poor and you do have a lot of progressive support here on the west coast so what i believe that we're going to see is a continued amount of mass mobilization and also what we saw today in long beach was a huge police presence and while these massive police forces are being used to quell the protests in many instances they're really only encouraging the protesters to come out more and more right artie's were among the window in our language the cafe not here in d.c. and of course christian snelling a west coast occupy core nation committee member in oakland. you know one of the

central chapters of the occupy wall street story is the role of police the role that officers have had in this movement not only have they been the ones sent in to dismantle the occupy camps around the country they've also been caught on camera using weapons on protesters everything from pepper spray to tear gas to rubber bullets and their endeavors have been quite expensive according to a new survey by the associated press it found that approximately over two months approximately thirteen million dollars was spent on occupy wall street in this survey about eighteen cities were asked questions and most of that money was spent on overtime and other municipal services and i want to give you an idea of how that money was divvied up here's a look at some of those cities in the breakdown new york spent more than half of the total spending seven million dollars followed by oakland denver portland and atlanta. but it's not just the money as much as the treatment of protesters protesters who call themselves the ninety nine percent this is what has brought so

much attention it's also highlighted a larger issue police brutality in america and has raised questions about who the police are actually working for now as our team correspondent kareen important i discovered they may not be the one percent but when it comes to protecting and serving it's often the one percent that reaps the benefits of police officers. when the very people employed to protect americans. leave thousands with these bodies. burned i was. locked behind bars tasting their own blood. the land of the free adopts an entirely new image problem. with her first words so. far you've joined the force. from. the office walk. in recent months u.s.

police officers have made an enemy. of those citizens using their freedom of speech to protest against corporate greed and corrupt politics today's breed of american law enforcement is dressed in riot gear and armed with heavy weaponry body armor flash bangs tear gas and lethal projectiles. as tens of thousands of americans assemble cops have been accused of braving confrontation not diffusing it. was. never sat on. a level of police brutality so bad a former marine sergeant couldn't stay silent when i was. a little veteran who survived two tours in iraq was seriously injured by a local police officer who was using flash grenades canisters against occupy

protesters but you know that you know twenty four year old scott olsen is hospitalized with serious head injuries. seattle the oldest victim of the family's turned paramilitary was an eighty four activist temporarily blinded by pepper spray the united states which bills itself as the pillar of international law and democratic fur. dom's has consistently released itself on the world stage as the self-appointed beacon of moral authority he called on the iranian government to abide by the international obligations that it has to respect the rights of its own people instead of respecting the rights of his own people. without the chose the path of brutal suppression. innocent civilians were imprisoned and in some cases beaten meanwhile at home as dissent in america grows louder many say washington's glasshouse of hypocrisy has shown beautiful symmetry they want people to be able to

have freedom of speech but they don't want that freedom to interfere with them in any way to be in any way disrupt do you know or challenging is to them the line that conditionally separated us soldiers from civilian law enforcement has arguably been a race placed by what's being dubbed the american militarization of police tock tick tock tick for black nature cracks in the foundation of american principles such as democracy and human rights is that leave the same principles to us here in all other countries about marina or not artsy new york. so i had on our to phase one invade iraq and force a regime change and spend billions of american taxpayer dollars face to kiss a new prime minister's ring and beg him to pick the us over iraq what could possibly go wrong

a story coming out next. day that the police corruption is. like what a protester nobody seems to know. but never a pepper sprayed the face but part of the argument that they're being overly dramatic.

it was a celebration of sorts at the white house today president obama met with iraqi prime minister nouri al maliki to discuss the end of the war in iraq and what's next for the two countries in terms of diplomacy security and trade we're here to mark the end of this war to honor the sacrifices of all those who made this day possible and to turn the page to begin a new chapter in the history between our countries now this is what the camera saw what was discussed on the surface but i want to take a look at some of the deeper issues here associated with u.s. troops leaving iraq and in particular how this new chapter affects the future nearly all of the troops will be gone and by the end of the year by december thirty first but there's already talk of trainers coming back in town to teach iraqis. and

the handful of troops that will remain will do so at the embassy which is actually expanding and more than sixteen thousand contractors and government officials will also say so yes the troops are leaving but the u.s. is a long way from being totally gone from iraq president obama himself campaigned against the war in iraq and yet today he called the country quote a model for others who are aspiring to build a democracy so what does this all mean well just a little bit ago i spoke to blogger iraqi american political activists where you are to answer that question here's his take. i don't think president obama himself believes that iraq is the way to say it but i think the u.s. is trying to spin what's going on put some happy ending there's nothing happy about what's happened in iraq iraq is not a model for anything it's a destroyed nation one million iraqis were killed in the last eight years and five million were displaced you know i was born in baghdad spent most of my trying to

graduated from the university the last time i went to baghdad i did not know a single person in the entire city every single person who i know it was either killed or moved out of the city it's a disaster iraq continues to be a disaster it wasted. billions of dollars from the u.s. side and from iraq so it destroyed the u.s. image around the world. to put spin today to make this seem as a success i don't think anyone believes that and despite all these points you've brought up raid there are some believe that what we saw in iraq you know going into this war under false pretenses building in democracy quote unquote that this is a model that will carry on for the future i mean do you think this do you think that not just in the arab world but in the arab world in particular but just for the rest of the world do you think that this is sort of a model that the u.s. will follow in the future. i think it was a very hard lesson that the u.s.

and other countries would think about it learned that the hard way especially that this is happening this year the year of the arab springs were many people argued for decades i argued for the last ten years that the u.s. should not have invaded iraq and that iraqis would have had the capacity to change their political regime by themselves and that was not theoretical anymore now we see it this is practical this is what tunisians this is what. egyptians that this is what human is and this is what many others would be doing in that region getting rid of their dictators without for another invading and occupying their country is i don't think iraq is a model of anything unfortunately that is a political process going on but that's a proper broken political process and although many people including myself voted in this political process we understand its shortcomings we understand the fact

that the iraqi people's voices are not being presented in a transparent matter so iraq has a long way to go until it has a functioning democracy and you call this a hard lesson that the u.s. had to learn other countries as well. a hard lesson but looking back right i mean didn't they know it didn't the bush administration state department officials cia all the military officials military intelligence on the ground i mean when you talk about democracy and going to another country to build a democracy it seems to me there are some basic lessons there lessons about culture about geography about history of this place of iraq that either were not taken into account or that were ignored when it came time to actually get those goals those stated goals accomplished what do they know when you see we can't assume that there was a good intention to bring real democracy to iraq not everything that the u.s.

government says i mean. for four decades it changed the reason for the u.s. intervention in iraq that we shouldn't forget that the military intervention started more than twenty years ago in one thousand men to one. give so many reasons democracy was one of them i don't think there was a sincere effort to bring in democracy there are so many solid examples on the ground that shows that the u.s. either circumvent circumvented or blocked the iraqi democratic system when iraq. try to fight against u.s. interests when the iraqis wanted the us to leave the us tried its best to circumvent the system and state when iraqis wanted to elect their representatives the us tried its best to select their friends and keep them important so it wasn't a sincere process to start with as it was a failure because as you mentioned the majority of iraqis including myself did not

believe that democracy will come when us thanks i want to i want to expand this from just the us iraq relationship to the broader picture the sort of global chessboard here and let's talk about iran and syria certainly president obama has called for syrian president bashar al assad to step down more than four thousand people apparently have been killed in those in those protests and then there's the matter of iran and the relationship between the u.s. and iran want to get your take i mean if there is a war and it involves it involves the u.s. and iran whose side does iraq take and why have they not been more supportive of the u.s. . sort of thoughts about syria this is another symptom i think it's another sign and proves that the u.s. policy in iraq failed miserably because now the u.s. is leaving what do we have in iraq we have seen a state that is run by political parties loyal to iran mostly. the current iraqi political regime is not very friendly with the u.s.

but it's very friendly with iran so it's a war theoretically it up between the u.s. and iran the current iraq you do jim will most definitely take your aunt side that we saw in al with the events in syria there are key government took the syrian government so it was the only government in the arab world actually. other than lebanon that fought it against sanctions on syria and they continue to supply syria with embargoed material. like the hardware and software used to censor. internet censorship that is being brought from the us and sold to c.d.o. by the government so it's another example of this failure of the united states in iraq we're out of time thanks so much a blogger an iraqi american political activist rare and that's going to do it for now but for more on the stories we covered go to.