that we can do into the shocking footage apparently showing u.s. marines desecrating afghan bodies sparks fears it's actually helping terrorists recruit new members. are watching weekly news review welcome to the program carrie just what tensions between iran and the united states increased dramatically this week tehran blames the west for orchestrating the assassination of one of its nuclear scientists on wednesday america is also pushing hard for an oil export embargo want to run over its nuclear program with tehran threatening to block a vital maritime trade route in response what is going to chicken has the story. the cold run of tension between iran and the west is simmering. it seems the

slightest increase of heat could make it boil over into an all out confrontation. but where will be that boiling point the point of no return we're getting closer and closer to war with iran the iranians are playing with fire problems in a crisis if you get where any small thing can really set it off and it doesn't quell washington that the international nuclear watchdog these arm side closely monitoring iran's nuclear activities are they trying to develop a nuclear weapon no but we know that they're trying to develop a nuclear capability and that's what concerns us and our red line to iran is do not develop a nuclear weapon iran's main source of livelihood is oil export is in danger the u.s. is imposing fresh sanctions that will dramatically complicate transactions through iran's central bank iran is also close to losing europe as a customer the reason that this is happening is that this is the logical conclusion of our current strategy against iran we have sanctions in place with no diplomacy

the only way that that is through confrontation cornered by crippling sanctions iran threatens to block the strait of hormuz a vital artery through which a sixth of the world's oil is shipped the u.s. replied by moving its hopefully to the region and saying if iran goes for it they will attack experts say the policy of isolating iran may lead to other threats from tehran and the possibility that one day they will go through with their threats but washington signals that it's ready or it wants everybody to believe that it's ready could weigh if we had to without using nuclear weapons ourselves take out their their nuclear capability well i certainly want them to believe that that's the case well is that i absolutely want them to believe that the secretary would you add anything to that somebody. it's just a war of words and neither side will go for an all out conflict considering what it

is that it will be for the whole region frankly speaking this tension is artificial it doesn't have to happen it doesn't need to exist the iranians would do themselves an enormous favor by saying less. and we would do ourselves a favor by ignoring most of it all of this sadly i think is connected to israel and israeli fear of iran for rhetorical reasons more than military ones it may be a war of words but actions are already showing thousands of u.s. troops are being deployed to israel an american citizen has been sentenced to death in the rand convicted of espionage iran might feel cornered and therefore make drastic moves right now it's in a war of words but one bullet shot and the powder keg can blow up the question is what's going to provide that deadly spark i'm going to check our reporting from washington r.t. . another country under increasing international pressure is syria with qatar's

ruler proposing sending troops to the country to stop the violence there shake being me is the first need out of the country to call for military intervention qatar which is a u.s. ally has been one of the strongest advocates of regime change across the arab world despite it being a monarchy itself international affairs consultant told r.t. that the country's next syrian democracy is hypocritical. now south is clearly not what you would call a democratic leader but within the arab context is certainly not the worst one on the contrary i am a dad of dominguez doing i mean who does the arab league represent bahrain the united arab emirates saudi arabia those do it there are few do monarchies and they are not the ones that should point a finger and south whether there is an international conspiracy where there are elements that point out of this part of it i think it's more complex than just that

there is also genuine popular revolt but it is absolutely sure that there are elements from outside who are taking abusing whatever there is living among the syrian people for their own purposes that is absolutely. turkey also stepped up pressure on its neighbor at the beginning of the week where if a national takes a look at why syria's one time ally is now sending troops. to the bloody status quo in the syrian crisis maintained for months she is a growing violence may start spreading beyond the country's borders especially with its close neighbor turkey wants to close friends too but now harsh critique of damascus on. syria's first priority should be to listen to its people and their demands not to denounce others and sort of massacring its people we should listen to them. glitter glue is a harsh critic himself but he says he's criticizing the turkish government ankara

is on the side with the free syrian army and the syrian national council and military and diplomatic forces aimed at overthrowing the regime of bashar al assad it supports a buffer zone and a humanitarian corridor which some fear could bring turkish troops to syrian soil what does that mean according to international law it means aggression against a country it means war but any intervention would be different from the one in libya since russia and china have made it clear new war no fly zone resolutions which means their own vision of players like turkey increases dramatically but fruit claims and korea's behavior is irresponsible and risky it has larger implications beyond the bilateral context of turkey syria as such the situation in syria must be handled with great care by all powers and unfortunately

i don't see that cache. sufficiently especially on the part of our government. works with a middle eastern studies center based in and kyra it's sponsored by the turkish foreign ministry to help shape policy and its opinion on syria it's clear syria is killing people. not always that's clear nobody has objectively information what is going on in syria this center specialists haven't been to syria for over year it to me is the picture they paint for officials in ankara is unlikely to be accurately on the technology changing you know when you look at the photographs or the videos coming from these governorates you can easily see that there is something going on with the sources of these redos are often questionable so it's easy to be misled and get a false picture of what's really happening but there does. it's to researchers from coming to firm conclusions military operations this is the last option which turkey

does not want to see but this is an option it may have declared it doesn't work a military solution to the syrian crisis but turkey hasn't ruled it out either plain and if game if there is massive migration from its troubled neighbor turkey says it will have to protect its own people and fish really and cry and cease it wants peace and stability in the region its troops are already just kilometers from the border with syria. r.t. turkey and an r.t. later we hear from jean shop the author of dictatorship to democracy described by some as the blueprint for nonviolent revolutions coming up next hour we are asking him whether this concept lives up to reality. they go to a civil war or foreign intervention in syria many many many more will die it's pretty clear the syrian opposition absolutely refuses to talk to the government don't you think it deepens the crisis adds to the violence do you go with the

big you have to throw it out but that situation basically rules out nonviolent struggle that you were talking about it provokes while and causing the regime. used . so people should be dying in the name of revolution is that what you're saying you seem to have a belief there. are a powerful country and no i just fear bloody mess instead of the ideal ix nonviolent third state you're writing about in the book. europe's debt management got a cold shower from a major ratings agency this week essentially being told that the austerity they're imposing on people isn't working standard and poor's lowered nine countries scores france and lost two of their top aaa status we actually around the eurozone was

mixed with some expressing disbelief and others like germany's foreign minister calling for europe to have its own ratings agency chancellor merkel said that there's a long road ahead when it comes to rebuilding of confidence is now a way to see how world stock markets will respond on monday from la quinta from the institute for democracy and cooperation harris says europe's leaders have become accustomed to gloomy ratings agencies their troubles. downgrading shows that those strongest countries are not as strong as we thought they were even austria has been downgraded so this idea that a call europe can somehow save the periphery even that is not tenable and it's true that these agencies are not above reproach they've made a lot of mistakes in the past and goodness knows the financial services industry including the ratings agencies is far from perfect but i think that european leaders are being completely paranoid when they blame the ratings agencies for

their problems any fool can see that there is a massive debt problem in europe the fact is there's been a lull in the crisis but that was really to do with the christmas and new year holidays they have assessed the situation and they have come to the conclusion so many other people that the situ. in the eurozone is untenable and i think when the euro finally collapses as it will do surely within i would think probably the next year that we will see this day this announcement the downgrading of france or as having been one of the decisive moments where germany came out of the downgrade sweep to keeping its aaa rating and investment analysts see that as a significant power shift in the euro zone and the situation in france as finances is that they've basically been borrowing money on their every year budget since the mid one nine hundred seventy i mean it's absolutely ludicrous and unfortunately all good things must come to an end and actually they've only been lucky because of

economic growth in europe as a whole and the fact that there are economic power height has been struck to the ultimate power ice of europe which is germany and that's why this is such an emotional moment in the european experiment because not everyone across the border into germany from france is going to be looking dining on their neighbors and saying why should we germany and up being alone amongst the very elite club of nations that have got their aaa the top grid rating and indeed our french partners the germans are going to see it is no longer the perfect bride it's tarnished goods . you know we got to you also ahead this hour time for change and then the turbulence. self the deadly riots and tons of stuff on parliamentary polling opens months ahead of. it being generous to give us what's on saturday at earth at no charge so could you really have ill feelings against them. words words hugo chavez

as he helps all that's expected americans from getting the cold this winter. but group of american marines filmed uniting on the corpses of taliban fighters have been identified and punishment as promised but it's doing that will to quell the ground disgust felt around the world this week experts say it could mean that u.s. soldiers companies serving in afghanistan will end up paying the price list on forget that the americans came to understand with the explicit objective also off transforming this country into a more humane country into a democracy and we are seeing happening right now with the appearance of this kind of a video it's the opposite and it is having an impact let's not forget that this is a region where religious values are really very deep deeply entrenched and the way you treat bodies that you and the way you treated dead it's something that is treated very secretly here and with this video you can you can rest assured that

this will have an impact in terms of the kind of reaction the kind of backlash to this will generate this video will generate against the very. the american soldiers who are there right now in a lot of stuff it really in danger is their life so what it is fair to say that with this video surfacing the lives of american soldiers in afghanistan have become more let's say in a more precarious situation than they were before this video. well the video also too good thing is it wouldn't coverage more young people to join the taliban and al qaeda afghanistan war veteran and jake to do that says that coupled with previous abuses this latest scandal is simply helping terrorists this just to remind people of a few incidents that occurred a while back there was the the burning of the koran that happened with. terry jones as then there was the abu ghraib incident and before then there was the decision to

invade iraq that had nothing to do with nine eleven so all of these these situations pile on and they add up and what happens is al qaeda and other terrorist organizations and then using this video and they put it in their recruiting videos end up on you tube and across the jihad a web channel and they end up reading anti-american sentiment this is the hugest recruitment for al qaida that we can do that anybody can do nobody in the united states military is trained to pee on dead people this is the behavior of ill disciplined soldiers under my opinion are probably also suffering from a severe amount of p.t.s.d. from a long ended war and what happens when your stuff for me t.s.p. you and the dehumanizing other human beings in the in the battlefield and it's unfair to the mobile how pathetic this is become because the war hasn't forgiven brought to an end like obama said he was going to do and what we're seeing abu

ghraib happened twice now in afghanistan. not everyone in america is outraged by what the marines were filmed doing as our t. his online and contributor on a c.n.n. news channel praised the troops actions nice to see you do the same in this situation. but leaked a cia report shows that the war in afghanistan isn't staminate the taliban turman to make a comeback as soon as nato troops leave it's at all odds with the recent optimism from the defense department twenty fourteen it may be the withdrawal date but an american think tank on peace in afghanistan believes the actual pull that will take far longer it has been ten years that has not unified the country i said should happen it looks like there's no chance for the americans to see a government standing on its feet however this could prolong americans. want to stand for a quite

a number of years i would say and the years are unknown at this time but it looks like it's going to be a long time because there's a corrupt government cannot function in a way that it is right now the fact is that there's a friction in the white house right now that some are say no basically the pentagon going to treat is the one that's calling up that same day you know we should not really rush and in clout fast as we can. after ten years of war in afghanistan the u.s. reached another dubious milestone as the world's most notorious prison talked up to ten years in existence went on a unverse who marked world wide protests and fresh calls for president obama to keep his election promise to shut it down but with washington recently passing a law to definitely detain anyone it deems a terror threat who is to close guantanamo affording them death is as though smith reports. one zero zero zero zero zero zero zero zero one zero zero zero abdullah

and we are now freely today is probably just another day for the inmates of guantanamo bay they may not even know that people around the world are campaigning for them but as far afield as london demonstrations are held to demand the release of the hundred seventy one men still held without trial in the cuban camp after ten years one of those men is shaka omer who's earned the dubious distinction of being the last british resident held in guantanamo he was in afghanistan or nine eleven he says doing charity work digging wells and building a girls' school in kabul. when the u.s. invasion began almost went into hiding from an increasingly wary northern alliance but his freedom didn't last shuckers supporters maintain he was sold for a bounty went into the hands of the northern alliance who were warlords basically and he actually thought all the americans that my goodness it will save me from the

torture that he's had lots of torture by them but no he was transported to toddler and back he has remains despite president obama's original election pledge to close guantanamo altogether despite being cleared for release and is despite being a legal permanent resident in the u.k. with family in london which includes one son he's never even seen and fall for a moving closer to being freed shockers supporters see worrying developments in the us is attitude to extrajudicial detention obama recently signed the national defense authorization act which places domestic terror investigations into the hands of the military and extends a ban on transferring prisoners out of one ton of there i'm very sorry indeed president obama for reasons of. school will.

inability to live. up to that promise and is now raising took american citizens to trial in military commissions which are very far from being fair. the british government has requested the release of but there's been no movement on the case since two thousand and seven meanwhile as his family grows up without him he lives out his life in a tiny windowless cell not knowing whether he can ever expect to be released. london. protests but almost. detainees there. will close the jail. this is a political problem in a democracy when certain people are playing with fear the republican party is basically playing on fear to influence their constituents and in the face of that

fear of the environment ministration hasn't had the courage to oppose it or the courage to get the job done other things like the economy have seen more important it's a shame it's a challenge in a democracy and we need to continue to fight to have this close it's a stain on the reputation of the united states it's a horrible place. but you can explore all our stories in depth on our website with much more lined up r.t. dot com this is like the titanic it's a passengers aboard the cruise liner which run aground of the time you post three people dead dozens two missing. and the final all for. the probe that's been set for several weeks off then too cheap to buy it should come down shortly the pacific ocean discover more on t. the.

people in kazakhstan are heading to the polls upon eventually action was settled for next august the president has a bias to dissolve the one party parliament in the autumn and brought the date forward elections come a month after the deadly riots in the city of. journalism national state of emergency place sixteen people were killed and dozens injured in the strike has clashed with security forces and who pay experts who pose shows of florence's realize the time for a change in the country is now. in general i think the president wants to have more here he wants to have more dialogue between. cars are style is in many ways an exception for central asia because it was a relative economic success story. the political resume regime is march softer than

the in neighboring uzbekistan it's certainly not democratic as the regime in kyrgyzstan but on the other hand kyrgyzstan. which has likely avoided so it was a relatively successful country until now not very typical for this region but of course you know the same plants that we see in kyrgyzstan i think it is very close to the same trans may reveal themselves and palestine also so the government and the body of our president that are buying they're trying to you know want to go to preempt any sort of destabilize ation before it indeed rocks the country that's why they have only elections and that's why they try to react to the challengers. every new day. well that we've got plenty more in store for you next hour including an

own goal in hosting the twelfth we visit ukraine and find out why many are worried not ready for the football championships but others predict the huge cost of the event will never pay off. struggling americans are getting an unlikely helping hand as more people fall below the poverty line while government welfare programs are cut but as one in leader hugo chavez long vilified by washington is behind a free heating oil project that's helping thousands of americans were left in the cold. explains it's touching a political nerve on capitol hill. winter morning in the south bronx new york city outdoors the temperature is near freezing indoors. seventy seven year old alison many otis is bundled up brewing a pot of coffee and raising the heat just enough. to take the chill out of the air the retired grandmother of seven lives alone on

a fixed income and each winter as federal programs continue to be slashed the struggle to afford comfort gets harder i go around screaming and waving i mean all they do was raise raise raise raise and i mean it's the same dollar you get in so how far can you push it one hundred gallons of oil one hundred fifty gallons of oil is about. right there about close to six hundred dollars however venezuela has been stepping in to make alice's life a bit easier by delivering one hundred gallons of free heating oil each winter she is a four year beneficiary of the citgo venezuela heating oil program which provides free heating oil to five hundred thousand poor americans living in low income neighborhoods and shelters throughout the country president chavez often demonized by washington helped launch the program in two thousand and five following hurricanes katrina and rita all i know is that he was caught and he was crying to

the people of the united states and i'm sure he he he ruled differently like obama wrong just differently and the whole we to tell these people how they should live or how i mean are they good invading our country with their not bit being generous to give us what comes out of their earth at no charge so could you really have ill feelings against them. i'm thankful for it. i really am in an interview with the venezuelan newspaper el universal america's leader well sort of expressing similar sentiments of gratitude president obama recently accused the chavez government were strict ing human rights and taking threatening stab. democratic values the venezuelan leader didn't mince words while perspire ending directly to his u.s. counterpart you know what obama i feel sorry for you just asked that black

communities of your country what you mean to them you're the greatest disappointment of recent years go on the poor people of your country you're a great disappointment to them it's time that we stopped minding everybody else's business and took care of business here we have children that are graduating from college with eighty ninety one hundred thousand dollars that they have to pay back its to p. it's knowing them just that and they can't get a job a struggle getting that much harder in the land of opportunity. r.t. new york. will stay with r.t.i. recap of our top stories is just.

this is our time. to reclaim the american dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth that out of many we all want that war we breathe we hope. to me the american dream is to live in peace and prosperity and freedom and a government under socialism is not a government afraid. to. have very motivated out cross the country who are activists who are willing to fight for what they think is right for themselves but back in order for it.

we are. counting and i think it's threatened by it's cutting our heart. it's making real democracy. all but impossible. welcome back the stories that shaped this week tensions between iran and the u.s. intensifying the terror naming the west the killing of the scientists washington is threatening action is wrong. and sanctions. becomes the first and that's of course for the troops to be sent into syria to tackle the ongoing violence that the pros what is being labeled critical coming from the moment she knew she changes.