were a few key road where if you broke keystrokes now be considered an act of terrorism should the u.s. be more afraid of foreign threats or domestic activists and that's not all the u.s. is afraid of. some believe that new york could eventually be on iran's hit list we have to assume that hezbollah will be the proxy for rent that will carry out the attack forget iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction at the iran's nuclear potential we should really be afraid of or so the media would have you thing police forces in new york are ramping up security efforts is this phobia justified or is it just a bunch of static. the. violent protests today in syria leave sixty more people dead now president bashar al assad's regime is pledging reform will a referendum stop the violence. it's

tuesday february twenty first four pm in washington d.c. i'm liz wall and you're watching our t.v. . well the u.s. department of defense is calling it the fifth domain of warfare last week r.t. took up the issue of cyber war looking into how defense firms and former u.s. officials are cashing in on security contracts aimed at combat ing this new fear now u.s. lawmakers are pushing for more power over the internet in the name of cyber security and just today the national security agency warned that the hacktivist group anonymous could have the ability to attack the u.s. power grid in a year or two at a time when political hackers have joined forces with the occupy wall street movement artie's loosely caffein off shows us how protecting free speech and the internet are growing increasingly at odds. cyber war is the next pearl harbor some

dismiss it as hype but in congress it's a clear and present danger we will suffer a catastrophic cyber attack the clock is ticking and in the pentagon will keystrokes could now be met with real weapons the pentagon now considers cyber attacks acts of war a cyber attack could merit a military response bombs for bits so to speak. they say that the threat will come from foreign shores. an invisible enemy that lurks abroad but in this year at the protest that enemy has a familiar face and a presence right here at home alone. we are anonymous a leaderless hacker movement with a political purpose together we stand against me here just as i don't govern and joining forces with occupy wall street to fight corporations banks and governments turn for. their freedom of the power of the people cyber protesters or cyber

terrorists for the u.s. government there may not be much of a difference there's a deep insinuation that dissent is somehow connected to or accessory to terrorism and that's a really horrifying prospect a horrifying prospect that is now reality if you're an american citizen and you betray your country you're going to be held in military custody and you're going to be questioned about what you know you're not going to be given a lawyer and freedom of speech and the internet may soon follow right now china the government can disconnect parts of it's in another in the case of war we need to have pushing the u.s. down the road to tyranny says retired army colonel lawrence wilkerson i don't think they're doing this based on their fear of terrorists. i really think they're doing this based on their ultimate fear of the occupy wall street movements in this country the face of a freedom fighter or a terrorist here in the u.s. the line between the two is growing increasingly blurred obscured by fear and the

fog of cyber war you see catherine of r.t. washington this is talk more about what's being called the newest form of warfare and how it can affect the rights of everyday u.s. citizens david seaman journalist and host of the el show joins us now hi there david so the pentagon now says they can respond to cyber attacks with physical attacks in other words you messed with our cyber security bombing you is an option how do you feel about this first of all thanks for having me back on the show liz i think the term cyber terrorism is a real misnomer it's something to get the sheeple behind this ridiculous idea that you fight hackers with physical force with drones that drop bombs and with hit squads that literally come into your apartment and could potentially execute you in the middle of the night it's such a ridiculous response to what amounts to defacing government agency websites if you take down a government agencies website that is not terrorism you're not killing anybody

you're not harming anybody you're creating an inconvenience to be sure and it's definitely a criminal activity but it is not terrorism and the same applies to you know leaked documents that surface online on some of these download networks that we're we're seeing around the world things like bittorrent that's not terrorism that's getting information out there and i think the government is terrified of the facts getting out to the average person that's what they're really afraid of here. now this fear is mostly aimed toward foreign hackers but is there a risk that the hackers right here at home can face similar consequences. i think there is that fear and i think what we're seeing with groups like anonymous and organizations like wiki leaks and the various occupy protests that are popping up around the world is that these movements are transnational if you have an e-mail account or you know a well rid of or not a well instead messenger you can be in touch with somebody in africa or in europe

so that's what the government is worried about i don't think they're going to respect borders all that much when it comes to cyber terrorism if there's a threat they're going to label it as terrorism in the going to go after it and speaking of anonymous the national security agency now says that the hacktivist group well in a couple of years be able to be capable of hacking into u.s. power grids which could disrupt power anonymous today responded to this on twitter let's take a look at some of their tweets they said you know the n.s.a. director warns that anonymous could soon cause a limited power outages. and you know their response is this is fear mongering at its best second tweet there why would i shut off a power grid there are people on life support other vital services that rely on it try again n.s.a. and that is with the hash tag fear mongering and another tweet there the n.s.a. is reprehensible fear mongering and attempts to discredit anonymous are transparent

and baseless. now a novel i mean. not to mention the fact that why would they cut off their power that's how they stand touch with their followers through in the exactly and so far anonymous has been used like to make political purposes to make political statements why than what they target civilians where is the motivation there. yeah it does seem like fear mongering to me i don't know the specifics of what the n.s.a. was saying but i think whenever you shut down information sharing whenever you shut that down and whenever you threaten you know activists groups whether they be electronic or people out in the street protesting something if you threaten with a military response and physical violence on the part of the government i don't think that's acceptable we're seeing them labeled these sorts of groups as cyber terrorism and we're seeing when somebody gets off their computer and they go out

into the street and become part of a peaceful protests like what happened in oakland california recently they're met with less than lethal shotgun bullets from police and tear gas and other chemical agents so the government is definitely cracking down and i think this whole cyber terrorism thing is just one more aspect of that now is this an example that a line that is the blurring between line protester and online terrorists. well i think here's the thing the government has always had some control over you know television media and radio media but with the internet there is no control it's kind of anarchic if you think about it and it's totally democratic also if something has merit rises to the top and people find out about it even if those truths are inconvenient and in response we're seeing all kinds of legislation to crack down on this we saw sopa. and now the same guys introducing h.r.

one thousand nine hundred one a surveillance bill i think that is trying to dismantle the internet basically they don't want to remain this international free thing where people can transfer information and people can. organize so i think they're doing everything in their power to stop the internet in its current form and you know as you just mentioned we are seeing laws for example the national defense authorization act that passed recently which congress and congress also try to push through these sopa bell and that's aimed at gaining control over the enter net now we have these new fears for over cyber war and the wake of all this what does it mean for the fundamental rights and civil civil liberties for u.s. citizens. well liz this is all just icing on the cake and it was the big thing and that's already been signed into law. now of flying a large portion of our bill of rights for american citizens and at this point they just want to censor the internet and control the internet so that protests against

. and against some other government injustices don't go mainstream and when you turn on t.v. right now on some of the other networks what you see instead of seeing information about and or information about you know one nine hundred eighty one and people asking why don't we investigate people like representative lamar smith who wrote sopa and some of these other damaging bills and sort of seeing that on the news you're seeing like three hour feeds of whitney houston's funeral. a person's funeral instead of seeing the funeral of our democracy and that's just the whole thing is weird i don't really understand what's happening here i certainly don't either david pleasure to have you on the show as always i was a journalist and host of the d.l. show david seaman. well here in the u.s. there is a lot of fear over iran and its nuclear program and if you listen to mass media

politicians and g.o.p. presidential candidates it's not hard to understand why that's because a lot of fear mongering rhetoric has been heating up the airwaves recently this despite top military leaders saying iran does not have a nuclear bomb and has not decided to pursue making one so are these just scare tactics and are the fears being blown out of proportion artie's marina part i explores how media coverage could be helping and the push for war with iran. kind of shadow war now being waged by iran around the world in the u.s. capitol of media and messages one particular story a unilateral strike keeps spinning round and round iran could attack the united states in a much more fearsome way iran a hypothetical national security threat growing more dangerous by the day that new york could eventually be on iran's hit list we have to assume that hezbollah would be the proxy for iran and well carry out the attack as assumptions about iran's

potential plans of mass destruction floods us mainstream media more cops an automatic weapons are flooding specific areas of the big apple the new york city police department increased security around israeli government facilities and synagogues last week amid growing tension over tehran's nuclear program however the n.y.p.d. says it has not received any specific threat related to iraq upping the ante a u.s. senator has called on federal agents to quote increased scrutiny and vigorously monitor the iranian mission united nations but us politicians police officers and most mainstream journalists perpetuate a terrifying scenario for new york city officials in washington have thrown a wrench in this armageddon theme type news narrative by stating the facts about iran era surrogates were revelations of a much less threatening tehran was recently disclosed during intelligence briefings

the agency assesses iran is unlikely to initiate or intentionally provoke a conflict they continue to develop their enrichment capability but the intelligence does not show but they've made a decision to proceed with developing a nuclear weapon. many experts have labeled iran america's new iraq critics then and now say washington paves the path and corporate media. plugs the message they've done it was iraq and they're doing it again it doesn't matter if you. play some of the bush administration it's the same strategy it's like all well there might be things but only you know there are no no the individual say well no it's not really credible don't know who's making a million. jack up is what only goes well when you combine factors together that you get as a media event then want to impede the march to the it will be in critical scrutinize

it but instead few have been jammed by the bandwagon you see the time and time again and we're seeing it again that are there according to recent polls americans consider tehran to be the us is top enemy and nearly half of all citizens support a military strike against iraq. but when factoring human beings it's necessary for the regime there are so close with and these media reports and this constant drumbeat is designed to pile on afterward to tell cooper that if you don't question the iranians then will question to marina porton i know our team new york. so well the mainstream media take any responsibility for amplifying the drums of war against iran derek sound university journalism professor chris chambers joining me and our d.c. studio to dust discuss this very high there press here we got so to what extent do you think the media plays a role in sowing the american people into agreeing to go to war with iran well it's

not necessarily agreement it's more what what's being covered and what isn't particularly the three broadcast networks in the cable giants fox and the scent b.c. c.n.n. and most of the analysis and even the analysis on the right wing is pretty much taking place within the internet on news sites or on the internet presence of magazines and newspapers that's where you have to go to get the details but with with mainstream media and i'm here i mean. television no i mean what it is is they're not covered they don't do nuance terribly well they do the fear factor kind of shows very well and this is a great item for fear you know and what you have here is is people ginning up coverage of of new people understand nukes people understand military exercises in the gulf people understand us responding to it and then calling the military exercises god's vengeance that gets people crazy what we aren't talking about are

the you know the assassinations the cove or war the drones if cetera and the intrigue that might be going on with israel they don't do that particularly well and that's the devil in the details that could get us into trouble so it sounds like and reporting things in a very important events on the surface that they're kind of just regurgitating are reflecting what is being sad by u.s. politicians by the g.o.p. presidential candidates and not really showing the whole picture you know i think the difference what you have with with between iran now and iraq iraq twenty years ago and iraq in two thousand and three is that you don't have an administration that is purposely manipulating news and the information flow to create you know a result here you you have an administration that is probably stumbling around trying to find its way and how to deal with this problem and it is

a problem but it is not a crisis and then the media the corporate media coming in primarily t.v. networks and chipping at the edge of the story which is the fear factor and you know here's a situation where ironically you might want the administration not to control the flow of information but the stand up you know and say look you know let's let's get a message out here that this is important and this is somewhat scary but this is not the giant following. the man that everybody is creating and you know we are not pawns of israel we are looking at you know the the situation carefully there is you know you saw leon panetta you saw the chief of staff and then but what happens they get up and say this at a hearing and then what is the mainstream media cover right wing attacks on that position or israel ginning up kind of a war footing you know these guys are the experts these guys are giving the testimony before congress and that's

a message that's lost so i think you know maybe the irony is in two thousand and twelve maybe the administration needs to create a message they're not controlling it as they did under the bush administration that a kind of go along with this there is new concerns that iran may be plotting an attack in new york city this is according to them and wikipedia terrorism experts so in response government buildings jewish synagogues jewish community centers they have been placed on high alert which means they get extra protection of that but the u.s. secretary of defense john it's politan no says that there is no specific threat so is this being blown out of proportion well i don't i'm trying to figure out how the new york city police department has its own you know intelligence arm that reaches across to say. they've had some problems in the past with their p.r. and their approach to dealing with muslims and the dealing with you know credible threats their intelligence comes from the federal government they've worked well in

the past here this seems to be something that there's something fishy about this story and it's not iran you know iran is not so stupid as to even with a quote proxy unquote of hezbollah attacked the united states directly and you know even there are those in israel who even say that so i don't know where this where this comes from in this could be something that's a little fishy or something internal that is feeding frenzy. on purpose so you know we don't really know you know and iran has maintained that their nuclear program as for peaceful purposes we even have as you mentioned before top u.s. military leaders confirming that iran does not have a nuclear bomb and hasn't been confirmed that they are pursuing a nuclear bomb why that is there is so much of this warmongering rhetoric when it comes to iran well i mean you have to have a symbol of fear you have you have a presidential campaign now that is definitely

a soap opera that worst you know just fun to watch at best people are searching for issues and tag issues and red meat issues that they can feed to their constituency on the one hand on the other hand you do have an issue in the gulf you do have a nation that is definitely. jumping around and wants to be a great power again in iran and they see nuclear power as a way to do that none certainly nuclear weapons but nuclear power as a symbol so you have. in that country that look at it as a as a way of building themselves up and that feeds the fanatics over here that's great t.v. you don't need analysis for that but i mean in two thousand and seven we all thought the through john bolton and dick cheney that iran was going to be attacked it wasn't in two thousand and ten we all thought iran was going to be attacked and it was and now it's a little different because you have that layer of a presidential campaign you have candidates shooting their miles off without really

understanding the facts to feed red meat to their constituents so you have you have an administration that again is trying to find a course in a message so when all those things are in play you know that's time to worry chris pleasure to have you on the nose always thank you so much that was christopher chambers journalism professor at georgetown university. well another day of deadly violence in syria. it's alleged heavy shelling by government forces in the city of homs has left over a dozen dead and there are reports the army has fired on demonstrators and the capital of damascus but president bashar al assad's regime is promising change and in the form of a referendum so will this be enough to bring the country together and then the bloodshed artie's marina for know she is in syria with more. ballots instead of bullets mesta ministrations and violent protests have been rolling across syria

for almost a year. the syrian government is are calling for the people to shape their future together by taking part in a referendum on the country's and you cost you should fulfill its pledge to reform . a boss who is very excited that soon he'll be able to decide his own tomorrow. it's a completely new era is good for everybody even opposition can take part it's for all the amendments to the country's number one law have been among the key demands of the opposition since the uprising began and the draft seems to cover the most pressing issues it starts with eliminating both parties supremacy which have ruled the country for the last fifty years introduces a multi-party system and sets a two term limit on any future president however even these reforms a cause in controversy jihad that his friend odin flower shop in damascus he says

this new document draws a line between him and his muslim business partner. just to show there is a big contradiction article thirty three says all equal rights number three says i can be a president so what about the other ten percent that were not here temporarily we've been living together for ages i want to be counted. now maybe ten percent of the people they speak about this ok but maybe if we was removing this article from the new constitution the ninety percent would said well why you take this article out. public debates on the draft constitution have used to bring the people and the authors of the two documents together they don't trust me they don't see the settlers are specific you are trying to make the city has become you see this becoming but some say the resteal

a long way to go to that new syria and they don't believe the government will follow through with the reforms i'm afraid if i were a goes the constitution somebody will in the world will shoot me clashes and protests almost every day but some hope that the referendum rule not only brief and you constitution it might even be able to stop the bloodshed. there are people who want to improve and develop but also others who want to divide syria we shouldn't help them we should go and vote for a future in. the draft of syria's new constitution has been made public ten days before the national referendum fourteen new and forty seven amended articles a role here with comments and details to baser also on t.v. and the internet never in the country's modern history for its residents so close to policy making which many here on the ground fear that the ongoing violence could

very well be hope of reform. altie damascus syria. well euro zone finance ministers have reached a deal for a second one hundred thirty billion euro bailout for crisis stricken greece it's a last last ditch effort to stave off economic collapse in the country but the lifeline will come with a heavy price tag one that many doubt athens can handle artie's his arcilla is in brussels for more. after months of political wrangling and a compromise the euro zone are fine as ministers had agreed to give the second tranche of the one hundred thirty billion euro bailout to greece and this in effect will stave off a default in march potentially however before greece can actually get the money there are still a lot of hurdles to go through for example to more greece will still have to vote on a further funding gap measures finish and german parliament will have to debate and

vote on the bill that will approve this bailout this is very closely watched especially considering that germany had been putting forth a lot of conditions to be satisfied before it was willing to give this a bailout so certainly more political wrangling in store there now as far as private investors are concerned will be forced to take a haircut on their holdings in all of this time aside from that greece is also accepted a quote unquote and hounds and permanent presence of e.u. monitors in the country now under international lenders increase have already been voicing out their concerns on the debt sustainability as well as greece's ability to implement all the promised reforms and now it's going to be a permanent presence of the country certainly a sensitive move given the fact that we saw already has a technocrat government installed by brussels over there and not just that another part of the deal the greek government has committed to and frightening into law that debt repayment will be a top priority over other public expenditure that means paid back the e.u.

for instance will proceed spending on health care on the social spending as well as pensions certainly a move that would make people there even are already frustrated disenfranchised from everything that's been going on in the country and other still twenty percent . still see the greeks coming out into the streets voicing their frustration. reporting from brussels that was arctic correspondent has our sela and that is going to do it for this hour for more of the stories we covered you can head on over to r.t. dot com slash u.s.a. you can also check out our youtube page it's youtube dot com slash our team america and you can also follow me on twitter at c.n. after our. wealthy british style. that's not on the right side of.

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good afternoon and welcome to capital account i'm lauren lyster here in washington d.c. and here are your headlines for february twenty first two thousand and twelve greece has a bailout agreement by.