today on r t locked and loaded with rhetoric u.s. arms sales to triple in two thousand and eleven as well as congress's contempt for both china and iran are these fears justified or are we just jumping the gun. a storm named isaac might be able to delay the g.o.p. but it certainly can't stop the paul lights ron paul supporters are battling the elements and the r. and c. for their shots in the spotlight we'll tell you about the shadow convention and the ron paul. and president bush promise that no child will be left behind when it comes to education but president obama is creating thousands of orphans with his hard line stance on deportation ahead a look at the effect this crackdown is having on the children of illegal immigrants

. we begin this monday taking a look at the top global players in arms sales when it comes to selling weapons the united states takes the street it takes a very strong lead researcher reports a real that arms sales by the u.s. tripled in two thousand and eleven to a record high of over sixty six billion dollars no other country comes close as you can see the u.s. accounts for seventy nine percent of weapons sales russia comes in at a distant second at six percent china lags even further at three percent. so who is america selling to turns out the top consumers are in the persian gulf saudi arabia is the top recipient over thirty three thousand arms agreements with the u.s. last year india comes in second united arab emirates third and israel comes in

fourth so what are the implications of all this to discuss retired lieutenant colonel anthony shaffer from the center for at vance defense studies joins us now anthony welcome and so just in the span of one that year u.s. arms sales tripled that's a very significant jump how does that happen. well obviously we're in the first world and i hate to say that we have a huge military industrial complex which requires all sorts of character beating but that's part of the deal frankly as we start to look at managed military operations in iraq and afghanistan the brutal truth is this we have an industry which is looking for new markets there's a hint and i think that's one of the things that you're seeing now is that these individuals these groups large corporations which really are trying to grow bottoms seven percent per year is looking for new markets and i think they're finding new

markets and a lot of the areas you just mentioned saying this is all about business. and let's be doubly honest here a lot of europe called or russia to also begin expanding its own arms market back into the lot so this is not just the united states this is a large large global market that the. frankly the russians and chinese both look at as well so i think it's a very right area of competition but they have a mother very far behind at this point the u.s. now. kind of owning it with seventy five over seventy five percent when it comes to the sale of lap and so they have a long way to go before they can come even close to touching the last oh absolutely i mean we're talking about the u.s. ten times larger and it's exporting of weapons right now and the russians with that said no one believes for a minute that expanding these markets is going to help make things more peaceful

obviously the more the greater influx of these weapons into any country especially some of those in the middle east which are greatly unstable i think will both go very far to continue to see further just the stabilization of the middle east as we go and want to talk about who exactly were selling these weapons carol the top recipient was that saudi arabia and what is the significance of that. with saudi arabia being a u.s. ally in the persian gulf the theory has been is if we maintain good relations with all of these countries specially saudi arabia as we saw during the gulf war ninety one the idea is they will maintain stability of their own oil fields all exports the whole region the persian gulf is one of the largest producers of. of information relating to everything that's going on worldwide so you know right now everything that we're doing as to do with all the issues relating to what we

need to do or the world on energy and. also beyond that the united arab emirates i mean beyond excuse me beyond saudi arabia we have the united arab emirates and elm and there are also top our kisses parkas there is also in this region what is the significance of this and terms of iran these countries being in close proximity to iran i think that's one of the key issues as you look at the geopolitical chess match going on right now the iranians are really being isolated more and more i don't believe that i believe most of the actual sanctions have not worked whatsoever and in many ways as we noticed over the weekend where the nonaligned nations actually actually meeting there into her run i think it's only added to the whole as i mentioned before a situation where i think more and more we add fuel the more potential we have to start a fire that all these weapons being. produced and sixty six billion dollars that's

how much that's how much was raked in by selling weapons and it looks kind of weapons are we talking with actually we're talking about everything from f. sixteen fighters down to basic fire or we're talking about him sitting for whatever the current flavors the full spectrum of and the theory is obviously by arming and helping our allies these allies than would be able to do especially if all across the border during the cold war we had not you know basically two areas so be it the united states irvine lined up behind them a few nonaligned nations or if we're out outliers now it's not quite so black and white and i think obviously the more that we can arm these folks least that's the theory the got the thinking is what was our pentagon as the. yes folks would be available to actually support us and maintaining the lines of communication lines of commerce relating to the persian gulf so we're saying this strategy and a way to i use alliance iran and

a way i mean is this kind of year i got to go to war with the country well that war is inevitable i believe that the current right of high level of. the language being used what they're israelis with they are right. let's remember that a lot of war so started over people having the idea that they can gain ground by being using military force i think that right now unless something dramatic changes we may see more within the next eighteen months. or so i think that's why you see this large export of our weapons to ally what we believe to be countries such as you a such as saudi arabia but with their radically being there and willing to use their weapons that we sold in supporting military operations to secure or ever the objectives are that point and so now we are seeing we're seeing these sanctions these ramped up sanctions against iran and now we are seeing weapons being sold to

neighboring allies if any how can we expect iran to react to all of that well badly i think that what you're seeing right now is that the government of iran feels put off they do feel that they are being isolated i think they've been very. crafty in getting around sanctions right of the russians so supporting the iranians in a number of aspects to your program. giving exporting weapons to the iranians so in many ways you're see at this and least unless this power comes back to the iranians in the west the russians are still kind of siding with the iranians so i think what we can see over the next six months is a continuation of a lot of rhetoric from both sides but the moment something bad happens. one tanker if a scratch on it you could see a full blown conflict within hours and that conflict would see a lot of people lost very quickly and frankly it could want to a larger conflict with the middle east certainly all sounds scary i think the last

thing most american people want right now and another war you mentioned before that this is all about business but what is the foreign policy goal all the united states and all of that good question right now there is no global strategy or united states which isn't something generals as far and wide i've talked to are concerned about the array of the stated policy of isolating the iranians as the primary focus on but beyond that we really don't have this we don't know what we're going to do if the are any great artie price to resurrect itself and part of the current government we don't know what's going to happen in syria so without a clear cohesive strategy other than trying to isolate the iranians this point and supporting their right the israelis there's really no clear path meanwhile as you describe this as a business who is profiting. well any company you can think of within the current

structure of our production assistant following walking martin general dynamics a lot of arms manufacturers this is again big business and something that they have been producing a lot of weapon systems for the u.s. military over the past ten years that market is diminishing receive a more diminishing seaquest ration or whatever comes out of that over the next year so they're looking to market market so they will continue to do what they can climbs in markets. all right anthony a very interesting thank you so much for coming on the show appreciate it that was retired lieutenant colonel anthony shaffer from the center for advanced defense studies because the republican national convention was scheduled to kick off in full force today in tampa florida instead the chairman of the republican party pounded down the gavel to begin the r. and c. and then quickly recess until tomorrow afternoon due to the threat of isaac but that weather did not keep thousands of loyal ron paul supporters away from tampa where two events were taking place the three day paul festival and the rally ron

paul sponsored himself it was made possible with the leftover cash he had from his presidential run our white house correspondent christine was in tampa to give us a look at both the vents hi christine i'll go over there. hey they're going just fine we are here in the media center at the convention center as you mentioned that convention delayed by a day of course there are fifteen thousand journalists that are here to cover the convention a lot of them in this room right now doing work taking a break but i want to talk about those other thousands of people who came to tampa for a different reason that you mentioned and those are the people who came to show support to former presidential candidate ron paul ron paul actually at the end of his campaign had about two and a half million dollars left over in his campaign war chest alone so that in perspective for you rick santorum newt gingrich they had zero dollars left over they were broke wanted to spend that money spent on a rally yesterday at the university of south florida it was extremely lively

extremely energetic but i should say a little bit of a black cloud hanging over the because of what's happening with the main delegation break this down for you really quickly twenty four people are supposed to represent the state of maine in the roll call vote tomorrow and twenty of them. just a few days ago the republican national committee voted on seat also many of them in receipt. and people who support ron paul and just one other delegates more likely to support mitt romney a lot of those people had already come out here a lot of them are young they saved up a lot of money and they're here in tampa right now being told that they will not in fact be seated a lot in fact be able to take part in tomorrow's roll call still again live they and thousands of others that were at the center of yesterday and a show of solidarity for ron paul with all these people who say they are still part of a revolution. the

typical political gathering it is not. zero. zero just a few miles from where the two thousand and twelve republican national convention is about to kick off there are no coats and ties to speak of i am wearing a skirt with the constitution that i had made this is a bronco shirt and on the back of it it's it's the constitution the complete constitution this is ron paul he's the political honey badger the freedom loving political honey badger is often treated more like a rock star. the seventy seven year old doctor and congressman from texas has now run for president three times each time getting more popularity this election is very important but let me tell you there's something even more important than old man and that is the cause that we're leading

in the cause of liberty the initiation that we're getting right now. that attention coming once in a while from the mainstream media that has largely ignored him but more so for more and more followers who have made his cause their own liberty freedom less government smaller government more rights to do we want to do rights the keeper money that we worked hard for and earn these loyal disciples come from a. around the country and around the world i was up at four or five the clock in the lobby watching to the bit snowy. and i was in awe of you know you have to see the news is like a moses fall type on the other side of the city at the florida state fairgrounds the paul festival has been going on for three days now as you can see it's a little less well attended than ron paul's own rally but here we have yet another part of the ron paul machine and yet another venue for those people refusing to give up on their candidate well back in may at the primaries in ohio i voted ron

paul you know i tried my darkest pretty was here to stick it to the r. and c. and show that you know. paul would have won if it was a fair election. back at the rally a call to action i have been taught and i have been convinced that patriotism is that cold that permits us in a free society to criticize our own government when they're rude. and a promise that this revolution is just getting started. in tampa florida christine for sound on t.v. . i should say was you know we spoke to so many people yesterday and a whole lot of them really just disappointed that ron paul didn't continue that campaign until the end until the convention a lot of them were hoping that he was going to change even more minds get even more

delegates from some of those caucus states they were happy to be there to hear him speak but a lot of people disappointed that he sort of ended that fight a few months early but based on your report there it doesn't look like ron paul supporters are seeing this as an end to the movement. well that's absolutely right and i should mention ron paul's son senator rand paul from kentucky actually introduced him yesterday got a huge standing ovation a lot of people really hoping that the torch is passed on that even if ron paul is not going to be president of this country they're hoping you know they were chanting over and over again twenty sixteen rand twenty sixteen so they're hoping that the revolution as they call it continues and that perhaps the chance lays in ron paul's son senator rand paul. that paul told the crowd that he declined a spot appy r. and c. and you know paul has proven to be a stark contrast to mitt romney what do you think is the significance of that him

saying thanks but no thanks. well it's hugely significant low because as you know these conventions are meant to show a sign of unity ron paul said you know what i'm not going to fully endorse mitt romney because i don't fully endorse mitt romney so that was one thing it was a huge blow perhaps for people who really wanted him to just join the party but he said you know that's not me and there's one thing that people from every side can say about ron paul that is that he is consistent he doesn't change his message and he's not going to endorse a candidate that he disagrees with so that was one thing he also said he didn't want. mitt romney to have the romney campaign rather to to have you know the the rights. just change his speech he wants to speak from the heart as you know always does and so i think it was significant for those those reasons i want to focus on a couple of sayings that he highlighted and during this of that he had he's always been on this mission to end the fed he's been talking about auditing the fed now

and now there's a new proposal to audit the pentagon can you tell us about that proposal. well this is extremely consistent with a message that ron paul has been saying for decades now his son senator rand paul echoed in his speech and is one of the main reasons that ron paul has such a large following and that is what he thinks about getting involved in foreign wars and that is that the u.s. is spending way too much money spending way too much too many american lives getting involved in other countries ron paul as you were homeless had a huge huge support base from vestment people who agreed that these wars should not be going on we saw that yesterday with many of them who were there at the pentagon who says you know what he wasn't calling to. dismantle the military by any means but he says they're spending there's wasteful spending in every single department

that needs to be slashed and the pentagon is no exception even though this is one way where a lot of his fellow republicans really disagree with him constantly calling for more spending for you know the military and the pentagon he says no way was cut in half what's going to down even more than that and these are all things that we hear ron paul that he has brought up time and time again throughout his entire campaign this wasteful government spending his anti-war message this interventionist message you know with this being kind of the culmination of ron paul's campaign how do his supporters keep his these concerns relevant. i'm sorry to hear your question how to his supporters yes some of these what the highlights that these things are ron paul has consistently brought attention to you know small government his antiwar anti noninterventionist message talking to his

supporters i know you've spoken to a lot of them do you get a sense of how they plan on keeping his message alive now that this is kind of the culmination of his campaign. absolutely well again as i mentioned they plan on continuing to spread his messages they say what they're hoping to do is get more and i use this because it's about a lot of people said to me more liberty minded people elected into congress and again they really hope that the movement continues that for four more years so that they can get rand paul elected into office that's how they plan to continue their message christine thanks so much for keeping us up to updated and look forward to hearing more from you at the republican national convention throughout the week that was our team white house correspondent christine for south. but still ahead on our team president obama might be losing his grip when it comes to deporting young illegal immigrants but he certainly isn't showing the same patience with the parents ahead we'll tell you how this president's crackdown is splitting families

of parts. well they are america's children left behind as immigration remains a divisive issue in the u.s. the number of deportation cases hits a record high and as a result parents that are deported are forced to leave behind their children many of these kids grew up in the united states many of them born here so u.s. citizens according to the immigration customs enforcement forty five thousand such parents were removed from the u.s. in the first half of this year meanwhile the president has vowed to only deport

criminals and not separate families but and many cases that is exactly what's happening to discuss i'm joined by axel couple errol founder of kwanzaa mags acts so welcome so what happens to children many of them born here when their parents are deported well first of all thank you for having me on one of the main and very very hard breaking situations that's happening right now is that children of those that are the board are left to their own devices pretty much leaving that and foster care some of them are even put into adoption because they considered the parent that as having broken the law and therefore committing or abandoning the child and there's a new child in the child giving to social services and then the input for adoption and separating the family and then the porting the parents this is a very very crucial and very heartbreaking situation right now and some of the

address. urgent as a matter of urgency and what happens i mean because these children are american citizens so this is this is their country and their parents are being shipped off and here they are at a young age forced to fend for themselves in a way they no longer have the parental guidance i mean what does that do to you know the future of america's children and that that that you know what does that kind of create this vicious cycle. correct and a lot of the reports and what's behind the numbers with behind the use of statistics which now we're seeing about five thousand and fifty two hundred children who are left to fend for themselves what we're seeing is really. a traumatic scars that are left behind a lot of the children experience the harshness of seeing a parent being taken away with two years a lot of them you know a future that is no longer theirs that is completely out of what they know they've

grown up here with their families they are american many of them being born here and all they know now is a broken family they have no parents and they're put into a completely different and and really foreign situation and that could have real real harmful repercussions down the line because you we are essentially destroying that family structure that was in place for these children now the obama administration set a new record on deportation in two thousand and eleven nearly four hundred thousand on documented immigrants removed by immigration and customs enforcement and this is the same president that promise to only remove criminals so what do you think do you think he failed to fulfill that promise. well i think what is happening right now is that and in order to pander to blow a lot of the empire that gratian rhetoric that is happening cause a country that is that it has taken over our debate over the past few years some

decisions had to be made as far as what the policy would be would disagree with many of the direction that that have taken but what we're seeing at least in the last couple of months with a lot of pressure and a lot of real real struggle that a lot of the immigration groups a latino groups have pushed for as we're seeing the slowly a more sensible outlook to what what have happened so far and particularly in this case with separated families we're seeing that slowly they're backtracking and seeing more of the complexity of the issue and was really is it and for example you know with children really addressing what what are the elements of case by case basis but we're far far far away from a sensible policy and that this is why we need to push forward particularly sensible policy in immigration legit legislation that will really address this in the next legislature meanwhile what we are hearing mostly from republicans and

advocating this hard line no mercy approach to immigration we're seeing policy proposals things like ending in say illegal in-state tuition for illegal immigrants calling for the federal government to literally build a fence along the border of the u.s. and mexico installing this even if i system to make sure that no illegal immigrants are hired how do you feel about some of these measures that are being proposed. well this is what's crazy about that is that them both sides of the equation right now are hearing a lot of rhetoric and banter that doesn't apply to sensible solutions that is the main problem we know we have an issue of and and we can't address it in the appropriate manner i mean we're seeing in the g.o.p. it just recently adopted stances right before the conventions that are put forth by chris go back to rhodes and seventy and who is tied to groups like fair federation

american for immigration reform which has ties to a native those individuals and policies and you can check a video right now that we have on our facebook page on friends i mean that exactly pinpoint who is behind that and this is all it's crazy that the rhetoric has increased to the point where we're talking about building higher fences we're talking about. the roan's to patrol the border when in reality what we should be looking at is what is driving immigration and particularly what can we do to really implement sensible policies to make the line shorter for those who want to come and particularly for those who are here to really provide that pathway to integrate into society instead of breaking families apart instead of talking crazy talk about a lot lecture five fences that some foreign and instead of pandering to groups extreme right groups that have here your motives that are not aligned with most americans feel immigration policy should be. ok i want to bring up what the what

the other argument as what critics say about this they say that these parents that they're the ones to blame because they're the ones that brought the that came to the country e legally in the first place and put their family and this position what do you say to that argument. well it's again it we're looking only at the numbers and the statistics and the and the assertion that this is a crazy decision by parents parents are forced to come over to do what we don't understand is a lot of would have been created in latin america particularly in mexico and south of the border with a lot of the violence going on violence fueled by a lot of you know drug policy that we have towards the country it's forcing families who are not putting their children in danger but rather who are looking for the children to have a better life for their future children to have a better life they're looking for the best in their children and when we vilify that when we criminalize that were essentially thing bad our nation have completely

closed off to this idea that we are build by immigrants and that we're vilifying and criminalizing those that are making and enriching this country very interesting in a sad situation that many children are finding themselves and thank you so much for coming on the show the picture that i was axel cavalier out founder of the cleanse i'm a. thank you well it's going to wrap it up for tonight but from on the stories we cover check out our you tube channel you tube dot com slash our to america our web site r t v dot com slash usa and you can follow me on twitter at laval for now have a great night.