iraq's prime minister urges all qaeda fighters in control of key towns to give up now it says the militants enjoy a rise of influence fueled by the war in neighboring syria. greatest threat to the u.k. military is disconnected from the public apparently don't understand what it's actually for that's the claim coming from a parliamentary watchdog. russia's sledge hockey team prepares to make its debut at the upcoming paralympics we meet the captains family to find out where he's drawing his strength and inspiration from.

life from a studio center here in moscow this is r.t. international with you twenty four hours a day iraq's prime minister is calling on al qaeda fighters and all those who joined them to surrender the militant group has occupied key cities of the country's biggest province and the government is struggling to regain control middle east correspondent paula slim is following the conflict. well the situation certainly is becoming increasingly volatile but we've now heard from the iraqi prime minister is him urging all those who have joined a kind of to give up the fight he has hinted at the possibility of hardening these militants if indeed they do so they are facing a massive siege that has been launched by the government troops now maliki was speaking in his weekly televised address and he volunteered that it is to continue what he calls the sacred war against al qaida is the local branch which is known as the islamist state in iraq and and he also said that he would continue to finish

the push to retake the key ambar cities often and ramadi which were taken over by the militants in fact the militants had to commute from as they really are independent states what we see happening now is that al qaida going to militants are trying to capitalize on the six period of tension that is currently inside iraq and this is a tension that the united states failed to resolve you'll remember of course that the united states occupied iraq for eight years and then pulled out leaving behind this major stick tarion power of the cave at the same time some of the al qaida in linked militants who are now fighting in iraq are reported meat coming from across the border in syria and of course the united states has been supporting the syrian opposition which inadvertently has allowed these extremist islamist militants to flourish in the first place the united states is now saying that it will be sending

an emergency shipment of surveillance drones and missiles to iraq in an attempt to try and prop up its allies in baghdad and. well the militant group now in control of fallujah calls itself the islamic state of iraq and the levant and its fighters are also known as the most radical jihadist wing of the syrian rebels let's take a closer look at the organization which is now gaining momentum in the region well its roots go back to the early years of the iraq war it was established in april two thousand and four by sunni extremists and pledged allegiance to bin laden and that time it was called al qaeda in iraq two years later it was rebranded as the islamic state of iraq and in twenty games a strong presence in northern syria which sort of levant to its name and of course in the latest developments the group has taken control of footage of the key town in the anbar province in iraq and proclaimed it and islamic state now their plan is to unite iraq and syria to form an islamic state known as

a caliphate well let's talk more on this now with norman solomon he's in new york he's head of the institute for public at crissy so norman here we are seeing al qaeda gaining strength now in just not syria but also in iraq of course in those areas why is this happening well there's been such a dissension into chaos and violence now ever since the u.s. invasion of iraq more than ten years ago. when more and more weapons are dumped into the region and the idiology that the enemy of my enemy can be my friend and therefore should be given more weapons all that is that ng up to just one catastrophe compound another now iraq's prime minister he said he wants these people to surrender their. will listen to any words or will he have to take action

he said he will take action eventually if it's necessary. one. well you know there's been a lot of demands for surrender from fallujah gen other cities in the past decade as well and i think that al maliki is again as he has so often and other forces opposed to him as well for united states relying on maximal violence because of a political failure and on a willingness to sincerely engage in some reconciliation and democratic process and unfortunately from washington top u.s. officials are doing what they have done in various ways in the last more than ten years which is to assume and presume that more violence will solve the situation and for the u.s. government today to act as though it were helping the situation by sending more

weapons not only drones but missiles and other armaments this is just. a disastrous course being pursued but it is a fact that since the u.s. withdrew the vanos as golf ball was staying in iraq isn't that a case for more boots on the ground let's say provide more boots on the ground in this oversee supplying arms in other ways but it's not a reason now for it to take action. well you know that has always been a rationale for intervention and the u.s. was saying that things were terrible ten years ago and so there needed to be the invasion in the first place we've had a lot of spin including on the front page of u.s. newspapers in recent days that the withdrawal of u.s. fighting forces from iraq or was causing the situation but in fact the situation has been catalyzed by the u.s.

invasion and occupation and the arming and support for the amalek the government and so forth so i think that assessment a lack of sufficient u.s. force is causing the problem is exactly backwards just now you have the u.s. government essentially urging the iraqi regime to use violence to implement washington's end law and iraq has lost control of its biggest provinces assigned to hap's it sliding into a civil war now what's the immediate future well you know it's been sliding in and out of terrible violence and what could have been called civil war for many years on and off and you know these are regional issues one could compare it to the conflagration in afghanistan in that when superpowers insists that it's their way or the highway rather than acknowledging a need for regional diplomacy then we're going to continue to have this sort of

violence so diplomacy needs to be taken seriously and advanced as policy rather than simply an add on to this massive violence and shipment of arms moments like this very much and it's also this norman solomon head of the institute for public accuracy live from new york thank you. well the islamic state of iraq and the van to controlling for the ija is at the same time urging attacks on its rival opposition groups in syria while other rebel leaders are urging a truce between the fractions the factions well you can read all about it on our website right now that so on r.t. dot com meanwhile the second round of peace talks on syria is around the corner but the country's opposition bloc is split on whether to attend coming up in just a couple of minutes here on r.t. international we've got an expert opinion on what's behind the syrian national coalition divided stein's. one of the biggest threats to britain's armed forces is our lack of public understanding of

what they stand for now that's according to a recent u.k. parliament report m.p. say the opposition to wars in iraq and afghanistan and a reduced public appetite for overseas interventions is leading people to question the purpose of the u.k. army public support for defense is dropping due to what is seen as a lack of a long term strategic mission mean more massive military budgets are putting the army's capabilities at risk despite being one of the world's top defense spenders britain is planning to cut personnel by nearly thirty thousand over the next six years we get live expert opinion shortly from london but first here's. the army's recruiting but applicant numbers are slow to pick up amid thousands of layoffs there's a massive drive to recruit army reservists but leaked mid year army memos revealed the number of people in the listing and beyond the reserve over a three month period was just three hundred sixty seven barely

a quarter of the target the ministry of defense said that after wrapping up the recruitment drive in september there were more than fifteen hundred applicants in the first four weeks and that it's too early to make a conclusion but this young man says he simply can't be convinced my grandparents were in the air force actually during the second world war of the time enjoyed was not such a bad idea to be joining the forces because they are fighting a war against fascists and i don't agree with the way. it's used for. the grass. and this morning that was arrested to commemorate the conscientious objectors to military service those who would exercise their right to refuse to kill now at the time of the first world war for instance they faced a restaurant jeers from some of society who view them as cowards but times have indeed changed. a decade of fighting in iraq and afghanistan

has made the british war weary a most people join the armed forces to be in the peace business not in the war business because such is a threat to their livelihood nobody wants to be in a war because in a war activists have also lashed out at recruitment campaign started at sixteen and seventeen year olds who according to one recent study are more susceptible to post-traumatic stress disorder at the moment we're asking a sixteen year old who we don't trust point to drink a pint of beer in the pub we don't trust to fight in a general election we're asking that person to make a very far reaching legal commitment towards a career like having a baby or in accounts or in the ministry of defense. the report completely ignores the benefits and opportunities that a military career offers young people but for this young man it's a career path he is a graduate to change his mind about this or try to. show people that if you're joining the army you're not going to be brought to shoot people.

do so so your article did. well to discuss why the british public speaker so disenchanted with its defense forces are now joined by lindsey german she's from the stop the coalition in the u.k. so lindsay the public is clearly questioning the purpose of the british armed forces why. well i think that there's a combination of things that we've had a whole number of years of the war on terror of interventions which have not been successful and even now the consequences of the war in iraq around raffling in anbar province in syria and so on in afghanistan it's generally accepted the intervention has not been a success so people are all sticking why are billions and billions of pounds being spent. on the armed forces on all these things when there is not the money supposedly to pay for decent education for the health service for all of these

different areas so i think that's one of the reasons i think secondly there is been a much longer term so the war weariness with what is going on that really going on for decades now people have been skeptical about wars more people have been prepared to come out against walls to question the whole agenda of the of the government and its supporters in the media and this is something that we're now seeing results of that majority of people don't like the wars and they don't understand why britain is one of the biggest spenders on military anywhere in the world right so we're seeing skepticism and a lack of understanding but is there a lack of sympathy and support for the troops themselves. i think people make a distinction between individual troops people understand why many people join the army particularly in areas of high unemployment although we don't have conscription the reason in a sense economically scription and obviously nobody wants to see soldiers killed or injured in any of the conflict for their going on so i think at that individual

level there is sympathy for the soldiers but i don't think the sympathy for the why in which these wars have been can touch conducted the way in which the top military try to justify the wars there's very little sympathy every opinion poll shows a clear majority against what happened in iraq and against the continued presence in afghanistan and of course one of the things that is now happening is we're now marking the hundredth anniversary of the beginning of the first world war this year in twenty forty the government is desperately trying to use our anniversary to bolster support for current wars and for for the army and one of. foreign policy was mentioned in the report that iraq and afghanistan were part of britain's grand strategic mission in the world so where's britain's global standing now. well i think there are very very serious problems that need need to be asked what happened in august when the british parliament voted against an intervention in

syria this made it very very difficult for the british to intervene indeed some commentators including some supporters of the government think it would only be possible now for britain to be intervening in. direct column such as gibraltar all the fault lines venus off the coast of argentina so in the way britain strategic of going to war in afghanistan and iraq have been shown to be complete failures and i think it does raise very serious questions about british foreign policy we've been claim that we have a special relationship going back decades with the united states but the simple truth is the united states doesn't really need british the british military aspect of it operations and therefore it is quite a turning point for the british military in british foreign policy and it's one that the government is reluctant to accept but which i think in this respect as in so many others the public opinion is well ahead of the government and you think

your thoughts on this lindsay german convener of the british antiwar organization stop the war collecting here live from london thanks a lot good story. hockey has been on the winter paralympics roster since one thousand nine hundred four but this year will see russia's team make its debut we've already seen them on ice at their captain and now we meet those who helped by the salute in just so many hardships in his drive for victory. well four of it is the hook and he is known as the captain of the national paralympic flood talking team here in russia but in this tells his just know his dad. we asked him a dream about his family and the first time he met his wife irene a woman who's we first met when i was in the army serving in this area there was a spark from the very beginning and grew as we dated you could see it was love at first sight my entire life changed it had a new meaning but another kind of change was coming the two were considering time

the not one of a team went off to war where he lost both of his legs i removed into his hospital room to help with his care and the couple continued with their plan to marry when asked about the proposal irene a said she knew it was coming. well i was expecting the proposal and the wedding day we had a lot of guests and we all had so much fun. but the mood changes a little when we ask our rena how she felt about his and jury. i couldn't believe it for a long time coping with the stress of any injury requires real psychological resilience they both clearly have that in spades. he does every feat for the family we all feel that he helps people realize that life isn't over but everything is possible life goes on. the marriage is stronger than ever and katia became the second woman

to change the team's life six years ago. now he's heading for the paralympic games and that also means leaving his loved ones that four of a team his two passions in life are never too far from each other but. i really enjoy all the time i get to spend at home because when i'm away in training sessions with the team i miss my family very much which is the same as the game when you sit on the bench for a long time just watching the others play and then you get this little time and nice you want to make most of it you're one hundred percent committed. a commitment shared by everyone in the house while the dean is eager to take home gold come march he already has his prize at home in the moscow region and margaret howell r t well with both the olympic and paralympic games fast approaching don't forget to of

follow the amazing journey of the olympic flame we've been following it online as well for you can catch the best moments of the record breaking torch relay of the twenty fourteen winter olympics in sochi on the dot com. philip the church is on its epic journey to. one hundred and twenty three days. through two thousand one hundred towns and cities of russia. relayed by fourteen thousand people or sixty five thousand kilometers. in a record setting trip by land air sea another space. olympic torch relay. on march. eighteenth the national life here mosque i'll be back in a few moments so off to the break we track why russia thinks that greenpeace is connected with the seizure of one of its trawlers by senegalese authorities stay with us for that.

while more than thirty members of the syrian national coalition of already resigned over the group's participation the block has postponed its final decision until the seventeenth which is less than a week before it begins. by the west the opposition doesn't have the support of the syrian people. in syria you have an electoral process there is a presidential election this year and the big problem for the opposition is that they don't have the support on the ground in syria because they don't represent

anyone other than western powers the western imperial alliance the transatlantic alliance nato the gulf cooperation council so there are support in syria is very very minimal and that's why they don't want to take part in the actual election process in syria to try to process so this is a big problem because how do you negotiate with people who essentially represent western interests and don't represent the interests of the syrian people so they would rather not have to enter into any kind of rational negotiation and the reason for that of course is that they have no political program they have never had a political program they have no economic program and if they had their way they would simply destroy the country get in there terror the country apart privatized everything and sell it out to the gulf cooperation council countries particularly saudi arabia and qatar and so on and they would serve western corporate interests online for you right now disbelief in his own strategy alone to come to find out

why the former u.s. secretary of defense feels disillusioned his policies are some of the juicy details a former top military man reveals in his memoirs. plus the holiday of one great terrorist might have run over time as he fails to return back to prison after his new year's leave all details on the story just a click away from. a russian fishing trawler which was forcibly detained by senegalese authorities over the weekend is now said to be running out of water supplies moscow says it's preparing to file several legal claims to a court in the west african country over the vessels impounding greenpeace claims the boat had been fishing illegally or has more. we're talking about an armed detention of this ship and some sixty two russian citizens that are on board about detention it was actually handled quite roughly by the senegalese stories because

at least four people now off the course saying that they are actually in need of medical help however they are not allowed to get off the ship in fact all of the russian citizens have had their passports taken away by the armed officials and they are the ship and the crew are simply being accused of illegal fishing and poaching in the cynical these waters however the authorities of senegal still haven't given any concrete proof of that actually haven't taken place or have not provided any concrete explanation where these allegations are coming from and still we're already have the green peace which is already making statements saying that they fully support the actions of the senegal government in their attempt to prevent the alleged illegal fishing this involvement by greenpeace is something that doesn't sit well with russia's federal fishing agency greenpeace says it's been tracking this vessel for a long time why are they taking it upon themselves the government's responsibility to protect their waters and biological resources therefore based on the statements

from greenpeace one may conclude that the military of senegal is acting upon these claims as you may know senegal fishing minister the green party in senegal and was until very recently a member of greenpeace and she you see the connection between this harsh and unprecedented attack on the russian trailer and its detention with greenpeace's actions if you go back to september i will remember the rest of the greenpeace arctic sunrise after an attempt by the greenpeace activists to scale russian oil rig in the northern waters and then of course later they fell under the nationwide amnesty and were released and what we can assume that they are now safely home in their respective countries however this recent development in the west african nation is. seems to rise up at the tensions between russian officials and going peace yet again about with a news team with more in just over half an hour from now in the meantime abby morton shed some light on one of the poorest communities in the u.s.

that's in breaking news that. if you've. got no opportunity. to start to construct your current. kill no longer be bed give don't want to be gangsters you don't want to be drug dealers they don't want their bull with all the time that a kid came to be we can see. you just needs a hundred dollars a night in the hood. down by about thirty round clip. i don't want to die i just really do not want to die young young

a. drug some at least sixteen percent of imports came from illegal fishing. the european union is ironically taking fish from some of the poorest nations on earth so this is a very serious and very urgent problem that needs immediate international action. give both of them to enter territorial waters because they fish they load this fish on to the ships and leave for europe. to day illegal fishing just taking the bread out of our mouths. millions around the globe struggle with hunger each good. what if someone offers a lifetime food supply no charge only in the cherry subdeacon the very strong

position against g.m.o. and we think that's. the genetic anymore the right products are pretty cool. there is no. evidence that there is any problem with genetic engineering when you make a deal. or is free cheese always in a mouse trap i don't believe that the. poor and the free. enterprise is profit that. these golden rice are cheap. the the. hello world i'm out in martin and this is breaking the set while we're back my ridiculously cold winter slumber at

a very special program for the first show of the year last week i had the great privilege of spending several days at the pine ridge reservation in south dakota my marriage is the eighth largest native american reservation in the us and is home to one of the seven the sub tribes of the coat of people approximately forty thousand and all the tribe members live across two point one million acres with gorgeous rolling hills and untamed wilderness it's no wonder why pine ridge is held so sacred to the tribe that inhabits the land despite the multitude of problems facing a community that depends on federal funding to survive many tribe members have taken it upon themselves to empower the lakota people to secure a brighter future for the people they were hugely inspiring and we love pine ridge greatly humbled by their stories over the next two days i'll share some of those stories with new to shed light on one of the most unreported and neglected issues in america today the abysmal failure by the federal government to provide adequate social service.