americans traveling to syria are being recruited by al qaeda to carry out attacks when they were turned on details from new york coming up. meanwhile washington is considering resuming military aid to syria despite radical rebels gaining strength and controlling. neighboring iran. some of the lowest approval ratings in. countries. now killed by u.s. soldiers after being mistaken for the enemy this is washington's failing to get. a security deal. sports safety launches a massive security operation ahead of the winter games dubbed the largest in the

olympic history our top stories. this is r.t. international with twenty four hours a day of extremist groups in syria seeking to recruit and train americans and then send them back to carry out terror attacks that's what u.s. intelligence and counterterrorism officials are claiming would be tracking of those who return from syria now one of the top tasks we get expert opinion from new york shortly but first. the details. top u.s. intelligence officials say all these efforts are in their early stages but nonetheless the f.b.i. director says that now tracking americans who are returned from syria has been among the bureau's highest counterterrorism priorities now working to senior

counterterrorism officials islamic extremist groups in syria with ties to al qaeda are trying to identify recruit and train americans and other westerners who have traveled there and to get them to carry out attacks when they have returned whole u.s. officials say at least seventy americans have either traveled to syria or tried to since the civil war started three years ago that number to this point was never disclosed that this is the first time that that number seventy has been disclosed by u.s. officials now syria's civil war no doubt has become a magnet for westerners seeking to fight with rebels against the government of president bashar al assad and all this news is coming ironically as the obama administration is reportedly considering the resumption of non lethal military aid to syria syria's moderate opposition but that's despite the fact that some of the filleted may end up in the hands of islamic groups allied with with the moderates

are posing as allied with the moderates now the united states suspended shipments of not lethal aid last month after warehouses of equipment were seized by the islamic front a coalition of islamic fighters that broke with the american backed free syrian army so clearly the obama administration has a complex situation on their hands on one hand the u.s. citizens traveling there may be turned into terrorists to carry out attacks when they return home on the other hand the obama administration may resume non lethal aid imported from syria clearly a very complex situation that so far the obama administration has not found an answer to. those two more on the issue with patricia degeneres u.s. foreign policy in the new york university which would do you think american citizens being driven to war tool in syria what's the motivation. well i think the motivation is often in these cases family members or people who

have immigrated here before come here during during different instances for work or whatever and they want to go back and help their families and see if they can make a difference and change the situation there and in addition to that we see this cross cross regionally where people feel that they want to go in and start to you know be be part of the combat against gets the grass or in this case it's. when. the reports that they are being radicalized on the road ports that seventy u.s. citizens in the last three years have been to syria does that actually mean that we're going to seem that seventy potential terrorists back in america now. and i think we have to be really careful of this again or going down this whole idea of rabbit hole all my god there's terrorists out there and we have to be more secretive and we have to you know have more. more more intelligence that we have to

do that you know all these kinds of things that you know quote unquote seventy people i'm not really sure that that's how we need to vote. i think we know what we what we need to put into perspective is what's our overall policy in the middle east and why are these things happening and continue to happen even in iraq now we're losing things and so i mean you know obviously there is there something wrong with the way policy is being done it's being done in a cold war vacuum continuously and it seems here in washington sometimes policymakers are going backwards instead of forwards and you with the context of the movement what do you make of the way that the situation's being perceived at the moment because i'm just learning that jim besides the state department spokesperson has denied that al qaida groups or mushroom meeting in the area know now why she actually did nothing that when reports suggest otherwise. well it's really hard to tell what's coming out of syria i think we've you know we've been going over. you know it's

a very difficult to tell one side or the other that you know there's so much fighting going on there rebel groups going on again or go to their outside players coming in and there are people who are coming in creating groups and calling themselves al-qaeda so it's really hard for us to say one way or the other so i mean i really wouldn't you know i really surprised that a state department official came out and made this call right now considering the fact that it's really really tough for us to figure out who who is who and i think that's why the administration has been so apprehensive about policy although it should be more a little bit more in this there since should be borne missile attack on our part i'm sure that is the issue isn't it who is who his this u.s. now saying that they will resume normal leave for help for the rebels but how can you be so specific about where that help should be going to well you know we are giving a lot of aid to syria and it's solved for some time now and it's out of washington

and and the government here so we do have people that we know are in place that can help get places to get these these things to the right people i mean the hard part is that the militants are creating roadblocks the militants have control over places so it's hard for your basic civilian or basic aid worker to be able to get you know things from point a to point b. and that's where the danger comes into place because we don't know if these groups are going to hurt these people that are helping to bring in aid or they're going to actually let them go through but i mean i would rather personally see non-lethal aid then more combat or weapons go into the area sorry you know that's a that's a better bet my you know great to get your view on this thank you very much indeed for sharing your time with us here in addition to us foreign policy analyst at new york university live from the state thank you very much. so the u.s.

is highly likely to resume lethal military aid to the syrian opposition so what exactly do they want to send while normal lethal aid is everything needed for combat except for guns and bullets that includes body armor night vision goggles and communication equipment but there are a lot of gray areas here when non lethal objects become lethal for example when a radio transmitter is used to trigger an explosive device meanwhile some very graphic footage has appeared online claiming to show the aftermath of a massacre carried out by al qaeda fighters and they have grown ever stronger now in the country and some analysts say there is a flow of lethal aid that has played its role in this united states provided lethal assistance through jordan through the cia and through that through turkey through the opposition but the opposition is is is fragmented incapable and and what's happened is that the the the more radical elements. principally the the the foreign fighters have taken over the opposition in terms of the fighting and

consequently those weapons of got into their hands they've become emboldened they've become they've gotten better weapons as a consequence are getting surface to air missiles they got r.p.g. and invariably what will happen is that if you put to start to pass weapons to the opposition it evidently will fall into the hands of the extremists because they are just much more. in addition to being more radicalized they are also. more fierce fighters and they have shown that against the opposition. and as the jihad his group the islamic state of iraq in the valley gains momentum in syria across the border in iraq also controlling key cities in the country's biggest province now reports coming in a fierce fighting between government troops and militants in the area between for ramadi now the government is still holding off its offensive to retake them they fear that the civilian casualties may lead to local sunni tribal leaders siding

with the al-qaeda militants controlling the cities he was a suicide bomber hit an army recruitment center in baghdad on thursday twenty two soldiers were killed and dozens were wounded attack is seen as retaliate against the iraqi government which has been calling for new troops to join its fight against al qaida u.s. is weighing in boosting its missile on surveillance drone deliveries to iraq the move is being greeted with caution by many experts and people of elena's gas debate washington's role in the conflict and cross talk later today. the united states spent nine years applying hellfire missiles and drones in automation and attacks of all sorts of kinds and none of that worked is the definition of of mental illness to keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results introducing weapons into iraq at this time from the united states will likely have as much success this time as it did the last time and this is kind of deja vu all over again it's really quite amazing i mean we have to remind our viewers here

there was no al qaeda in iraq before the invasion and now they have i mean come on i mean what is the learning curve here or is there anyone anywhere learning curve at all with all of the distortions of the result of meddling and outright murder by the united states is this spirit seeking sovereignty self-determination dignity etc all right we're going to be running down and down but it's only it is interesting if you hands off it for a few minutes and some good players itself ask those p.k. well you can we do for you. years of austerity and burn outs are taking their toll on the public's confidence in the european union with the latest poll showing people serious disappointment in the blocs leadership doesn't bode well for ruling parties with the doorstep is artie's peter oliver. no in a few months europeans will be going to the polls in what could be the most important european parliamentary elections but the latest gallup polls to to sticks

well don't make good reading for those that will be standing for the top spots across the european parliament even those countries that have received some of the most help countries like spain that received forty one billion euros to bail out its failing banking sector well in two thousand and nine fifty nine percent of the population said they had faith and they supported the european leadership is another country that's traditionally been very pro e.u. ireland they received sixty seven point five billion. bailout they're failing banking system seventy percent of the irish population and previously said that they supported the european union now that number forty seven percent well is also being big declines for support to be you in countries like sweden finland austria the netherlands denmark and that you care the first time since these type of statistics have existed you might have kingdom it doesn't finish last when it comes

to use the whole you currently that statistic belongs to greece with only nineteen percent of their population supporting the european union understandable really when you see the hardships that has been inflicted upon their people by the european crisis it's not just european politicians that have seen a downturn in popularity the euro itself is also hit huge lows and well europeans look to alternative types of currency to secure their finances we can find out more on that from maria for not. these colorful return and not money but the real value is you can go shopping these bills in your wallet. at the restaurants here. and you will turn a t.v. also called complimentary currencies that people of businesses agree to use for transactions within a particular area a district quarter with just

a street may look like something from a kid's game but the reasons behind it are far from child's play you know his. first practical local currencies stay within the region developed by peaks second ideological a lack of confidence in official common sense i mean people want to have something they understand that they can control and that they can trust not just something that is printed you don't know how with no control and leads to speculation alternative forms of money have a history stretching back decades and appear to be growing in popularity especially tough financial times on the reason enough i think it's playing splay a lot with money and often risky games but it beyond of the day ordinary people have to pay for mistakes and losses this is why people want to have a currency that they will be sure will serve them and not go disappear somewhere in fiscal paradises global finance system so banks today's maced famous headline grabbing turn to currency is the digital bitcoin but there are dozens of others and

he's world wide in france europe's second largest economy people exchange services and goods via at least twenty different types of complimentary currencies and their numbers are growing. that the slain is behind one such project the one probably outside paris she says she never considered paying with anything other than euros until the advantages of an alternative became clear. but as with the euro is that a definitely not just a mode of exchange but it also became a mode of speculation to feed banks while local currency and support local projects and develop a real economy on the ground which means it works for us the people. restaurant is part of the project and only the flower shop and that any supermarket it is on can. hear police. that are people in the world of finance that will nothing else

but to make people puter all for their own benefit why should we allow them to do that this to indicates this restaurant accept cash the red wings to fish a no peach in french but also energy and the slogan was a lot polish your c.v. is used to express someone is in good health and full of energy which the local currencies hail friends certainly seem to be experts claim complimentary currencies will never replace an official one however if trust is undermined hard enough in conventional money people may start looking for a different type of change. from france. to come in or to international the right wing voices in japan but getting less. than. forty looks of help nationalists are calling for the need to regain self-respect to make its presence felt that another story still to come.

around this clearly again falling back into extreme civil strife washington says it wants to help but most iraqis appear wary of any more american assistance then there is afghanistan washington plans to finally leave this year the sad reality for all involved is the fact that washington may never be able to leave. if you've got nothing and you've got no opportunity. to start to construct your current. you don't want to be bad. don't want to be gangsters you don't want to be. but.

i don't want. the four year old boy has been shot dead by u.s. soldiers in afghanistan the troops opened fire on the top mistaking him for the enemy due to poor visibility in another development a u.s. military plane has crashed killing three american soldiers on board. between washington and kabul a top american negotiator said a pact between the two states is unlikely to be before afghanistan's presidential elections in april washington was hoping to secure a long term agreement with president hamid karzai if it would allow for ten thousand u.s.

troops to stay in the country after the withdrawal of foreign forces. but none of the daily u.s. is demanding immunity from prosecution for all its soldiers something. to accept. in iraq and afghanistan explain to me why the deal is crucial for the u.s. . no settlement in my view anyway is likely to have any chance of success by settlement time the sort of political way forward from the american perspective unless it got troops there because what will simply happen is that the insurgency in the south that we call the taliban is likely to take a far greater stake in any political arrangement after the election assuming of course that the elections go well this is an absolutely crucial deal for the americans and they're playing a very dangerous game here the cards aren't that good because our house has all the good has all the good cards admiral allen west who was britain's head of the navy

when the u.k. went into afghanistan has said the operation was a waste of time he called the war a strategic as well as a political failure which told us that he believes there is a need for some accountability of what happened there in afghanistan. it's been a defeat it's been a most appalling in terrible waste from the british perspective we've lost going on four hundred fifty soldiers thousands wounded who aren't going to get get better anytime soon our forces have killed thousands of afghan civilians they'll be forgotten about here in britain they won't be forgotten afghanistan the whole thing has been a disgraceful mess and. i'd like to see and i think many others would like to see some accountability for the. city of the twenty fourteen winter games she has launched the largest security operation in the olympic history tens of thousands of police officers have been drafted in with the sole aim of warding off any threats

and keeping locals visitors and athletes ortiz paul scott's reports. the twenty second olympic winter games in two thousand and fourteen i wore the two defeat be of sochi i as soon as russia's black sea resort was awarded the game seven years ago sell observed as a question the choice of host city such as close proximity to the volatile caucasus region was they argued a cause for concern. and the recent twin terror attacks in volgograd some seven hundred kilometers from sochi every ignited some of those worries organizers say security has been their main priority since day one the reason is the global threat and for terrorism there is no there is no terrorists but here in sochi from the very beginning of the construction phase the state.

made those with months to prepare the special measures to stop them from the screening of their own materials checking in all the venue and preparing incredible measures of the security to provide this safe environment here with less than a month to go now until the games begin tight security measures are already in place around forty thousand police and security offices are expected to be on patrol for sales of dangerous hunting equipment a banned for the duration of the games there's also a controlled stretching sixty kilometers along the coast and twenty five kilometers inland and encompassing all venues. in terms of security so it is a special case because this whole area is authorized visit is only there are security details from a number of countries including the u.k. and u.s. working here. and those security forces will be coming together to protect places

like this is the brand new purpose built train station in the olympic village is going to be one of the main transport hubs during the games moving thousands of spectators. we have cameras into crumbs that connect you with the engineer and the police present train stations and on the train security is pretty tight. with the bulk of the work now complete with all venues and transport networks built and tested sochi is now just waiting for the sporting world to descend pull scott r.t. . six suspects have been detained on charges of being behind a terror attack in the southern russian city of the gorski in late december and according to the anti terror committee all six have already confessed they were behind blowing up a parked truck filled with explosives the vehicle was detonated remotely and killed three passes by those who report the suspects were preparing another up far larger attack. which. may be known as a pacifist nation but some parts of japanese society think it is time for the

country to shift to the right russian news groups are calling for a harder line to be taken against enemies both at home and abroad what is the next year looks at how the trend may echo through the entire region. it's become a tradition in japan when some foreign officials are subjected to verbal abuse on this particular occasion japanese nationalists made their feelings known loud and clear to russia's foreign minister china and south korea have also been in their crosshairs one for an island dispute the other for sending too many labor migrants to japan where the latest protests korean workers were described as cockroaches which needed to be exterminated but this man is one of those behind the nationalist wellies in japan he says he'd like to see japan a more closer citee more and more there was an openness and we've been to open to the world now foreigners come here and commit crimes i want us to return to pre-war

period when we were closed and self-sufficient despite criticizing the government for its immigration policies the movement could not be feeling more coffeetable since twenty twelve when she and so other was reelected as prime minister such rallies have been on the rise. those are not only foreign nationals and delegations getting their stick from japanese nationalists there are locals who have directly suffered from their country for becoming on the far right these school teachers have been protesting because they lost their jobs for not complying with what they call ultranationalist regulations in schools. that see what should be made is an obligation to listen to the national anthem before classes until my pupils spawn of whom were not even japanese and it wasn't obligatory to stand up and then i got fired but it's not only about instilling national pride speculation is rife that with all this stronger japan hype is eager to amend the nine hundred forty seven constitution namely article number nine which braves japan from having any kind of

army other than for defense purposes in the increasingly intertwined world we can't ensure the peace of our nation without broad actively taking a role in the peace and security of the world why don't we take. forward on the shoe of constitutional amendment but not everyone is buying it and more far reaching goal could be reshaping the regional balance of power. there has been a talk among profile politicians including former prime ministers should be public debate whether japan should have nuclear weapons its new materialized but it's something the ruling elite has been pondering for years now. and non-pacifist japan let alone a nuclear power would send shock waves across the region say experts but for now even with nationalist voices getting louder polls suggest that such ideas are still some way from becoming reality let's see russia's t.r.t. reporting from japan. more news for you in just over half an hour from now in the

meantime as promised people of l. and crosstalk after the break.

what a country experiences a tragedy like the recent terrorism involved ground their questions what to do about it i mean we have to something right let's never let a good tragedy go to waste one to one member recommends getting rid of the moratorium on the death penalty for various groups including terror. it's because the death penalty is the perfect way to punish a suicide bomber also this do remember failed to mention high level cryptic kratz in the government as those who could possibly face the firing squad perhaps that was just an honest oversight i'm not against the death penalty in some rare instances but punishing terrorists after the fact doesn't bring victims back the focus needs to be on the source of terrorism soldiers can play around all day with weapons because the government gives them a salary weapons and training some people are recruiting arming and training new terrorists you don't need to usher in a massive surveillance state to stop terrorism or go death penalty crazy what you need to do is hit the funding and training source hard if you can i mean how many of you guys out there could make a remotely detonated bomb a c.

four on your own without help almost none of you see for doesn't grow on trees someone pays for it but that's just my opinion. but with economic ups and downs in the final months they. sang i and the rest live it's a neat way to be a prickly. dramas that can be ignored. stories others who refuse to notice. things since she.