in the last 14 months, long-time autocrats like ben alli, mubarak, saleh have fallen. in syria, assad's days also seem to be numbered. these are hugely important developments, brought about by people of tremendous courage. but they're only the beginning of the story. now begins the painstaking work of governing and rebuilding. and while less dramatic than the fall of a dictator, the decisions made today by leaders in tunis, cairo, tripoli, and elsewhere will powerfully shape the future of the arab world. in libya's case, the fall of gadhafi raises a host of challenging questions. how do you rebuild political institutions hollowed out by 42 years of misrule. what can be done to ensure government is transparent and responsive to the will of the people? and how do you disarm and reintegrate the country's militias? how do you breathe life into the economy? our guest this morning is intimately familiar with all these challenges. as many of you know, his excellence abdel rahim el-keib was a dissident under the gadhafi regime. exiled from libya in the '70s, he was educated in

what is it that they hope to accomplish the united states and its allies went into afghanistan to get ben law ok we got it they went in there they get a government that nurtured the fanes of nine eleven ok that government is gone it will never come back no matter if the taliban come back nobody will ever do that again they understand that so what's the reason for staying there to bring democracy to afghanistan it makes no sense ok and i think most of the world understands this ok gretchen pretty grim picture that we saw was just painted right there what do you think about i mean again it is great debate now is you know why are we continuing to stated to two thousand and fourteen how can i improve my two thousand and fourteen what would be the difference except for the loss of treasury in lives. well i agree with much of what he said in terms of i mean i think the current strategy is in tatters and there has been this string of absolutely appalling recent events that has. i think a record irreparably weakened the u.s. position and particularly the u.s. military position in afghanistan i al

and striking how unique the western atlantic experience is ben, partly because these are countries the united states and its major allies that were leaders in this technology early on that had a tradition of democratic deliberation where you had a series of national bioethics committee is deliberate, some open debate. first debates are far less invest in places like china, india, japan. and that think what we will see -- i hope we will see will be debates, ethical debates in most countries, some of those traditions. confucianism, buddhism, traditional religions as well as different perspectives on nature and science. this has to be a global debate eventually because if regard to draw lines, get to things like human genetic enhancement, some kind of international coordination will be necessary. the after a mouse different traditions and different points of views. >> release stand right now as far as our law structure and democratic politics? >> well, we have, i would say, difficult status quo that immersed gradually. it has been the cases the mid-1970s that federal funding research results and the destruction of embryos.

. >> to ben's point, the gingrich strategy is survival. an allie can suddenly be a rival.o it's whoever is in front of him, he will go after. so the robocalls have begun, and we know it. and the calls we are referring to specifically are about comparing santorum to you know, burying his union votes in the end zone. i mean, you know, this is sort of nutty stuff. i think, the question to rick tiyler is right what is the strategy, if you cannot win georgia, that is the next thing, what happens after that? >> rick tyler we will be asking you that question in the coming days and definitely coming back to you after -- >> we will win georgia. >> there we go. >> rick tyler thank you as always for your wisdom and patience. after the break, the fienlnding are in, the cold case posse have unveiled the results of the investigation of president ob a obama's birth certificate. next on "now." hey, sis... it's so great to see you. you, too! ahh, cloudy glasses. you didn't have to come over! actually, honey, i think i did. oh? you did? whoa, ladies, easy. hi. cascade kitchen counselor. we

ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. girl: i want to tell you about my friend. his name is ben. ben learned about a homeless boy who had an infected tooth, and the boy died. that made ben really sad. he wrote a law so every kid can see a dentist. we have special dental van that goes from school to school. he even helps make sure we learn how to brush our teeth. he's my friend, ben. i hope he's your friend, too. i'm ben cardin, and i approved this message. >>> former governor of illinois rod blagojevich is beginning his 14-year sentence on corruption charges tonight in a federal prison in colorado. getting there today was an event from the camera crews and crowds outside his house in chicago to o'hare airport where he signed a few final autographs before departing. then there was the commercial flight on american airlines, handcuffed to denver, where his black suv was followed by news choppers to the prison. a trip that included his last lunch as a free man at freddie's frozen custard and steak burgers in littleton, colorado. >>> in the world of field hockey, this passes for marc

ben bashar assad goes and that regime collapses iran will loose its own ally and lose a bridge to hezbollah. it's a strategic loser in this drama awe. it's more have you been al and as iran's adversary he wants to see a weaker and more vulnerable iran. and he doesn't want, he doesn't want a premature attack on iran that would create image of iran as a victim. so i think he sees the fall of the assad regime as something not to interrupt, let's put it that way. and then he sees a number of other issues in sequence before he himself reaches the point at which the military component becomes a viable option. >> rose: answer the question jeffrey that i asked dennis. what would the scenario be if there was a military attack regardless of how it's carried out and by whom. >> yes. well no, i mean it's all about the timing. i think military attack now would be seen as precipitous and aggressive. not only by many iranians, obviously, but by many people around the world. it would give iran the opportunity to claim the mantle of victim. i think russia and possibly china would completely break with the s

allies and the hope is what you have is enough. the people delivering the signatures rode to the state capitol from flint, detroit, ben harbor.asking their votes count as much as anyone else's vote counts in michigan. in essence the minority asking the majority to vote for the minority's right to have a say. african americans in michigan have asked this question before. back in 1850, 1850 the state held a referendum on equal sufferage for colored persons. they called the negro sufferage issue and it was again no. african americans in detroit finally celebrated in 1870 when the u.s. constitution was amended to protect minority voting rights. the constitution, the constitution to protect a minority's rights from the whims of the majority. but now this week, the counting begins in michigan on potential recall of the single most radical policy put in place by any of the republican legislatures and governors elected in 2010. a recall that if it happened, will take the form of a majority of the state of michigan, voting to reinstate the voting rights of a pretty powerless minority in michigan. by definition, rights are not supposed