lebanon -- an example of lebanon.by the way, it's very hard not to fall in love with lebanon with all of its flaws. it's an amazing country, an amazing culture. it's hospitableable, it's tolerant. it's got a culture that is open. and it's, of course, geographically magnificent. that is why it is the closest place in the middle east of europe and it's still loved. but let's face it lebanon doesn't have -- [inaudible] christians who used to be a majority in the early 20th century now are a minority. they're still a significant minority. so it's much more sectarian than any other -- in that sense it isn't representative of the arab world what it is, though, is all the arab states have founded a place. this is not nearly. this is in part because the people of opposing views from radical left to the right wing to the israelis, the saudis. so it is a place where a lot of issues in the region played themselves out. it's a very unique place. host: let me share with you one of the tweets from george who says "one are the odds

they dropped somewhere around 4 million submunitions on southern lebanon in about the last three daysnow, because of that, you have two problems. one, when as you saw in the video the munition explodes it covers a very large area and so people are caught up during the strikes. but afterwards, you have upwards of 25% don't blow up. so 25% of 4 million, you know, that's a million land mines that are sitting there waiting for people to touch them. and there were millions of killed. there was a death a few weeks ago, a lebanese farmer was killed. now, one of the problems that we had at that time -- israel had failed to provide the locations of the bombs that they had dropped. they had refused to provide the strike data for all of the cluster munitions. we pressured them. a lot of people pressured them. the international community pressured them and i'm happy to say just last week they did provide that data to the united nations. now, some people will say too little too late. yes, it is late but at least that data has been provided and hopefully the u.n. will now be able to find whatever o

while sending money to the south of lebanon? to your other point, in terms of the demonstrations, there are questions about how the election came out. the people who run around have always used the turnout as a sign that they are accepted and that people like the islamic system and that they believe in it. it always have used the turnout as that kind of gauge. if you listen to the press conference on sunday, he was talking about the 85% turnout. if the turnout turns out to be hollow, it looks -- that is why the outcome is so important. host: we have been showing people on twitter there is a special section set up. army forces were entering to iran. talk about the influence of social media sites in the coverage of what has been going on. guest: the government was worried about it, so they shutdown text messaging. a lot into nine -- a lot internet sites were shut down. obviously, it is a huge organizational tool. twitter is up and running. people compose messages on that. it is interesting in looking at other countries where there

perspective it can be argued one of the solar linings of the toppling of a saddam hussein and lebanon war has laid bare of iran's long standing by levels before and the region and spurred their stance toward greater activism against the iranian challenge and throughout that we found in rain by arab activists the half ounce to anticipate the challenge and i iran's regional rise especially in iraq. jardine alice told us you have to hand it to the iranians, they had a plan for iran the renovation and deserve the influence that they have. in light of this recognition is to come as no surprise the u.s. is trying to harness the activism through

and have watched in lebanon and then in iraq and afghanistan as insurgent groups and terrorist groups have been able to make inroads against more superior conventional power. and they have gained a lot of lessons from those kinds of observations. the key focus for them, especially given they look at the united states as their main adversary. a key focus is defending their regime and countering what is a superior adversary in the united states. so deterrence is a great importance. it is a matter in public statements and exercises, those are all geared towards threatening a very high cost if they are attacked. they have a peripheral defense which they look at, we could call it a forward defense, whereby they use proxies and militias and other types of kind of to project their power. and as a defense, a forward defense against invasion. and in case of invasion, a mosaic sense whereby they want to conduct hit-and-run and guerrilla tactics and also use their institute of strategic patients to wear down any invader. underlined these issues that i've just gone through, are four types of comp

much of their appeal we found in our field work in lebanon was due to rising sectarian tensions, the fear that there was this sunni empowerment, this growing radicalism -- salafi radicalism and reverting to his bow as the only defense in this arising sunni threat. but i think hezbollah is planned to that domestic constituents seem, regarding the elections i don't want to predict what the relationship obey. i think there could be a strong case that hezbollah will increasingly and as irresponsible political actor inside lebanon on that this increased political power could, in fact, moderated but i think the relationship will still be solid but again it won't translate into direct control and what we tried to convey understanding is it's certainly influences the group's but cannot control them and should not be thought of as automatons. >> okay, in the back over here. one and then the other one behind it. maybe you could both ask a question after the next and will have the responses. >> john duke anthony, i agree with most of what has been said here but additional points on a possible r

[laughter] >> there hadn't been a massive air lift of flour to lebanon after all. but it just underscores, i think, how suspicious iranians have grown to be of their government and how convinced they are that it puts these ideological causes before the iranians welfare and how cynical they have gotten. that cynicism is going to be a factor to contend with in the upcoming elections certainly because many iranians sat out the 2005 election and some regret that because they see that it contributed to the rise of president mahmoud ahmadinejad. some still believe that their vote doesn't really matter and are ambivalent again about voting. but i think one thing that everyone is hopeful about is president obama. and the sense there's once again a president in washington who will deal respectfully with iran and will not resort to belittling or humiliating rhetoric and i think there's a real excitement that perhaps he will recognize iran's ancient culture and it's contributions to world civilization. and sort of whether or not there's grand reconciliation on the political l

when there was extraordinary pressure to leave lebanon, the israelis withdrew from lebanon and what was their reward? they ended up with hezbollah on their northern border and a war. when prime minister sharon decided that he would unilaterally withdraw from the gaza, one would have thought that the palestinians would have used this opportunity to demonstrate to the world that they were capable of self-governance. instead of that, they have rained 8,000 rockets on israel proper over the last three years. i believe that israel exercised extraordinary restraint before they finally went into the gaza to end this bloodshed and carnage against their own people. i understand how the israelis feel, how tentative they are right now about sitting down and moving towards a two-state solution without any assurances, what is the guarantee after they've left lebanon and got hezbollah, after they left the gaza and got hamas, that if they leave the west bank, what is going to happen then? do you want a terrorist state living side by side with a democratic state of israel? i don't think anybody wants a

much of their appeal, we found in our field work in lebanon, was due to rising sectarian tensions, the fear that there was this sunni empowerment, this growing radicalism, and that many of the shi'a were reverting to hezbollah as sort of the only protecter that could defend them in the face of this, this rising sunni threat. so i think hezbollah is playing to the domestic constituency. you know, regarding the elections, i mean, i don't, i don't want to predict what the relationship will be. i think there could be a strong case that, that hezbollah will increasingly act as a responsible political actor inside lebanon that this increased political power could in fact moderate it but i think the relationship wiran will still be, will still be solid but again it won't translate into direct control and what we try to convey in our study is that iran certainly influences these groups but it cannot control them. they should not be thought of as automotons. >> okay. in the back. over here. one -- one and then the other one behind. maybe you could both ask one question after the next and then w

events in lebanon are driven by other factors. we are entering a new process, a new phase. we will see where. >> ica hand back care. i cannot see much more than that. >> and wanted to come back to the question of what is going on in the u.s. we have a bill being pushed by aipac. some were saying it is being framed as divestment from the orla and gas sector in iran and some say that passing this bill would be supportive of the green movement and mousavi's efforts. i want you to talk about the political implications, the economic implications, broadly, and the economic implications for the pilots -- the parts that have an interest in the oil and gas sector. >> i will try. i honestly believe we have already put enough constraints on the orla gas -- oil and gas. any additional would only add to what the russians are doing. i do not think we have to worry about the russians. they put up a good talk but they do not want to do with it. but the chinese and the indians are interested. as time goes by, if we really isolate, they will completely shift to the east and we will wake up o

we were certainly heartened by the large turnout in lebanon and what appears to be a large turnout inraq. i have seen people said that are far more well versed in for a policy than i am that the president's speech has had a positive impact, but i do not think it would be -- i do not want to draw too many conclusions at this point. i do think that having someone stand up, as he did, where he did, and speak passionately about choosing, taking part in elections and choosing a government has had an impact around the world. yes? >> a very high approval rating, and in india, he is so popular that i have a friend who wants to present him with a portrait. in turkey and egypt. do you think that he will continue to have a high rating? and the muslim world, they also have a very high rating at this time. also the investment for democracy there. >> look, again, i think the president has dedicated, obviously, a significant amount of time since coming to the white house in reaching out to both the muslim world and also to be looking for peace in the middle east, and i think he believes that he woul

we saw this in lebanon when i was a journalist there. because of the strong factions that had their own militia, it was basically impossible to have a national government that had that sort of reach. do you think he will be able to do that? >> sir, i think it is one of the things that must be done. it can be one of the leaders of creating a more national view of the government. one of the good things about it is viewed as national and not of a certain sect. >> do you have an idea about how these moneys will be paid to this national army? i don't mean how they are going to be raised, but actually how we will transmit these monies in a situation where we agree there is a high level of corruption in the government. i am speaking in terms of transparency so we know where the money is going. >> i agree with you on the importance. . . the definition of leadership goes well beyond confidence, it goes towards stewardship for those who serve under us. you would agree with that, would you not? >> absolutely. >> we have a situation here that i thin

but the ambassador was withdrawn four years ago as a protest to the assassination of former lebanon prime minister harare. the security council of the united nations thought a resolution on april 7 of 2005 to establish an independent international investigating commission to inquire into all aspects of the terrorist attack killing prime minister harare. that tribunal has faced considerable obstacles, but it is still in operation, and i think its report would be very important in making a determining as to who is responsible for the assassination of prime minister harare and whether syrian officials were complicated in any way. but i do believe and have believed for a long time that syria could be the key to advancing the peace process in the mideast in kwebgs with my duties as -- in connection with my duties as work on the subcommittee during my work in the senate, i have traveled extensively abroad and concentrated on the situation in the mideast. in connection with those travels i visited syria 18 times and studied the syrian government, have gotten to know the former president, preside

i wondered if you made the connection between his speech and what has happened in lebanon and iran in terms of the election. did he take credit for what is going on? >> i think as we have talked about in here, i do think that the reaction around the world to the president's speech, particularly in the muslim world has been i think beneficial. to our efforts at recasting ourselves in the world. i think we were certainly heartened by a the large turnout in lebanon and what appears to be a large turnout in iran. >> [inaudible] >> i have seen people say who are more well versed in foreign policy than i am that the president's speech has had a positive impact. i do not think it would be -- i do not want to draw too many conclusions at this point. i do think that having someone stand up as he did where he did and speak passionately about choosing -- taking part in elections in choosing a government has had an impact around the world. >> [unintelligible] and in india he is so popular that [unintelligible] my question is that, since he was in the muslim world in turkey and egypt, do you think

israel, that -- dropped e munitions on lebanon. it covered a large area and people were caught up in the strike. afterwards, and upwards of 25% do not blow up. there could be 1 million land mines waiting for people to touch them treated there were somewhere around 300 civilians killed shortly after the conflict. there have still been deaths and injuries. there was a death a few weeks ago where a farmer was killed. one problem we had at the time was that israel had failed to provide the locations of the bonds they had dropped. they refused to provide the strike data for all of the cluster munitions. we pressured them. a lot of people pressured them. the international community pressured them. just last week, they did provide the data to the united nations. some people will say is too little and too late. it is late, but at least the date has been provided a. hopefully, the u. n will be able to find other areas that were hit that they did not know about. going from the short-term change we made, there were approximately 300 deaths. t

the president -- is safe to say the president is heartened by the turnout in 11 non and -- in in lebanon and demonstrates a win for democracy. . . >> this takes some ground work to be laid in order to be able to move that money from individual to -- individual departments. it took some time to get the legislation passed. we do not feel in any way that the recovery is bogged down or the efforts. you heard jared say that by his estimations we are slightly ahead of where we ought to be. most of the spending has been obligated. beginning april 1st, 95% of working americans saw an increase in their paycheck. they will see that in a steady level over the course of two years. this is a sustained effort over the course of two years to jump- start the economy to make critical investments in many of the projects that injured pointed out. this is to create -- that jared pointed out. we went to the foundation for long-term economic growth. >> in the president's session today, he says, knock on wood, there have not been the scandals. >> i think that, in many ways, you want to lay the foundation for h

we saw in lebanon things were beginning to change and the idea with iraq, afghanistan, the i.d.'s sea change could be brought to the palestinians but underlying all of this was the fact that a pollster who was the only real pollster within the palestinians was turning out poll after poll indicating fatah was going to wind. there did not seem to be a lot of risk for the israelis. they said we will support the election we'll make us look at -- look like good guys but the palestinians will show they should choose the less violent of the factions. we continue to see, this will happen, taub will win by a large margin the night of the election fatah members were driving around in trucks shooting into the air celebrating their victory but the following morning it was hamas going around. the zoo explanations for the way the polls showed out. one, you can read this in the book on hamas that they deliberately tried to derail the process but wanted to tell the pollsters that its members are actually voting for for taub but they were trying to obfuscate what the actual pull or election resul

we have an election in lebanon. the lebanese people elected the pro western government. we have other things happening and the world today. that indicates people hear, now, and in very high-tech ways they are learning that freedom is valuable. but it doesn't come to us free. so, yes, i don't like everything in this bill. i could go through my list, too. each one of us would write a different bill. but i'll tell you what i like less: the loss of jobs, the threat of the swine flu, the threat of aids, the threat of world instability, the spread of weapons. so i say we should vote for this bill, as flawed as it is, sending a clear message to our president that we agree with him, this should be the last war supplemental, let's do these things on budget, let's go back to pay-go, let's wrap our arms around fiscal responsibility the we we did in the 1990's. let me remind my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who are ranting and raving about deficits, that under their president we had the most outrageous deficits, the most outrageous debt. we democrats under bill clinton g

the french took over syria and lebanon. the british took over palestine and iraq. the areas allotted to israel had been under the control of the on the man empire from 1517 to 1917. during this 400-year rein, it was only sparsely populated. it was the oppressed jewish population and muslim immigrant groups and small groups of christians in the area. the actual boundaries of what became the state of israel were set by the united nations in 1947 when formally established in 1948, the attacks on the state of israel began immediately by the neighboring arab states. arafaf formed the palestinian liberation organization or the p.l.o. in 1964. he formed a state within a state and the palestinian homeland of jordan. arafat stated that jordan was palestine. not until the 1967 war that the arab nations backed the p.l.o. for the purpose of taking back land that israel had won in that defensive war of 1967. in 1967, arab forces massed against israel surrounding the tiny nation. the egyptian president sicked them out which acted as a buffer. the world watched hundreds of thousa

frampled, vietnam, new zealand, lebanon and jamaica have ministries of tourism. germany has a national tourist board and australia has a tourism australia program. in 2005, greece spent more than $150 million on travel promoti promotion. france spent $63 million. that's what we're up against. the travel promotion act, madam president, would level the playing field so we can compete with the rest of the world and recapture the lost market share. it will create the corporation for travel promotion, a public-private partnership to promote the united states as an international travel destination and finally establish a coordinated national travel program. under the direction of a board of directors made up of representatives from the states, the federal government and the travel industry, the corporation would be in charge of a national travel promotion program whose goals would be to encourage travel to the united states, to communicate our country's travel policies, and to promote international exposure for parts of america that don't have the resources to promote

the richness of religion diversity must be upheld whether it is for those in lebanon or those in egypt. [applause] " if we are being honest, all- must be close among moslems as well as divisions have lead to tragic problems particularly in iraq. freedom of religion is central to the ability of people to live together. we must always examine the ways in which we protect. in the united states, rules on charitable giving have made it harder for moslems to fulfill their religious obligation. that is why i am committed to working with american moslems to ensure they can fulfill their religious belief. likewise, it is important for western countries to avoid competing moslem citizens from practicing religion as they see fit. by dictating what close a muslim woman should wear, for instance. we cannot disguise hostility toward any religion behind the pretense of liberalism. should bring us together. -- faith should bring us together. we welcome efforts like saudi arabian king of the an interfaith dialogue and turkeys leadership in the alliance of civilization. we can turn dialogue into interfa

fighting its way out of the darkness of the recent decade, a positive political trends in places like lebanon, pakistan and iraq. last but not least the unprecedented cooperation between the nations of the gulf as you and we face is very difficult and dangerous threats to our common security. as i said at the outset, american administrations led by both parties going back some six decades have regarded the stability of the region as the vital interest to the united states. the president's i have been privileged to serve all recognized our security and prosperity were closely tied to the security and prosperity of the middle east. president obama is no different. he has president -- pledged that we will continue to be engaged in this part of the world. as we look ahead, let us pledge to keep these efforts strong and make them even stronger and cast aside old animosity and work together in friendship forging ever closer ties between your militaries and u.s. central command, and with each other. all of this will bring a better and brighter future for all of our people. thank you very much. [appl

"new york times," may 27, 2009, hointpointed out hezbollah the shiite militant group involved in lebanon and its government had talks with the i.m.f. to discuss the possibility of extension of credit. are we not, i'd ask the gentleman, affording the i.m.f. the ability to extend credit to groups such as that in countries such as that, as well as the potential for countries to access the credit, including iran, venezuela, simbabway, burma, etc. we are very, very concerned. there is a real possibility that some of the world's worst regimes will have access to additional resources that will be providing to the i.m.f. is he not concerned about that? i yield. mr. hoyer: of course, we are all concerned about the fact that any money would go to those regimes. the fact of the matter is the i.m.f. could have given to very bad regimes during the reagan administration or the bush administration. the reason the reagan administration and first bush administration, and although don't have a quote from the second bush administration, the second bush administration as well was a supporter of the i.m.f. a

praetorian guard with dominance see in foreign policy, a driving policy on the nuclear program, iraq, lebanon, palestine, other places. it praetorian guard that upholds fundamentals and values but also in nationalistic outlook that concerns the arab states. also a praetorian guard that had little knowledge of and a few connections to the outside world beyond syria, hezbollah operatives, and the likes of few hugo chavez. there is very little good news and you interlocutors -- and few interlocutors. they are speculating about iran's coming behavior. it will largely depend on the iranian leadership. after all, the only item they were really worried about was the western-backed revolution -- and it happened. the threat materialized. if i iranian leaders mean what they say when they blame the protests in the streets on the west, then what she might see is the rise of a more confrontational -- then what you might see is the rise of a more confrontational or ran. this is if ahmadinejad mean what he says publicly. that the u.s. and the u.k. are driving that process. if they have the courage to acknow

and, you know, we saw already that in lebanon, that things were sort of beginning to change and the idea was and in iraq and in afghanistan the idea was that perhaps that same change could be brought to the palestinians, but underlying all of this was the fact that a pollster who's probably the only real pollster within the palestinians was churning out poll after poll indicating that fatah was going to win so there didn't seem to be a lot of risk for the israelis. the israelis thought we'll support the elections. it will make us look like good guys and the u.s. look like good guys and in the end the palestinians will choose the less violent of the two factions that are up for election. so, you know, what we continue to see, hey, this is going to happen. fatah is going to win by a large margin. as a matter of fact, after the elections, the night that the elections took place members were driving around in trucks shooting in the air celebrating their victory. and then the following morning it was hamas that was going around shooting in the air. now, there are two explanations for the way

shibley telhami will join us to talk about the elections in lebanon and what is next in the middle east following president obama's speech in cairo last week, and the elections in iran, and the dynamics in the middle east. later in the program, the w ill turn areour focus to the two american journalists in north korea. >> "the wall street journal" says treasury officials expect nine of the biggest banks are free to repay their funds with an initial payback of $50 billion in government bailout funds. congress approved the $700 billion troubled assets relief program eight months ago. the joint economic committee will meet today to secure from the chairman of the tarp congressional president obama program president will announce new rules requiring lawmakers to pay for new initiatives, including an overhaul of the health system, or face automatic spending cuts. the announcement will come from the east room of the white house. more on chrysler today. fiat says it will not walk away from its deal to buy chrysler despite a supreme court justice ruth painter ginsburg putting the deal on hold w

$2,000 or $3,000 a year, and this regime gives twice or 10 times that amount to a hezbollah family in lebanon or a family in palestinian, when he is starving, those rirets are not in the interests of your own people. i have heard them celebrating making yellow cake? how about making bread for us because we are starving. if you trust the iranian people, and you should in their decision, i have no doubt that first and foremost we have a sense of respect for ourselves. our signature must mean something. we have signed a treaty. if we violate that treaty, how could we possibly think if tomorrow we wanted to become a member of the world trade organization, and we have violated this signature, how could you ever trust them. that is my position and principle on the subject. thank you. >> i would like to refer to a former question concerning the future of iran. when you look at the people who have not an important roll, like mr. moose wie and others, they are all part of the regime. how do you envision the future of iran? is it going to overthrow it? it is probably not going to be a return to the old

i look at lebanon in 2006. i was there when the bombs were falling. there are obviously, physical strength that we have. then you worry about some of the other actors. do we have security problems. then there is the issue of when you are doing your work, if i am interviewing a civilian, and all of a sudden has a lot shows up, that will influence that interview. -- and hezbollah shows up, they will influence that interview. get back if you can, try do -- determine if it is a poison interview. it can be dangerous work. >> to what extent is your work affected by the ban on journalism gaza? >> that is a perfect example of lack of access. not only was the press not getting in, but human rights monitors were not getting in. i was able to stand there on the line and watch the fighting. we could see white phosphorus and, to the press. it was nice that you had bbc there, and explained what was going on. for me, it was interesting looking at, what helicopters were flying, what aircraft. what munitions were they carrying? once you go in, you then had a feeding f

hizbollah in lebanon, for instance. speaking of hezbollah, there are elements that are recruiting, as far as the venezuela and colombia members for hezbollah. can i call them back for additional help? evidently, they are doing that in some cases. it has been reported that hamas elements have been called by the regime for suppression inside iran right now. it is no longer question of any particular candidate, it is about the sanctity of the ballot box and sovereignty and the legitimacy of the regime as a whole. the fate of people like mr. mousavi lies, in my opinion, as it clear demarcation from the regime. you cannot on the one hand be a candidate of people demanding justice and peace of the the regime -- demanding justice vis- a-vis the regime and uphel the system. that will be the question of whether or not he has actually peeled away from the system for the people. you cannot have any more. -- cannot hedge any more. you have to pick one of the other. >> i am a member of the national press club and a freelance writer

whether it is in iran or lebanon, we shall see. and, in fact, your point about this democracy issue is different than what the previous president, george bush, abdicated. what i think might have been a difference in emphasis was that the last president focused on elections as the only path to democracy. given that hamas won elections in gaza, this president seemed to put a broader focus on creating liberal institutions. judiciary, women's rights, creating the foundation for our elections. words are similar, a think there were definitely some major differences as well. host: we're spending much of the morning getting reaction to the president's speech in cairo yesterday. our guest is david makovsky. good morning. caller: good morning to david. thank you for c-span. today, i listened to the entire speech. i listened to the whole speech from the beginning to the end. the reason i want to call today is i feel very close to the palestinian issue. i was born a year after 1948. we were moved from a major palestinian cities. they were move

way he can to power but the threat he posed to other countries, the leader of hezbollah in southern lebanon is classic and a list goes on. >> host: why did you write this book? >> guest: out of a longstanding fascination with wide democracy to me is probably the most beautiful and extraordinary thing we have come up with in society. of course, -- in the course of human condition but suffers from a paradox which is a freedom probably our most valuable gift we can so easily let it go that i have been thrown my life would be at what happened in germany in the 1930's they had a beautiful and hopeful constitution and people ordinary germans handed the freedom over through the lawful process and it was turned against them. that it turns out was just something that happened in germany. it has gone through human history over and over france during the french revolution and where you had in a few short years liberty equality and fraternity were their goals then you have the air and guillotines. you have this paradox haunting mystery. and it was fascinating. had you make democracy work and not just w

the foreign minister of lebanon said all of the issues that came to palestine since november of 1917 the date of the balfour declaration, all of them were considered illegal immigrants and he said once the arab state was created he thought they should deport 400,000 jews from palestine so the jewish population could number no more than 50,000. that was the arab position. one of the things we do in the book, is the role of the great mufti of jerusalem. of course, you had collaborated and lived in nazi germany and working closely with the nazi is hoping for the arrow victory that installed him as the chief representative of the nazis in palestine. his cousin, jamal, was at this point* a leader of the arab league in the higher committee. he was asked, because i was asked by the americans, what would happen if palestine was made an entire arab state? he to said that 30% of the jews would have to leave and the rest would have to except a minority status living under the arab law. moreover, he said it was readily apparent that the head of the new palestinians all arab state would be the gr

the richness of religious diversity must be upheld whether it is for maronites in lebanon or the copts in egypt. [applause] and if we are being honest, fault lines must be closed imam muslims as well as the divisions between sunnis and shia have lead to tragic violence, particularly in iraq. freedom of religion is central to the ability of people to live together. we must always examine the ways in which we protect it. for instance, in the united states, rules on charitable giving have made it harder for muslims to fulfill their religious obligation. that's why i'm committed to working with american muslims to ensure that they can fulfill zakat. likewise it is important for western countries to avoid competing muslim citizens from practicing religion as they see fit. for instance by dictating what clothes and muslim women should wear. we can't disguise hostility towards any religion behind the pretense of liberalism. in fact, faith should bring us together. and that's why we are forging service projects in america to bring together christians, muslims, and jews. that's why we welcome e

the regime gives this kind of money, twice, five, 10 times that amount, to some hezbollah family in lebanons starting, those priorities are not in the interest of their own people. people know that. people are celebrating making yellowcake? how about celebrating keeping us from starving? if you trust the iranian people, and we shoin

came into power but the threat that he posed to other countries, the leader of hezbollah in southern lebanon is classic and will list goes on. >> host: why did you write this book? >> guest: out of a longstanding fascination with why come a democracy to me is probably the most beautiful and extraordinary thing we have come up with in a society. in the course of the human condition. but it suffers from a paradox which is freedom, probably our most valuable gift. we can so easily let it go that i have been throughout my life at what happened in germany in the thirties they had a quite beautiful and hopeful constitution but then people of ordinary germans handed their freedom over to adolf hitler through the lawful process then turned against them that it turns out it has gone through human history over and over a happened in france during the french revolution in a few short years you have liberty and equality than a few short years later you have pierre and the guillotine's. anybody has seen dimas rumba, you have a paradox i was fascinated one days with that had to make it flourish and ordina

mahmoud ah d ahmednijad in the threat he posed to other countries, the leader of hezbollah in southern lebanon, that is a classic demagogue. the list goes on. >> why did you write this book? >> a long standing transportation, why democracy to me is the most beautiful and extraordinary thing we have come up with. and society, in the course of the human condition, suffers from a paradox, which is freedom. our most valuable gift, we can so easily let it go. they had a beautiful constitution, and people of -- ordinary germans held -- handed their freedom to adolf hitler and it was turned against them. it has gone through human history, over and over again, it happened in france. you had liberty, equality, fraternity. and then you had guillotines. the broadway version, you parad and i was fascinated by that. how do you make democracy work, how do you make it flourished? how do you make ordinary people hold it sowed the year so they prevent demagogues? there is an answer after years of thinking about it and it is constitutional. political scientists have thought about it, historians have thought abo

we had that in lebanon as well. hezbollah was defeated. you had that -- is this an example for the people? i do not want to assert that it is, but the theory of bush's iraq was first to get democracy there in the belly of the arrogance of non-democratic released, and hopefully it will spread. maybe, maybe not. the store might be 10 years from now. guest: we took away the threat of iraq from iran which was their natural-born enemy, so in a way we helped iran. host: here is the editorial you have referred to. the issue is whether to establish a new public plan to encourage more competition between health insurers and provide americans with an alternative. guest: this is what washington will debate. i don't think the democrats have put it on the table. senator baucus does not want it. guest: he has held off a bit. guest: this will be one of the great debates and it does not begun charlie along partisan lines. if you create a government-run interests whether they will under-priced the private-sector insurance and drive it out of business, and

essential for israel's security that israel and achieve a peace with palestinians, neighboring countries, lebanon, syria, he was to achieve this in a fairly short period of time because he thinks it can only happen when clinton is there and before arafat would become too ill to do it. he wanted to move he thought it was critical for israel's security. two-thirds of the country were against or opposed to any agreement that divided jerusalem. over a two month period, the educated the public, open and a debates over the final summons that ended the conflict and the country moved. if the country moved and the majority supported the agreement with a divided jerusalem. as the leader who was listening he just said 2/3 opposed, i don't go there but a leader who was acting when he thought was a patriot the most decorated soldier of the israeli army, people trusted him although it was not high, and he was able to move the country in a different place. >> host: i should have said that the five leaders we keep referencing, you were chief advisers to tony blair, nelson mandela, bill clinton, ehud barak i do n

the regime gives this kind of money, twice, five, 10 times that amount, to some hezbollah family in lebanon or some hamas member in palestine while he is starting, those priorities are not in the interest of their own people. people know that. people are celebrating making yellowcake? how about celebrating keeping us from starving? if you trust the iranian people, and we should in that decision, i have no doubt that first and foremost we have a sense of respect for ourselves, and our signature must mean something. we have signed the treaty. if we violate the treaty, how could we possibly think that if tomorrow we want to become a member of the world trade organization, if you violate this signature, not committed to it, why should you trust us on anything resign after that will ever be respected by ourselves? that is my position on the subject. thank you. >> i would like to refer to a former question concerning the future of iran. when you look at people who have an important role like mr. mousavi, mr. rafsanjani, mr. kasai me, they are all part of the regime. but this movement go far beyon

days later they understood the elections in lebanon for the hezbollah-backed coalition was supposed to win and lost largely because there was a large turnout, much larger than expected for the pro-u.s. coalition of parties. they understood that immediately to mean something. they could not quite bring themselves to say publicly, gee, we think that he had a big influence on these elections. now we see something in iran. they are trying to walk the line behind it taking credit for something happening, a new, diplomatic opening in that part of the world, and not antagonizing the authorities in iran or inserting themselves into a debate that they still insist is a iranians debating their own future. it is impossible to say whether or not, how much influence about events that his congress be chad. host: what is holding back the president and his team? the president has said already that some of his statements have been misinterpreted or miss translated in the arab world. guest: that is an interesting point. president obama mentioned that on one level anything he says is being mis-translated

fighting its way out of the darkness of the recent decades positive political trends in places like lebanon, pakistan and iraq where the electorate gravitated towards parties that stand for pluralism and away from parties different religious extremism. and last but not least the unprecedented cooperation between the nations of the gulf as you and we face these difficult dangerous threats to the common security. as i said at the outset, american administrations led by both parties coming back some six decades have regarded the stability of the gulf region as a vital national interest for the united states. the eight presidents i've been privileged to serve all recognize that our security and prosperity are closely tied to the security and prosperity of the middle east. president obama is no different. he pledged america will continue to be present and engaged in this part of the world to protect our enduring interests and those of our allies and partners. as we look ahead lacasa pledge to keep these efforts strong and make them even stronger. to cast aside old animosities and work together a

i look at lebanon, i was there when the bombs were falling. i saw a car blown up in front of me. there are obviously physical constraints and you look at the other actors. is a non see actor going to take us, do we have security problems, and there is the issue of, when you are doing your work, if i am interviewing a civilian and all the sudden hezbollah shows up, that will influence that interview. i can no longer interview that person. you have to have that person leave, explain to that individual you cannot finish the interview, get back if you can, try to determine if that is a poisoned interview. there are number of things that press people deal with all the time. it can be dangerous work. >> to what extent is your work affected by the ban on journalism during the war on gaza? >> that is a perfect example of complete lack of access. i had to stand on the armistice line. not only could depress not get in the human rights monitors were not getting in. you have to take advantage. i was able to stand and watch the fighting. we could see a white phosphorous and comment to the pre

the iranian revolutionary guard corps funds terrorist groups from iraq to afghanistan, to lebanon to gaza. iranian centrifuges at plants hidden from weapons inspectors. and terrorist groups make voyages to iran to receive training at unspecified locations. this is the regime we are talking about. and this week the true colors of that regime are on broad display. we must rally the world around the cause of the iranian people, and i urge the administration, i urge president obama to follow the lead of this house to speak out on behalf of the iranian people and their quest for freedom and human rights. and i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman's time has expired. the gentleman from california. mr. berman: yes, mr. speaker. i want to yield myself 30 seconds. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for 30 seconds. mr. berman: the gentleman, for whom i have great respect, the minority whip, spoke about america's moral commitment to speak out on behalf of the people yearning for freedom. we have an even higher moral commitment and that is to the things that help

i will deal with the second question, and that is what about iran's involvement with issues like lebanon or palestine. yes, iran has very often been negative there an supports the terrorism, moral support, financial support. that is going to be a major focus of international dip moment massey with iran in the future, particularly now that the united states has joined that effort, as it had been in the past, as it was when i was an ambassador. host: an ambassador from 2002 to 2006 representing the united kingdom. he is now an associate fellow at chatham house. sir richard dalton is here in the united states for speaking events in washington. yesterday he was at the new america foundation. you can see his speech on their website. we will go back to the phones. saratoga, california, on our line for republicans. next call comes from mary. caller: yes, i can't believe what i'm hearing, and it's constant. in your own country and england, you are now considering allowing them to deploy she ya law in your country. they keep moving forward. now we have a president that says it doesn't matter whic

will also turn our attention to foreign policy, the situation in the middle east, the elections in lebanon, and also shibley telhami will join us from the year sever city of maryland -- from the university of maryland. it is tuesday morning. "washington journal" continues in just a moment. >> harvard law professor elizabeth warren heads to the congressional oversight panel which monitors the spending of the $700 billion troubled asset relief program. she will testify this morning before the joint economic committee on the recent bank stress tests. we will have live coverage right after "washington journal" at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. and treasury secretary timothy geithner and the irs commissioner today before a senate appropriations subcommittee talking about their 2010 budget. at 2:30, health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius. you can also find them online at c-span.org. >> how is c-span funded? >> private donations? >> taxpayers? >> i do not really know. >> from public television? >> donations. >> i do not know where the money comes from? >> contributions from donors?

in closing chairman nadler, it is unacceptable that the department declined to even come to this lebanon secret meeting. nobody is here. what is that about? they could not provide a witness. why? well, there is a review pending and it is not solved and it remains, until it is solved they don't want to come before this coequal branch of government with then. okay, that doesn't sound very coequal to me. they could get sense someone here to say, we can't talk with you guys. they could have sent someone here to say that, but we are doing is not concluded and we understand your concern about the matter. so, what is with this state secrets business? well, let's see how far we can go. i am so glad to see judge walsh. he has been in judiciary so many times, and our former colleague, asa hutchinson. we are happy to see him back. grossman it is always on the case, mr. wizner. you are a relative newcomer here but we welcome you and it is no secret that what we are going to see and do here today is going to be information for everybody to help decide how we resolve this situation. thank you for your