within one year of returning to lebanon october 198-3241 u.s. servicemen along with 80 or 90 french servicemen were killed when suicide bombers drove trucks with explosives into the compound at which they were house. within four months of the october -- october bombing reagan withdrew the troops and the policy was left in tatters. when america returned he would be in the strategic oil producing regions of the persian gulf from the iran-iraq war of that range from 19831888 to ensure the saudi and kuwaiti oil to the world markets. the iraq invasion of kuwait in 1980 provoked -- promoted the greatest military buildup in the region 400 and 50,000 u.s. servicemen and men assembled to drive the iraqi military from kuwait. in the aftermath of the desert storm more tens of thousands of troops remained in the state's raising great tension between the local population and their governments. it was the presence of foreign troops that 80 needed is on a bin laden from the monarchy after years of being seen as a hero to fight the jihad in afghanistan. what th

usually when i got to lebanon county, there were 85, 100 people. on this occasion, there were 1,200 people. they had live television transmission units from msnbc and fox and cnn, and there was enormous anger about what was happening in america with the spending, what was happening with the deficit, what was happening with the national debt. and those were problems which we yet have to face. i get the question in my candidacy for re-election. i'm seeking a sixth term. i want to follow then-senator biden, the most recent six-term senator. well, people say why -- why run now? why after serving for 30 years, being the longest serving pennsylvania senator? people notice i have a big birthday coming up. i was born on february 12, the same day as lincoln's birthday. i was born 121 years after abraham lincoln was born. that's as close as i'll come to talking about age. i believe with satchel paige, the great baseball pitcher who was ageless and satchel paige made many famous statements. one of his most famous statements was "if you didn't know your age, h

on these of the invasion of iraq in 2003 and a move to lebanon and worked there as an attorney. went about my life and then when i finally decide to make sort of the switch into journalism and came back and went to journalism school at columbia, four years after 9/11, that book that i thought was so inevitable had not yet been written or had been published because it takes two to tangle. maybe someone to write but no one gave it a shot. announcement i said, maybe i will take a swing at it. not really knowing anything about how to write a book. so i started thinking there were certain decisions that had to be made. the first one i made was i'm going to write a narrative book. there have been a lot of political or academic work that had been done but that's not a biblical and wide audience and not accessible for a wide audience. i think there's something about storytelling that makes it harder for people to have their sorts of guards or prejudices out that he was an easy way i thought to kind of engaged hearts and minds. to borrow a term from somebody else. so the second decision

the syrians came mostly from villages that in 1943 had become part of the lebanon. but only after the lebanese danny thomas got his own tv show with lebanese character to the stop calling themselves syria and become levities. the merchant marines who worked ships that traveled from ayaan to de transport came to worship at the sunni mosque of the liberty days to read some eventually state and now 10% of the south and the origins in arabic speaking world the yemenis were simple man who had wives and yen and they were supporting. alan and other lebanese socialize with them closely on the in the coffee houses. to get jobs at ford, many had their arabic names giving their children english names and hidden the middle names. so amin became amen and alan was used, which their parents stopped using that, even when their children started school, so here they were. alan's father was in his 26 years as a janitor for. ronnie had worked before his head was crushed and alan signed up with the company in the summer of 65 during senior week. he already worked three days by the mind

you have the same -- same dynamic with hezbollah, and lebanon. where a group that was born in opposition to israel has become a global terrorist group over the past two and a half decades. a group that is supported by iran, and is trying slowly to become more and more a part of the social and political fabric of lebanon. but it's a group that has its own agenda. as many have described it, including in lebanon, as a state within the state, a network of actors, both within lebanon and internationally, who serve their own purposes and who do not subscribe necessarily to the westphalian model of power, which is defined prior generations. what is interesting about this is not just that you have these groups out there, but i think we'll will be important to watch in the future is how these groups, and other loose affiliations and networks, drug trafficking groups, international organized crimes, smuggling networks, all interact. i think there have been some very important and revealing cases recently that demonstrate this. for example, the dea recently

we had marines in beirut, lebanon, in 1983, the marine barracks were bombed in lebanon.one terrorist driver drove through the conner is tino wire -- the concertino wire, through the guards and the truck exploded and killed 241 american servicemen in beirut, lebanon. that was with a phenomenal recruiting tool. people in america started saying, let's get out, let's get out. unfortunately, on that occasion, president reagan, unfortunately, bowed to his advisors and to popular opinion at the time that we needed to just pull out. that was an extraordinary recruiting tool at the time jihaddists used it in an incredible way to recruit for their crazed jihaddist cause because they were able to say, look, one guy gave his life, detonated a bomb, and the most powerful military country in the world, the united states, turned tail and ran. one man completely committed as a suicide bomber, could make the united states cower and run. that's the way it was perceived. that was a phenomenal recruiting tool for jihaddists around the world. they were also not ignorant, the jihaddists were

this year, wedding parties in lebanon have been especially lavish. >> the lebanese have always known how to dress to impress. today there is a real sense of revival here. stores like this one are everywhere in beirut. one reason behind that is because levin on is living through a rare period of political calm. peace brings opportunity. she is now trying to set yourself up in beirut. >> you just walk around and you are inspired. 's a very creative place to be in. at some point, i want to relate my own country. i want to be able to give to it ke it has given me in terms of creativity. >> competition is fierce. she says even finding a location is a real challenge. it's also a sign that the route has regained its status as the capital of fashion in the middle east. >> the science-fiction " avatar"has become the fastest to reach $1 billion in ticket sales around world. is now the fourth biggest grossing movie of all time. >> a ground-breaking epic, a film that combines. it's a story of a paralyzed war veteran. he is sent on a mission to a distant moon called pandora, where he falls in lov

algeria, iraq, lebanon, libya, nigeria, pakistan, saudi arabia, somalia, and yemen as well. >>> i want to continue now our discussion about iran with our guests. so if you're just joining us, azar nafisi is the author of "things i've been silent about." she's also a professor at johns hopkins university. and rudi bakhtiar works with the international campaign for human rights. both are joining us tonight from washington, d.c. and bobak kahor is host of a talk show kirn radio in los angeles. and comedian and actor maz jobrani also in los angeles tonight. so again, thank you all for joining us. what makes iranian-americans so unique? i'll start with you, azar. >> well, one of the unique things about america, actually, is that you can bring your past with you. so being an iranian-american, every nationality brings their own uniqueness and originality with them. i have always felt that being an iranian and an american at the same time i can constantly look at the two cultures through the alternative eyes of the other. and each of them gives me a fresh view of the other. and sometimes livin

we looked at lebanon in the summer of 2006. you had a terrorist organization operating inside one state supported by two other states fighting another state. >> with sophisticated weapons. >> exactly right. they had state of the art surface to air missiles. guided missiles. they had crews missiles. they had secure cell phones and computers and they got their message out on local television. that's a hybrid threat that is much more complex and difficult to deal with than the 8th guard tank army that i grew up. >> what does that mean in terms of how you are trained to equip and what are the kind of dangers that you need to be able to combat that. >> exactly. and back in february of 2008 we published our first doctrine, a major revision of our doctrine since 2001. in that, we spelled out the main operational concept that no matter where we fight across the spectrum, army forces will use offensive, defensive and stability operations to achieve their results. this is a pretty fundamental change for us and has been a great internal d

but he has played well in the conflict between israel and hezbollah in lebanon? i'm not inclined to think so. saddam stayed out of previous eckert is relief flights. he was at least smart enough to not get engaged when the israelis and the feet of lebanon in 1982, so i'm not sure that would have been an issue. but what i am sure of that had saddam hussein endured, his regime would have continued to do horrific things to his own population and to have post a very significant threat and risk to the region to the international community and the united states. we will never know what shape that risk might have taken but to be incorrect for us to assume if we just haven't gone into iraq in 2003 everything would have been falling in the region. the most definitely wasn't fine in the 80's during the iraq-iran war and in 1990 when he invaded kuwait and what ever would have then it would not have been just fine at saddam hussein continued with a work. >> host: ambassador crocker, you didn't mention a relationship with al qaeda though had saddam hussein still been in power

. >> sreenivasan: an ethiopian airlines plane crashed early this morning just off beirut, lebanon. 90 people were on board, but there was no sign of survivors. the boeing 737 caught fire and plunged into the mediterranean sea minutes after taking off. plane debris washed up on shore, and search and rescue crews recovered at least 21 bodies. investigators said stormy weather could have been a factor in the crash. lebanese president michel suleiman said there was no sign that terrorism was involved. in iraq, baghdad was hit by a series of bombings on the same day that a notorious henchman of saddam hussein was executed. we have a report narrated by lindsey hilsum of independent television news. >> three suicide car bombs in baghdad today. all targeted at hotels where foreigners stay. the bombers didn't get right inside. but still managed to kill more than 30 people and injure 70 others. >> reporter: neighboring houses are were blown apart. firefighters helping survivors to safety. as iraq heads towards elections in early march, such attacks are expected to continue or increase. the amer

lebanon, my apologies.and finally before taking your questions, george mitchell is on his way back from the region. over the weekend he met with prime minister netanyahu and president abbas and also met with king abdallah of jordan, and last night with the foreign minister and intelligence chief and cairo. but he is on its way back to the united states as we speak >> on lebanon, can you be more specific about what the u.s. role will be in this? who is going, if anyone? >> i think normally we would provide assistance to the ntsb. most of our focus right now is what ever we can do. >> what have they asked for? >> i will take the question. the uss rampage has been redeployed to assist in the search and recovery. it has been in the mediterranean at the time. i think we will be involved to the ntsb in helping to investigate the loss of this particular flight. >> did the particular case come up? >> it did not. >> 6 press the willingness to bring it up with senator campbell. cantwell,. >> it is a matter of ongoing

hence also and i'm yite shocked that lebanon's recent demonstrations to syria. syria had been ostracized from the bush administration for its role in the assassination and obama administration is offering reconciliation and return of the u.s. ambassador. the pro-western lebanese know how to read wind direction, hence the recent astonishing visit of lebanese president to da mass cast to bend -- damascus to bend a knee to a man he knows is behind the murder. but now who is now the once again regional power as the obama administration resets relations with lebanon-syrian overlord. accommodation with enemies is not a free lunch. it has its price. and finally the policy of this expensive accommodation, iran, where obama has consistently upheld the legitimatey of the clerical regime insists on maintaining good relations with it and has been slow and often silent in support of the democratic demonstrators in the streets. the basic critique of this foreign policy is not just that it is naive and that it is unseemly a stain on the american tradition of supporting democra

they went into lebanon and in the attacks from lebanon -- ended attacks from lebanon. from the israeli point of view, this worked and accommodation has failed. the palestinians, given their internal divisions within the palestinian authority and between the five top -- fatah and hamas. it has been unchanged whether we negotiate or not negotiate, this would lead the regime to change its policy because it could result in regime collapse. it would be unmanageable and very difficult for china. finally, i want to in on one issue which i treated a little differently -- in on one issue which i treated a lot differently in my piece. -- in the on one issue which i treated a lot different in my piece -- end on one issue which i treated a lot differently in my piece. they could use nuclear weapons and give them to has blocked -- hezbolah. iran is not restraint the with the others are. the russians and the chinese need to be looked at through their national self-interest. one fundamental major challenge in the administration, and i think it is a challenge that the administration c

but the -- one that was particularly important was a person from lebanon who is back in lebanon, and is associated with radical sunni extremist group there. and for sure you're right, he did have communications and contacts and it was a transnational network that he used to spread the word, and information meant back and forth in that network. >> stewart roiter. while you were speaking, i came up with an analogy that might illustrate the problem with yale. had you been writing a book about the origin and verification of the shroud of tyran and they told you you couldn't have any pictures of the shroud in your book, would the reaction be the same, and for ms. baron, where are the moderate and secular muslims, we never hear about them? >> my -- well, i said in my three, four minute comment, i guess is that the reason you don't hear about them is because many people in the west are too afraid to speak up themselves, so the moderate muslims, basically even when they speak up, there's no media attention, there is very little interest in what they're saying, or they look at the winds and t

was a smart enough not to get engaged when the israelis invaded lebanon in 1982.m not sure it would have been an issue. what i am sure of is that his regime would have continued to do horrific things to his own population. and have posed a significant threat and risks to the region, to the international community, and to the u.s.. we will never know what shape that risk might have taken, but it would be incorrect to assume that if we had not gone in there in 2003 all would have been fine in the region. it most definitely was not during the 1980's and 1990's. whatever it would have been, it would not have been fine had he continued in power. host: you did not mention a relationship with al qaeda though had saddam hussein still ben ami power guest-- had saddam hussein still been in power. hostguest: it is entirely possi. he had shown in the past are remarkable flexibility as to who his tactical allies were. i would certainly not rule out the possibility. host: austin, texas. caller: embassador, i would like your opinion on the myack report from the homeland security

they would sell goods pipes and taxis than palestine lebanon or turkey they had all kinds of commercial distribution. when the money was made available it was deposited in a second big part of a name was the anglo palestine bank. that renamed itself after the state of israel was established and now it is obeying luni. same bank parker be credited to the international clearinghouse through the german trust fund and that would issue the foreign currency of 1,000 british pounds a certificate would be given to the german too and they would come across and many times with less items from his own home like carpet's or building materials or cars or came across with musical instruments. suddenly there was a massive german jewish infrastructure and economic confused -- infusion into jewish palestine. >> host: it is complex. so was this in a situation whereby the jewish community was contributing to the nazi efforts to help finance what it is they wanted to do? >> guest: yes. >> host: the also must happen one of the causes for such explosive reaction. >> guest: yes. a deal with a double. not the

than they would sell goods and pipes and taxis and palestine in lebanon and turkey. they have all different types of commercial distribution for german goods. when the money was made available, it was deposited into a second bank. the name of the bank was the anglo palestine bank. that renamed itself after the state of israel was established and it is also a bank -- bank luni. the anglo palestine bank would clear through the international clearing house through the german trust fund and that would issue the foreign currency of 1,000 british pounds a capitalist certificate would be given to the german shoe and that german jew would then come across and in many times come across with a replica of his own home. carpet, building materials materials, cars, a musical instruments and suddenly there was a massive german jewish infrastructure and economic infusion into jewish palestine. >> host: ask a simple question. was this then a situation whereby the jewish community was somehow contributing to the nazi effort to help finance what it is they want to do? >> yes. >> host:

the obama administration resets the relations with lebanon's syrian overlord.e resistance of this expensive accommodation, iran where he has consistently upheld the legitimacy of the thuggish regime insists on maintaining good relations with them and has been slow and often silence in support of the democratic demonstrators in the streets. the basic critique of this foreign policy is not just that it is naive and unseemly a stain on the american tradition of supporting democratic forces around the world, but that worst of all it has been a failure. we chose russia over eastern europe and what did we get? cooperation with iran? nothing. from china? we received explicit statements that they will oppose any sanctions on iran in the security council. what have we gotten for our pressure on israel? the complete breakdown of negotiations. for 16 years, the palestinians have negotiated with that a settlement freeze until obama arrived to reinvent the war. the arabs now refuse any negotiations as they prefer, logically, to sit back and let the united states extract uni

ferraro, between iran and the embassy in of lebanon. iran we were held by a foreign government. in what dimond you had a terrorist action where the government opposed it. >> let me say first of i almost recent vice president bush you're patronizing attitude that you have to teach me about foreign policy. [applause] i've been a member of congress for six years. i was there when the embassy was held hostage in iran, and i have been there and i have seen what is happened in the past several months, 17 months with your administration. secondly, please don't categorize my answers either. leave the interpretation of my answers to the american people watching this debate. >> host: anne kornblut? >> guest: that was an early example of what hillary clinton thought she had to convert as well when she was running for president which is a woman needing to prove that she understands foreign policy his credentials and can be tough. i had a really interesting interview with geraldine ferraro where she talked about her own daughter and what it meant for her to run and see hillary clinton and sh

terror: cuba, iran, sudan, and syria, as well as yemen and nigeria plus afghanistan , algeria, iraq, lebanon, libya, pakistan, saudi arabia, and somalia. secretary clinton said today her department was reviewing its own security. >> we're looking to see whether those procedures need to be changed, upgraded, and that is, you know, my goal as secretary to do everything i can to make sure that not only american citizens but, you know, all people traveling on airlines of any nationality can arrive at their destination safely. >> woodruff: but a number of reports from europe said many airports were not yet following the new rules. and flights in and out of newark, new jersey, were still running behind schedule today after a major security snafu last night. >> as you can see, it's absolute chaos. >> woodruff: a man had by-passed a security check point triggering an alert. officials made all passengers in the terminal go back through screening, a delay that lasted up to six hours. we get more now on the latest efforts to strengthen air security from independent airline analyst david field. >> thank

know, the split is in recent times has been between communities in control of a country like iraq or lebanon, and it's become a facet of regional rivalry between different powerbrokers. but by and large, where we've had harmony between these communities has been where you've had a middle-class. i'm in, say in iraq, when it was a viable middle-class, in the middle-class the sectarian issues tended to dissolve. it was in that middle-class that you had and america's. between shiites and sunnis. and that's not unique to the melody. it's also true of the balkans. so among the middle-class in sorry able to was a lot intermarriage. ethnic tensions came from outside usually from the lower society, from serf peasant and villages, etc., that were on the outlined territories. and the middle-class interests are focused on larger issues of stability of creating an environment that you can sustained prosperity. and support an inclusive environment that would enable you to pursue commerce and the like. so ultimately, if we think of the middle-class is a force for reducing many of the tensions we see, wheth

quite shockingly, lebanon's recent demonstrations of fealty to syria -- syria had been ostracized by its role in assassinations, and is now enjoying her representative posh mont -- a reconciliation. the lebanese know how to read the wind direction. hence the recent astonishing a visit of a lebanese president to damascus to bend an aide to president assad, the man he knows what's behind the murder of his own father. but who is now bell once again rising regional power, as the obama administration resets relations with lebanon's syrian overlord. the combination of enemies is not a free lunch. it has its price. and finally piece of resistance of this policy of expensive accommodation. iran, where obama has consistently upheld the legitimacy of the the-clerical regime, insisting on maintaining good relations with it, and has been slow and often silent in support of the democratic demonstrators in the streets. the basic critique of this farm policy is not just that it is not even -- of this foreign policy is that it is not just ninaive but that worst of all it has been a failure. we chose

lebanon's role in the assassination.ion and the return of the ambassador. the lebanese know how to read it went direction -- wind direction, hence the astonishing visit to damascus to entertain a known murderer who is now a rising national power, as the obama administration resets relations. the combination with enemies is not a free lunch. it has its price. insisting on the support of the democratic demonstrators in the streets. the vocal critique is not just that it is naive and a stay on the american tradition of supporting democratic forces around the world, but the worst of all, it has been a failure. we chose russia over eastern europe, and what did we get in could -- return? nothing. in chinaçó, they will oppose any sanctions. xdobama arrived, and arabs now refused any negotiation and led the united states to extract in a lateral negotiations -- unilateral negotiations with israel. should this policy continued for the next three years, let alone the next seven, it will have profound consequences throughout the wor

in lebanon, you have all 110 terrorist action for the government opposed it. >> i don't appreciate thinkingly, please don't categorize my answers. leave the interpretation of my answers to the american people who are watching this debate. >> an early example of what hillary clinton had to confront. all woman proving that she understands foreign-policy and has credentials. had an interesting interview with geraldine ferraro where she talked about her daughter and what it meant for her to run. and yet on super tuesday, she spoke with her daughter and ask her if she voted, and asked her who she voted, and her own adult daughter had voted for barack obama. had voted for, she voted for barack obama, and she went crazy where her daughter represented this split, where some voted for hillary clinton and others did not. host: we have john joining us on the republican line. caller: good morning, i have been listening to ms. kornblut and she's called sarah palin a bimbo and gives hillary clinton the praise and says she's nonpartisan. the reason i think because you have the elites from the two coast, a

i grew up 79 -- years of my life in lebanon. i grew up in the war. i left in 1984. listened to -- there is an old saying from lebanon where, they say if i give you and i love and i ask you to pay you can do it two ways -- you can read it open and take the pit out or take the island and put it in the right medium and over time you will appoint -- applied pressure and all of will pit itself. that is what we are going for. we are going for creating an environment where the people will eventually push out extremists because of weak constantly come in with a heavy handed approach of trying to take the extremists out, we're really not winning the hearts of the people. that is why i agree with general mcchrystal's approach, that if you win the population over you will win the fight, the battle against groups like al qaeda. host: los angeles on the independent line. good morning. are you there? caller: good morning. i was from las vegas actually. are you still with me? my question was about eritrea -- i think you know all about eritrea and what is happening the post cold wa

measures for what he called high-risk countries, including afghanistan, algeria, cuba, iran, iraq, lebanond saudi arabia. guest: those are countries that have been kicked out for further screening, and there is a lot of criticism of that. incidents like the one on christmas day, like richard reid in 2001, carrying a british passport on a flight into miami. if you criticize people from nigeria, somalia, focus on those people, we would not have picked up on richard reid. i think that there is valid criticism of what, exactly, are we aiming for. i do not know that the administration has explained that fully. host: washington, missouri. republican line. caller: i was just calling to talk about the security that we have. i think that jan in the paula pagano, eric holder, and president obama -- janet napolitano, eric holder, and president obama have not taken this into account. before he can to work for us, eric holder was in a law firm that did pro bono work for terrorist. they have no clue. they think it is a joke. they will make us safe. good luck, america. guest: eric holder work for law fir

he is in egypt now and will be traveling to jordan, lebanon and turkey. dr.bruce alberts, former president of the national academy of sciences will be traveling to indonesia shortly and former nih director will be headed for north africa in february. over time we will need additional signs on voice from various disciplines to visit different parts of the world who come science on was will seek to deepen existing and develop the relationships and gather input on here is a potential collaboration aimed at addressing common global challenges and realizing shared goals although the convoys are private citizens, they will share with a learned how on these trips with the u.s. government and relationships they build. to reaffirm our commitment to global engagement. finally before taking questions, george mitchell of arrived in paris today, had a meeting with foreign minister there and very shortly will leave paris for brussels for meetings with the quartet at the envoy level. >> can you go back on the quartet meeting or individual meetings? >> it is a quartet meetin

in leb anon -- lebanon we had this government. >> let me say i resent your attitude that you have tote me. i have been in iran and have seen what has happened in the several months of your administration. secondly, please don't categorize my answers, leave the interpretation of my answers to the people watching this debate. host: anne kornblut. guest: that's an example of what hillary clinton felt too, that she has credentials and can be tough. i had an interesting interview with geraldine ferrell, and she asked who her daughter had voted for, she voted for barack obama, and she went crazy where her daughter represented this split, where some voted for hillary clinton and others did not. host: we have john joining us on the republican line. caller: good morning, i have been listening to ms. kornblut and she's called sarah palin a bimbo and gives hillary clinton the praise and says she's nonpartisan. the reason i think because you have the elites from the two coast, and then the center part of the nation. and sarah palin represented the common-day person. this is a person that was a m

and it was thought that from islam, and lebanon were just one point before it was routed by the lebanese army started using it that suggested to me they were coming more closely aligned and networks with al qaeda central. that says something about the relationship between al qaeda central and the various affiliates. i think much of it has to do with the media. in the d.c. public instruction of strategy. some other quite specific, bin laden released a statement called practical steps for the liberation of palestine in which he described a movement from iraq, not into the labonte or into syria or lebanon which is what i would expect it. but he said no, the way to get to palestine is via jordan. and that the same time, started reaching out more aggressively to abu mohammed which was zarqawi's mentor their and this ideological figure almost sitting about the jihad movement. though i think he is kind of in jordan. he was sort of a strange figure. he's in and out of prison. you know, he gets out of prison and sometimes says something nasty about zarqawi, put back into prison. he would come up

same day that security restrictions take effect, extra screening from afghanistan, algeria, iraq, lebanon, nigeria, pakistan, saudi arabia, somalia or yemen, as well as other countries, cuba and sedan. >> reporter: the president's top counterterrorism adviser john brennan took to the airwaves to acknowledge the system did not work in connecting the dots but also to insist that there was no obvious plot missed. >> there was no single piece of intelligence, a smoking gun, if will you, that said that mr. abdulmutallab was going to carry out the attack. >> reporter: republicans were less charitable. >> with all of the leads out there, somebody screwed up in not reporting and clearly the screening was a disaster. >> reporter: one lead, sources tell us that the christmas day attack against prince muhammad, head of saudi security. the same hard to detect underwear bomb and the same petn explosive. they met with the saudis on forensic analysis. >> there was no indication, though that al qaeda was trying to use that type of attack and that modus operandi. >> reporter: the political attacks too, di

difficult osama bin laden would tell you that and say when the american at -- americans withdrew from lebanon, that showed me that they were weak and we could attack the americans and not be attacked in return. he has said this in interviews and that is what cramer yelled about for 50 years. it is not a dismissal doctrine and it is not wrong either. but the problem is whether this is the answer and i think it is not. but it is a very seductive doctrine and one that is easy to have gone to and you can see where its works out an ad is part of the reason it is so provocative it is fascinating to me to see the speeches from donald rumsfeld when he was president ford's chief of staff he would say one thing but then gets to the pentagon 1975 and three year four weeks later he comes out with a doctor in a provocative weakness it is what cramer has said for years but when he left office 1977, the farewell speech was that and when he left in 2006 he said i am sorry 1/2 to go back to the same theme of 19772 not display weakness because that will invite our enemies to attack us. is a very seductive and

with lebanon's syrian overlord. in combination with enemies is not a free lunch. it has its price. and finally, the piste of resistance of this policy of extensive accommodation, iran were obama has consistently upheld the legitimacy of the thuggish clerical regime insisted on maintaining the good relations, and has been slow and often silent in support of the democratic demonstrators in the streets. the basic critique of this foreign policy is not just that it is naÏve, and that it is unseemly stain of the american tradition of supporting democratic forces around the world, but that worst of all it has been a failure. we chose russia over eastern europe, and what did we get in return? cooperation with iran, nothing. and from china, from china in fact, we received explicit statements that they will oppose any sanctions on iran in the security council. what have we gotten for our pressure on israel? the complete breakdown of negotiations. for 16 years the palestinians had negotiated with israel without a settlement freeze. until obama arrived to reinvent the world. the arabs now ref

liberation of palestine, in which he described a movement from iraq not into labonte or syria and lebanonwhich is what i would've expected hear it but he said the way to get to palestine mr. jordan. and at the same time, started reaching out more aggressively to which is abu musab al-zarqawi's almost sitting about the jihad a movement, though i think he is kind of in jordan. and he is sort of a strange figure. he has been out of prison. in no come he gets a lot of president says something nasty about zarqawi and go back into prison. he would come out again. so you would get attacked quite a bit for this sort of thing. but i think you do see this public kind of messaging. there is private messaging as well and it's hard to know exactly how that occurs today. we do know something about that from the rack time period because of the capture of the zawahiri document to zarqawi, which was sent to her riding messengers and it seems like it may have been a hard copy of something like that. that's more difficult. i think it's probably harder to get from pakistan to gammon that it was to get from p

united states commenced the government of lebanon and the united nations rescue workers in their immediateresponse in recovery efforts. >> the middle class plans that the president and the vice president joe biden outline today, do you expect that we will see the effect the unions or will receive more announcements? >> i don't want to get too far ahead of the president making a speech on that and a couple of days. you will see a series of ideas the president will outline. that will cover a few different categories. how to get our economy back on firmer foundation and how we trade in an atmosphere in the private sector that lends itself to more hiring. what do we do to put our government back on firmer footing with the middle-class and along with that what ideas do we have for changing the way washington works so that people in this country feel like the middle-class is getting a fair shake and not the special interests. >> about ideas to get the private sector to hire? are those ideas we have not heard yet? >> there will be a series of things that the president will talk about what i want

i grew up 79 -- years of my life in lebanon. i grew up in the war. i left in 1984.istened to -- there is an old saying from lebanon where, they say if i give you and i love and i ask you to pay you can do it two ways -- you can read it open and take the pit out or take the island and put it in the right medium and over time you will appoint -- applied pressure and all of will pit itself. that is what we are going for. we are going for creating an environment where the people will eventually push out extremists because of weak constantly come in with a heavy handed approach of trying to take the extremists out, we're really not winning the hearts of the people. that is why i agree with general mcchrystal's approach, that if you win the population over you will win the fight, the battle against groups like al qaeda. host: los angeles on the independent line. good morning. are you there? caller: good morning. i was from las vegas actually. are you still with me? my question was about eritrea -- i think you know all about eritrea and what is happening the post cold war

contest lebanon, that on least two occasions in his old age left him pitchout headfirst on the road infatal accidents. he was a hard man and hard on those around him including a wife he@@úpÑ simon chase, daniel drew, big jim fisk, jay gould, emily thorn, curtis peck, tennessee claflin, victoria woodhall, erastus corning, palmigiano carell, chaunce depue, horace greeley, a oakie holcombe augustin shell, john preen, asa wrigh ability,-- and horace clark to name just a few. insured it is a terrific read. james pardon once wrote of the young thomas jefferson that along with his command of five foreign languages he could calculate in the clips survey and the state, tied an artery, plan an edifice, try a cause, break a horse, dancing minuet and played the violin. in the same vein one could say cornelius vanderbilt could design a steamship, sail it over the open ocean and john go rapids, race a champion horse renee shipping line, consolidated railroad, short a stock, rated corporation lobby president bill gabriel depot found university and raise an army. >> and all before lunchtime. >> just t

. >> who is making in new lebanon? >> i think that al qaeda is becoming divided and abu yahya is not a new bin laden but an opponent. is this a possibility? >> as you are charting the development of abu yahya as he goes along, or are you getting any information about where bin laden is an all of this? what does that actually mean, is bin laden already out or already gone? >> thank you. >> the question of who made osama bin laden i will leave to smarter people who have written longer books. who is making the next to bin laden is a beautifully phrased rhetorical question that we could all debate. hopefully, i am not. the sea and opposition to bin laden -- is the opposition to bin laden? i think change always hurts a little bit. i'd not have anything profound on any of this. in terms of the relationship between bin laden and abu yahya, i have nothing. i don't think bin laden has even mentioned him. but he did in a recent statement. i would have to go back to the transcript. i called him the next bin laden because it is cu

in our international visitor a leadership program on internet freedom from china, colombia, iran, lebanondge the president of the aspen institute. he was recently named to our broadcasting board of governors and instrumental in supporting the work on internet freedom that the aspen institute has been doing. this is an important speech on a very important subject. before i begin, i want to speak briefly about haiti. during the last eight days, the people of haiti and the people of the world have joined together to deal with a tragedy of staggering proportions. our hemisphere has seen its share of hardships. but there are few precedents to the situation we're facing in port-au-prince. communication networks have played a critical role in our response. they were decimated and in many places totally destroyed. in the hours after the earthquake, we worked with partners in the private sector to first set up the text haiti campaign so that mobile phone users in the united states could donate via text messages. that initiative has been a showcase for the generosity of the american people. thus fa

in leb anon -- lebanon we had this government. >> let me say i resent your attitude that you have tohave been in iran and have seen what has happened in the several months of your administration. secondly, please don't categorize my answers, leave the interpretation of my answers to the people watching this debate. host: anne kornblut. guest: that's an example of what hillary clinton felt too, that she has credentials and can be tough. i had an interesting interview with geraldine ferrell, and she asked who her daughter had voted for, she voted for barack obama, and she went crazy where her daughter represented this split, where some voted for hillary clinton and others did not. host: we have john joining us on the republican line. caller: good morning, i have been listening to ms. kornblut and she's called sarah palin a bimbo and gives hillary clinton the praise and says she's nonpartisan. the reason i think because you have the elites from the two coast, and then the center part of the nation. and sarah palin represented the common-day person. this is a person that was a mayor of a

president hariri and the prime minister after the crash of the ethiopian airways flight off the coast of lebanone working urgently to establish whether any of our citizens were onboard. this morning i want to say something about the economy and the next stages for britain. i'm confident that the u.k. economy is emerging from recession. but there are dangerous global forces, volume tile oil prices, financial market uncertainties, imbalances, protectionist threats, risk to growth in every continent which means that the world and u.k. economy remain fragile and policymakers around the world and in the united kingdom must remain vigilant. that is why we are all agreed around the world that we must reduce our deficits steadily according to a plan, but that we must do nothing this year which would put recovery, growth, and jobs at risk here in britain and in every other country. this is the view of all major leaders and it is the view of the international monetary fund. just as we were right to intervene to stop collapsing banks destroying the financial economy, and just as we were right to agree glob

george mitchell has arrived in israel having stopped in hysteria and lebanon, and with that i will take your questions. >> of the figures you said you had files on 12,000 -- >> within our crisis database we opened files on 12,000 -- >> does that mean there are 4800 americans missing? >> that means that we've not yet been able to account for 4800 americans. for whom we have information that they were in haiti of the time. >> so they are missing? >> we have not yet confirmed -- >> amine -- you're talking about almost 5,000 people. >> they could be sitting in their living rooms. in other words people in the united states have provided us information to that i've got a loved one, i've got a friend in haiti. the gap may simply be people on the ground in haiti have not seen the need or have been able to contact the united states embassy. so we have not yet accounted for them. i wouldn't necessarily say all of them are missing. >> before the figure for a total number of americans was about 45,000, right? >> right. >> so if you got -- if you evacuated 6,174, they're seems to be a big disconnect

the other is this concept of eke lebanon -- equilibrium.e a message and everybody has it, it won't continue to massive people. it will move whoever they move then you will hit the equilibrium in terms of the electorate waiting for the next item to be merged into the discourse. now there may be some that prolong that that may move people but understand that the electorate tends to move to the equilibrium. once they heard it they will make their decision and move it a stable point. then that goes back to this. trust me on this. if you could just have this laid out, really have a good effective message and figured out a way to test that, you are about 75% of the way there. just in terms of this. i'm talking about in terms of the strategy. not how you do the other pieces. two last things. one, i'm a big believer in terms of there are certain books that are particularly worth reading given this time frame. one is this book by why are ideas sticking. why won't people consume information from one type of information and not another. it is a terrif

i heard somebody on a talk show say the other day born in houston, family from lebanon but he keeps gettingopped. >> yes, in some sense he has a few of people that don't belong on the list they should be gotten off the list for a fri of reasons. aidid affairs with their right to travel. >> is that the nctc? >> nctc in terms of international terrorism, yes. but also, dhs in terms of the redress process when somebody files a complaint that they should not be on the list is then handled by principally by dhs, but generally you want to have on those lists many persons who meet that criterion should be on the list because it is protection against terrorist attacks. >> i couldn't agree more and people in this world, a lot of people have the same name and it is difficult to know and one of the reasons we are here complaining is because somebody didn't get on the list. but mr. heymann i think you should look to see how a person may have the same name as a dangerous person can somehow be not given as much burden at the airport is otherwise would be the case. >> senator there is a one-stop shop web s

it was a leading indicator with aqim before they joined al-qaeda and it was fatah al-islam in lebanonhough it never joined al-qaeda at one point just before it was routed by the lebanese army started using the distribution network which suggested to me that they were becoming more closely aligned and had closer ties and networks with al-qaeda central. that says something about the relationship between al-qaeda central and the various affiliates. i think much of it has to do with the media and you do see public instruction of strategy. some of it quite specific. bin laden released a statement called practical steps for the liberation of palestine in which he described a movement from iraq not into the levant but he said, no, the way to get to palestine is via jordan. and at the same time, he started reaching out more aggressively zarqawi's mentor. though, i think he's kind of -- yeah, he's in jordan and he's sort of a strange figure. he's in and out of prison. you know, he gets let out of application sometimes he says something nasty -- he would say something nasty about zarqawi and go

in lebanon, most have a positive opinion of christians. so christianity or christians is actually viewed rather positively by most muslims. what they express unfavorable opinion about is the united states and specifically the united states government. not the religious christianity. when you look at the data, it's associated mostly with their perception of our policies, not our culture principles or religion. host: washington, d.c. caller: good morning. i've called many times to npr and the reason i'm going to focus on their coverage of a few stories is to highlight how hate is manufactured. and it's not something we're born with. and for example, like the gentleman that just called about nigeria. he was told that muslims were writing but he wasn't told that from the 500 killed, 480 were muslims. that the people were butchering muslims over there. but to manufacture hate, american media would say that yes the muslim is right, 500 killed leaving out the nact that it was muslims being butchrd. also, like, for example, the other place. and i

harari and prime minister mellis after the crash of the ethiopian airways flight on the coast of lebanon and we are working urgently to establish whether any of our citizens were on board. now this morning i want to say something about the economy and the next stages for britain. i am confident that the u.k. economy is emerging from recession but there are dangerous global forces, a volatile oil prices, financial market uncertainties, and balances, protectionist threats, which means the world and the u.k. economy remain fragile and policymakers around the world and in the united kingdom must remain vigilant. that is why we are all agreed around the world that we must reduce our deficits steadily according to our plan but that we must do nothing this year which would put recovery growth in jobs at risk here in britain and in every other country. this is the view of all major leaders and it is the view of the international monetary fund. just as we were right to intervene to stop collapsing banks from destroying the economy and just as we were right to bring support to avoid recession turn

measures for what he called high-risk countries, including afghanistan, algeria, cuba, iran, iraq, lebanonurther screening, and there is a lot of criticism of that. incidents like the one on christmas day, like richard reid in 2001, carrying a british passport on a flight into miami. if you criticize people from nigeria, somalia, focus on those people, we would not have picked up on richard reid. i think that there is valid criticism of what, exactly, are we aiming for. i do not know that the administration has explained that fully. host: washington, missouri. republican line. caller: i was just calling to talk about the security that we have. i think that jan in the paula pagano, eric holder, and president obama -- janet napolitano, eric holder, and president obama have not taken this into account. before he can to work for us, eric holder was in a law firm that did pro bono work for terrorist. they have no clue. they think it is a joke. they will make us safe. good luck, america. guest: eric holder work for law firm that, like many big law firms, volunteered sometimes to represent some o