i agree completely with lindsey graham, it would call into question the future of nato. >> we don't have any troops over there. senator graham, the reality is, what are we doing? what is the end game? you talk about it would be the end of nato. what nato has done for several months hasn't worked. there is this criticism -- >> you and -- >> of you and others the advocacy for perpetual war when we don't have a plan. >> well, we do. we had an opportunity to end this very quickly. the day you took american air power off the table, nato become a weakened organization but we are making progress. gadhafi is on his last leg. the rebels are getting stronger. they've taken the fight to tripoli. i said about four weeks ago, go after gadhafi's inner circle, break their will. we're pounding tripoli. the big mistake was to take american air power off the table. what i would like to see is for america to rejoin nato when it comes to an aerial bombardment. we don't need ground troops. if you don't think gadhafi's surviving affects america national security interests, we're on different planets. if he su

our country's energy security and our economy. >> schieffer: back now with republican senator lindsey grahamt back from two weeks in afghanistan and libya. he's in clemson, south carolina, this morning. this was just going to be a little debrief, senator graham on how you think things are in libya... i mean in afghanistan. >> i didn't go to libya, bob. >> schieffer: i'm sorry. >> i went to afghanistan. >> schieffer: let me just ask you this. you put out a pretty strong statement-- you and john mccain and joe lieberman-- yesterday about what's happening in syria after we saw this horrendous pictures of people being shot and killed and demonstrators. you said it's time for the administration to do more than it's doing. what needs to be done here? >> get the regional partners to tell assad he has to go and put everything on the table, including military force. if we don't turn this dynamic around-- the red cross can't go into the syria. it's wholesale slaughter. we're about to get qaddafi gone. we need to turn our attention strongly to syria with the regional cooperation like we have in libya.

>> lindsey graham is the no the best person to tell you that. general petraeus is. this is the man who i think has earned the respect of all of americans. if his judgment was overruled in a substantial way, i think that's a huge mistake. i'm not a military commander. i'm a military lawyer. i know that senator obama was dead wrong about iraq. i know that senator biden was dead wrong about iraq. what i fear and i'm not sure that this is going to become a reality, is that because of the war wariness of this country, we have taken a strategy that i had a lot of confidence in and compromised it in a way that i think may have eventually doomed it to fail. >> i want you to listen to what democratic senator joe manchin of west virginia said earlier today. it's relevant in light of what the president said that it's time to focus on nation building in america opposed to nation building in afghanistan. listen to manchin. >> the numbers that i have heard and that i have seen has been given to me. we spent 443 billion to date. we're on track to spend another 485 billion. that's

but right now he's he's he gets high marks in congress senator mccain and senator lindsey graham of. south carolina they're not they're not too happy with him on this but they say. i think lindsey graham and senator mccain would be hard pressed to find a war they didn't like but it does seem from for example we've seen in the debates even the presidential debates and some some statements coming out of the hill that some republicans are starting to shift away from from the president or from i guess there's a staunch support for the war and in fact support some sort of a drawdown are you getting that sense you're seeing a big internal debate right now in the republican party and you're getting accusations that some members of it are now isolationists this is something we haven't really seen as one reporter tell me this is bizarro world we now have president obama as a war hawk that's a kind of rant against afghanistan policy he said he would wrap it up but now this is his war and that's one congressional republican told me he's totally supports obama in this and this is a war hawk pres

afghanistan the involvement at all in libya that he's in favor of and then we have people like lindsey graham who i never thought i'd say this in you know now now time post two thousand election john mccain saying obama's right to be involved in libya and yet. then we also have a lot of republicans coming out saying wait a minute he didn't get congressional approval we should think about this to talk about this this redefinition of you know the hocks versus others no longer a blue and red issue well that's what i used to think about john mccain he has turned into a lack of google his he is so old and senile the man really needs to be brought to a nursing home and provided care for he has whatever john mccain says is so irrelevant he's so removed from the troops as like his rhetoric i support the troops it's a bunch of nonsense but really what's going on within the discontent is what general bruce palmer said after vietnam and that was general bruce congress and the american people will not stand for an ambiguous war of an unpredictable nature and which it doesn't end free of ruled suitable to

years ago now so the american people that's where they're out we've got guys like mccain and lindsey graham who get a lot of money from defense contractors they get a crap load of support from pro-war military organizations and as a result they get to get on t.v. and do they really care about the troops you know john mccain. does not care about the u.s. military is the largest so you goes god bless him for his military service but he does not care in the least bit what's going on r.t. blogger a military analyst takes over going to keep you here a little longer and as we move on turn next story of course the question of the u.s. led war effort is one that frequently comes up on the campaign trail now over the weekend many of the republican candidates gathered in new orleans for the republican leadership conference to talk about their ideas for how to move this country forward now among them congressman ron paul the only candidate who has said from day one of the u.s. should not be involved in any of the world for its we should withdraw our troops and the money from iraq afghanistan and libya

what do you say to people like john mccain and lindsey graham, who suggest that by taking troops out now, we are snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, charles? >> the better argument is the one you get from watching peteae -- petraeus and mike mullen, who said between the lines that this was done over their recommendation, the president has chosen increases the risk to our troops -- the current strategy the president has chosen increases the risk to our troops. if president obama is insincere, why did he order an escalation of the 30,000 troops, some of whom have not returned, a casualty rate higher than at any time during the afghan war, if he was not going to complete his own strategy and pick a withdrawal date was only logic is to help him in reelection? it makes no sense militarily. >> mark? >> general petraeus added to what he said there that military leaders make recommendations, but the commander in chief as the wider responsibility than just the military, specific military advice he gets. that is true of all presidents, and i, and at general petraeus for emphasizing that

lindsey graham said he has concerns about draw downs before the fighting season ends and next year'segins. >> i'm afraid we may have compromised two fighting seasons when it wasn't necessary. >> reporter: by september of 2012 levels would drop to about 68,000 but the president said they will continue to kem home at a steady paceful. >> you hear a lot of thank america is tired of this, we are tired, its been a decade. >> every story they said that, war wreary. >> a poll shows that more than half of california residents believe the war in afghanistan was not worth fighting. 34% say that it was worth it, 11% aren't sure. >> bay area is home to more afghanistan americans than any other part of the country. we went to find out what they think. >> reporter: here at the afghanistan house -- this is considered the center of little kabul and those we talked to were happy when we broke the news to one man he gave us a fist pump. they said the money could be better spent here. >> their fight, their battle. they should worry about it and better off without america. >> reporter: at the islamic ce

here is what lindsey graham sbas that. from the party's point of view, the biggest disaster would be to let barack obama become ronald reagan and our people become jimmy carter. senator graham thinks the republicans will look soft and weak here. >> i think the interesting thing is since 2008 a lot of candidates are actually coming the way of ron paul. michele bachmann also said on television that we shouldn't go to war in libya without congressional authority. haley barbour talked about the troops coming home from afghanistan. there may be varying degrees but many republicans are having questions now. >> are john mccain and lindsey graham, are they wrong, out of the mainstream? >> i think we have a difference of opinion. the republican party, there are some who believe that the president should have unlimited or inherent powers to commit war and then there are those of white house think the president should be restrained by the constitution that congress should declare war as intended. this just a difference of opinion. bu

another person i dive into lindsey graham and may become the new members of committee. and the impeachment thing is now in full bloom in her first committee hearing after the lewinsky story and the prices they are in everyone's assuming this is going to be fireworks. and so, henry by tradition, chairman introduces a new members. he does a little introduction of the little introduction of the the. john conyers says mr. chairman, will yield. they'll start whispering, here comes. he's going to scream about these guys. they're just putting these guys and i'm just thinking conyers is going to kill us. john conyers started saying i joined with my colleague, the chairman of welcoming congressman jim rogan. congressman rogan, what a fine man, a great state name. [laughter] and he is going and on about what a wonderful addition. all these republicans around me are starting to do this, looking at me. you know, what is this all about. and i am just sitting there. and i look at me very suspiciously. i go on, to welcome congressman rogan to the committee. he said, mr. chairman, i yi

according to republican senator lindsey graham, relations are close to the breaking point. >> we're at a crossroads with pakistan. we're on a collision course with pakistan. >> reporter: while the u.s. wants pakistan to go after the support network which allowed bin laden to hide in plain sa sight, pakistan has arrested and interrogated five people suspected of helping the cia pull off the raid. it's all part of a spy versus spy game the u.s. plays with one of its most important applies, and defense secretary gates told democratic senator patrick leahy, get used to it. >> how long do we support governments that lie to us? when do we say enough is enough? >> based on 27 years in cia and four and a half years in this job, most governments lie to each other. that's the way business gets done. >> reporter: although cia drone strikes against terrorist safe havens in pakistan's border area continue without letup, pakistani intelligence at the same time actually protect some of the terrorist groups. the cia gave pakistan the location of two compounds where the explosives smuggled across the b

after the president's speech, republican senator lindsey graham posted a tweet saying "we've undercut a strategy that was working." but house minority leader nancy pelosi says the president's plan doesn't remove troops fast enough and many democrats believe the money being spent on the war should be spent here. >> the country and the world that needs nation building the most is the united states of america. >> reporter: president obama says huge challenges remain in afghanistan and this is the beginning but not the end of america's effort to wind down the war. we will also be keeping a close eye today on general david petraeus' confirmation hearings on capitol hill. the top u.s. commander in afghanistan is in line to be the next cia chief. expect him to be grilled by lawmakers about whether or not he is truly on board with the president's plans for withdrawal. betty? >> in light of those plans, joel, what kind of reaction are we hearing from afghanistan? >> militarily there is cautious optimism in afghanistan on whether or not security forces there are truly ready to take over or will

according to republican senator lindsey graham, relations are close to the breaking point. >> we're at a crossroads with pakistan. we're on a collision course with pakistan. >> reporter: the u.s. wants pakistan to go after the support network which allowed bin laden to hide in plain sight. pakistan, instead, has arrested and interrogated five people suspected of helping the c.i.a. pull off the raid. it's all part of a spy-versus- spy game the u.s. plays with one of its most important allies. and defense secretary gates told democratic senator patrick leahy get used to it. >> how long do we support governments that lie to us? when do we say enough is enough? >> based on 27 years in c.i.a. and four and a half years in this job, most governments lie to each other. that's the way business gets done. >> reporter: although c.i.a. drone strikes against terrorist safe havens and pakistan's border areas continue without let-up, pakistani intelligence at the same time actually protects some of the terrorist groups. the c.i.a. gave pakistan the location of two compounds where the explosives smugg

issue with that we have seen it here in the united states comments from lawmakers such as senator lindsey graham call for intervention or some kind of action in syria but in bahrain we see this with the crown prince visiting the white house talking about reforms talking about moving forward to discussing this with the opposition however on the same note you have reports that political prisoners are being sentenced to death from what i understand this is extremely uncommon in bahrain someone i spoke to said that the last time they can remember that happening was for the rape of a child and now they're sentencing political prisoners to death and there are members of parliament that remain in prison and there are allegations that they are not getting a fair trial that they're not getting a trial that they're being tortured so why it is the white house coming out saying that things are moving forward with reform i guess there is such conflicting reports coming from bahrain. well essentially for. us puppet state this these killings. approved by the white house. for the practice of. most of the world

wondering why the president isn't sending tomahawk missiles over there to take a listen to senator lindsey graham on face the nation this sunday so if you really care about protecting the syrian people from slaughter now is the time the words know that all options are on the table it is gotten to the point where could you speak behavior indistinguishable the reason and beyond syria there's also both rainbird another violence crackdown is underway against anti-government demonstrators of course instead of taking on that regime obama decided to host bahrain's crown prince at the white house last week so what exactly is our foreign policy in the arab world right now we're here to offer up some answers david swanson activist and the author of the book war is a lie and retired u.s. air force colonel cedric leighton he's a specialist in middle eastern security affairs and the founder and president of cedric leighton associates welcome to the program thank you so much for being here . david i'll start with you i'm not really sure exactly where we're supposed to look amrit two are right david what's your

it was eighteen holes of epic fail speaking of failed south of the mason dixon on one senator lindsey graham has been throwing a temper tantrum over libya lindsay stands by his longtime imperialist cohort john mccain unsurprisingly as usual demanding that the us tax dollars police the globe regardless of cost and with blood and treasure all to keep their sponsors happy with more welfare for the military industrial complex so ran a can of been publicly mourning the rapid demise of neo conservatism in the grand old party lamenting the isolationist feel they see taking form on the debate stage even as mitt is mitt romney's sort of soft positions have taken a decidedly ron paul ask shape the consensus from the candidates it's time to quit spending money and come home but this doesn't sit well with the hawkish well for wrists and the hundred year war crowd so now senator graham thinks all of the g.o.p. candidates are left here's the quote if you think the pathway to the g.o.p. nomination is to get to barack obama's left you're going to meet a lot of headwinds. newsflash this just been liberal nat

errand people going to have to be pulled out and when they're pulled out people like senator lindsey graham are going to say oh you lost afghanistan would be through that before vietnam really quickly though i want to go as far as panetta and it sounds like you're saying to me that you think that if he is director of air the secretary of defense in. there will be more of the same as far as u.s. wars and u.s. defense spending i see no difference between between him and robert gates there you have it the analysis of former cia analyst ray mcgovern now maybe you have heard of voice of america well now the voice of russia radio announces the launch of two u.s. stations in both new york and washington d.c. now the new stations will air live programming with the russian perspective on international news culture arts and events the station's mark the first time v.o.r. will produce programming directly from the united states rather than broadcasting news from the moscow based radio program but artist guy inches you can has more all about it here's her story. welcome to voice of russia in washington

and that was senator lindsey graham of course talking about libya we would be stupid if we actually forced the president to get us out of a war that was illegal to go into in the first place senator john mccain the republican party is using this word isolationist and just throwing it on everyone like it's the dirtiest word you could possibly imagine one of the suspects because they're scared to death of the isolationists within their own rights because they got their way there is there even such a thing as a real isolation as well if they were trying relation it's i would not couch at that way at this moment more i would call conservatives and they see the trillions of dollars that are being poured down the rathole of afghanistan and the trillions of dollars that were poured down the rathole of iraq and they don't like it they don't like it at all i add to that the money that is now being screened in when you buy a president who went to war without consulting anybody in the legislative branch of government is or is like let's talk about that president because you know when bob woodward's w

errand people going to have to be pulled out and when they're pulled out people like senator lindsey graham are going to say you bush africanus they were big through that before vietnam really quickly though i want to go as far as panetta it sounds like you're saying to me that you think that if he is director of the secretary of defense that there will be more of the same as far as u.s. wars and u.s. defense spending i say you know difference between between him and robert gates all right that there's your analysis sums up as we're watching these confirmation hearings thank you so much for being here that was former cia analyst ray mcgovern now when it comes to defense spending as we've been speaking a lot about the u.s. right now is reportedly spending two million dollars a day for the nato led mission in libya now according to the financial times the pentagon estimates they're on course to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more than they expected on libya now r.t. interviewed secretary general of nato anders fogh rasmussen about the libyan mission and first we asked him what it means

this is senator lindsey graham, republican from south carolina. >> if to it made sense to protect thend it did because they were going to get slaughtered. the question for the world, have we got ton that point in syria? i think we may not be there yet, but we're getting very close. if you really care about protecting the syrian people from slaughter, now is the time to have let assad know all options are on the table. >> jill, you and i spoke yesterday. we talked about syria vis-a-vis libya. you told us how syria is much tougher nut to crack. i want to talk now about syrian president bashar al assad, he is a dictator. is there an alternative to him? and if so, could the alternative be worse? >> actually, bashar al-assad was actually considered a potential reformer, and that's what's been one of the factors here. he kept saying, even recently, don't worry, i will reform. don't worry, i will reform and the world wanted to believe it. but they haven't seen any evidence of that. so that's part of the equation why the world is being so slow. but when you're talking about, you know, viable

and he's finding support among republicans like senator lindsey graham of south carolina, even though he criticized the president for doing a, quote, lousy job of communicating and managing involvement in libya. >> and i would take the course that conservatives have taken for the last 30 years, the war powers act is unconstitutional, not worth the paper it's written on. >> reporter: despite this heated debate, experts say it's unlikely there will be any legal ramifications for the white house position. >> what makes obama's legal position so strong here is the courts don't like to get in the middle of fights between the executive and legislative branches. so even if obama is wrong in his interpretation, no court is going to tell him. >> reporter: house minority leader nancy pelosi says the limited nature of the u.s. engagement gives the president the authority to go forward, but she says she's still reviewing the classified version of that report that the white house sent to congress last week, wolf. >> no one denies the president has the ultimate authority to decide on the legal advi

just like many others including senator lindsey graham with whom i shared a stage at the law school andust like vernon's dad and i am sure the family members of many of you. she became a member of the woman's army corps and was stationed in new york. my mom that my dad, a mary and chose to stay in new york. that was a factory worker and my mom went to work in a private small hospital in the south bronx which would become her home for the next parity 5 years. the hospital's boss encouraged her to get a practical nursing degree which she did. regrettably my dad died at the age of 42 when i was 9 and my brother was 6. my mom was left alone and with two very young children. in most of my childhood my mother worked six day the week. she struggled to put my brother and me through college, through catholic school because she believed that was the best education she could afford for us. education was always paramount for my mother and threw her sacrifice we learned the value of education as well. when my brother and i were in high school my mom decided to pursue her own dream and went to colleg

obama person, but when you look at the republican party, you have the mccain wing, including lindsey grahamyou have some presidential candidates who we heard in the debate calling for withdrawal from afghanistan. it used to be in the 2008 election, i remember ron paul seemed to be the odd man out when it came to foreign policy. now he seems to feel a little more comfortable within the republican framework, and i would have to say, joe, it is really because of money issues. you just interviewed senator manchin. it is all about not only people being more weary, but you have that deficit, and people are saying what about us back home. >> david gergen, let me bring you in. do you agree this could be a seismic shift or is it more about money and once we get out of the financial situation in the country, we'll go back to the way the parties were before? >> i worry that it's a shift. in the short term, it is very much driven by money and war weariness, but the republican party as you well know, joe, was for a long time the isolationist party in the country, did not want to go into world war ii, he

joining me this morning to debate, dick durbin and republican senator lindsey graham.n "meet the press." >> david, thanks very much. >>> that's going to do it for us on a father's day sunday. happy father's day. melissa francis, thanks for being with us. >> thank you. >>> our interview with michael jackson's sister,

were pushing president obama to be much more aggressive and muscular in libya, and john mccain, lindsey graham ought to lower the boom on gadhafi. it was not that long ago, of course, that president reagan went after him with bombs after terrorist attack in berlin. you know, republicans have traditionally taken a very hard line against gadhafi and a lot of these terrorist activities, so i was surprised last night by this. i also wonder where it is going to lead in terms of defense spending among the candidates. if they want to spend -- if they refuse to cut spending, what is it the military is supposed to be for when we have terrorists facing us? it almost seems like a repute agency of what george w. bush was trying to do and i was surprised. >> interesting point. not only criticism of the democratic president but criticism or repud agency of george w. bush. david gergen, thanks for your insight. >>> humanitarian crisis and does israel want assad to stay or go? with diabetes, it's tough to keep life balanced. i don't always have time to eat like i should. that's why i like glucerna shakes. the

one of those people includes senator lindsey graham.ten here. >> i think the president rejected a modest withdrawal in 2011. that he is accelerated withdrawal in 2011 and '12 that could compromise our ability to maintain the gains we have fought so hard. the afghan security forces are better, but not yet able to sustain the fight without our help. >> reporter: words i'm hearing in terms of reaction, kyra, the need for flexibility in this plan. fear that precipitous pullout could risk the gains made there. senator mccain very influential republican in terms of these foreign relation issues said it clearly, that not the modest withdrawal he was looking for but i should say it does not cut cleanly along party lines as there are many that are feeling the war weariness, if you will, from their home districts. >> kate, thanks so much. in ten minutes from now, we will hear from a republican senator who is among the critics of the plan. he is on the senate foreign relations committee and asking tough questions of the obama team and he will join

and then, republican senators john mccain and lindsey graham speak about operations in afghanistan and libya. tomorrow morning, massachusetts congressman jim mcgovern will get his perspective on president obama's trip reduction plan in afghanistan. the house majority leader eric cantor pulled out of bipartisan budget negotiations led by the vice-president. we will get an update from tom cole who serves on the house budget and appropriations committee. "washington journal" each morning at 7:00 a.m. on c-span. >> starting next month, we will be able to remove 10,000 of our troops from afghanistan by the end of this year and we will bring home a total of 33,000 troops by next summer. >> follow the time line on the war in afghanistan and search over 4000 entries online at the c-span video library. search, watch, clip, and share every c-span program since 1987. all free, any time. it is washington your way. who would think a youtube rap video on economics would become popular? >> here we are, peace out, a great recession. we're not in a recession. if you follow my lesson, lined up for the r

at 4:00 p.m., on cbs "face the nation," representative steny hoyer and paul ryan, and senator lindsey grahamit begins at noon with "meet the press," 1:00, "this week," 2:00 , "fox news sunday," 3:00, "state of the union," and, finally, 4:00, "face the nation." >> the ayes are 72, the nays are 16. the nomination is confirmed. >> he was confirmed to succeed justice elena kagan as solicitor general. he is one of more than 100,000 people you can search and watch for free any time on line and are c-span video library. it is washington coming your way -- online at our c-span video library. it is washington, your way. >> on "indepth," linda hogan. her books include -- her latest is "rounding the human corners." sunday, july 3, noon est. on c-span2. "washington journal" continues. host: kevin book is a co-founder of clear view energy partners. he is here to talk with us about opec and how the current situation in north africa is affecting oil prices. what to the letters stand for? why was it founded? by whom? guest: the oil exporting countries. it was founded in 1960 in a meeting in baghdad. it was

last night republican senator lindsey graham told wolf blitzer it ignored the general's needs. >> i respectident but i think that we have undercut a strategy that was working. i think the 10,000 troops leave thing year is going to make this more difficult. having all the surge forces leave by next summer is going to compromise next summer. >> an editorial points out how the mission could shift in 2012. including turning more areas over to local afghan control and american force st would be shifted to focus on the boarder with pakistan. now some of those troops could be sent home instead. we will speak with our pentagon correspondent barbara starr and former special assistant to president bush for iraq and afghanistan. are afghan forces close to securing the country on their own? could al qaeda make a comeback there? >>> this morning new yorks is on the brink of becoming the sixth state to legalize same-sex marriage. in albany crowds have gathered before and against the measure which right now still needs a single vote to pass. 29 out of 30 democrats support the measure. two republicans have

so we have already done three of these, we had nouriel roubini came in, lindsey graham came to talk about the sorts of questions that you were asking. and so every month 30 or so young members of the department get to come and actually rather than just kind of do their day jobs, come engage in the world of ideas and do so with kind of true luminaries. and we feel like over time this is an investment in getting people to be more creative, to ask more questions, to have a more vibrant intellectual life. so that's one immediate thing that we have done. at policy planning our bread and butter, our way of life is engaging the academic community, the think tank community, policymakers of all kinds. and my goal as director is to try to increase the degree to which that is systematic and that it relates to more than just a nice conversation. but that it actually can have an impact on decisions being taken by people sitting around a table really deciding things. that's a very difficult thing, actually, as it turns out. it's a difficult thing not only for people inside of government who think of id