i'm liz wahl and you're watching r.t. well despite an intense smear campaign braun paul is surging in the polls throughout the years his message has remained the same and now his consistency seems to finally be paying off let's take a look at some of the presidential candidates stances that make him fundamentally different from his rivals when it comes to foreign policy ron paul remains antiwar he wants to bring the troops home close military bases abroad and stop being the world's policeman and when it comes to government he thinks it should be much smaller he wants to slash spending lower taxes and believes government interference should be at a bare minimum and when it comes to the war on drugs he wants to end it the doctor believes drug abuse is a medical not a criminal problem well that's the ideas i his supporters say show a candidate offering real change fresh ideas that differ from those of the failed establishment but instead of focusing on his policy the mainstream media is busy digging up dirt from his past con

and i'm liz wahl and you're watching r.t. . now that all american troops are officially out of iraq a look now at the u.s. legacy left behind nearly a decade later eight hundred billion dollars spent almost five thousand american military deaths and nearly one million iraqi civilians killed many say iraq is no better off today than it was before the u.s. invaded it a recent survey shows overall iraqis feel their country is in worse shape because of the war six in ten iraqis fear a possible civil war increased foreign influence from neighbors terrorist attacks and a bleak economic outlook who that benefited from the war certainly not iraqis according to the poll when asked who benefited fifty four percent of iraqis say the united states fifty eight percent say saudi arabia and fifty percent say iran only four percent say the iraqi people benefited the most from the war but president obama is touting the pullout as a victory if a failed promise he made during his campaign one of the most extraordinary chapters in the history of t

i'm liz wahl and you're watching our t.v. well we begin tonight with a question is the u.s. close to war with iran tensions between tehran and the west continue to escalate recent events show both countries are engaging in a dangerous political game just this past weekend iran claims to have shot down a u.s. drone flying over the country on the same day explosions outside the british embassy and bahrain this after the u.s. claimed iran is behind a plot to kill a saudi ambassador to washington right here on u.s. soil there's been a series of other mysterious explosions as well as assassinations of key scientists meanwhile the u.s. is cracking down on the country through a series of sanctions all this has some asking are we already at war with iran. let's take a look at some of the headlines on the web today. these are the headlines from the daily mail the atlantic and newsmax all of them asked the very same question are we already at war with iran now officials on both sides have not shied away from rallying to go to war how can you forget senator john mccain's performance a

i'm liz wahl and you're watching artsy. i'll start off today by taking a look at a relationship growing more troubled relations between the united states and pakistan seem to have reached a new low this after nato forces accidentally killed at least twenty four pakistani soldiers pakistan is taking action taking out u.s. aircraft there kicking them out of the country the relationship between the two countries already rocky after the u.s. swooped in and a raid to capture and kill osama bin laden now the pakistani prime minister warns there will be no more quote business as usual with washington president obama had this to say about relations with the country we will constantly evaluate our relationship with pakistan. based on is overall this helping to protect americans and our interests but there's no doubt that. you know we're not going to feel comfortable with a long term strategic relationship with pakistan if we don't think that they're mindful of our interests as well so our ties between the u.s. and pakistan on the br

i'm liz wahl and you're watching r.t. well from down drones to hack computers the u.s. house suffered some major technological blows recently this as the u.s. splurges on military spending and often touts being the best when it comes to advanced technology but apparently we're not advanced enough for other countries to take down our drones iran claims to have hijacked one of our most advanced spying tools as it was flying over the country the drone which iran says they intercepted was made by lockheed martin and one of the world's largest defense contractors the company advertised as being the best when it comes to combat and cyber threats take a look at their ad. greater. so they claim to protect national security by preventing cyber threats but somehow one of lockheed's drones as it up here in the hands of iran the country claims to have hijacked the drone by being technologically savvy hacking into its g.p.s. system and telling it to land exactly where it where they wanted it to land and apparently they did such a good job the aircraft appears to be in pristine condi

the mood is far from joyful with suicide rates troublingly were on the rise among veterans artie's liz wahl reports . being in this environment. it's killing us soldiers but surprisingly the biggest killers are not enemy combatants i am fortunately and have is the demographic in the united states that kills itself pretty much more than any other out there for the second year in a row more soldiers killed themselves than were killed in combat four hundred sixty eight soldiers took their own lives in two thousand and ten and even off the battlefield suicide rates continue to soar mathur sure rose in afghanistan war veteran turn anti-war activists we come home feeling terrible despicable about what we did and what we saw sure roe is one of thousands returning from deployment feeling detached and conflicted the laws of decency don't apply to soldiers in combat and when you go back to having to apply those last yourself all the time. you know that that for many you know leads either to the grave or to jail an average of eighteen veterans per day commit suicide and many more attempted last year t

in washington liz wahl r.t. . pakistan may soon be pulling nato for every load of supplies that passes through its territory on route to afghanistan that's if the country implements a new transit tax what it is today to traffic the routes it was shot three weeks ago after u.s. air strike killed twenty four pakistani soldiers to already strained relations between the two countries u.s. is under pressure to resolve the dispute has two thousand containers and fuel tankers on the route each month reach forces in afghanistan pakistan is on it's no surprise to some who are watching the situation with washington's increasingly harsh words against is not bad. we want to go back to how did this start is about ten years ago there was an ultimatum delivered in the wake of nine eleven by colin powell and richard armitage to the pakistani government and they said if you don't give us transit rights across pakistan we will bomb you back into the stone age so this is not an alliance this is not friendship this is the united stat

and he hopes that message will prevent students from turning into a statistic from washington liz wahl r t. now still ahead of you here on our t.v. the disaster that devastated the sports world and touched the hearts of millions. but. there was anger there was frustration there was sadness there were tears. parties schon thomas remembers a plane crash that wiped out the tire jaroslav locomotive hockey team as he looks back at the tragedy that was special series last twelve months. with this is. to history in the making. testimony. ten stories that shapes two thousand and eleven on our t.v. . turkey has halted diplomatic and economic ties with france after the lower house of the french parliament passed a law making it a crime to deny the genocide of armenians and turkey in the early twentieth century if approved by the senate offenders could face a year in prison at a fire of forty five thousand euros hundreds of french turks have been protesting in front of the national assembly in paris more than fifteen countries recognize the slaughter of around one of the half million. but turkey

america you can also follow me on twitter at liz wahl the big picture with tom hartman is coming up in a half hour tonight tom will explain why americans are not living and a leader society that was predicted for them it years ago that's going to do.

in washington liz wahl r t. we well the founder of the web site wiki leaks has scored a point in his ongoing legal battle with the british government the supreme court in london's agree to hear julian assange and his appeal against extradition britain wants to send the sanish to sweden to face questioning over rape allegations by two swedish women he denies any wrongdoing but two lower courts have previously ruled against him for the supreme court to agree to hear his appeal or sound as lawyers have to persuade two judges that his case raised a question of general public importance the appeal will be considered in february the sands claims the case against it was politically motivated and the fees extradited he will receive a fair trial. deadly clashes have broken out between police and demonstrators in an oil turn in western kansas star prosecutors say at least ten people were killed and some were injured including police officers let's go to speed this is the other big story tonight a correspondent tom bowman

in washington liz wahl r.t. . from world news in brief now the marab in clashes between police and protesters in egypt sit in protests demanding an end to military rule it happened right that one of the add to this happened detained hundreds of demonstrators torch candles and threw stones at me and she police who fired gunshots into the air to disperse them injuries are being reported but egypt's currently holding a month's long election process to a place the military government that's been in place since president barrack was ousted in february but many have very impatient at the slow progress of reform. that's high level suspicion that the former libyan leader colonel gadhafi is killing is a war crime things national criminal court chief prosecutor now wants to know what the congressman is going to do to investigate it the eight month long uprising against gadhafi has long killed over thirty thousand people and taper with his capture and violent killing. japan's fukushima nuclear facility has been declared stab

in washington liz wahl r.t. . time now to take a look at what else is making global news around the world this hour an activist run for police in the egyptian capital the security forces stormed a protest camp outside the capital building hundreds of demonstrators top carlson's from fire bombs at police five gunshots and we had to disperse them and into a military administrations in force in the country while the new government selects has many offices trying to get the army still being trolled after the uprising that toppled former president mubarak. international criminal court says there are serious suspicions that the killing of colonel gadhafi was on. the i.c.c. a mission to meet the libyan leader died of crossfire but is now pressuring libya to investigate the circumstances of death he was killed in october off being captured by rebels in his hometown of sirte. to pounce prime minister has declared the quake stricken replay a problem for kashima to be stable the power station has been put into a state called

in washington liz wahl r t well let's discuss this now brian becker director of the un's he will coalition and cities in new york to force a speck of high the new york coalition took part in it in demonstrations calling for manning to be freed just outline for us briefly your reasons for demanding his release now. well i think that bradley manning if it's true that he was the one who released the documents to wiki leaks will be considered in u.s. history as a hero because he took a stand in a willing to pay a very difficult price possibly life in prison possibly the death sentence for exposing a criminal war the iraq war is a crime against humanity it's a war crime in fact bradley manning had an obligation to reveal that this country was carrying out criminal activities of course we all knew that and one sense but by releasing these hundreds of thousands of classified documents if in fact it was he who did it he did a great deal to expose to shine a bright light on those who are committing crimes against the iraqi people and in fact against the american people. he was vigorously they've cl

and he hopes that message will prevent students from turning into a statistic from washington liz wahl. and for more on this earlier i spoke to jason leopold he's the deputy managing editor of truthout dot org and with an average of eighteen veterans committing suicide each day according to the veterans administration i asked him why we are seeing skyrocketing suicide rates among soldiers here's his take. well first of all that's actually a statistic that has been out there for quite some time it's been somewhat under the radar you know part of the problem here is that soldiers first of all. they the experience that they're having in iraq in afghanistan is traumatic obviously these are multiple deployments multiple deployments. returning to an environment in which they have difficulty adjusting in addition to that there is a stigma that is associated with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury and that stigma has has somewhat halted veterans from seeking the help that they that they need. you know one issue that i have tried to bring up in some of the reporting that

i'm liz wahl and you're watching artsy well assassinated science has to down drones to mysterious explosions some argue that the u.s. and israel are already in a covert war with iran and from the rhetoric we're hearing from republican presidential candidates and government leaders it seems there is a push for an all out war with the country take a look. i think our goal should be replacing the viewing indicators that madman to keep iran from having a nuclear weapon the right response to that would have been to go immediately after gone down and destroy if we have been a violent man a man who uses that nuclear weapon to wipe nations off the face of the earth iran's nuclear and ballistic missile activity poses a real threat. i would say to the government or room today you have a very short time to solve this on your own and if you don't we will solve it for you and we frankly couldn't care less what the rest of the world thinks but i think the iranians have to believe as well that a particular leadership believes that america would consider taking military option we may be past the point of no

i'm liz wahl and you're watching r.t. . well more signs today that the u.s. and iran are inching closer to war this afternoon ronnie and warplanes spots a u.s. aircraft carrier crossing the strait of hormuz now the strait is critical because it's the only sea passage open to exporting open to the ocean for exporting oil over fifteen million barrels of oil passes through here every day that's about a third of the world's oil shipment by sea the aircraft carrier iran says it spotted as part of the fifth fleet which is based in bahrain not too far away well iran now flexing its muscles and threatening to cut off oil supply from the waterway this is a response of the blast imposing sanctions on the country and the u.s. is vowing to use its navy stationed in the persian gulf to stop iranians from blocking the passage in the wake of these events is this another sign that war with iran is just around the corner while to answer that question i spoke to senior fellow for the center of advanced studies advanced defense studies lieutenant colonel anthony shaffer here's

in washington liz wahl r.t. more world news now been clashes between police and protesters in egypt at a sit in protest of marking an end to military coup happened when it was read that one of the activists have been detained hundreds of demonstrators torched cars and threw stones at military police who fired gunshots into the air to disperse them but injuries are now being reported egypt's currently holding a months long lection process to replace the military that's been in place since president barrack was ousted. many have grown impatient that it's no progress before. there's high level suspicion that the former libyan leader colonel gadhafi is killing was a war crime international criminal court's chief prosecutor and he wants to know what the country's leadership is going to do to investigate it a month long uprising against gadhafi is known to over thirty thousand people and even on top of his capture and violent death. japan's fukushima nuclear facility has been declared stable by months of being cripple

i'm liz wahl and you're watching artsy. well as parliamentary elections play out in russia it seems the u.s. government leaders and the mainstream media are pushing their own agenda in covering it harsh criticism over the electoral process attacking moscow for failing to conduct fair and free elections here's a look at some of the coverage. prime minister vladimir putin's party barely hanging on to their majority in the parliament while most polling station is showing to have voting booths with ink that can be raised which votes against the ruling party its alleged. it appears that a lot of people in russia are fed up with not having a choice. but in covering the events it's the mass media that failed to report the facts even showing wrong video all in an effort to shape the story are to correspondent marina pour in takes a look at the media coverage of the elections in russia and sets the facts straight . america has its fair share of protests and political dissent to be dealing with instead of keeping an eye on the ball t

i'm liz wahl and you're watching r.t. . well in the middle east suicide bombings are making a deadly comeback today in syria two suicide car bombs blasted damascus killing forty people the bombings came just one day after the arrival of arab league observers whose mission is to monitor syria's promise to end its crackdown on protesters those protesters are rising up against president bashar assad's regime assad is calling them armed gangs meanwhile iraq is trying to recover after a series of suicide bombs tore through the neighborhoods in baghdad killing at least sixty nine people many of them shiites well there's one thing to be said about both attacks we see a unified theme of sectarian violence now so what does it mean for the middle east and how does the west playing into this here is my discussion with lawyer and author eva golinger. i would say absolutely it's an attempt to sabotage the mission of the arab league and the attempts to try to resolve the conflict in syria in a peaceful way and also you know to try to pai

out our you tube page it's youtube dot com slash r t america you can also follow me on twitter at liz wahl we'll see you back here at seven. wealthy british style. the time to. go. right. market so why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy with max cons are the no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune into cars a report on our. world . series technology innovation and all the latest developments from around russia we've got this huge area covered. the nation is. going to take three years for charges three arrangement three. three. three little gold free volunteers politics video for your media project free media down to r.t. dot com. hello and welcome to cross talk i'm peter lavelle going from very bad to even worse this is the state of u.s. pakistan relations after a cross border attack that left up to twenty pakistanis dead and pakistani public opinion outraged and the stakes could not be higher for the obama administration counting on pakistan's support to wind down the last war in afghanistan. taking. to cross-talk u.s. pakistani relations i'm j

in washington liz wahl r.t. . ok let's take a look now what else is making news around the globe this hour protesters within the gypsy capital after pictures and spread online of a detained activist badly beaten by officers around three hundred demonstrators torch cars and threw stones at military police he fired gunshots and to disperse them egypt's currently holding a long running election process took place the military who has been in place since president mubarak was ousted in february but many have for the patient slow pace appeal to. him settle criminal courts is there a serious discussions that the killing of colonel gadhafi was. the i.c.c. initially believed the. first fire brigade is sure to be investigating the circumstances of his death the eight month long uprising against the iraqis long rule thirty thousand people and table with his capture and killing. japan's prime minister has declared stricken nuclear plant to be stable the power station has been put into a state called cold shutdown which means

i'm liz wahl and you're watching artsy. well the u.s. and iran seem to be engaged in a political game that could turn dangerous the u.s. now stepping up saying sions against the country sanctions that would target their central bank and oil industry meanwhile a series of mysterious incidents have some pointing to the u.s. and gauging and covert operations in an effort to stall an iranian nuclear program from developing from assassinating key scientists to unexplained explosions of government buildings events that sound like they could come out of a modern day thriller meanwhile iran claims to have grounded a u.s. drone that was on authorized to fly over the country these drones that you see on your screen are similar to the one that iran claims to have shot down that is a r q one seventy sentinel drone unmanned of course and is the same type of drone that was used to monitor osama bin laden's compound in pakistan now u.s. congress is rallying to crack down on the country three series of economic sanctions the u.s. senate unanimously pass

america you can also follow me on twitter at liz wahl coming up in a half hour is the big.

in washington liz wahl r.t. . joe i heard him as an antiwar activist and also an iraq war a marine corps veteran who's joining us on the line from california general good to see you now i guess when you signed up to proudly serve your country given the very best you knew what you were heading into you fought in iraq you know the score there first can you personally see the reasoning behind manning's alleged actions of could you have seen it then when you signed up i guess the crucial question is what you think differently about it now. yes definitely my mind has changed when going to war or there and can't open my eyes so i'm actually on our military is conducting its. war in iraq only it wasn't you know this this will this will thing we're somehow bringing peace to the iraqis by killing every single one of them is is inherently flawed i mean you don't need to we have a degree in anything to kind of figure out that it's illogical so you're totally convinced of that manning was in the right to do what he did yeah y

our you tube page it's youtube dot com slash our to america you can also follow me on twitter at liz wahl i'll see you right back here and half hour. you know sometimes you see a story and. you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear see some other part of it and realize everything you saw.

i'm liz wahl and you're watching artsy. well in the middle east suicide bombings are making a deadly comeback today in syria two suicide car bombs blasted damascus killing at least forty people the bombings came just a day after the arrival of arab league observers tasked with monitoring syria's promise to end its crackdown on protesters protesters there are rising up against president bashar assad's regime but assad is calling the armed gangs terrorists seeking to divide the country meanwhile iraq is picking up the pieces today after a series of suicide bombs tore through neighborhoods in baghdad killing at least sixty nine people it appears the targets were shia sections of the city now amid the suicide bombings in both countries we are seeing a unified theme sectarian violence is ravaging iraq and syria putting both nations on the brink of civil war and as religious and sectarian tensions rise what does this mean for the middle east and how does this play how does the west play into this well to help me look into all of

in washington liz wahl r.t. . on world news now there's high level suspicion that the former libyan leader colonel gadhafi is killing was a war crime international criminal courts chief prosecutor now wants to know what the country's new leadership is going to do to investigate it eight month long uprising against gadhafi is long killed over thirty thousand people total it is capturing prominent. italy's government faces a confidence vote on friday to try and get the wheels turning on a thirty three billion euro austerity package the vote is expected to be passed easily as prime minister mario monti's government has an overwhelming majority in both houses of parliament and he was appointed last month to head a technocrat cabinet tasked with cutting debt and avoiding collapse in the euro zone's third largest economy. let's check what's going on in the world of business now it is next. so scary everyone welcome to the program let's start with more on the news in the new year at that spot to begin for the russian eco

i'm liz wahl and you're watching r.t. . well hundreds of u.s. and nato soldiers reportedly arrive on the border of syria according to a former f.b.i. official hundreds of troops have mysteriously landed on the border and are training militants to overthrow the regime of syrian president bashar al assad but she says the u.s. media has been suspiciously silent about all of this the whistleblower that is helping to bring this to light so bill admin's joined me here in studio a little earlier to expose some of the details. well my sources in turkey and those also of military sources here in the united states and these are u.s. military sources and turkish military sources familiar with the training of syrian rebels in turkey in southern turkey in u.s. bases engine like base in the southern part of turkey in hot tie area since last may and this is may two thousand and eleven and this story was confirmed by several high level people from both sides turkish military and u.s. military and they broke this story in november on november twenty second and n

i'm liz wahl and you're watching artsy well we begin with the crisis in the euro zone and the black sheep of the e.u. is shaking things up even more this after u.k. prime minister david cameron vetoed a treaty dreamed up by germany's marco and france's sarkozy the treaty was designed to save the euro the currency that is now on the brink of collapse but the u.k. is the only country of the twenty seven members to vote against the proposal cameron argues that the treaty takes an unprecedented amount of power away from the individual countries and transfers it to brussels and he doesn't want brinson be a part of it while one leader of the u.k. never wanted to have any part of the euro plan to begin with nigel farage the leader of the u.k. independence party thinks the euro project is a disaster and he's not afraid to let his colleagues know just how he feels you won't. know but in the objective measure the euro is it for you i do is actually responsible who can show. god out of you lot but of course the answer is not of you because none of you have been elected none of you actually have any

i'm liz wahl and you're watching artsy well new jobs numbers out today paint a slightly better picture of the nation's unemployment the labor department reports a jobless rate fell to eight point six percent here's how the mainstream media is reacting to the news today. i think we're going to drop in unemployment for november going from nine percent to eight point six percent unemployment rate dropped to its lowest level since march of two thousand nine hundred five in the white house this morning at least have to be breathing a sigh of relief shows you that there's hiring there's hiring again slow but steady hiring well it certainly is good news in that the trend is moving in the right direction to get good news like this every month that his reelection path will get it will get easier certainly. well on the surface the decline in unemployment looks like positive news out there all of the lowest levels of unemployment in the u.s. since march of two thousand and nine and one hundred twenty thousand private sector jobs were created in november but if you dig deeper you'll find there's r

i'm liz wahl and you're watching artsy. well over the past couple of months we've seen shocking video of police brutality directed at peaceful protesters from firing pepper sprayed a beating protested protesters with the songs to launching rubber bullets we're seeing image after image of police violently cracking down on demonstrators and then there's the overwhelming police presence warmth of officers decked out in riot gear have surrounded occupy wall street site and beyond local police homeland security has gotten involved in many cases and that these images questions arise over the role of police officers today are we seeing a military is a nation of the police force are the correspondent on the stasi a churkin a takes a look at how police tactics against protesters have grown more fierce over the recent months. america's fight to promote democracy abroad looks like this. images like this get applauded but a similar uprising with the new west turns into a crackdown on that same gem of pride if you will. is the us now in