mohammed was seventh century. now, we've all -- if we have friends in american they are iranian they are probably that time and in good with the shah and had to leave in '79. if you had an impression with the country that left that country who was particularly at odds with the government that we're having trouble with. you got to remember that when you're talking to formally shah-friendly guests. they had a bad problem with the system. in iran, you just can't worship them. they are not going to kill if they worship over the border. i think it's crummy but we don't have any right to go in there and change it. get out of iran. or don't worship in public. it's happened in other countries. i asked the guy if you're a christian or a jew can you actually get anywhere in the military in the government. you can't get any position of power in the military government. you got to be a muslim practicing shiite muslim? yes. religious freedom unless you not part of mohammed. do we have a tyranny of the majority of the hundreds

khalid chic mohammed -- khalid sheikh mohammed was the architect of the 9/11 attacks and took pleasure in beheading "wall street journal" reporter daniel parole. another was a planner of 9/11 and was supposed to be one of the hijackers until he was denied enter into the united states. walid ben atash is believed to be the master mind behind the bombing of the u.s.s. cole in yemen in 2009. i'm also --ed about the danger these individuals would pose were they placed in u.s. prisons are jails. these individuals are responsible for planning the deaths of thousands of americans. in the case of nociere, court tapes show that conspirators provided assurances that in the event some were captured, others would work to free them. in addition, in the 2000 trial of salim, one of the terrorists accused of the 1990 bombing of the u.s. embassy in kenya, he stabbed a u.s. prison guard in the eye in a prison escape attempt. al qaeda saw the rights given to its members to meet with counsel as an opportunity to carry out violent escape attempts. mr. salim was one of the original followers of osama bin la

he kept waiting to see mohammed face to face. this great honor and mohammed never showed. he was not in this line of profits. the last person coming was riding on a donkey. shrouded in a white robe. [applause] and he said, he just said i could not believe i was saying that but i shouted out, are you jesus? and the man pulled back his shroud and smiled and nodded and he said, this man said i was flooded with a love and a hope and a joy and a ps i had never experienced in my entire life and i knew at that moment that god had answered my prayer. he told me mohammed was not the profit, that jesus christ was the only way of salvation and he woke up with great joy. [applause] he also woke up realizing his pillowcase and the sheets were soaked. more time had passed then he realized. he had been sobbing with repentance because of the murders thoughts in his heart. the next day i asked him if i could filmed this for this new interview with him for this new film, and he agreed and it will be in the new film. after we were finished he said joel comment you are a very lucky man. i sai

prominent in part at least because he is backed by mohammed khatami, the former president. two others are former parliament speaker and reformist candidate. >> you blight -- i'm sorry, go ahead. >> the other is a revolutionary guard commander and he's more from the conservative wing of the iranian regime. >> you wrote there are no credible opinion polls in iran. is there an indication of a front-runner? >> you know, until about a week or ten days ago, everyone that we speak to in iran was telling us that although there are no a incredible opinion polls mahmoud ahmadinejad seems to be a clear front runner but seems it's shifted in the last week or so because mir-hossein mousavi appears to have gained strength. to what extent can he really challenge mahmoud ahmadinejad remains to be seen. usually in 83 year on election makes it does run so i think people will be watching very carefully over the next few days to see how well mir-hossein mousavi's message of more moderation is received by people. >> tell us about some of the main issues in this election. >> i would say there ar

there is khalid shaikh mohammed when he was intercepted and pakistan. the program was set up a very, very cautious way, and it had to be reviewed every 45 days. it had to be personally signed by the presence of the united states. it was a very valuable program. it was evaluated by congress and got legislative authorization to continue. the reason for my comment about "the new york times" was the program was classified, and there was a source of a good deal of information that allowed us to find out who inside the united states was talking to al qaeda folks outside of the united states, and we found ourselves in a situation where the new york times leaked it. we called them into the oval office, and the washington bureau chief and others came down to the oval office, and the president said, "look, please do not publish what you are about to publish, because you will tell the anyhow we are reading their mail, which would not be good. in fact, there is a lot against it." -- a law against it." and they went ahead and did it, and they ended up winning a puli

versus the united states the challenge to the cia, abduction, torture of an innocent german citizen, mohammed jepson a suit against a private aviation company for facilitating the cia's rendition to torture of five muslim men and edmonds versus department of justice a whistle blower retaliation suit on behalf of an fbi translator fired for reporting serious misconduct. he was a law clerk in the court of appeals for the ninth circuit. he's a graduate of harvard college and new york university school of law. i must say have a particular fondness of new york university school of because since my son goes there. i welcome all of you. it is now my -- each of your written statements will be made part of the record in its entirety. i would ask that you summarize your testimony in five minutes or less. to help you stay within that time limited, there's a light at your table when there's one minute it will switch to yellow and red when the five minutes are up. before we begin it's customary for the committee to swear in its witnesses. if you would please stand and raise your right hands to take the oa

mohammed rafiq jepsen iysoo against the private aviation services committee for facilitating the cia rendition to torture of five muslim men and edmonds versus the department judgement whistle-blower suit and the behalf of the fbi translator pfeiffer reporting serious misconduct. mr. west was a law clerk to the honorable stephen reinhardt of the court of appeals for the ninth circuit. is a graduate of harvard college in new york university's school of law and i must say i have the funds for the new york university of lawson's my son is currently a student. i am pleased to welcome all of you. it is no mullite-- each of your reinstatements abed made part of the record in its entirety and i would ask you summarize your testimony in five minutes or less. there is a timing for your table. when one minute remains the light will switch from green to yellow and then to read when the five minutes are up. before we began to discuss-- if you please stand and raise your right hand to take the oath. do you swear or affirm under penalty of perjury the testimony you are about to give is true and co

look at the pleading of khalid shaikh mohammed. his words, we are terrorists to the bone. you release those people, bring them in the united states. we already heard from one case that the supreme court majority is wanting to give them rights to which they are not or should not be entitled. and that's justice justice scalia said this opinion will cost american lives. that was a bold statement by scalia but he's right. we should not allow this to hurt american soldiers and american people and put innocent lives at risk even though it may get some applause overseas from people who would not mind seeing america disappear. and i want to touch very quickly on the photographs. we believe in america that guilty people should be punished and people who tortured are treated prisoners inhumanely have been punished and are being punished. but if those photographs are released iwill be blood on this administration's hands for punishing innocent soldiers who had nothing to do with it, and we should not have or allow this administration to hurt innocent soldiers. i yield back. the speak

[applause] as in the story when moses, jesus and mohammed, peace be upon them. joined in prayer. the third source of tension is our shared interest in the rights and responsibilities of nations on nuclear weapons. this issue has been a source of tension between the united states and the islamic republic of iran. for many years iran has defined itself in part by opposition to my country. and there is a tumultous history between us. in the middle of the cold car, -- war, the united states played in a democratically let elected government and this history is well known. rather remained trap in the past, i made it clear to iran's leaders and people, that my country is prepared to move forward. the question now is not what iran is against, but rather what future it wants to build. i recognize it will be hard to overcome decades of mistrust. but we will proceed with courage, reckitude and resolve. there will be many issues to proceed on, and we will move forward on the basis of mutual respect. but it's clear to all concerned, that when it comes to nuclear weapons, we have reached a dec

. >> and mohammed received from jose badias accomplice in the attacks after 9/11. and there was a plot to blowup buildings and with a bomb? did you approve his release? >> i take responsibility. >> were you aware of the serious allegations? >> in the determination we made, we made the conclusion of charges and allegations lodged against people, there was insufficient proof to bring those cases. anybody who poses a danger tots -- to the united states will be held and tried.

intelligence shows that ghailani met both bin laden and khalid sheikh mohammed in afghanistan and remained in close association with al qaeda until his capture in 2004. now, this bona fide terrorist will have the privilege of a united states civilian court trial in the united states. ahmed ghailani was just one of 239 detainees housed in the state-of-the-art facility at gitmo. according to the "wall street journal" today, the government official has said that well over 50 detainees have been approved for transfer to other countries and that negotiations were continuing with saudi arabia to take a large group of yemen detainees. attorney general eric holder estimated yesterday that more than 50 detainees may end up on trial by u.s. authorities. this news comes as more and more americans are growing opposed to the closure of gitmo. in fact, i would have to say this, mr. president, recently we've had more and more polls taken and it's now a 3-1 ratio that people don't want these people tried in the united states, they don't want to have them housed in the united stat states. so we have a real

drew warm applause when he used the phrase, "me peace be upon him" after speaking of the prophet mohammed. -- he made gestures that drew warm applause. i had a similar experience in korea. i was in the combined forces command. the deputy was a korean four- star. the korean language is complex. the native speakers of have their language simplified. we do not even have the multiple versions of "you." we ditched the informal "yous"a long time ago. many language have the formal and informal verb. koreans go further, they have separate verbs for each form. the commander came in and told me, the two-star general, -- he addressed me with the informal version of wishing me peace in korea. i responded with a formal. i will never forget the look on his face. he stopped, smiled, tilted his finger at me, and walked off. it was no credit to me. it is just a suggestion that this is more than just being polite. these are keys opening up relationships that lead it to knowledge. the sensitivity to the world beyond our shores has hard core information of value. i was with the head of intelligence for the e

[applause] as in the story of isra when moses, jesus, and mohammed, peace be upon them, joined in prayer. [applause] with the third source of tension is a per-share interest in the rights and responsibilities of nations on nuclear-weapons. this issue has been a source of tension between the united states and the islamic republic of iran. for many years, iran has defined itself, in part, by its opposition to my country. and there is, in fact, a tumultuous history between us. in the middle of the cold war, the united states played a role in the overthrow of a democratically elected iran and government. since the islamic revolution in iran has played a role in act of hostage taking and violence against u.s. troops and civilians. this history is well known. rather than remain trapped in the past, i've made it clear to iran's leaders and people that my country is prepared to move forward. the question now is not what iran is against, but rather what the future it wants to build. i recognize it will be hard to overcome decades of mistrust, but we will proceed with courage, rectitude, and resol

>> guest: i spent a year with an islamic fundamentalist leader in london called omar bakhri mohammed. and it was just going to be a newspaper article, actually. and he was so unlike one's mental picture of a muslim extremist. he was kind of buffoonish and silly and burlesque. i thought, "that's so interesting. he's not like -- he's not the one-dimensional demon we're -- we're led to believe." i thought -- i wondered if other extremists would be like that. so then i spent a lot of time with a klan leader who was giving his klan an image makeover. he kind of figured that the klan had a bad image, so he wanted to, you know, ban the "n" word and ban the robes and the hoods and the cross-burnings and -- and replace those things with personality seminars, teaching -- teaching their klansmen to be -- you know, to work out whether they're melancholics or sanguines, and so on. so again, he was very unlike my mental picture of a -- of a ku klux klan leader, this guy. he was nebbishy. he reminded me of woody allen. and i thought there was an irony there. so then i figured, well, maybe there's a

their exposure to al qaeda leaders such as khalidshake moment and see the assessment -- khalid chic mohammed and the assessment of the threat they pose today. what message does their release into the u.s. send to al qaeda and the rest of terrorist network. how can the government guarantee the released detainees won't stay in contact with their al qaeda and provide them with intelligence from within the u.s.? if the attorney general cannot or will not answer these questions, he should not even consider releasing them into the united states. the administration has a moral obligation to share this administration with the american people. over the last month, both the house and senate stripped all funding from these transfers and inserted language into the fiscal year 2009 emergency supplemental bill that would require the administration to provide the american people with a clear plan before any action was taken. since march, i have written the president, the attorney general, the secretary of homeland security asking for answers to these and other questions and i still have not received a sing

right now at the university of southern california, a genocide am staple of the profit mohammed or allegedly of the prophet calling on muslims to murder jews and exterminate them as a condition of their redemption is on the university of southern california web site. put up there by the muslim students association, which is part of the muslim brotherhood network and supporters of jihad. so i don't look to private schools. of the one thing since i've been so negative on universities, i had a very -- i had two really good visits, of course, i was there only a day, went to kenya, which is a liberal college and the other to reid, which boasts that 85% of its students are leftists. that's what i said. they're both in my view, very good schools, because tier very traditional, and when i discovered, i mean, by just asking questions, with you're in a literature course, do they teach you have literature or do they teach you about imperialism and racism an sexism and getting the answer they teach us, the literature. i then asked, do you have a women's studies department here? no. do you have a black s

so he decided that was the key, it rather than start with mohamed were other histories have started, this was the defining moment. what he would argue his that arabs value history in ways that those of us in the west we don't think about it. first of all their history is much deeper and richer. for most of their history they were a dominant power, and i think one of the things that's going on in the middle east now is arabs are seen that the west sort of looks down on them. that's something that's very inconsistent with their history. so it's very important to understand arab history if you want to unravel what's happening in the arab landed a. >> and this author lives in oxford england. would you bring him your. >> we will bring them here. it's funny because history is a little tough to get media because the media sort of obsessed with what's in the news, and even though i try to make the argument you why this is relevant to the news that will be a bit of a battle when we tried to pitch it. books about the economic situation is a little easier to tour and get media. we thought this

susan crawford reached the same conclusion, reached the conclusion mohammed al-kahtani, the so-called 20 hijacker couldn't be prosecuted for his role in the 9/11 attacks because he was tortured at guantanamo bay. here is what susan crawford said. madam president, can i ask for order in the chamber? >> the senate will be in order. >> here is what susan crawford said. quote, we tortured al-kahtani. if we tolerate this and allow wait how can we object when hours servicemen and women or others in the foreign service are captured and subjected to the same techniques? how can we complain where is our moral authority to complete? well, we may have lost it, and of quote from susan crawford. this is one reason the president obama closing guantanamo and put an end to the abusive interrogation techniques that were used in guantanamo because they put the troops at risk of being abused of the troops are captured. senator kyl has also claimed there is no connection between the abuse that took place at abu ghraib and guantanamo bay. that is senator kyl's view that the senate armed services committee

and so he decided that that was the key -- that that -- rather than start with, say, mohammed which ishere other histories have started, that this was the defining moment. arabs value history in ways that those of us in the west we don't think of it. first of all, their history is much deeper and richer. there was -- for most of their history they were a dominant power and i think one of the things that's going on in the middle east now is that arabs are seen as -- that the west sort of looks down on them and that's something that's very inconsistent in their history it's important to understand arab history if you're trying to unravel what's happening in today. >> would you bring him to the united states to talk about his book? >> yeah, we will bring him to do -- it's funny 'cause history is a little tough to get media because the media is sort of obsessed with what's in the news and even though i just tried to make the argument to you about why that is relevant to you, that will be a little bit of a battle when we try to pitch it. books about the economic situation. it's easier to to

because at that time, there was a moderate in power, president mohammed khatami and there was a particular set of power that he would be transforming iran to a more democratic and a more open society. as i was living in iran at that time and i was in my early 20s, and these young people were my friends and my relatives, and i grew quite fascinated with their political attitudes and behavior. and i felt that i couldn't really capture what they were striving for in these short 600-word news stories. and so i wrote -- i decided to write a book about them to portray how they were going about trying to transform their society. many of you may have read that book but i'll quickly because i think it's important to talking about what iran is going through today remember what young people were dealing with back at that time, in the years sort of early 2000/2001. i described their culture of as-if pretending all the rules in place, what people could wear, how they could behave and read and watch, they pretended these rules did not exist. young women started to flout the dress code and wear brighter

the leading figure was killed, the president mohamed was killed, the prime minister in these bombings. we forget that ayatollah khomeini dismissed a president, dismissed and ousted in 1980. we had in 1986 the famous merckty affair which was involving the u.s. overture to iran in the context of the iran-contra affair. in which there were many arrests of people close to centers of power. we had the removal of ayatollah month certificate ri as khomeini's designated success accesser in 1989. that seriously shook the regime. we had a serious rift over whether or not to end the iran/iraq war in 1987-'88 when iran was losing, and there were many senior figures that said, no, iran should continue. that was a major rift. in 1999 we had major student riots, several killed. just in 2000 we had -- 2004 we had the council of guardians which vets the candidates, basically disqualified almost all of the major reformist candidates for the parliament, and there were sit-ins and various protests right from within the regime, so the idea of a rift in the regime is new i think is not correct. ayatollah r

. >> and one received directions from khalid shaikh mohammed and is believed to be jose padilla's acomp police for second wave of attacks after 9/11. military commission charges against him tie him to a plot to blow up high-rise apartment buildings and explode a dirty bomb in the united states. did you approve his release? >> the releases that have occurred have all been done with my approval and i take responsibility. >> were you aware of the serious allegations that he was involved with, facing? >> in the determinations that we made, we made the conclusion that with regard to any charges or allegations that had been lodged against people that there was insufficient proof to bring those cases. anybody who poses a danger to the united states or who has committed an act against the united states or american interests will be held, will be tried. and the president has been clear about that. this process is designed to protect the marn people. and that is what i have tried to do to the best of my ability. >> well, if he's been captured as part of the war on terror, is he not -- is the unit

you go down the streets and find billboards not selling stuff but with quotes from mohammed. some of them are loving, some of the market fall. they are all a part of the religious ideologies and it occurred to me we are kind of blind to our brainwashing and they are kind of blind to there's but if they come here they see the materialism. if we go there we see the intensity of their theocracy. and i found it as a traveler very interesting. you go down the street and see these towering murals most of them honoring martyrs'. when you die fighting for your country, you are a hero, you are a martyr. i hear this word in america a lot lately. they are not unique. and as i mentioned iran with a quarter of the population lost 250,000 people in the 1980's with a front line as hellish as the one between france and germany in world war i. and this would be -- like can't read the words here but i sure that would be a mortar, this guy is a martyr, and you've got the supreme leader and the president. i want to stress we all know and hate mahmoud ahmadinejad. i shouldn't say we all but all a