well i think what's going on first of all is that we're on the eve of an obama administration reset american policy not only in pakistan afghanistan but also throughout the whole middle east so we are coming up on what we think will be a major speech by obama in which he doesn't actually directly address this particular case but using the example of egypt shows how he wants to really gauge the leverage that the united states exerts over some of its military partners in this case namely egypt i think the stage is being set for this reset with a kind of a good cop bad cop routine within the the american administration some people are acting as the good cops kerry perhaps clinton. tending to their traditional allied relationship with pakistan and emphasizing you know that this codependent relationship is still central and very important while others obama himself. gates and mullen are emphasizing the harder and in their bad cop role emphasizing. an attempt to put america in the driver's seat and to use their our military aid and leverage. to pummel the pakistanis into. a more compliant relation

wars were trying to get the info out of the people that it doesn't matter if this is barack obama's administration or george bush's administration or the next administration they are run by the corporatists by the globalists by the elitist look at facebook who just infused hundreds of millions of dollars into them well it's pretty simple it was goldman sachs look who's on your bomb administration people like geithner and bernanke you who they work for goldman sachs these are the true power brokers of this world and in this is what i want to ask you with when a situation which he's kind of things i'm completely different and this is not about the united states wanting to kind of infringe on china as laws to allow a free middle and it's not the united states getting to have control over the internet so that you have a way that well that's why i'm totally against neutrality when the f.c.c. and in december a power grab the internet without authority from congress three unregulated elected bureaucrats democrats alike to themselves internet overlords i'm totally against that i'm totally against the kill

continued some of the of what i found to be the most offensive aspects of bush era policy the obama administration has authorized orders for the u.s. to go in and bomb yemen to go in and bomb somalia the world is a battlefield was considered a neo con doctrine well obama has doubled down on that so i think the conservatives like jordan and others have have a good reason to rejoice that obama is the commander in chief because his foreign policies look a lot like bush's except he actually succeeded in taking down osama bin laden and not running on a wild goose chase in a country that had nothing to do with nine eleven i'm just wondering how important is it for obama to release a photo a video anything that actually gives as visual proof about the fact that osama bin laden is in fact dead because you know that there are a lot of doubters out there. anyway answer here i think would be great to say i mean i think it would put in for the islamic world in the international community for many americans shoots you know they hear the body was dumped off the side of a ship within twenty four hours if you put

the other villian is the obama administration . it is sitting there and criticizing and attacking the oil industry. every policy has been anti-oil production and gas production and there is no question in my mind that those kinds of policiless increase the gas paid at the pump. >> one thing i forgot to mention is the mideast turmoil . i tell you what, in the short term at least, it seems that the obama administration policy can't make that big difference. they are hostile to drilling, but those prices haven't redouced the current supply of oil? >> paul, look, if we were drilling for the last two or three or 10 or 20 years, we would have a greater supplis and importing less oil. there is no question that ben bernanke's monetary policy explains over the last 25 years, price of oil rises when you have a weak dollar policy. >> oil is priced in dollars. so when the dollar is weak anything priced in dollars goes up. >> well put. >> kim, what about the politics of this? the president taking on and blaming speculators and traders and so on

in july the obama administration is planning to a draw. begin withdrawal of troops from the camp three and also it is the beginning of transition of security responsibilities to security forces. have to have been allowed in scaling now the critical software here in the united states as well they're there they're trying to convince and ministration to call it mission accomplished. leave afghanistan but i think that'll be very much huge mistake because i've been alarmed and it's gone but the terror infrastructure and the ideology is still there as we saw the taliban announces july first spring offensive and we've seen a spike of violence all across the country and there are even foreign fighters in eastern afghanistan fighting so if the united states prematurely that would be very much huge mistake that washington abandon afghanistan in one thousand eight hundred nine and when it comes to the relations between the united states and pakistan there are also misconceptions. did elations will improve if the united states withdraw from afghanista

by the bush crowd over the killing of osama bin laden they've been quoted saying that the obama administration hasn't been giving them enough credit for their part in waters death but the death of osama was also a vindication of policies set up under bush. torture but now card is having a problem with how obama's acting in the aftermath of killing america's most wanted terrorist an interview with a german newspaper card how the following to say is that i think he has pounded his chest a little too much and he went on to say he can take pride in it but he does not need to show it so much are you really serious right now it sounds like andrew card is a little jealous if you ask me the bush administration had seven years tied down bin laden kill him but they couldn't get the job done obama did it in two and a half but what's really sad about guards comments is on his record complaining about obama's chest pounding sure obama went to ground zero he met privately with some of the navy seals that took part in the raid i'd say that's pretty normal not exactly what i would call chest county and in fac

targeted assassination less the obama administration is also inside of somalia you have the drone war that's raging raging in pakistan and you have a dramatic increase in special operations forces targeted killings in afghanistan particularly under general david petraeus who set to take over as the director of the central intelligence agency so what we've really seen from the obama administration and i you know to respond to what secretary clinton is saying is a doubling down on these bush era policies of targeted assassination becoming just a norm in how the u.s. conducts business so far from being over either from the al qaeda side of things because we see these disparate small groups still thriving in small ways in their in their countries on the one hand and then the u.s. on the other hand engaged in this special operations form of attrition warfare where we believe we can kill our way out of the problem that was a big part of the problem with the bush era strategy so i'm very concerned about what comes next i don't see the obama administration saying let's take this as an opportu

now if you thought that the attack on poker sites by the obama administration was over think again just a month ago we told you about the seizure of three major online poker websites which is now being dubbed black friday poker circles but there are new revelations in this battle that left ten more domains with that dreaded f.b.i. logo on their page one of which we should point out is associated with poker star doyle brunson who's been working hard since black friday to distance himself away from all that online controversy but out of maryland a judge has issued two indictments of three individuals for money laundering after it was determined that they set up a fake web sites to process can bring money while the online gambling world is take another massive hit poker communities are working hard to lobby for the government to let their hobby be legal and this weekend kicks off the wildly popular world series of poker annual tournament in las vegas where many are expecting to see a larger turnout than usual all thanks to those online options being seized by the government it's become cle

woman in the white house carolyn thank you so much for joining us tonight you seen the the obama administration is in a tough spot now that we've hit the federal that ceiling what of obama's spending do you think is more important than say not stealing from federal retirement funds as he's doing. well you know the it's interesting the debt ceiling obviously the real deadline is august second not right now and what has gotten us into this is really forty years of accumulating a debt and also structural deficit problems starting in the early really ten years ago when we got into wars we couldn't afford and we started taxing corporations on the wealthy far far lower rates than we previously had so this is a long term problem president obama inherits it at the same time that he inherits this incredible situation with wall street the wall street meltdown the liquidity crisis of two thousand and eight so in terms of cuts i actually think it's a terrible idea to be trying to implement austerity measures when we're still in the long recession it's not going to help matters it's going to exacerbate it's

one of the reasons why it was able to work was unfortunately because the obama administration on which i had named in my last book, while this administration is not an oil administration, it certainly isn't the way the last administration was. it doesn't get money from the oil industry, but from the industry, but it's the finance industry, not the oil industry. even this government is not immune from the incredible weight and financial lobbying and pressure of the oil industry, and even this government that came to that pressure, and the key moment that peter mentioned and john mentioned when basically public attention was completely swayed and alters, and we really lost the momentum, not lost the entire race, was on august the 16th srb so, let me back up a little bit. there was enormous public pressure the same way after 1959 and 1989, enormous public attention on this disaster. people were gripped. they were watching that spill cam, and there was a huge push for legislation. there was a great number of bills moving through the congress, there was a great amount of momentum to see the

since the president announced the news the obama administration is definitely in the been accomplished kind of move american officials are saying they have his d.n.a. confirmation that it was indeed osama bin laden who was killed in the shootout u.s. authorities said they buried him at sea many say even if americans didn't bury his body at sea they probably said that's who we're going some place of pilgrimage for al qaeda sympathizers for those many who were waiting for photographs proof of bin laden's that there was a bit of a disappointment because there is no credible image to show according to president obama bin laden was killed by american special forces in pakistan in a relatively luxurious compound not in some cave in a cave in afghanistan as some would expect the president said he had known about bin laden's whereabouts since last year which to suggest that they had been preparing this operation for months both interesting everybody knows that the u.s. has been chasing beyond of ghana's then borders in yemen those have been covert drone strikes in pakistan they've been pretty

spoke out against the patriot act said that it needed to be ended but that now we see the obama administration officials continuing to say that expanding these provisions are vital to national security wouldn't that possibly make the case to play devil's advocate that obama god office in real life that this has been instrumental in the war on terror i mean it's possible but it's more likely that you know he's a smart guy and he played politics in order to get elected there are many ways to reduce the threat of terror right if we want to reduce the threat of terror and that's where you start is to stop participating in it so stop funding rebels without the ties of libya for example stop bombing weddings and funeral in northwest pakistan with drone attacks stop propping up military dictatorships across the middle east who carry out all kinds of state terror on their own population i believe that i would work well. i mean just look at what terrorists say right what are they upset about they're upset about three primary things one the u.s. support of apostate governments in the middle east to the

aside from the obvious questions surrounding the lack of visual proof of bin laden's death the obama administration is still having trouble explaining why it was that he was killed rather than captured the wife as a human shield theory has been flown out the window now that we know that bin laden also was unarmed did they have to shoot and how much wiggle room did obama given orders to the navy seals as to what would constitute resistance targeted killing is surrounded by legal concerns both within the u.s. and internationally so was what happened at will obama have ever even planned it to be you and me to discuss it as you saw him saying your other reason magazine and reason to take a thanks so much for joining us tonight first starters let's just let's start with the fact that the story keeps changing all the time right i mean this is something that's come that's very typical of governments and i guess in some respects you could have expected the story to change but if we know that obama had found out about this compound last august you thought that there would have been some type of a contingenc

welcome back to the big picture on thom hartmann coming up in this half hour the obama administration does a major shift from supporting medical marijuana to cracking down on state governors who allow marijuana pharmacies and clinics that's behind the sudden flip flop plus if you ever wondered about the life of a polygamist i'll speak with an author who devoted part of his life and wrote an entire book about the once. and there's an infectious plague crippling the nation's middle class we have time to find a cure. that . is the obama administration having a change of heart about pot back in two thousand and nine attorney general eric holder reversed a policy of george w. bush and promised he would not use the f.b.i. to bust up medical marijuana dispensaries in states that had legalized medicinal marijuana but earlier this month the department of justice started singing a different tune sending a letter to the governor of washington threatening to prosecute any state employee or business involved in the unlawful marketing and sale of marijuana prompted the governor christine gregoire t

well the rest of the arab world has prompted the obama administration to review it sent to a policy for the region lottie's that people have heard his guests discuss what the future holds crosstalk is coming your way that's today. it's going on first of all is there were on the eve of an obama administration reset of american policy not only in pakistan afghanistan but also throughout the whole middle east so we are coming up on what we think will be a major speech by obama in which he doesn't actually directly address this particular case but using the example of egypt shows how he wants to re gauge the leverage that the united states exerts over some of its military partners in this case namely egypt i think the stage is being set for this reset with a kind of a good cop bad cop routine within the the american administration. to the russian a presidential candidate saw facing lengthy prison terms and speaking out against the corruption of the the example. described as europe's last tater its rules for almost two decades defying conservation sanctions and getting opposition will result

one of the reasons it was able to work was unfortunately because the obama administration on which i named my last book, while this administration is not and will lead and restoration, externally isn't the way the last administration was, it doesn't get its money from the oil industry. it gets its money from the oil industry but it is a finance industry. even this government is not immune from the incredible weight and financial lobbying and pressure of the oil industry. even this government that came to that pressure, the key moment that peter mentioned and john mentioned, when basically public attention was completely suede and altered and really lost the momentum, not the entire race. on august 16th. let me back of the little bit. there was enormous public pressure the weather was after 1989. enormous public attention on this disaster. people were gripped. there watching, there was a huge push for legislation. there was a great number of bills moving through congress. great momentum to see some pass. the well was capped which was fantastic but that didn't end people's attention. th

first started to you think that obama is waging a war on fine his administration i mean what is funny way is not subjective fun subjective but you know i grew up in a very backward sexual louisiana and about as fundamental as this you could be moving mansingh for me because singing and so on you know and those areas actually enjoyed life better than we seem to want to do it and then our. kernel is to look at cyrene izumi you know it sounds like you're both room all idea that essentially they decide what fun is for us they wish to be happy but they want to define what that happiness is but how do you see the obama administration do it specifically is that you know by being down on certain poker sites online gambling is it by going after menthol cigarettes or easy grants call develop every case good move also your words might attract the wrong people maybe our children we were rushing out and leaking cigarettes like that or they're even talking about coloring food you know we want to have all the food look like bland watch oatmeal brawl i mean there's a didn't see do say that if it's no

the obama administration moratorium will have long effects on energy production. while companies are forced to stop operations, they had to continue paying to lease lands they were prohibited from using. leaseholders sat idle for a year, losing valuable exploration time through no fault of their own. earlier this year, i proposed the lease act, to restore time lost to all leaseholders impacted by the moratorium. it is as simple and fair way we can bring these energy producers the equity they deserve. we can help them put their workers back on the job. the house has already passed its own version of this bill. i hope the senate will also pass it soon. our country needs a long-term policy that provides energy for our own ample natural resources. we can provide affordable energy for our nation's families. we call on him to put policies in place that cut the bureaucratic red tape and put americans to work doing it. a comprehensive energy policy cannot be given by gas prices or polling numbers. it requires a steady approach that will result in a stable supply of energy

her stars do you think that obama is waging a war on fire and his administration i mean what is fine anyway is not subjective for the subjective but you know i grew up in a very backward secular louisiana and about as fundamentalist as you could then we've been dancing to be the kissing and so on you know and those areas actually enjoyed life better than we seem to want to do it and then our. colonel is think libertarianism i mean you know let's just go through the whole idea that essentially they decide what fun is for us to be happy but they want to go with that happiness is but how do you see the obama administration do it specifically is that you know by being down on certain poker sites online gambling as if by going after menthol cigarettes or easy grants all of the well every case could move those cigarettes and it might attract the wrong people or maybe our children we were rushing out and making cigarettes like that or they're you joking but coloring food you know we want to have all over the land right oatmeal brule i mean there's that it didn't seem to say that it was not

away individual liberty in their name just another example of obama and voting the exact same principles arguments used by the bush administration all while pretending to be different i'm going to take a quick moment to explain why this is so infuriating not only has obama sided with bush era tactics but he's encouraging the highest level of justice in our country to dismiss instances where people sustain torture and clearly the government knows how to keep any defense contractors on their side just throw out any case that involves them but the most disappointing part as if the supreme court going along with it you would think that the highest court in this country which is supposed to be completely independent of politics would uphold justice over two administrations that are completely stomped on it but if the supreme court justices won't even stand up to the executive branch is anyone else a little bit scared about the rule of law in our government's willingness to throw it out and when it comes to putting defense before individual liberty this is just more blatant evidence that obama stands firmly on the side of defense so w

war we haven't necessarily made our guidelines very clear and it's interesting because the obama administration hasn't yet taken a stance or they haven't been public of what they think of this use of authorization of military force being expanded so do you really think that they would be opposed to it or are they just trying to back off of that nobody can point fingers at them so they don't have to publicly say yes i think they're completely gone the issue i mean i think it just in terms of ideology and warfare they think it's not a smart move on the other v.m. the bottom line of this measure is to expand the authority and power of the presidency and i think there are a lot of people around barack obama you say to me again now you would think that after getting osama bin laden after looking at the two wars that we're fighting in now and not including of course the shadow wars that i just mentioned we would take a step back and we would look at our reaction to the attack on nine eleven instead of just immediately pass through legislation to just keep broadening this whole thing but somehow our l

you know i'm not surprised i don't think they mean the other thing that the obama administration did which hasn't gotten a lot of press is trying to kill cut off would have been the same day that he went after this on bin laden he got his son ingrained it's a slow him down it's also of dubious legality so we've got ground strikes going out on multiple continents. you know it's kind of i think it's scary to think that at the same time like you said we have these targeted assassination attempts going on on multiple continents that's. definitely questionable in terms of legality but just think about it because the u.s. president can unilaterally decide to assassinate an american citizen now if i go back to a lot of these case then why can't he do it is not set a very dangerous precedent. yeah i have been consistently disappointed with people particularly on the left who i think want to give obama as much leeway as they can not not understanding what a line in the sand that says you know i understand that they say they have a lot of evidence against anwar a lot of the reasons we know the

not whistle blowers and that's odd too because the obama administration not only did obama promise to have the most open the most transparent administration he in fact said that he you know he thinks that some of the best information comes from a whistleblowers when it comes to waste fraud and abuse within our government so would think it is that happened to him you know thomas drake himself said that perhaps obama was co-opted by all of these by the security community by the security experts because he himself didn't have all that much experience with them so he just accepted that the fear now that's put out there do you think that that's true you know i think there are a number of different factors that are in play it's no secret that obama has a particular distain for leaking and that was seen when it when mcchrystal was dismissed for stuff that he said even though later the pentagon cleared him but in addition to obama's personal distaste for leaking i do think he's trying to curry favor with national security and intelligence apparatus because he was seen as weak in those areas a

going to approach that had respect for due process yeah definitely quite a change from the obama administration and you know personally i think i would have loved to have seen osama bin ladin then tattered brought to u.s. soil put on trial to me that would have felt as you know more of a sense of the fact that justice maybe in some respects has been achieved rather than just finding out that he was taken out and then buried at sea and i don't even get a chance to look at him and by the way the obama administration did announce today that they will not be releasing those pictures jake i want to thank you very much for joining us tonight sure thanks. now coming up a closer look at the real status on the war in afghanistan from the mob makers are questioning how much pakistan knew about bin laden's whereabouts also a closer look at the relationship between the u.s. and its suppose an ally in the war on terror or maalik will join me to hash it all out is facebook really just a spying machine let's tell you who made that claim and we're looking to the way of the social media mega site could be a gre

in two thousand and nine after the obama administration came on there was massive momentum towards climate regulation suddenly there was a real possibility of getting new good law passed and they went into high gear attacking obama from day one even started before the obama administration attacking any climate legislation they've run for years these summer hot air tours where they run what looks like a grassroots activist campaign around the country with abbas and t. shirts and hats and and outs and little vents and small towns in fact it's a corporate funded propaganda tour as i arrived in philadelphia for one of the forty it's who are events and i have peace railed against the climate change bill known as cap and tried. that ok trust. us contrary. and that direction is what they got more. control over. all of us. taking control of our lives that. attack attack attack they referring to this cap and tax as opposed to the term cap and trade term for carbon trading and went on the attack and declared this part of the obama agenda to impose new government regulations and grow the government g

the republican caucus gore understands the stakes of four more years of at obama administration's his policies are anathema. the question has been a slower start. we have few individuals debating on whether they're going to run, so as the field continues to shake out, you'll see more activity on the ground as these campaigns flex their muscle and try to show their viability of the straw poll. >> this week, a complaint was filed with the federal election commission, saying the mayor romney campaign has uses a political action committee to fund his campaign. >> you have heard me say he is the perceived from runner and new hampshire dynamics are different from iowa, but i think it is an attack on the front runner. that's what's going on now and moving forward, he is a smart guy, he knows what the rules are and i have every confidence is will wind up being smoke and mirrors. >> no irregularities as far as you're concerned? >> it is not my purview. i read the article when i came in this morning and i shook my head and said it's already starting. >> if there are obvious the front runner, wh

and countries around the world so if the obama administration stops talking are outside or conspiracy theories in it then shifting to the topic of libya it's becoming obvious of the war has reached a stalemate but will the western powers ever admit that they made a mistake the first g.o.p. primary debate kicks off tonight in south carolina but frankly nobody's going to be there so we're going to ask why and then since it's a go to my over going to revisit an issue that was dominating news cycles this time last year immigration so why the crowds and the coverage suddenly disappear then stir up your favorite cocktail you won't want to miss tonight's happy hour we'll introduce you to the dumbest criminals of the day details on all that and much more as a night show but first our top story. the more time that goes by the obama administration announced the killing of osama bin laden the more questions are raised here at home and around the world yesterday the white house announced that they would not be releasing photos of bin laden to prove his death or releasing any new details about the

>> i'm sure the administration will go after the other masterminds. i'm sure obama will continue with a heavy focus on afghanistan and other parts of the mideast. i think one of the things the administration will have to pivot, dhs and department of homeland security, one of the challenges for the administration in the coming days, all of the resources are focused on tornadoes, fema. they'll have to do a pivot and dhs will have to get ready and raise dhs to the highest alert level because as alan was saying, you really in the next week or two have a high risk of terrorist incompetent incidents in this country. al qaeda will be looking. there will be extremists looking for their opportunity.i so they'll have to pivot and turn on a dime. >> let me circle back to something we spoke about earlier which is why the obama administration and his national security team really are putting the pressure on the cia to try to get osama bin laden bin now more than ever. this has to do with what could happen there in that region when we pull our troops out. >> that's right. while w

says it's important for national security but not politically fit a real reversal from the obama administration but i mean this is a guy who during the campaign talked about how he wanted to repeal the bush administration. now once he's in office he's reversed his position to continue it so i think he should stick with his original promise you know it's funny that you bring up i want to go ahead and play a little bit of sound something that obama said back when he was campaigning when he was senator barack obama and he was doing exactly as you said he said that the patriot act needed to be repealed needed to and here was his criticism about that can we roll that. you know i talked all solution along for ten years i think the constitution very seriously the biggest problems that we're facing right now have to do with george bush trying to bring more and more power into the executive branch and not go through congress at all and that's what i and several of the one above the united states of america. and you see signed into law extensions to the patriot act so do you think that perhaps you know t

and to get this four-looking question about the bush administration and the obama administration and what is different and where we're going. i think it is a mistake to view this is a bright line between the bush administration policies and the obama administration policies. we did a lot of things as a country right after 9/11 and out of fear, ignorance -- we were not well educated about the threats of al qaeda -- that we later came to our senses about. and to his credit, president bush was already starting to move in the direction the president obama ultimately moved, whether president bush would have gotten there with more time i do not know. but it is not accurate to talk about this is a bright line between president obama. he did some important things, closing the secret prisons and establishing a single standard for interrogation. the president bush had already started down the road by ceasing water boarding and talking about how we can go about closing guantanamo. we ought to talk about what we're going to do next, but we should do that in the context of some historical accuracy

but the obama administration was ready firing back with national security advisor tom donilon on "meet the press" and national security advisor tom donilon on cnn. and he was on fox news sunday and the same guy on "this week" request w christiane amanpour. one guy. (laughter) bush administration hits them with shock and awe and you've got one guy-- no one's ever heard of. this guy better be rambo. >> it's a very important point for your viewers and americans generally to understand. this was an effort across two administrations. indeed, many of the same professionals who worked for president bush on this project work with us today. so it is not a matter of partisanship. >> jon: (whispering) what are you doing? (laughter) whatever happened to those guy's sucked in? this shows we can accomplish our goals without waging regime change war on other countries. it shows the bush administration monday morning waterboarders that intelligence can be developed through more traditional less soul corroding means. jesus, democrats! you can't engage the republicans on their terms-- the blame game-- e

can an ambassador from the obama administration really become the g.o.p. nominee? and win the granite state? >> hard to tell. i don't know him very well, have never met him. hard for me to personally evaluate. there's not been a lot of talk, at least here in the state so far about this. so it's harder to me to comment on that. -- hard for me to comment on that. >> it sounds to me like you think it's pretty much a long shot unless there's something pretty dramatically changes. >> it's hard to know. i'd have to sit down and talk to him, get to know him, get a better idea what have mr. huntman's about. i don't have that za d.a. at that information, other than what i've read. i think for me it's important for me to meet these folks, it's important for me to sit down with them, it's important for me to see them interacting with the people here and the others that i've mentioned, i've met them all and seen them all interacting and i have a food dwoo -- i have a good feel for them. >> how does that process work? how often are you hearing from these various candidates? i k

is not really true and i think if the policies don't change very quickly on the part of the obama administration in long term this is really going to be a footnote however. americans in a war that should have ended a long time ago interesting and patricia and mark was getting at exactly where i want to go on this program about the way the quote unquote war on terror is fought is it going to be any different now because it would seem that obama may have some options here if you really want to get out of afghanistan he can say well you know bin laden is gone ok i can start winding this thing down i mean whatever spin he wants to to get out of a hopeless war you think something like that can happen and how but i want to stay with the theme of the war on terror how is it going to be fought after the death of bin laden. well i think he is definitely going to use this as. direct a direct. and true way to basically be able being able to work on the withdrawal from afghanistan and more appropriately iraq as well however i think you know this administration is it has not been much different than the last

>> there is a willingness for the obama administration to be seen as very stressed with a lot of issues. >> we talk about the limits of intervention in the middle east. the united states has gone to yemen, and will they crack down on their own people will will they seek a better way? william and kate finally were married at westminster abbey. but not everyone was a welcome visitor. did the palace get the right guest list? -- list? involvement in the arab world is not simply based on political will, or what president obama described as answering the call of the oppressed people. but the reality of the u.s. deficit. the department of the new defense -- there was the long- term goal of taking $400 billion in cuts. what will be the nature of america's engagement? and our wheat looking at the beginning of the end of u.s. intervention? >> they are changing the guard at the pentagon. robert gates was skeptical of further action in the middle east. whenever he thinks about the arab spring, he sees a deep cut to the military and their capabilities. >> we make the hard decisions that are needed t