well actually there's less tyranny in saudi arabia than other countries look i'm not saying that saudi arabia some free and open place their treatment of women obviously is terrible there but compared to syria where hundreds of thousands being massacred by iran and hezbollah and the syrian government and al qaeda moving in and iraq in libya in tunisia yes saudi arabia is that beacon of stability compared to all the other in stable places they're ok brian if i go back to you but i mean. syria is unstable because of saudi arabia and it's exporting its jihad oh yes other oil that is so well documented none of the money go to brian but it's so well documented right now and it's one of the reasons why i'm doing this program is because the u.s. is supporting people that are against his own national interest brian first and we'll go to of mark go ahead ron. you know mark mark's comments are are somewhat laughable i would say remember when jimmy carter stood next to the shah of iran in one nine hundred seventy seven and said shah you are an island of stability in a sea of turmoil and the us pr

well actually there's less tyranny in saudi arabia than other countries look i'm not saying to saudi arabia some free and open place their treatment of women obviously it's terrible there but compared to syria where hundreds of thousands of being massacred by iran and hezbollah and the syrian government and al-qaeda moving in and iraq in libya in tunisia yes saudi arabia is that beacon of stability compared to all the other in stable places there ok brian if i go back to you but i mean. syria is unstable because of saudi arabia and its exporting its jihadi oh yes other oil that is so well documented none of the money go to brian but it's so well documented right now and it's one of the reasons why i'm doing this program is because the u.s. is supporting people that are against his own national interest brian first and we'll go to of mark go ahead. you know mark's comments are are somewhat laughable i would say remember when jimmy carter stood next to the shah of iran in one nine hundred seventy seven and said you are an island of stability in a sea of turmoil and the us premised it's

well actually there's less tyranny in saudi arabia than other countries look i'm not saying that saudi arabia some free and open place their treatment of women obviously is terrible there but compared to syria where hundreds of thousands of being massacred by iran and hezbollah and the syrian government and al-qaeda moving in and iraq in libya in tunisia yes saudi arabia is that beacon of stability compared to all the other in stable places there ok brian if i go back to you but i mean. syria is unstable because of saudi arabia and it's exporting its jihad oh yes other oil that is so well documented none of the money go to brian but it's so well documented right now and it's one of the reasons why i'm doing this program is because the u.s. is supporting people that are against his own national interest brian first and we'll go to mark go ahead ron. you know mark's comments are are somewhat laughable i would say remember when jimmy carter stood next to the shah of iran in one nine hundred seventy seven and said shah you are an island of stability in a sea of turmoil and the u.s. premise

well actually there's less tyranny in saudi arabia than other countries look i'm not saying that saudi arabia some free and open place their treatment of women obviously is terrible there but compared to syria where hundreds of thousands of being massacred by iran and hezbollah and the syrian government and al qaeda moving in and iraq in libya in tunisia yes saudi arabia is that beacon of stability compared to all the other in stable places there ok brian if i go back to you but i mean. syria is unstable because of saudi arabia and it's exporting its jihad oh yes other oil that is so well documented none of the money go to brian but it's so well documented right now and it's one of the reasons why i'm doing this program is because the us is supporting people that are against its own national interest brian first and we'll go to of mark go ahead right. you know mark's comments are are somewhat laughable i would say remember when jimmy carter stood next to the shah of iran in one nine hundred seventy seven and said you are an island of stability in a sea of turmoil and the u.s. premised

well actually there's less tyranny in saudi arabia than other countries look i'm not saying this saudi arabia some free and open place their treatment of women obviously is terrible there but compared to syria where hundreds of thousands of being massacred by iran and hezbollah and the syrian government and al-qaeda moving in and iraq in libya in tunisia yes saudi arabia is that beacon of stability compared to all the other in stable places they're ok brian if i go back to you but i mean. syria is unstable because of saudi arabia and it's exporting its jihad oh yes other oil that is so well documented none of the money go to brian but it's so well documented right now and it's one of the reasons why i'm doing this program is because the u.s. is supporting people that are against his own national interest brian first and we'll go to mark go ahead ron. you know mark's comments are are somewhat laughable i would say remember when jimmy carter stood next to the shah of iran in one nine hundred seventy seven and said you are an island of stability in a sea of turmoil and the u.s. premised i

it is time for the united states and saudi arabia to look at a pretentious. sakic, saudi officials here saint abdulla does not like words like the president. if the u.s. doesn't do more to reduce the violence, and kerry was stuck in the west bank and gaza, there'll be grave consequences for u.s. interests. third, from a diplomatic cable, a u.s. diplomat writing about a dollar, a visit he had with the u.s. diplomat. u.s. policy has now given iraq to iran as a gift on a gold platter. this diplomat wrote king abdullah was upset in some but that specific can appear to be questioned bona fides of policy. i highlight these statements because they come from 2001, 2002 and 2005. there has been a lot of chatter about the most recent statements. quite visible protestations about u.s. policy. but to demonstrate that there has been a certain consistency of criticism and elliot ensure experienced this in the bush administration, coming from saudi arabia. for those of you who speak arabic, when i've read the recent comments and also these past comments, the phrase hakki bot

as we heard from the royal family, we did hear from the people of saudi arabia. because of technology. now there are blog posts. the saudi people appear just a little bit as actors. that has to increase, it seems to me. that will increase over years saudi oil is less important to us because of the trends towards north american energy independence. the influence will decline radical -- decline rather than grow. there is a crisis of confidence ,ere over egypt in particular and iran. the saudis have relied on this to be in a confrontation with iran. we have been. they are worried the united antes will decide not to be confrontation with iran. our views on iran are fundamental a different than ours. our problems, if the islamic would disappear. it isn't clear the saudi's problems would disappear. i would add one other thing. the crisis we are having in relations now, the difficulties in relations, a lack of communication, which can be blamed on the administration, but of course several of the top people in saudi arabia are very old and sick. having the relationship we

israel and saudi arabia hate the nuclear deal that the u. was another world power struck with iran and israel is very vocal about it the saudis are a little bit more restrained but the saudi intelligence chief said there would be a major shift in dealings with the us saudi arabia wanted the us to go all in on syria the u.s. instead went along with russia's proposal and cut a deal with the syrian leadership to get rid of chemical weapons there saudi arabia and israel are very suspicious of each other the saudis oppose the creation of the jewish state they support the palestinian cause so it's too early to speak of friendship but washington definitely brought them closer together at least in their desire to threaten war saudi arabia is now reportedly working with israel on a plan to attack iran it reportedly gave israel the green light to use its airspace in the case of a strike and pledged other assistance here in washington these were the lobby is fighting what they describe as a tendency in the u.s. to disengage from the middle east the apa

as we heard from the royal family, we did hear from the people of saudi arabia. partly because of technology. now there are blog posts. the saudi people appear just a little bit as actors. that has to increase, it seems to me. that will increase over years saudi oil is less important to us because of the trends towards north american energy independence. the influence will decline radical -- decline rather than grow. there is a crisis of confidence here over egypt in particular, and iran. the saudis have relied on this to be in a confrontation with iran. we have been. they are worried the united states will decide not to be an confrontation with iran. our views on iran are fundamental a different than ours. our problems, if the islamic republic, would disappear. it isn't clear the saudi's problems would disappear. i would add one other thing. the crisis we are having in relations now, the difficulties in relations, a lack of communication, which can be blamed on the administration, but of course several of the top people in saudi arabia are very old and sick. havi

i think that's a potential in saudi arabia. i think it's there. it needs a considerable amount of work. >> i don't disagree with that. i think it's wise. i would add that i think we should be talking to the saudis more effectively about the question of support for extremism. this is dangerous and dangerous with them. they should have learned the lesson already. to some extent, the government has and i think it's more careful. the worst group in the world. i want want to have that conversation with them. that's the nature of saudi society and the challenges they face. you can look at from the human rights point of view. or look at it from point of view that maybe more palatable to the family. increasingly unstable situation. they have not effectively dealt with it. it for example, the educational system. you have win or two experiments. we're doing it at the time of potential instability other the succession in saudi arabia. i don't know that probably limits our ability even now to have this. it's something we should where been trying to do over the

also the saudi arabia reportedly tag team over common interests in the middle east for. syria and iran stories. international the russian president has championed traditional state of the nation address and stressed the country can defend itself if need be. on a wide range of topics in his speech from the economy to international politics. the top man of the kremlin had to say. it's traditionally become the place to be to find out the president's vision of the president and his plans for the future every year russia's top politicians businessmen economists and elite gather at the kremlin to listen to his addle address first had just returned from there as well and here are some of the key points why the world had to make russia isn't looking and dominating the rule but that doesn't mean it has to stop protecting its sovereignty and traditional values. because we know that there are even more people around the globe who support our position in terms of ensuring traditional values these are the values of traditional family and the value of human life including religious li

-- and how it covers a saudi arabia? >> it doesn't really cover saudi arabia. ther delicate coverage. of course, the saudi's don't make it easy for journalist to have access. but many of the facts about saudi arabia's relationships to jihadia and to sunni organizations don't require any investigation. -- they are in plain , and still nothing is done about it. these are sort of attacks on drone attacks or other attacks in north waziristan against al somalia, amen, in really peripheral to the main problem which is centered in saudi arabia and the gulf. and the outcome of the support for these extreme organizations is to be seen in northern iraq, western iraq -- which is now substantially under the control of al qaeda-linked organizations -- and across the border in thea, right away from euphrates river right to aleppo and to the mediterranean coast. it is extraordinary that al ofda has been a great sort of theof -- winner conflicts over the last, whatever it is, since 9/11. they have managed to make such tremendous gains without much opposition from washington or

so good to see a discussion on saudi arabia on this. want to pick on a couple of things you mentioned, mr. abrams. one is this strong saudi argument that 70% of the population, not a good idea to have them ruled by 30% maybe an equally strong argument they're sending troops to maintain such a minority. bahrainis are 70% and also iraqis, saudis and more than anybody else to bring back 17% of minority rule. by the two counter arguments it can be also made the opposite way to the iranians. minority rule as such, oppressive regimes being equal is not such a bad idea depend on whose minority it is. the other ones i want to pick on what you said which i think is more consequential is the idea is, the saudi problem is more of a shia strong state in iran rather than american problem which is islamic republic that is a non-friendly regime. even if iran were to change this conflict between the iranians and the saudis will remain for a long time. from the perspective of countries who live in the shadow of this conflict that has been destructive wh

the business deals, and the carlisle group, and saudi arabia was an ally. we relied on them for oil. they revealed the saudi connection at that point would have been explosive and damaging to the saudis and bush administration. >> he was a popular guy, speaking english, and there are reports that some money he may have sent to people that may have supported the hijackers. a decade ago. 46 senator led by chuck schumer in new york demanded that he be classified at 28 pages. >> do you think that the issue is that it's circumstantial evidence that is not enough to really pin a sponsor of terrorism on the saudi state? >> you know, i have to believe if saudi arabia were not an ally, we would have found more than to suggest it was a state-sponsored terrorist attack. i think there is plenty of evidence. some of it may be circumstantial, but it adds up to the least, members of the saudi government were supporting hijackers and/or supporting the men i told you about from saudi arabia, were living in the united states. there's a connection. whether it was a state-spons

many were from saudi arabia. should the saudi arabia be concerned at a push to have the information released. google purchased boston dynamics after buying more than half a doze in others. what is the search engine giant up to. "anchorman 2" premiered, but based on the marketing blitz you may think it's been out for a while. will the over-the-top campaign numbers. >> i'm antonio moro, welcome to "consider this". >> we begin with edward snowden. a federal judge ruled the government's secret collection of phone records revealed by the n.s.a. contractor is likely unconstitutional. it's the first set back for the program. is the ruling an anomaly. edward snowden may have had brief hopes of returning to the u.s. after the official who runs the task force proposed amnesty for the leaker if he returned the data he took. that was squashed by the white house. the trove of documents enemies. >> it is the keys to the kingdom. >> we are joined by pfizer patel, the codirector of the liberty security program at the brennan cen

it is not good for our allies and israel, but also not good for our allies in saudi arabia. this is different. in some ways, the saudi's might be benefiting from the fact that they and the israelis are in ine. >> i would suggest this could lead to something else. there are inherent limits to whatever cooperation that could be on iran. their biggest issue with we the arab israeli conflict. it still is an important issue. the other point, when people talk about the u.s. not being present in the region and being less of a force, i think so that is highly inaccurate. you go as i did this fall, and you see what it is like in the states. if you read secretary hagel speech, it is quite clear there is no other military force. i see no sign of retreat of the u.s. in the region. also, there's been talk about major shift here. i would say that this is probably more modest than has been portrayed when you look at not only the fact that the security threats that iran presents, their support for terrorist rips and other things, the fact we've been there for decades in the region, i don't s

commit atrocities in this awful civil war but don't forget these people that are being funded by saudi arabia qatar all the help in the world from turkey they're the ones that have to be dealt with as well can the saudis they could turn these people loose they can fund them they can train them maybe but can they turn them off when they want to it doesn't history would suggest they can't well i think there's a double standard having let's compare studio two of going to stunning two one for a brief moment hey you know insight in a lot of thought no one says you know we won the dictatorship there so that we don't have a destabilisation of the country people are saying you know let's let the united states leave and then also in afghanistan no one says you know these people who are trying to take over the country are jihad is so we should never allow the near power at the end of the day we want democracy without thought we should want and we should help that we should apply that rule across the board so we should want democracy in syria and this talk that you know everything's been destabilized an

play for -- what role does saudi arabia play for the reasonable future? i mean, i'll just leave it at that, what role do the saudis play in a clearsighted, you know, american strategy? >> i would say if we're talking long term, i would start with it depends on what kind of saudi arabia we're talking about. and the issues that we've dwhrieded over and not talked about much, but the shaping of saudi future and things like this. to me, the most reliable partners for the united states in the middle east are countries like israel and then i think jordan has its own challenges with political inclusion and economic development. but you want societies that have a fabric of more incluesivity and openness. and, you know, people like to malign the freedom agenda. before the freedom agenda was a gleam in george w. bush's eye, i was in the middle east working on democratic promotion, and i fundamentally believe that. i think one thing is how do you elevate that pragmatically in our interests recognizing that we're not the ones that are going to steer the change, but it

saudi arabia was an ally. we relied on them for oil, revealing the saudi connection would have been explosive and damaging to both the saudis and the bush administration. >> banda was a popular guy, speaking english beautifully, there are reports that money me may have sent from people that supported the hijackers. senators led by chuck schumer demanded that it be declassified, saying protecting the saudi arabia regime for for given to terrorists would be a mistake. do you think that the issue is that it's circumstantial evidence that's not enough to pin a sponsor of terrorism on the saudi state? >> you know, i have to believe if saudi arabia were not an alply, we would have found more reason to suggest it was a state sponsor terrorist attack. i think there is plenty of evidence, some circumstantial evidence. but it adds up to the least, members of the saudi arabia government were supporting the hijackers or supporting these men i told you about from saudi arabia. those living in the united states. there's clea

saudi arabia's now reportedly working with israel on a plan to attack you gone. it reportedly gave israel the green light to use its airspace in the case of the strike and pledged other assistance. here in washington these with the lobby is fighting what they describe as a tendency in the west could disengage from the neatness. the pack meeting was all about it they talked about how war fatigue in the us that the reason for washington to one of the less involved in regional affairs they saw the nomination of choppy goal as defence secretary of the signal pointing in that direction of course the obama demonstration quickly and we are short of the body that the us will not stop interfering in the affairs of the weekend. israel and saudi arabia are not so short this point or they don't see that kind of interference that they would wanna see. down in washington or tea. i was fine with the sound of trains he defected from his oral family calling them an oppressive regime. he is the you access the pack to sacrifice the integrity of reach of law and says please and stra

now saudi arabia is the focus of cross talk coming up in a few minutes time here on r.t. international after the recent iran nuclear deal the saudi monarchy has cast doubts about the loyalty of its old allies while at the same time the country's come under criticism from the international community for its very hardline policies peter lavelle and his guests will bring you the latest perspective on that. the saudis are furious over western dealings with iran disappointed that obama didn't bomb syria and determined to export its radical form of islam can the house of saud afford what it calls an independent foreign policy saudi arabia for years isolation they really cannot carry out independent foreign policy because of their regimes limited strength and durability every government the middle east except turkey and israel because their democracies every single other government is fragile you look at a fairly stable country like jordan it is fragile as well i hope for side arabia's would become a constitutional monarchy more like jordan but saudi arabia has lots of work to d

saudi arabia's now reportedly working with israel on a plane to attack you want. it reportedly gave israel the green light to use its airspace in the case of the strike and pledged other assistance. here in washington these with the lobby is fighting what they describe as a tendency in the west could disengage from the meat needs to be a pack meeting was all about it they talked about how war fatigue in the west that the reason for washington to one of the less involved in regional affairs. they saw the nomination of chalky goal as defence secretary of the signal pointing in that direction. of course the obama demonstration creek leave. we are short of a body that the us will not stop interfering in the affairs of the region. but israel and saudi arabia are not so short this point or they don't see that kind of interference that they would wanna see they shut down in washington or tea. in yemen as many as fifty members also a wooden coffee have reported being killed by a dream strike officials claim is likely the seven group fell victim to the attack of to be mist

be forthcoming but it has to be sent to a lot of people are going to put the spotlight on saudi arabia in two thousand and fourteen where is the funding coming from as has been said and this is this city is under its of miles away from the sochi olympics that's too much can be made of that connection. a bigger connection might be that of course volgograd its previous name was stalin granted it's a very important city for the whole of the west is configured in any kind of islamist. hobby imagination and so what are the exact reasons and. will the condolences be met by actions in the west in terms of really trying to stop islam is terror so you're saying that you think doku umarov and his cohorts who are fomenting. could be fomenting unrest in the north caucasus are getting money from the saudi royal family there's no doubt that the saudis are intricately involved in these islamist movements it was only fourteen days ago that we've heard from the u.s. congress that they suddenly realized that the nine eleven attacks. the government the u.s. government deliberately hid saudi involvement i

there will be no saudi revolution meaning no democracy for the people of saudi arabia because the us considered saudi to be that vital saudi arabia can see the outbreak of peace with iran as something very dangerous for that corrupt really corrupt regime that is fragile and they could be overthrown like all the other monarchs in history indeed and i can't help but bring up this bizarre facet which is that according to go she has agreed to not rich uranium half five percent brian in other words they can not build a nuclear bomb so why is saudi arabia and bibi netanyahu so pissed at this deal if it's not about the bomb what exactly exactly because it is about politics there is no existential threat that iran poses to israel or to saudi arabia the saudis of course fear a secular revolution or an islamic revolution that's something they fear the israelis have two to four hundred nuclear weapons they are nuclear armed they unlike around do not allow inspectors into israel that's not the issue of the real issue as it is as i said before that israel gets four billion dollars a year plays a m

there will be no saudi revolution meaning no democracy for the people of saudi arabia because the u.s. considered saudi to be that vital saudi arabia can see the outbreak of peace with iran as something very dangerous for that corrupt really corrupt regime that is fragile and they could be overthrown like all the other monarchs in history indeed and i can't help but bring up this bizarre facet which is that according to go she has agreed to not rich uranium hath five percent brian in other words they can not build a nuclear bomb so why is saudi arabia and bibi netanyahu so pissed at this deal if it's not about the bomb what exactly exactly because it is about politics there is no existential threat that iran poses to israel are to saudi arabia the saudis of course fear a secular revolution or an islamic revolution that something they fear the israelis have two to four hundred nuclear weapons they are nuclear armed they unlike around do not allow inspectors into israel that's not the issue of the real issue as it is as i said before that israel gets four billion dollars a year plays a

as you know up until 2010, 2011, there was tremendous tension between saudi arabia and qatar largely because qatar was so determined to come out of the saudi shadow and the saudis resented it and dismissed qatar as ucp starts and even recently there was a tweet by the, by prince bandar of saudi arabia dismissing qatar as a country of 300 people and a tv station. of course the qatari foreign minister tweeted back, we raised our kids to be a lot more polite than others. so a twitter war of sorts ensued does sheikh amin and new crop of katari leaders have the same visceral resentment of the saudi behemoth? i don't know. i don't think wes,av know the ar to that. probably not. and,e but, again, i think we wil see the ultimate result of sheikh's stamp on qatari diplomacy, in a year or two still. so, we don't know yet. yes, sir? >> thank you, dr. kamrava, for a fascinating presentation. i'm a second year student for arab studies and i was wondering i have not had the pleasure of visiting qatar yet. i hope to soon one day. i was wondering if you were to advise another state on political refor

there will be no saudi revolution meaning no democracy for the people of saudi arabia because the u.s. considered saudi to be that vital saudi arabia can see the outbreak of peace with iran as something very dangerous for that corrupt really corrupt regime that is fragile and they could be overthrown like all the other monarchs in history indeed and i can't help but bring up this bizarre facet which is that according to go she has agreed to not rich uranium half five percent brian in other words they can not build a nuclear bomb so why is saudi arabia and bibi netanyahu so pissed at this deal if it's not about the bomb what exactly exactly because it is about politics there is no existential threat that iran poses to israel or to saudi arabia the saudis of course fear a secular revolution or an islamic revolution that's something they fear the israelis have two to four hundred nuclear weapons they are nuclear armed they unlike around do not allow inspectors into israel that's not the issue of the real issue as it is as i said before that israel gets four billion dollars a year plays a