eventually how well trained have your soldiers been by the americans. and how the current iraqi soldier is different to the soldiers we had before two thousand and three today's iraqi soldiers were young during the two thousand and three war but they were also trained on russian weaponry like for instance on the russian tank later iraqi soldiers were trained on american weapons which it differently but we still have a lot of russian made technology here and many pilots who were trained on russian planes so we need their help to keep training the americans maybe in charge of getting our soldiers ready whenever we get another expertise from for example france or russia we go to those countries and we get the help that we ask for. there have been tied to that security forces are now off well trained enough just two hours ago there was a bomb not far from here. do you think that you are going to convince can make you back a safe and secure place for what they are not untrained but the training they receive is not enough when the americans came in the borders

how well trained have your soul to school by the americans. and how that it ended up with the current iraqi soldier is different to the soldiers we had before two thousand and three today's iraqi soldiers were young during the two thousand and three war but they were also trained on the russian weaponry like for instance on the russian tank when iraqi soldiers were trained on american weapons they understood what they were trained on yet we still have the russian influence especially the iraqi pilots who were trained on russian planes and have done a great many flying hours we wish that the russians would help us in this regard to keep training our pilots and giving us new planes the americans are training our soldiers but whenever we get another expertise from or example france or russia we go to these countries and we get that help that we ask for a bit of sleep while the policy of the ministry of the funds holds for the world government is formed in the back. of the head of. the ministries policy will not change especially with regards to tr

the americans never left wounded soldiers on the battlefield. these americans are going to stick with us. so the tribes and got enough confidence that they said we will declare our independence of al qaeda and they won. in afghanistan we can statement by the administration that we would have a deadline to get out. that was criticized by military leaders. the commandant in the marine corps said that was not the right message. they have modified that to say that we are not going to set a deadline, that we will be there for long haul. hopefully, that gives confidence to the afghanistan people fighting the insurgency to stick with us. let me tell you what one problem is in afghanistan. our allies. 1361 americans have died in afghanistan. the british have lost -- 26 other nations bardera on an agraria -- 26 other nations are there. they have only lost about half as many as we have lost a combined. we have more battlefield casualties -- almost twice as many as the rest of the free world combined that are present in iraq. the british have about 300 casu

i think the american people were saying that they appreciated us saying no to the things that the american people indicated they were not in favor of. so i think the group that should hopefully get the message out of yesterday's elections is on the other side of the aisle. we hope that they will go in a different direction and work with us on things like spending and debt and trade agreements and nuclear power and clean coal technology, other things the president said that he was for and most of my members are for. the question is, how do we need in the middle? it seems the best credit you for the other side would be to listen to the voters who made it clear statement about what they would like to see done. obviously want to make progress for the country over the next two years. with that, let me turn to gov. arbour. >> on behalf of the republican governors, while the governor's races may be thought of as being separate or very different from what is going on in washington, in this case, this race was a referendum on obama policies and the policy of the obama administration, the policy-rea

the rest of us. it's a marvelously american characteristic to celebrate the individual, but all this can come together mischievously when it comes to foreign policymaking. >> why do american audiences spend $2.4 billion a year on speakers? and you go in here to the general schwarzkopf being vetted around the country after the iraq war and other people, general westmoreland, and what is it about us that we want to pay that big money to have somebody come in and talk? >> america loves stars. america is the most celebrity- obsessed culture in the world. america is the greatest democracy in the world. it works hands in glove with a democracy. we also have a unique appreciation for experts and that's part of the celebrity culture. americans give a lot of deference for a fateful amount of time to an expert, because we're the busiest of cultures. we're always looking for shortcuts. if there is a star that i can learn from, if i can bask in the glow, if there's an expert that i can delegate some hard task to that saves me time. this is all a part of america -- the rush, rush, rush, the being the country of to

medical anything like that they do patrols counter i see is that for many iraqis what the americans left behind was destruction and devastation it will take a lot for them to rebuild the ruins of their minds. armed and dangerous these paramilitary groups struggle to find a place for themselves meeting some observers to warn that while they might have been used for short term military gains in the end they could be the roadblocks to peace policy r.t. baghdad. next to find out how the iraqi military will cope with of the challenges ahead are general mohammed al askari a spokesman from iraq's ministry of defense. but now i have general mohamed i'll ask an adviser and spokesperson with the iraqi ministry of defense so thank you very much for joining us here are not going to come back to the american soldiers have left by and large the majority do feel confident that the actual soldiers and the iraqi security force is able to keep the situation so calm and. it is a good question it's worth talking about the readiness of the iraqi security forces because the number of american troops left in t

and across the world the wars rage on pakistan is continuing to unravel obama has escalated american so-called covert force cia and special operations command in yemen and in somalia. and. well really continues us on the path toward bankruptcy so maybe that's a success for the obama team it seems to be what they want but it's certainly a tragedy for the united states and for the people of the various you know more than a handful of countries that we're at war with right now all right we're going to have to leave it at that scott horton from antiwar dot com speaking with us from l.a. taking a look now at some other stories making headlines across the globe the greek government has suspended international mail delivery for forty eight hours after a series of letter bombs were discovered in athens some were sent to foreign embassies three were posted to germany's chancellor italy's prime minister and the president of france police have already charged two men and are now searching for five others suspected of involvement an extreme left wing group is thought to be behind the attempted at

the american legion is in full agreement with you. hould not have a process that forces veterans to wait a year or two. those veterans have paid the price. they did not ask any questions when they went to serve their country. we should not delay their delivery of benefits. the american legion is working with secretary shinseki to develop a paperless claims process that will allow veterans to submit. there have been accomplishments lately in agent orange disability. the va is looking at that as a pilot program to streamline the claims process to allow victims to receive benefits in a timely manner. that is so that individuals you mentioned do not die before they receive benefits. host: we are excited to welcome the new treatment facility in french camp, calif. desperately necessary for our veterans. now, michael in michigan, go- ahead. caller: good morning. i am service-connected 100%. i volunteer for an elderly gentleman who is 92 years old, blind, world war ii. i've been taking into his appointments. he spent time in the hospital in a

and why did the americans' failure to anticipate the japanese attack, why did the americans' failure to anticipate the japanese military capabilities? you can turn that around, which i do, and say why did the japanese fail to imagine the american response? they totally missed how the americans would respond as well as a capacity and will to rep pearl harbor and -- remember pearl harbor and get revenge. that was one of the posters, avenge pearl harbor. that was a standard phrase. and the same thing occurs in the case of al-qaeda and 9/11, and then it transfers -- and this is where my book which was going to be a short book suddenly became a big book, because i began trying to wrestle with these various different questions before the u.s. invasion of iraq. now, when the u.s. invasion of iraq took place 18 months after 9/11 in march 2003, we had another colossal failure of intelligence on the part of the united states. and a colossal failure of imagination on the part of the united states. so if you come back to the u.s. perspective, you say there was incredible intelligence and imaginat

and iraq groups trying to help build security back into the hands of. saying american left without insurance protection. to sports. hello and welcome to this horse news with archie and here is a brief look at i'll have lions. breaching the knockout stages of the champions league are down to delta being held to build his joy at home to panic nika. meanwhile russia's second club in the champions league spartak moscow travelled to london to take on carlo chelsea later on wednesday. and also there are a look to maintain their lead at the top of the driver's standings us home along the coast of brazil for the second from last race of the season. start with champions league football where we've been dozens of road to the knockout stages much tougher now off to a goalless draw at home to badmouth mike us on tuesday night's neil neil was how it ended two weeks ago in greece sound the same result because on meaning both sides still when there's so far in group. elsewhere in group a told him as bange the loss of sound ciro with a three one win over those into the log. with the t

were open to terrorists and violence spread the americans dismissed the iraqi government who did not think to form an iraqi army before two thousand and four and it was too late because the terrorists were already and we got volunteers we gave them brief training and sent them to the field they were combat soldiers with not enough training the bombs that are going off in iraq today and not a measurement for how well the soldiers were trained bombs were going off even when the united states was in the country we need better intelligence who's behind these bombs and how they managed to still carry them out. at the moment the iraqi security forces one and there has been a law that's been put forward to reintroduce conscription do you think that this law will be implemented. this compulsory service has not been approved yet it's still a draft only the retirement law was approved for now we don't need compulsory recruitment because when we ask for example for ten thousand volunteers we have at least one hundred thousand young people coming to volunteer so we don't need it the countries ne

-bone market is weak other aspects of the american post cold war system are coming apart at the seams turkey is drifting away from nato and so on it's almost to the list of problems which america faces in trying to shore up the unilateral vision which george bush tried to put in place george w. bush and so some extent president clinton before and the list of those problems is almost without end and yet nato continues as i say to focus on american foreign policy priority priorities principally now iran the missile shield after all lots of let's not forget is mainly directed called into the americas directed against iran so once again we see nato dancing to an american today and it's because the core country of nato is weak that the alliance itself is in trouble aren't going to take a quick break here and after the break we'll continue our discussion on nato stay with. those so many years of. the former prisoners. are still along. as well for. those so many years of. some are hoping to sign to save the. others take their executioners long for just. so many years established. memory is s

hearts and minds of the american people. while many of the books and series i will discuss this evening were born of this time, interest in this genre continued for decades. i am a collector, as are many of you, and over the years i have built a personal library. but even so, who could have predicted that the casual purchase of a $15 book at the miami book fair nearly 25 years ago would be the seminal moment, the beginning of my book collecting that would result in not one, but two two-volume bibliographies, the rivers of america, and series americana, post-depression era regional literature, 1938-1980. both co-published by oak knoll press and the center for the book in the library of congress. now for my story. in the november of 1986, the broward county library in ft. lauderdale and the florida center for the book hosted a symposium, rediscovering the 1930s: the wpa and the federal writers' project. it was there that my husband jeep and i first -- gene and i first met john who as executive direct offer of the center for the

the american people expect us to work together. we are committed to putting the concerns of middle-class families first and we are working to find common ground and resolutions and progress. we're not finished fighting big banks which have an lot of money and they're not using those to stimulate the economy. we want to make sure that we protect social security. we want to make sure that we do things that stopped companies like bp and others from spoiling the earth. the number one issue in nevada was corporations that ship jobs overseas. we will look at that very closely because there is nothing that has impacted the middle- class and than this. republicans must take their responsibility to solve the problems of ordinary americans. we are working to get things out of the economic ditch that we were in. >> thank you. this is dick durbin from chicago. i could not -- we need to work together. strengthen the middle-class and our family and strengthen businesses. the senate will be the crucible between some of the most important issues of

the victims of these things i don't think that the americans can go too long in terms of how it's gotten away with this so far and the wiki leaks think has been absolutely brilliant in helping to give some momentum to calls for the americans to actually do some proper formal investigations into these things and it's good that the americans are finally in gauging with human rights council and or be interesting to see whether or not they're actually willing to come under its purview and listen to some of the recommendations that i made now you want to go sions of abuse occurring at guantanamo bay cuba could surface despite president obama's pledge to close the prison might this session have an effect on the situation do you think. i mean the reality is is that international condemnation against guantanamo bay has been as strong as anything else really and if the americans weren't going to close it because of that already i don't think there's anything else that's really going to help convince them this is now really become a problem within america itself you know do the american people doe

thank you for being part of this event to break ground for the american veterans disabled for like memorial will be the first national tribute to the service and sacrifice of america's disabled veterans and to celebrate the aspirant -- the inspiring accomplishment of these great men and women. they are the reason we ar so dedicated to creating a more moral in their honor in our nation's capital and as part of that effort, a commemorative coin, a dollar was produced by the united states meant to help fund of the memorial. today there are more than 3 million disabled veterans and many thousands of american service members have been wounded or otherwise disabled in iraq, afghanistan, and the war on terrorism. the values of those we honor our values that have sustained our nations throughout our history. the values of duty, honor, and our country. these men and women carry the torch of freedom high when they were called upon to do so. many of them paid a high price for their service in our nation's defense. those disabilities, lifelong disabilities are part of the continuing cost of war. that i

done and do it by listening to the american people. americans don't want to push american families whose breadwinners lost their jobs through no fault of their own into poverty during the holidays. i think we should end these debates and extend benefits longer and allow benefits to be scaled back on the economy as the economy impves. the reason we've had all these votes out here is cause the senate is unable to do anything. we've tried to extend this for extended periods of time and over in the senate they can think, let's extend it for a month. see if we can starve them for a month. they let this program lapse for three months over there. and you're telling me that we're going to work together. i think we ought to work together. the short-term extension is an effort to see if our republican colleagues will support any kind of helpor the unemployed. i'm told by the other side that there's no plans in the senate to take up this bill. well, they're waiting to see if we can get it out of here. if you don't help, maybe it won't get out of h

do you think that the withdrawal of the american army from iraq will have effect and if so what kind of effect on the situation in afghanistan will because. to withdrawal from iraq will of course affect to a great deal the situation in afghanistan it has a direct impact because it's too hard now for anyone to have two wars at the same time and it's too hard for anyone to have a big war but the americans are now having two big wars in iraq and afghanistan so it made sense for the americans when they felt there was a desire from iraqis and an improvement in the security situation here to withdraw and concentrate on their own war in afghanistan their big war is now in afghanistan and they are moving out of iraq because they think the situation here is improved they're not arctic at the end of the of honest and the american army says that those troops that will remain in iraq are involved in training is the screw over an element of combat for some of us all to still be involved in fighting units but. the americans have three main jobs training advice and support with especially airborne s

to help build security cordons back into the arms of al qaida claim they've been abandoned sending american death down to the shore in protection. this week has seen a surge in violence in iraq and it's raised questions over the ability of the country's forces to handle the escalating security situation where next to our teammates general muhammad us going to be a spokesman from iraq's minister of defense to find out how the military will cope with the china just ahead. but now i have general mohamed i'll ask every an advisor and spokesperson with the iraqi ministry of defense so thank you very much for joining us here are not forthcoming the most consultants have left by and large from the terrorists and do you feel confident that the actual soldiers and the iraqi security force is able to keep the situation so calm and how do you feel. it is a good question it's worth talking about the readiness or not of the iraqi security forces because the number of american troops left in this country is forty nine thousand seven hundred something it's important the americans are gone what's also impo

mother of the one of the american hostages because she was the only person who was on tv, and at that point, about three months after, three or four months after the hostages had been taken hostage, we were called out of the blue asking if we could get an interview with money of the americans. i need to have it, and i might not see you for a long time after that, but we'll be in touch. we made a film called held hostage about the american contractors held, and he was able to get into the hostage camp and do an interview with the hostages in captivity, and from that point, victoria and i thought a book on the subject would be a great way to tell the whole story because time had gone by, and we were not able to film everything we wanted to include, so we began writing a proposal, and then as the years were going by, we never quite could get the proposal finished to a point where our agent said it was okay. finally in 2008 when we had something ready, and by that time, we had gotten back in contract and started working w

mayor newsom, the native american health center, the native american aids project, and all the friends and family that are here this evening. on behalf of the great nations on whose land we stand upon today, i want to welcome you and thank you for being here this evening on behalf of my sister aurora. please allow me to speak on behalf of my sister. my name is nelson jim. i come with you -- to you with great feelings of the navajo. it is really an honor for me to be here, specifically, very pleased to speak on behalf of my sister. i have worked with her for many years. i just want to say that the issue that faces our community is huge. the challenge could be something like david and goliath. the issues that aurora had to deal with, the friendship house association of american indians, all the other programs that serve native people are huge. so are some of the challenges that we are faced with. we have the lowest life expectancy. 500% higher for tuberculosis. american indians have the highest rate of diabetes and other americans 195% higher. native americans have the highest rates of a

that the american people indicated they were not in favor of. so i think the group that should hopefully get the message out of yesterday's elections is our friends on the other side of the aisle, and we hope that they will pivot in a different direction. work with us on spending, trade agreements and nuclear power and clean cold technology and other things the president has said that he's for, yet most of my members are for. >> on behalf of the republican governors, while governors' races may be thought of as being separate or very different from what's going on in washington, in this case, even in governor's races, this election was a referendum on obama's policies. and the policies of the obama administration, the pelosi-reid congress, were repudiated by the voters. governors-- and i would say a lot of democratic governors, i believe, will agree with this-- going forward, governors believe that we can work with the congress to try to set things in a better direction. >> how do you see yourself integrating all the tea party activism into the st

i mean what is the use of it i mean irrespective of your opinion about the war in afghanistan the american led war i mean nato is in a shambles i mean it is absolutely in a shambles and it's going to say it has a new vision for for the for its existence of reason to exist beyond article five of self defense what is its relevance that. it has it has relevance and it is most relevance for those countries in eastern europe and the baltic states which were formerly in the warsaw pact they see nato is a shield against possible russian aggression but that said martin i mean what is like what possible threat does russia pose to eastern europe and the baltic states i mean quite seriously except expression since. russia has been courting them for economic for trade reasons for investment reasons i mean haven't we really taken the military threat off the table now i mean what interest with russia have in terms of a military i on europe any more ideas it doesn't make any logical sense especially when both europe the european union and russia have doing very their very best to mend fences ok go ahead

the problem is the confidence of the american people. they see the conflicts of interest. -- associated with earmarks. it is not wrong to want to help your state. it is not wrong to go through an authorizing process where your colleagues can actually see it. it is wrong to hide something in a bill that benefits you and the well-heeled few without it being shown in light to the american people. and if we're to solve the major problems that are in front of this country over the next two or three years -- and they're the largest we've ever seen -- they are the the biggest problems that we've ever seen in this country -- we have to restore the confidence of the american people. utilization utilization of an earmark is not our prerogative, it's our pleasure. and we claim a power that we have, in fact, created. we do direct where the money goes but we should never do it with a conflict of interest that benefits just those that we represent from our state or just those that help us become u.s. senators. and all you have to do is look at campaign

also the richest americans -- all so the richest americans consideration i don't know, buy more boats, stay in more luxury hotels, buy big fat cigars, buy bottles of crystal. i don't know. i'm not one of them. but the point of the matter is it's wrong. and we ought to be embarrassed to talk about it. some of my friends who say, yeah, we have to give the top 2% tax breaks too, they'll say, well, because it's going to help boost jobs. wait a minute. didn't we have these tax cuts back in 2001 and 2003? don't we have a massive unemployment? their program has failed. evidence is on the wall. it's there. their program has failed. why is it if tax cuts are so great, why did we lose 800,000 jobs in the last month that george bush was the president of the united states? forgive me, 841,000 jobs. can't leave out that 41,000 jobs because those are 41,000 people in those jobs. why did we lose about six million jobs during the last -- no, excuse me, four million jobs during the last six months of the bush presidency? if cutting taxes is such a great idea? but i'm going to say, mr. speaker, cutting

we believe that we will be ready enough to have full security control at that stage and for all the american forces to leave iraq as well you say that timeframe is given by the racoons and not motivated from the american side. what it can be about it so what if that's true if the recent departure of american troops was because washington wanted to improve obama's picture so what. if it was because of american pressure or desire it doesn't matter to me as an iraqi as an iraqi i welcome the american withdrawal and i wish that we will be ready by the thirty first of december two thousand and

the american legion is in full agreement with you. rocess that forces veterans to wait a year or two. those veterans ha paid the price. they did not ask any questions whenhey went to serve their country. we should not delay their delivery of benefits. the american legion is working with secretary shinseki to develop a paperless claims process that will allow veterans to submit. ere have been accomplishments lately in agent orange disability. the va is looking at that as a pilot program to streamline the claims process to allow victims to receive benefits in a timely manner. that is so that individuals you mentioned do not die before they receive benefits. host: we are excited to welcome the new treatment facility in french camp, calif. desperately necessary for our veterans. now, michael in michigan, go- ahead. caller: good morning. i am service-connected 100%. i volunteer for an elderly gentleman who is 92 years old, blind, world war ii. i've been taking into his appoinents. he spent time in the hospital in ann arbor, michigan at the

the american original. for over two decades, the sharpest vogeico, committed to providing service to its auto insurance customers for over 70 years. more information on auto insurance at geico.com or 1-800-947-auto any time of the day or night. if. for such a small if i live to a hundred. if social security isn't enough. if my heart gets broken. if she says yes. we believe if should never hold you back. if should be managed with a plan that builds on what you already have. together we can create a personal safety net, a launching pad, for all those brilliant ifs in the middle of life. you can call on our expertise and get guarantees for the if in life. after all, we're metlife. guarantees for the if in life. >>> issue one, speaker in waiting. >> i'm here to tell you tonight that our new majority will be prepared to do things differently. it starts with cutting spending instead of increasing it. [ cheers and applause ] reducing the size of government instead of increasing it. [ cheers and applause ] and refor

well, tonight, the first woman to become speaker in american history is at a cross roads. she is a laser-focused 70-year-old mother and grandmother, and we sat down with her today to look forward and to look back. the president used the word shellacking in the press conference. what's the first word that comes to your mind? >> i would say a very disappointing result. not being as colorful as he is in that description. but it was -- it was a tough loss. >> reporter: what did the president say to you and you to him? >> well, i don't usually discuss my conversations with the president, but you can just imagine that it was a call in which -- i had spoken to him twice yesterday, early in the day and then in the evening, and we expressed pride in the work that we had done. sadness over the loss of the members who would not be returning. >> reporter: no regrets? >> no regrets, because we believe we did the right thing and we worked very hard in our campaigns to convey that to the american people. >> reporter: the talk about repealing health care -- >> yeah. >> reporter: talking ab

analysis of election results from the american enterprise institute. in about one hour ,ap economics writer on the federal reserve writer on the federal reserve plan to stimulate the

material a capital project in the american military base by a slum bikini in any attack the ground zero. contaminated and deserted the marshall islands are scattered for hours southwest of honolulu this is no way from north america's clear if you but a paradise if one intends to test atomic bombs. all right. at the united states but now almost a journalist to write this if orders and good men. who don't know what it is you know the united. everything being a. must be got. over the twelve years of testing thirty three of the sixty seven devices that were tested here were bigger than the largest one ever tested in the eighteen of them were what are called megaton level devices in other words. including the bravo test in one nine hundred fifty four fifteen megaton test thousand times more powerful and explosive yield than the hiroshima bomb. on hiroshima but there are no one at. a makes me angry that nobody knows what is your own life low level it is you. march first one nine hundred fifty four and the islanders are amazed to see the sun rising in the west but this star is a thermonuclear

and, of course, the americans said technically and psychological the japanese aren't capable of doinghis. my impression of colin powell, who, you know, has been such a great american hero in many ways is -- and i think he says this. he says, well, i talked to the president. i told them my reservations once. on one occasion. it was clear i wasn't going to win and when your president says to do something, all you can do is salute. and so then we get into nationalism, love of the country, patriotism that once the machines get going, people get on board. so you get on the whole machinery of gearing up to war, which is both material and psychological. and at a certain point you're supposed to get aboard and principled criticism is not acceptable. and i think that's another culture of war, you see? and unless we grasp these machineries of these pathologies, well, the coil of war will be with us forever. >> host: now, that's a depressing note to -- we have five minutes to wrap this up and that's what i wanted to focus on, this intersection we now have not only the group-think and the bureauc

well it will take a revolution to bring real change in the american political system that's the message ted rall is taking across the u.s. to promote his new book the tease of a situation i sat down with the cartoonist and outspoken critic as he calls for the fight for democracy to begin. i. but she's sitting down with award winning editorial columnist and cartoonist ted rall ted thank you so much for meeting up with us today thanks for having me let's get right into it right now you're on a tour for your new book which is called the anti-american manifesto clearly that name is bound to tick off some of the political establishment here in the u.s. for our viewers give them a little bit of a sneak peek into the main message of what it's all about it's a call to arms it is addressing the fact that neither the democrats nor the republicans are able or willing to address the biggest problems facing the united states today which are the economy the environment health care and the wars and now you have to ask yourself as an american do you want to tolerate the system do you want to tolerate a

in the first generation american another side. ver graduated from high school because she had to work to support her family. she became a naturalized citizen in the late 1930's. after she passed away and i went through her memorabilia, i found turn--- naturalization certificate. this was the only document that was wrapped in saran wrap to protect it. i started to think, in the heat of this campaign. it was so important that everyone voted. that we have a good turn out, regardless of the outcome. i thought back to what i was a little girl. my mother would take me by the hand and she would take me into the polling booth. in those years it was very mysterious. there was a black curtain. you would push the levers. you remember. my mother would look at me and say -- honey, this is what america is about. do you know how many people all over the world would give up almost everything to be in a booth like this one in america? she said -- our vote is secret. it is a secret ballot. so, do not even tell daddy how i voted. [laughter] that is w

the american people are unhappy with what is going on in washington. [applause] 11% of the people approve of what is going on in congress, but tonight there is a tea party tidal wave, and we are sending a message to them. [applause] it is a message that i will carry with me on day one. it is a message of fiscal sanity. it is the message of a limited constitutional government in balanced budgets. -- and balanced budgets. hen i arrived in washington, i will ask them respectfully to deliberate upon this. we are in the midst of a debt crisis, and the american people want to know why we have to balance our budget and they do not. [applause] i will ask them respectfully to deliberate upon this. government does not create jobs, individuals, businessmen and women create jobs, but not the government. [applause] i will ask them respectfully to deliberate upon this. why is america great? why are we to greatest, rich's, and freest country ever known to man? -- richest and freest country ever known to man? [applause] america is exceptional, but it is not inherently

this talk was about the american foreign policy. i wrote about john kennedy and i looked at the polling data which said that the great american presidents in the eyes of most people were predictably washington, lincoln, fdr, but the included kanaby. it was a puzzle to me. he was only their fourth house in the days and yet he had become an iconic figure, and i wanted to get into the archives, read the material, and make some assessment of what his whole presidency was light. i worked for several years on the two volume life of lyndon johnson, and one of the principal questions that captured my attention was how can someone who, as brilliant a politician, has successfully politician as lbj, have been caught out by the war and vietnam. that is, the consensus that developed in 1964 and gave him a massive landslide election was destroyed by the war, and it puzzled me as to how johnson could have lost his hold on the public's imagination. on nixon and kissinger, a book published three years ago, i was trying to confront the issue of whethe