the united nations conference on environment and development. and then he encouraged them to get behind the conference and allowed the general assembly to get behind it and then gore shaped the agenda behind the conference and he did wonders in publicizeing it. and he even convinced a very reluctant president bush, the first president bush, to attend the conference, to be there with the other world leaders to make the conference a success. this was 1992, the date of the of the united nations conference on environment and development. also known as the rio conference and that's what spawned the kyoto conference years later. he got everyone to sing from the same hymn book. an unprecedented number of groups attended the conference and that helped give the conference moral authority and helped create a sense of inevitablity. and an unprecedented number of world leaders attended rio as well giving the conference an official stamp and also putting the world's governance on record. and an unprecedented number of media outlets attended to report on this

one was they wanted the united nations to come back into the picture. they wanted the unilateralism of what they saw having happened in the invasion to be corrected back to an internationally approved and organized situation for iraq with u.n. playing its proper part in it. and secondly, they wanted to minimize the overall political geo-political damage that had been done by the invasion of iraq and that in my mind was a more constructive approach than might have happened but i had something to play with in the rest of the security council because of those attitudes. those two sets of responses very much echoing the united kingdom policy at that moment. >> with a country like france, a fellow permanent member with very similar global interests of the united kingdom, we often approached matters of peace and security in the same way. on iraq, we were on different sides of the water sh shed because of the decision to use force which president shirack had been veried a -- chir ad ack had been very -- chirac had been very adamant against. the french were pre

he had created a league of nations, but the united states would not join.but not in the united states. the american secretary of state received the award of the establishment of the united nations, but seoul earlier that no one could be sure how significant the united nations would be. many have been awarded the prize for the courage, even when the results were a long time seem modest. audry sakharov, lech walesa, and dalai lama, to name a few. when our received his prize, the struggle against apartheid was in its infancy. there were very few results 2.2. martin luther king jr. received his award, he proclaimed his dream, that by the decision one day we will live in a nation where there will not be judged by the color of the skin, not by the content of the character. but there were still a long way to go from the dream, the reality. mr. president, we also happy to see through your presence here through much of dr. king's dream had come true. [applause] >> in the middle east, there have been many wars and many peace prizes have been awarded. why does the nob

, about the united nations.ow that you're in the hot seat, so to speak, and really see it close up, you know, what can you say to assure those americans who are really concerned about the united nations for the reasons that i outlined? >> well, let me say a few things in response to that. first of all, you are right. there're many americans who share the views that -- you are taking a lead it. but i think it's lost in understanding and appreciating that is the fact that survey after survey, including relative recent ones, indicate his support for the united nations and among the american public is typically in the range of 65% to 70%, higher than most people would intuitively anticipate. and yet, you cannot support for the institution and still feel disappointment about its failure to achieve its full potential. and there's no question that that in fact the case. but we need to look at this in various ways. first of all, when the united nations fails to act for example you pointed to rwanda or darfur for many ye

wolfowitz was viscerally hostile to the united nations. of arguments because he might find just about appealing enough not to become a serious obstacle to policy that would involve theñr un >> are you effectively saying that the british government's policy was changed in washington rather than london? it was in washington that our lives had changed, not that we sat down and said this would be the correct strategy? >> i would not say that it was extremely who wish. one of the things you have to remember is tony blair is a true believer about the weakness of saddam hussein, and his realization of that predates by a very long time the arrival of george bush in the white house. >> the policy of the government or himself? >> can i read you something? this is a speech, just a paragraph. this is a speech that tony blair made in january, 1998. 1998, which is early. areas, prime minister for a year. "we have a clear responsibility and long-term interest of the world to stop saddam hussein from gentrifying the world's community. he needs to be persu

and in response, governments of the world agreed to the united nations framework convention on climatehanism for dealing with this issue. we are all well aware that all the nations have exceptional expectations towards this conference. as indicated in the bali action plan and in crop14, this conference in copenhagen should set out the directions for fighting climate changes for several deg aids. countries with substantial emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases should make specific commitments to reduce such emissions. developing countries and especially the least developed countries can expect great financial, technical and organizational assistance for aadaptation to climate change, but for quick social and economic development. it is nothing more than simple human solidarity. but the effort of prevention of climate change generates not only cost, they create also a great opportunity for all nations to introduce fundamental changes of their economic systems, with a chance for introduction of modern effective and energy-saving technologies, and a chance to gradually aba

and of themselves, they are even more concerned when the data in question is being used by the united nations negotiator as the basis for a global agreement to limit greenhouse gases. . recent events have uncovered evidence from the climate research unit at the university of east englia have altered climate data that do not support the narrow global warming claims. the emails further indicate an attempt to silence academic journal that is at odds with their ideology and even refer to contrary views from publication in scientific journals. scientific research should meet high standards of quality and not be held hostage to the ideologies of those presenting the data. it is beyond comprehension that we would even consider implementing a carbon reduction scheme that will irrevokeably alter the economy and lead to more joblessness based on these fabrications. before we move any further we should restore scientific integrity to the process. recent events really show that this has not happened. the hacked emails proside evidence that researchers suppress science and data that did not conform to the

and in response, governments of the world agreed to the united nations framework convention on climate important mechanism for dealing with this issue. we are all well aware that all the nations have exceptional expectations towards this conference. as indicated in the bali action plan and in crop14, this conference in copenhagen should set out the directions for fighting climate changes for several deg aids. countries with substantial emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases should make specific commitments to reduce such emissions. developing countries and especially the least developed countries can expect great financial, technical and organizational assistance for aadaptation to climate change, but for quick social and economic development. it is nothing more than simple human solidarity. but the effort of prevention of climate change generates not only cost, they create also a great opportunity for all nations to introduce fundamental changes of their economic systems, with a chance for introduction of modern effective and energy-saving technologies, and a chance to

the coming months. >> the role of the united nations must be large. they should be the primary element that is coordinating donor nations' efforts at development. they bring credibility. they bring international credibility that i think is very, very important just like they do when they participate in elections. i'm hopeful they'll return not only with the staff that they had, but continue to shape the staffing that they have there so as we increase security in areas, they have the ability to operate effectively and partner with the afghan people. because, again, they do bring an extraordinary amount of credibility to the mission. >> general mcchrystal, a number of observers have commented on the importance of tribal politics in afghanistan. you have noted the need for good governance and stability if we're going to make any progress in extricating ourselves from afghanistan. what do you see as a means for bringing the pashtun -- who are a large group in afghanistan, more into the government in responsible positions? i think it's not unfair to say tha

national interest. and we failed. i will tell you why we failed. we failed on persuading the united states administration to liberalize air services across the atlantic. such that british airways and other airlines could enter the country on agreements with their numbers in the united states. that been trying to fly and carry passengers to u.s. -- to the u.s. since the beginning of time. let's try and use this capital to get that. the other thing, which was profoundly irritating, almost on the day that the 45 commandos arrived in afghanistan to help with the war, the americans slapped tariffs on exports from the u.k., what they called specialty steel. i asked karl rove, what in christ's name do you think you're doing on something like this? the basic answer was, the steel industry is in terrible trouble. it is important for the president's reelection effort in 2004. it is just politics, but we will try to pass this tariff in the medical aid the consequences -- and tried to mitigate the consequences. the british government could have and should have made a bigger effort to get what w

we have joined in the architecture of institutions from the united nations to nato to the world bank that provide for the common security and prosperity of human beings. we have not always been thanked for these efforts. and we have, at times, made mistakes. but more than any other nation, the united states of america has underwritten global security for over six decades, a time that for all its problems has seen walls come down and markets open and billions lifted from property, unparalleled of scientific progress and advancing frontiers of human liberty. for unlike the great powers of old, we have not sought world domination. our union was founded in resistance to oppression. we do not seek to occupy other nations. we will not claim another nation's resources. or target other people because their faith or a net -- or ethnicity is different from ours. what we have fought for, what we continue to fight for is a better future for our children and grandchildren and we believe that their lives will be better if other people's children and grandchildren can live in freedom. and access op

station or beat -- united nationsto name needs countries? my friend is absolutely right. this is a unique venture. it is difficult to look back on this were so many countries come coalition, the leadership of nato and the united nations, and they are committed to providing additional resources to enable the surge in military activity to happen, but at the same time, to enable the political settlement. as far as the naming of countries that have offered troops, it is possible for me to refer to statements that have been made by different leaders in different countries, but i think the announcements should be made by these leaders themselves and not the secretary general of nato. i am confident that the 5000 additional troops i talked about a few weeks ago has been an important part of the continuing mission that these 5000 -- these 5000 troops will be obtained as part of the pledge made by other countries. >> will the prime minister say what steps he will take to afghanistan whose forces are confined to and non-combat

and tomorrow, if we pursue the same thank, it will be on the united states and the interrelated united nations aspects. with that, i think everybody who has -- thank everybody who has spent time here this morning and our witnesses. thank you. c-span3 c-span2 [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> embedded in afghanistan, a freelance journalist observing how the u.s. uses a unmanned vehicles for drones. >> there are two units. one handles the north, one handles the south. the south is the bigger and this year of the two. i would guess 100 predator drone. they look like giant model airplanes, about the size of a small compact car. the reapers look about the same, but they are about twice as big. in their noses, they carry a bunch of different sensors, radar, cameras, things like that. the exact number depends on what your carrying and where you are flying, but it is not impossible for one of these of woolworth's -- one of these orbits to soak up vast amounts of data. he can think of the drones as manned aircraft, if the

connie hedegaard, minister for the united nations climate change conference in copenhagen, her excellency, ms. mayor bjerregard, of the city of copenhagen, and dr. rajendra kumar pachauri , chair of the intergovernmental climate change panel appeared distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, this climate change conference will be followed closely by people from all over the world. many, including children, have already raised their voices on the host country's internet platform. to begin the welcoming ceremony, we would like to show you a short film about this. following the showing of this film, we will have a selection at from that danish berle's choir. -- the danish girl's choir. [chattering] [laughing] >> and you still doubt the impact of human influence over this predict a quote catastrophe. >> -- in admitting carbon dioxide are imposing a cost on this generation and the next generation. >> the number of environmental refugees to more than to under 50 million people. the shortage of resources and the high number of refugees will increase tensions all over the world. [rain patter

and in response, governments of the world agreed to the united nations framework convention on climatedealing with this issue. we are all well aware that all the nations have exceptional expectations towards this conference. as indicated in the bali action plan and in crop14, this conference in copenhagen should set out the directions for fighting climate changes for several deg aids. countries with substantial emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases should make specific commitments to reduce such emissions. developing countries and especially the least developed countries can expect great financial, technical and organizational assistance for aadaptation to climate change, but for quick social and economic development. it is nothing more than simple human solidarity. but the effort of prevention of climate change generates not only cost, they create also a great opportunity for all nations to introduce fundamental changes of their economic systems, with a chance for introduction of modern effective and energy-saving technologies, and a chance to gradually abandon fossil

unique force of nato supported by clear united nations resolutions. approach to achieving this has now to be different. suggest that take greater control of their own security. taliban we have to government at national level and at local level, too. this approach is built on the knowledge that the taliban might have minority support among the afghan people and our judgment that the long-term security of afghanistan has been secured by trimming the afghan army and police, build in a civilian government at a local as well as national level, and through economic development, giving the afghans a stake in their future. this set to be proposed as we work with stronger international civilian leadership to work alongside general mcchrystal through this strategy. it is and outlined a program that gives lead security responsibilities to afghans district by district with the first provinces potentially being handed over during next year. let us be clear that this process will depend on the afghans being ready to take responsibility and control, first through mor

wolfowitz was viscerally hostile to the united nations.ust about appealing enough not to become a serious obstacle to policy that would involve theñr un >> are you effectively saying that the british government's policy was changed in washington rather than london? it was in washington that our lives had changed, not that we sat down and said this would be the correct strategy? >> i would not say that it was extremely who wish. one of the things you have to remember is tony blair is a true believer about the weakness of saddam hussein, and his realization of that predates by a very long time the arrival of george bush in the white house. >> the policy of the government or himself? >> can i read you something? this is a speech, just a paragraph. this is a speech that tony blair made in january, 1998. 1998, which is early. areas, prime minister for a year. "we have a clear responsibility and long-term interest of the world to stop saddam hussein from gentrifying the world's community. he needs to be persuaded by diplomacy or made by forced t

the united nations did not endorse the afghanistan war at the time it was initiative. and the u.s. had decided not to request un authority because the bush a administration had made a decision that they did not want to a knowledge the right of the united nations to make decisions, and as a result, the resolution was passed with great fervor and unanimously. every member of the security council stood and cast votes, they did not just raise their hands. what they asked for was a level of international corp. going after the money, police cooperation, but it did not authorize the use of force and was not taken under the terms of a chapter 7 of the charter, if required if you are going to have a war. host: seek moving forward to present day, the british are currently conducting an iraq war in korea, and are expecting to hear from tony blair and others. what do you hope to learn from that? >> i think the british decision is very important, to go forward. it is something we need to do in this country, and the efforts of president obama describing it to look forward has been translated int

you started off this conversation talking about the united states is willing to admit to the united nationshat we have -- and i don't agree with you -- but tortured people. but then you went on to say that united states was going to evaluate several other things. well, you evade -- you were not specific at all about what those other things with. and i probably would disagree with you. but there's one more thing. and that is it appears to me that what you're talking about when you talk about rights is not the rights we have in the bill of rights but a new set of rights that want to be created. and i will just say that when obama goes around the world bowing, what that is is the altruistic tenet of self-sacrifice. and what he is really doing is he's self-sacrificing the american taxpayer or the american people. >> we'll leave it there. michael posener. >> i have a couple of reactions to. that first of all, i think when we look at ourselves we're not doing it from a position of weakness. we're doing it from a position of strength. this is a country founded on principles of human rights and dem

after the second world war, franklin roosevelt and harry truman took initiatives to create the united nationsns. the lesson was that nation states could not be unlimited. states must commit themselves to international law and should rise for the year -- for the individuals. today, yet another american president is trying to reunite internationalism. he affirms that the united states must lead together, with others. walls must be torn down as in berlin i. the wall the walls between races and tribes, makers and immigrants, christians and muslims and jews cannot stand. these are the walls that we must tear down. this must surely be the fraternity between nations. president obama is a political leader who understands that even the mightiest rubble cannot stand alone. he is a man that believes that the strength of the community be in the local community. obama has the audacity to hope and the tenacity to make these hopes come true. that is what makes him so important, by his own behavior and leadership, he is demanding that we all take a shared responsibility for a global response to global challe

if the answer is yes, when we do not abide by the united nations charter, as we have not throughout history the courts in the united states to then take a stand? guest: i can answer that. host: thank you caller. guest: it has become the law of the land. in order -- and the court presumably would handle any violation of law. the problem on these international issues is that, in order for something to come before the court, the person or institution that would raise the issue has to have what in legal terms is called "standing." in other words, they have to be a qualified party with the standing to bring this issue before the court. oftentimes, questions of violations that are brought by people in the united states or institutions in the united states, they are often struck down because they lacked standing. host: we're talking about the washington times calling it a heck of a decade. others have used other terms to describe this past eight or nine years. how would you describe 2000 to dilute 2009? guest: i think it is the beginning of a tectonic shift in world affairs. as barbara mentioned,

that will be a quite big challenge for the united nations and for world leaders.appreciate at this time, to all the world leaders who have taken time and patiently participated in all of the negotiations, very tough negotiations. i would really hope and appeal to world leaders and world opinion makers that, while i know that not everybody is satisfied with this result, this was a quite significant achievement, which we were able to make in copenhagen. considering all the complexity and difficulties of this issue. it is not an easy task. everyone knows that it will not be an easy task. therefore, we should be more proactive. we should be more forthcoming, rather than critical. i would be very willing to discuss on this issue with other world leaders and other opinion makers and civic community leaders how we can do better. how we can change this negotiation process. there are some lessons we have learned. all of these lessons will be very carefully reviewed from today for a better result next year. thank you very much. thank you. [captioning performed by national c

enthough it would cause redistribution of wealth from our nation to others and would lead to massive job losses and outsourcing from the united states to the other nations. particularly hard heat would be heavy industry, agriculture and states that rely upon coal for like that production. mr. speaker, i voted against cap and trade because i wasn't convinced of the problem and because the solution would cause further economic devastation to my constituents. i'm from michigan where we currently have the highest unemployment in the united states. we also derive 2/3 of our like that from coal and our number one industry is industrial manufacturing and our number two industry is agriculture. if cap and trade were to pass, michigan's economy would be devastated. but we were told that it had to happen because the alternative is worse. mr. speaker, a few weeks back, a series of emails from within the climate research facility at britain's university were either hacked or were leaked by a disillusiononned outsider that has blown away the global warming theory and being called climate date. these emails show that these scientists have

unique force of nato supported by clear united nations resolutions. approach to achieving this has now to be different. suggest that take greater control of their own security. taliban we have to government at national level and at local level, too. only minority people; and our judgment that the long term security of police, building up the civilian aspects of our strategy. responsibility to district, province by province -- with the first potentially being handed over during next year. troops, second, national government, and stronger stake in their economic future. and i can also say that over for and to encourage between afghanistan and its neighbors, based on affairs and on a commitment links with other security measures from which all can benefit. afghanistan on january 28 -- which president karzai and the secretary general of the united nations have confirmed they will attend -- to unite the international community behind a program now and for the longer term to help the afghans secure and govern their own country. essential to create weakening

at the united nations conference founding in san francisco, it was mainly the americans to the host but at the same time, the most out of their depth. because of all the international and regional organizations of the last century, the one that was best known for which the united states conceived but did not join was the league of nations. so at san francisco it was americans going to the delegations of iraq and saudi arabia and egypt and syria to ask how they had gotten up and running their regional organization. some see the gulf war cooperation council that came into being in 1981 as a detraction, a distraction from the league of arab states. in the early months and weeks of its existence, there was, admittedly, no small amount of animosity, jealousy, resentment, suspicion, distrust, and yet it is in keeping with the charter of league of arab states which does include individual efforts between two or more arab countries to form building blocks upon which larger platforms of integration, coronation, collaboration, and cooperation can be forged subsequently. it is also in keeping with

and other giftgiving ideas from c-span visit c-span.org/store. >> now in its second week to the united nations on climate change here from heidi level delegates. they developed economies in small island nations. the first speakers represented group at 777 developing economies plus china. this is about 40 minutes. >> so, once again i still think i still hope, hope is bright green that the future president of so many heads of state or states of comment in copenhagen will pave the way for a successful outcome. never before have so many world leaders come together to discuss a topic of such global importance as quite a change. for all their complexities and there are indeed blacks even challenges that accompany, any discussion on the global climate change. we are indeed one planet that share the same fate and we are all in this together. on behalf of the conference, i will therefore like to thank every one of you for joining us today. we will now begin hearing national statements for the joint high-level segment of our conference. we will begin with statements delivered on behalf of groups. with t

the foreign secretary what at this critical point this country and the european union and the united nations security council are prepared to do? >> well, indeed. the prime minister mentioned this in his statement following the european council and as leader of the house i make sure that the house is kept updated on this important issue. but how telling it is, mr. speaker, on this day, today is the day when we have seen employment rise. we've seen the number of people in work increasing. today's the day where we've seen the number of people claiming unemployment benefit falling for the first time in two years. and i would have thought today was the day that the foreign secretary would come to the house and admit the tories had got it wrong. >> thank you, mr. speaker. as my right honorable friend seen today's daily record which exposed an illegal company charging a e.p.i. of 2 million 639, 539%. is it not that we followed the leader of european countries and put these charges especially in the run-up to christmas? >> well, i congratulate the daily record for their campaign against loan sharki

and tomorrow, if we pursue the same thank, it will be on the united states and the interrelated united nationsects. with that, i think everybody who has -- thank everybody who has spent time here this morning and our witnesses. thank you. c-span3 c-span2 [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2009] >> embedded in afghanistan, a freelance journalist observing how the u.s. uses a unmanned vehicles for drones. >> there are two units. one handles the north, one handles the south. the south is the bigger and this year of the two. i would guess 100 predator drone. they look like giant model airplanes, about the size of a small compact car. the reapers look about the same, but they are about twice as big. in their noses, they carry a bunch of different sensors, radar, cameras, things like that. the exact number depends on what your carrying and where you are flying, but it is not impossible for one of these of woolworth's -- one of these orbits to soak up vast amounts of data. he can think of the drones as manned aircraft, if the man

time, not only just on other countries but also on our own her we will participate through the united nations on their own human-rights record just as we encourage other nations to do. by holding ourselves accountable, we reinforce our authority to demand that all government adhered to obligations. we must counter the pretensions of those that deny our abdicate their responsibilities and told violators to account. sometimes you have the most impact by publicly denouncing a government action like the coup in honduras. other times will be more likely to help the oppressed by engaging in tough negotiations behind closed doors like china and russia. in every instance, our aim will be to make a difference, not to prove a point. calling for accountability did not start or stop and naming of vendors. -- offenders. our goal is to have government alternate responsibility by putting human rights into law and embedding them in institutions, by building strong independent bloc in police enforcement. the government should be expected to resist the temptation to restrict freedom of expression when criticis

luckily for us the united nations continue to update some of the data that the lake at -- league of nations once put together. it was also looking at the league of nations material that i discovered newfoundland was one of the country's. i did not know that. i always thought of it as a province of canada. it was a country. it lost its sovereignty because it was on the brink of default. talk about a high price for defaulting. to make a long story short, there was a lot of detective work that went into the book and unfolded over several years, the adr for the book came from the work we did in the 2003 then 2004 and 2005 were busy years and finishing other work so in 2006 we began full speed to bring the data together and work. i must say, and i can speak for both me and my co-author, ken rogof, one of the things i am most proud in my professional career, as this crisis unfolded not just here but in the united states, the u.k. crisis is almost a mirror of what happened in the u.s., ireland, spain, we have the first global crisis. i know the term global gets bandied around but it is global. a s

there is a united nations presence in afghanistan. there is also in the isaf presence. not everyone who contribute civilian aid is a member of nato will isaf, but they are all members of united nations, so how we coordinate and better hold accountable our civilian aid is a matter of great concern to all the contributing nations, both the troop contributing, non-troop civilian, non-nato, etc. the plawent country has announca substantial contrition. we're looking at the united nations and nato, but we're coming up with a coordinating mechanism that can meet the needs of all the various parties who want to contribute to afghanistan's future. >> secretary gates, i assume that general mcchrystal understands the importance of that handoff and the coronation. >> nobody wants to more than he does. >> let me turn to the secretary an abnormal and. -- and admiral mullen. what effect do you see this additional deployment having on to tell time and the length of deployments cycles and the reset, and in the service required to take care of our troops both here at home and in theater?

if we are to meet the climate change challenge, we must act as united nations. now is your moment. it is time for us to be united in action, common action. i implore you to seize this opportunity. now is the time and again for common sense, compromise, and courage. common sense, compromise, and political courage and political leadership shall prevail. this afternoon, let me add, conscience. it will be your legacy for all time. it will be the legacy of your leadership as a national leader and global leader. let us seal a deal in copenhagen on climate change for the common good. let us work together to deliver this for our succeeding generations. let's work together for a better and more prosperous future for all of humanity and more -- and a more environmentally sustainable world. i can't buy your commitment and thank you very much again for your leadership. [applause] -- and counting on your commitment and thank you very much again for your leadership. [applause] >> thank you mr. secretary general. it gives me great pleasure to invite the premier of the people's republic of china, i

after that, united nations secretary general on the summit held in copenhagen. at the national press club here of c-span. >> this month, the senate has continued work on the health care bill. here is how you can follow the debate. listen to highlights on c-span radio and review the debate at our health care of with live, streaming video from the senate floor. complete video archives, briefings from leadership and other key senators and the latest from the reporters and editors of the role call. and now, for iphone users, follow the health care debate with the iphone application. you can listen to c-span, c-span to and c-span radio. >> up next, a conversation with steve forbes on i'll -- on how he feels about the senate health care debate. this is about one hour. journal" continues. host: joining us from new york, steve forbes, the author of "how capitalism will save us" -- former ceo. you indicate in your introduction that he began writing the book in 2007 before the economic collapse. what prompted you to write a book on capitalism at that time? guest: well, th

and the united nations with a down grading, that was a major wakeup call. when the premier and the president of china told a delegation led by kissinger and bob ruben, we don't have any confidence that you're going to be able to deal seriously with your deficits and debt problems, when the imf and the united nations say we ought to look for an alternative reserve currency, i think those are all major wakeup calls that we ought to be heegd. -- heeding. i told the story earlier after i left congress, i was ceo of the american stock exchange in new york. and one of the surprises to me in getting to know wall street was how irrational financial markets can be. and they go on perceptions. they react on where they think things are going. and i think our fiscal situation is something that's being perceived. right now it's not being focused on because all the markets are focusing on the global recession. as they focus on the subsequent issues of fiscal policy, they do not see any serious attempt by the united states to get our house in order. and so what this commi

and if the answer is yes, when we don't abide by the united nations charter as we haven't throughout the land. but in order -- and the courts presumably would handle any violation of the law. but the problem on these international issues is that in order for something to come before the court, the person or institution that would raise the issue has to have what in legal terms is called standing. in other words, be a qualified party with the standing to bring this issue before the courts. oftentimesç questions of violations of treaties that are brought by, let's say, people in the united st/5Ñ or institutions of the united states,ç they are often struck down because they lack standing. host: "washington times" calming it a heck of a decade. others have called it other terms to describe the past eight or nine years. how would youç cry 2000 to 200 >> i think it is the beginning of a sort of tectonic shift in word affairs. as barbara mentioned, it shallered in a time of war, conflict. barbara talked about the hope that islam will have its reformation and they will see that the policie

if not acted mess speech of the united nations without the help of the teleprompter and bringing back could be taken any further? >> that might have resulted it was not monet pushing at the u.n., spaniards, for the likelihood of that ever happening was very slim but is a hypothesis worth considering progress bush decided to repudiate the un altogether instead of plow ahead with something like cosimo, i suspect that would have produced a crisis for us. it might not have gone through the house of commons. >> it was a critical moment that bush should agree to refer to the u.n. and the resolutions and the point* it it it between the meeting of september and bush's speech, when the nidal swung back and forth from one day to the next from one morning to one afternoon, you did not know which draft of the speech would prevail all. >> when you would influence where the needle stopped, where you warding that without reference to the security council, the british in this enterprise would inevitably diminish? >> if we don't get to the u.n. in this speech did do not make a serious effort to go dow

that will be quite a big challenge for the united nations and for all the leaders altogether.that at this time to all the world leaders to have taken time, and patiently participated in all this negotiation, very tough negotiations. i would really hope an appeal to world leaders that while i know that not everybody is satisfied with these results, this was quite significant achievement which we were able to make in copenhagen. considering all the complexity and difficulties of this issue. it is not an easy task. everybody knew that it would not be an easy task. therefore we should be more proactive and more forthcoming, rather than critical. i would be very willing to discuss this issue with other world leaders and other opinion makers, and even civic and community leaders, how we can do better, how we can also change this negotiation process. there are some lessons which we have word, but all of these lessons will be helpful from today for a better result next year. thank you all very much. >> there will be a briefing right after this. >> tonight on "the communicators," the h

if we are to meet the climate change challenge, we must act as united nations. ur moment, we are united. now it is time for us to be united in action. common action. i import you to seize this opportunity. now is the time again for common sense, compromise, and courage. common sense, compromise, and courage, political courage, political wisdom and political leadership shall prevail. and let me add, conscience. it will be your legacy for all time. it will be legacy all for leadership, national leadership, national leaders and global leaders. today, in copenhagen on climate change for common good. let us walk together to deliver this to our succeeding generations. and let's walk together for a better and prosperous future for humanity, and more environmentally sustainable world. and i count on your leadership and your commitment. and thank you very much again for your leadership. [applause] >> thank you, general. now gives me great pleasure to invite the premier of the peoples republic of china, his excellency to take the floor and make a statement. your excellency

provide american air and may haval support to the forces of south korea and to press for immediate united nationst." >> i don't want to go to war, truman said, with a force they would all remember. everything i have done in the past five years, he remarked sadly, as the meeting ended, has been to try to avoid making a decision such as i had to make tonight." ♪ >> for president truman, this is the temporary cabinet room. many of his meetings were here, even not west wing was not affected by the renovation work, and he did have use of the cabinet room at the white house. this became a convenient cabinet room for him because it was just 20 feet away from where he was sleeping. historically and especially for european guests, this room is incredibly significant, because in this room, at this table, the first concept and the first draft of the marshall plan were created. this is also where the truman doctrine originated. we know that this is where the president signed documents that committed american troops to the korean war. out's also where he made the final -- it's also where he made the final dec

we have to implement urgently and fully the commitment of a framework convention of united nations onge the effects of climate change we can already feel them mainly among the poor countries. we need concrete action and fair actions that will be supported by financial means and technological means. they should reflect the share of each country in the last. this goal should be updated in such a way that we can follow the advancement of scientific knowledge. the ambition to reduce 50% of global emissions greenhouse gas emissions into thousand 50 and compare with 1990 will help us to ensure to reach this objective. this ambition will be empty and meaningless if there is no clear-cut commitment for the short and midterm. here in copenhagen, there is no room for conformism. countries should assume more ambitious targets of reducing emissions that will be new historical levels. the reduction should be 25%-40% in 2020 and not compared to 1990. if we compare to the truly ambitious, we should seek the threshold of 40%. i would like to speak very clearly and frankly to all of you. this conferen

we have joined in the architecture of institutions from the united nations to nato to the world bank that provide for the common security and prosperity of human beings. we have not always been thanked for these efforts. and we have, at times, made mistakes. but more than any other nation, the united states of america has underwritten global security for over six decades, a time that for all its problems has seen walls come down and markets open and billions lifted from property, unparalleled of scientific progress and advancing frontiers of human liberty. for unlike the great powers of old, we have not sought world domination. our union was founded in resistance to oppression. we do not seek to occupy other nations. we will not claim another nation's resources. or target other people because their faith or a net -- or ethnicity is different from ours. what we have fought for, what we continue to fight for is a better future for our children and grandchildren and we believe that their lives will be better if other people's children and grandchildren can live in freedom. and access op

we have joined in the architecture of institutions from the united nations to nato to the world bank that provide for the common security and prosperity of human beings. we have not always been thanked for these efforts. and we have, at times, made mistakes. but more than any other nation, the united states of america has underwritten global security for over six decades, a time that for all its problems has seen walls come down and markets open and billions lifted from property, unparalleled of scientific progress and advancing frontiers of human liberty. for unlike the great powers of old, we have not sought world domination. our union was founded in resistance to oppression. we do not seek to occupy other nations. we will not claim another nation's resources. or target other people because their faith or a net -- or ethnicity is different from ours. what we have fought for, what we continue to fight for is a better future for our children and grandchildren and we believe that their lives will be better if other people's children and grandchildren can live in freedom. and access op

meanwhile, more than 40 other countries operating under united nations authority, the united kingdom, canada, germany, france, poland, australia and others, have over 30,000 troops in afghanistan and have suffered casualties as 2010, therefor example there will be more than 140,000 u.s. and allied military personnel inñr afghanistan. as of september 2009, there were 104 contractor employees working for the department of defense in afghanistan. the congressional research service estimated just this week that the troops surge in afghanistan could raise the number of d.o.d. contractors working there to between 130,000 and 160,000. we would note that those numbers, striking as they are, do not include the thousands of department of state and u.s. a.i.d. contractors in afghanistan. considerably speaking, then, the total war fighter and contractor work force in that country will likely exceed 300,000 by the end of 2010. the u.n. sanction military presence in afghanistan is large and growing. but we must note the challenge there is also large and becoming more acute. afghanistan is nearly th

we are told the united states is less susceptible to terrorists than european nations. you believe that is still the case and if the united states is less susceptible, can you go into why. >> the important thing to understand here is having dealt with and talked to these groupings in europe, actually it was the state department and another program i did with bbc who were interested in seeing the differences in what is going on here and there. the degree of alienation is different there than here. here it exists on the margins and there it is much more widespread. they didn't tell their parents. the pakistani kids here in northern virginia didn't tell their parents. that tells you something right away. the community base of support in europe for this problem of radicalization is very different than here where the problem as i said exists on the margins and the parents actually turn them in or their pierce will turn them in. the process of becoming american is determinative and the more compelling force and the antidote to this radicalization and a sense of alienization.

united states to create jobs. the underlying theme leads to greater national debt. the congressional budget office looked at the administration's plans, and over the next 10 years, we will triple our national debt. we will arrive 10 years from now with an economy that has presumably recovered. with revenues above historic levels and nevertheless, running a trillion dollar deficit. in the end, job creation is something that entrepreneurs will do. they cannot do it with a legacy of taxes, and that is the most troubling aspect. >> i am a senior fellow at the hudson institute. what is troubling to me is what potential legislation in front of us would raise taxes on our most productive small businesses. the tax rates scheduled go up to 39.6% on january 1, 2011. and to the house bill, it would go up to 45%. their dna% payroll tax on employers that don't provide the right kind of health insurance under the catastrophic health insurance program. plus, there is the cap-and-trade legislation. if you are a small business, you would not think about hiring under the circumstance

nrdc's nuclear nonproliferation program at the departments of justice and interior and for the united nationstal law. she has served as president and chair of the professional association for china's environment pace and is the cofounder and president of the china united states energy efficiency alliance. a nonprofit organization. she holds a jd with honors from the harvard law school. so without further adieu let's get ross garnaut up to the podium. >> it's good to be with you again. the abc meeting on china australian national brookings social sciences. we put out a book each year embodying results of latest research on the chinese economy and the brookings version of that will be out soon. not out for the occasion this year. we're meeting at an unusually interesting time in china's place in the world and china- u.s. relations. they're always interesting but number of things are coming together right now. most importantly the two issues we're discussing today the aftermath of the great crash of 2008 which has left a legacy of continued growth momentum and confidence in china. and concerns a

national police force. we do that with about 1500 service members, army, navy, air force, marines and military professionals. also, number of police professionals, both from the united states and other contributing nations. we are a component of the international security force here that is the four star general headquartered also appear in kabul. -- up here in kabul. host: general, we're going to let our viewers call in with their thoughts and ask questions of you. we will get to that in just a moment. let me ask you, general, about the different roles that the afghan national security force and the afghan police take under. can you define that more clearly for us? guest: we call it the afghan national security forces, but the two main components are the afghan national army and the afghan national police. i will just start with the army. the army is about 100,000 soldiers strong right now and our goal is to grow them here in this year until october 2010 to grow them from 100,000 to about 134,000. that will improve both the quality and quantity of the security force. moving over to the police, the police currently are about 95,000 across the country. we are shootin

and it is not in the national security interest of the united states. so while israel may bear the brunt or be the closest target or target of words -- hopefully not anything else -- they have carried this fight, but it's not just their fight. the fight is all of ours. i mentioned diplomacy is the pillar of our national security. another pillar of our foreign policy and of our national security is stopping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. imagine what the reaction would be if iran had a nuclear weapon, what that would evoke in the arab world in terms of their interests in having weapons of mass destruction. it simply cannot happen, and with this legislation today, we strengthen the president's hand to grant, to use or to withhold this particular sanction. but to have the capability to use diplomacy in a stronger way. i urge all of my colleagues to support the iran refined petroleum sanctions act. with that i yield the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from california reserves. the gentleman from ohio is recogniz