turn to alternative energy sources or simply. let's go to support of. you watching our t.v. how many's the way with the headlines iraq's hit by the worst violence since the u.s. officially ended its military campaign in the country three car bombings killing thirty six people have raised doubts over whether local forces can ensure security . justice on wind the internet in russia is becoming the new front line in the fight for fairness a growing number of people are getting a global audience and results when they expose crime corruption and believe. that set your marks twenty years since its declaration of independence from georgia since one thousand nine hundred ninety the republic's been plagued by violence as

to the sea trying to bring it back under its control. now concentrating troops in afghanistan and spending hundreds of billions of dollars on trying to hunt down al qaeda is a deeply flawed strategy that's the view of x. marine officer matthew hoh an outspoken critic of u.s. policy in the country he thinks washington is being inconsistent in its military pursuits as he explains the archies gynae kept. or does the goal match the cost that is something many americans are asking when it comes to the u.s. strategy in afghanistan and members of the of ghana's then study group call on the president to bring the majority of the u.s. troops home abandoning the strategy of defeating the taliban and matthew hoh is heading that group he's a marine officer who resigned from the state department in protest over obama's policies the in afghanistan it happened last year and he he's here with me now

thank you so much for joining that matthew so the war in afghanistan is the longest and it has cost a lot poorer to the united states who are saying american interests at stake in afghanistan do not warrant this level of sacrifice please explain why. the war's cost us about four hundred billion dollars it's lasted for over nine years american dead or close to twelve hundred there's been fallon's of afghan deaths. we're spending one hundred billion dollars a year next year will spend about one hundred twenty billion dollars a year according to the congressional research service in a country whose g.d.p. is only fourteen billion and knowing that according to our cia there's only fifty to one hundred al qaeda members in afghanistan so you're talking about spending one billion to two billion dollars a year on each al qaeda presence in afghanistan matthew i know that you had been

working in iraq for a while before going to afghanistan was that war worth it was that war programatic you know i mean we've seen from where rock was a few years ago yes the country has stabilized you know you've gone from four thousand civilian deaths a month down to a few hundred it's still by no means a story and i don't know if i will ever say it was worth it. i don't agree with those who believe that we needed to be. iraq in order to make the middle east a safer place or a more democratic place and certainly if we look at the reasons why we were given for going in there ties to al qaeda that wasn't true what was a mass destruction that wasn't true. you know saddam was was effectively contained designs saw it he was in no threat to its to us or to his neighbors i don't see the expenditures you know the over the forty five hundred american dead near trillion dollars that we have spent there the near one hundred thousand iraqi dead i don't

see that in any way justifying the invasion of two thousand and three the other thing too is that since we're talking about iraq and afghanistan one of the larger problems i think with us foreign policy particular national security policies are not consistent if they're if we are in afghanistan because of al qaeda and if there are only fifty to one hundred members of al qaeda in afghanistan then why are we pulling out of iraq where there are one thousand to two thousand members why do we see and we need to keep. hundred thousand troops in afghanistan when those operations come out of somalia and yemen as when and pakistan yes so that consistency is not there in our in our foreign policy particularly in our now security policy and that's very worrisome to me because you don't have consistency if you don't have good critical thought if you don't have a degree of intellectual honesty in your policymaking you are going to have bad policy and you're going to have things like iraq we're going to find yourself nine years into afghanistan entangled in a civil war spending one hundred billion dollars a year for

a purpose that does not make the united states safer matthew you've been saying that stabilizing the government in afghanistan does not the feed al qaida and that it's like using a flash hammer to kill a fly do you think it's such a fly and if not a sledgehammer what should be used to kill that fly you know i mean sure of fly can bite you short before i can affect you he could get in your. refrigerator make your food moldy or what not but you try and kill with sledgehammer you end up wrecking your house and if you look at our successes against al qaida they have not come from occupying afghanistan yes it was based in afghanistan when we showed up they fled to pakistan they dispersed around the world they became this near virtual decentralized loosely for militarization that uses individuals and cells and doesn't rely upon large physical tracks so plan our successes in. against al-qaeda and there's

a good new yorker article not too long ago about this. have been through more of a police or law enforcement or intelligence role and we capture of khalid sheikh muhammad then by the fact that we've got tens of thousands of u.s. troops occupying. two muslim countries out also to suggest that we need to look at our strategy in the sense of that our policies have been counterproductive and we've turned to using military occupation as a tool to beat a terror network that is more similar to a mafia organization or a criminal organization and that is only composed of a couple thousand or a few thousand members worldwide well let's get back to the taliban are you saying the u.s. should not be afraid of taliban afghanistan i don't believe so. i'm not i'm not one to apologise for taliban you know and i don't want to be accused of that or be seen as that but we have to recognize the taliban is not a monolithic movement the taliban is composed of many different groups within

afghanistan that have diverse motives supporting taliban a lot of times that being financial financial the sense of not only give you ten not because they give you ten dollars to put a bomb aside because value on a give this group a couple thousand dollars and that's going to make that group the most powerful group in that valley a lot of the groups that support the taliban have very vocal concerns. things are not going to affect you and i here in washington d.c. or other folks throughout the united states also to the ties between the taliban and al qaeda are not really there there or certainly elements of the taliban that have ties to al qaida but you can you can isolate them do not because there is ten or fifteen or maybe even twenty percent of taliban that are irreconcilable or do have links to transnational terror groups does that does not mean we should not done do our best in the go see it with and work with that other eighty percent or ninety percent of taliban it is reconcilable and that we can get in the ghosted

settlement with because they don't have ties to al qaeda. mathewson you also said that ghana stands neighbors say china and russia have actually more to lose from the instability in afghanistan that the united states and i would have more reason more and more reasons to get involved in keeping it again and then quite and you think countries like take turns saying waging war thing afghanistan oh do absolutely not i think it's an. every other nations interest to see a negotiated settlement in afghanistan it's been a proxy war or. a real war in one way or another for the last thirty thirty five years in afghanistan and it has improved nobody's economy as a prove nobody's way of life i think for nations like the central asian states for russia for china that have issues with their own ethnic minorities or muslim minorities i think it's important for what's happening in afghanistan not to spread

across boundaries was the biggest issue for russia is the dragging flowed the rug of from you know that's a that's a great point i believe it's about ninety percent of the drugs that leave afghanistan go to russia or to europe to huge producers but you're not going to feet that you're not going to feed the drug trade there and to you stabilize the country until you stop the war until you stop one side from having an incentive to utilize that drug trade to you know provide the money to fight the war until you take away the aspect of the war itself you're not to be able to address any of these issues and that goes for the drug trade that goes for women's rights that goes for other ethnic or other human rights and that goes for development as well in terms of i mean it's a very it's an incredibly poor credibly desperate country it needs a lot of assistance it's not going to develop it's not going to grow without there being stability so for so many different reasons but if someone asked to keep them

stable they can do it on their own are all the money they have to ultimately they have to do it on their own as long as you have outside powers backing up one side or another and putting one side in a position where it's trying to subjugate the other side you will not have stability the situation as we can see in afghanistan is as bad as ever the corruption is rampant and the casualties way to put i guess thirty one percent i read are you saying that the u.s. should go. wow out should pull out now known saying of what we're not saying about afghanistan study group is not saying abandon afghanistan unfortunately when you get these conversations you kind of get it it gets characterized you're all in or all out war you want to cut and run that's not the case we're saying the problem is inherently political not country so utilized political solutions. take the foreign troops out of the places where there are a catalyst for the violence whether a catalyst for people to join the insurgency. gauge regional nations find

a better way to do economic development it's important the way we're doing it now is not working and just doubling down the effort is not going to work and prioritize the u.s. interests u.s. interest in that region is al qaeda and pakistan's nuclear weapons so have a policy that goes after al qaida and helps stabilize pakistan in the region so that those nuclear weapons are never put in jeopardy and that's what we're advocating we certainly are not advocating wave the magic wand and disappear tomorrow but afghanistan figured out for himself well thank you very much it was matthew hoh with me here in washington d.c. who resigned from his job where the state department because he thinks the u.s. is fighting for the wrong cause in afghanistan and paying too big a price for that. are

not stopped going to come back. the rally will sell lots of beer low wrong wrong in the face will wear uniforms that little damage is down the black for them anything but very little damming the white. and they are the key to our problem are already.

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nineteen forty five don't auntie dot com. iraq saved by the worst of violence since the u.s. and officially ended its military campaign in the country three car bombings killing thirty six people have raised doubts over whether local forces can ensure security. justice online internet in russia is becoming a new frontline in the fight for fairness a growing number of people are getting a global audience and results may expose crime corruption. but sound sets your marks twenty years since its declaration of independence from georgia since one thousand nine hundred ninety the republic's been playing my mind once just to be nice to you trying to bring it back on its control. those are the headlines the sports scene now takes over. so you were telling me earlier that

there is intrigue ruling out the summit of the russian football premier league i don't understand anything so give it another shot now that's right there is an intrigue finally there the leader is losing important points while the competition is on the heels and closing in on is in east st petersburg and that's the leader got that and more in just a moment as they rather far away. a welcome back to sports and our team coming to you every day from the russian capital i'm wrong because for a minute let's start with the headlines. or draw the russian premier league leaders fail to score at tearing a day after title chasers a routine one late and. blue ribbon event the thirtieth world championships in rhythmic gymnastics get underway in the russian capital.

one more step for them serbia reaches its first ever davis cup final. and let's kick off with the russian football premier league whereas in the st petersburg failed to reestablish their six point advantage at the summit however his men have managed to keep their unbeaten run sets out for a goal is draw in chechnya against local aphids area grozny now both sides are guilty of being wasteful with chances throughout the lackluster match much to split the surprise would have expected nothing but a win against seventh place staring however the host looked the more aggressive sides of wars the end and their last gasp effort was the close as either all the sides got to scoring x. or ruck amounts of did with an aerial ball but it hit the post right at the whistle and nil nil was out finished. tell you about today where the clash of two spar socks in cheek ended in favor of the muscovites brazilian arre on target twice for spartak moscow and third place say sky expects to be defeated rock bottom c.

beer in the capital by a single goal courtesy of said to be said. rubin's quest for a third straight russian championship received the boost on sunday the men from cousins secured maximum points against angie with virtually the final kick of the game as its asian aplenty in the freekick builds up but with a good reason as good to restart a race rifles in the winter on ninety plus minutes relieves the overriding emotion on the face so for being manager of the band dead a day of the full time whistle blowing seconds later sealing the one nil win for the champions still a lot of work to do though if they are to retain their crown leaders in maybe just four points in front but they hold the matches in hand. on sunday lockouts even f.c. tom couldn't be separated in tomsk ally got out of got things rolling for local five minutes from the break the youngster found himself in an unlikely place this from the goalie for the right one though the scorers teammate are not young by have seem to have tried too hard in this next step is old as he found the back of his own

scenes let's make it one and that's how it ends both sides remaining in the table. russian rhythmic gymnast have been a dominating force on the global arena since that cerner of the century but it's only now that the country has been given its first ever world championships the sports league doing their first routines on monday right here in moscow but before the action began a spectacular opening ceremony was in the order at the end of the skier arena fifty six countries are taken part in the tournament which is going to help with their good time the host enter the championships as red hot favors and will be aiming to bounce back from their bronze medal finish in the group all round events in japan two years ago it's a they are the defending champions but russia had triumphed at five previous outings their former front woman bible was the opening goal it and did a little to conceal her joy at what she saw. you know the opening ceremony was great magnificent it was world class i knew i did for much the girls did

a great job in the chance in the universe to coma all of them they're on top form i liked it so much i couldn't help smiling. well that smile to. have come from behind to be the czech republic and reach the finals of the davis cup for the first time in the country's history the czechs were two one up in the best of five going into the final say thirty and one of the funny one the doubles rubber on saturday and it was burdick with the opening set in sunday's first singles match but world number two managed to find the rhythm must be right what is right in belgrade the u.s. open final this reading of the following three sets six three sixty six full circle back to level in just over three hours so it went down to the. that's it for getting the crowd on its feet with this thought and this play against the bonnie. getting a total of nine aces on route six seven six six four victory. thanks champions

if you did their week of argentina and something that is small and are no. now let's check on the latest scores in the continental hockey league where seven games are played on sunday. for their first defeat of the season at the hands of jaromir younger. drawing in regulation and overtime and the home side of the wing the shoot out in. brandon but help local side bar is. mission it comes. home victory against the least five four and needed overtime to overcome. the final score in that one and others for game six place on sunday were. the league's new comers you draw three one. last game for six this season by way of. overtime there as well and find that you. needed the shootout to determine the

winner victory and to poise going to the garden cup holders barse. cycling now and elsewhere coming into existence just last year russian seem cut you shall have captured their first major title as they won that same classification of the last of the three grand soars of the season. got to shop local favorites casted barn a to the coveted title by twenty nine seconds and were in no small. who incidentally hails from spain the thirty one year old finished fourth overall while also placing high in the points king of the mountains and combination classifications russia's legendary card that's also contributed to cut you just six cents after clocking the thirty fastest time individual honors won the way of a tally of inches in the body there he is to maintain his forty one second lead after this involving stage twenty one in madrid brits and mark cavendish triumph in the sprint category. in multitude be there's been a race all first. grand prix former champions cases stoner and nicky hazen boasting

a first win and first podium finish of the season respectively stoner started from pole in spain and was closely followed by in form down at the polls for most of the race by the two thousand and seven champion pulled away towards the end to beat the home favored by more than five seconds championship leader or healer and so looks on course for a third place finish but the starting last lap by american hasan solo renzo straight down to four that's his first finish outside the podium in thirteen grand prix so far this season a spaniard however said a huge fifty six points clear of patrols at the top of the standings with just five more races to go stoner is now third overall he may be out of contention but still relished the well deserved when. we're able to get the bike working almost the way we wanted it to you know had a little slip off this morning which was a little bit boring going into the into the race i was staying away from everyone i could i don't want to get too close but yeah we were able to pick up the pace when

we needed to during the race and you know bring home a win so for the team for everyone who's who stuck by me and you know i sorry it took so long. in gold standard hose their money well lara has gained the upper hand in a tightly contested final round the austrian open sites all the thirty three year old courting a sixty four to catch up with joint overnight leader david and then the two were tied at seventeen under par after seventy two holes it was lara gold his nerves in the ensuing playoff to win on the first extra holding this man both good but lara made par on the replayed eighteenth to claim only his second victory on the european tour his previous cycle coming three years ago in hong kong that it was at his share the lead heading into the final day bowled to his last three holes and had to settle for joint third place with the us open champion graeme mcdowell and alexander noren sweden. and finally it's still four years to go before the next fee for world cup fans in the football craze of brazil are already being

treated to some international action as the homeless world cup got underway at the copacabana beach to give hope to those in need as the name suggests the annual global events only features players who live on the streets it was designed to promote changing lives and helping the homeless get back into work around twelve hundred players from more than sixty countries including women are taking part in this year's tournament teams consists of three players plus a goalkeeper with four more players in reserve and they play matches that only lasts for ten minutes a champion will be known at the end of the week but organizers say it's what's been done off the pitch that matters most. do research every year what has happened to the players many of the players nearly seventeen seventeen eighteen have got jobs have got houses of come off drugs some very hard drugs going to college. some even stay in football become football coaches and so on interestingly some of the

managers who are here people so they change their lives completely so for me it's all about impacting change game is beautiful we have some very exciting football which will happen during this week to watch but the important thing is what happens afterwards and that's all for the moments more stories from russia and around the world can be found on our website r.t. dot com take a look when you get a chance and thank you for being with us. the issue is that so much of him and there's a huge music issue on the market why are the overwhelming majority of muslim populated countries governed by either non democratic regimes or on stable democracies and has. more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world

has been seeing from the streets of canada. giant corporations are all today.

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