my fourth point relates to saudi arabia. in a way the saudis have adopted in the course of this series of events an entirely new policy, at least for them, as a sort of serial interventionist. they are now suddenly intervening everywhere. they intervened in yemen and now they've sent troops over to bahrain and they may go back into yemen again. and they're being very much -- their elbows are much sharper than they used to be and we're not accustomed to see the saudis behave that way and they have taken the gulf cooperation council into a kind of monarchial protection shoat it reminds me very much of the brezhnev doctrine for those of you who are old enough to remember. basically any country -- any country that adopted socialism was not prepared to go backwards. once you got there, you couldn't return to a different shape or form. in a way, the dcc is doing the same thing. or saudi arabia is trying to enforce the same thing that any monarch -- any sunni monarch that exists in the gulf is not permitted to revert to any other f

saudi arabia is not like egypt or tunisia. i was into nisha briefly last fall and was infuriating the end of the government and the depression and the political inertia was palpable in to nisha. saudi arabia isn't like that it is a very dynamic environment. so it can't be compared to what was going on under these autocratic who had seized power bill legitimately or can to force in the so-called republics. first of all, the king of saudi arabia is personally popular. people like him. unlike the reviled rulers were ousted egypt and tunisia. the family of which the king of course is a senior member are not perceived as usurpers unlike the shock let's say, the family have been laboring since the middle of the 18th-century to forge a unified country on the arabian peninsula and finally succeeded at the beginning of the 25th and they are perceived as the people that put saudi arabia together and the glue that holds them together in an environment where use of certain elements of geographic and tribal differences they're the ones who

afraid of saudi arabia's reaction because the united states just has gotten so used to working with dictators that are due there will. well i think you have a couple issues here and i think i agree that you know these people like barclays who are thorough kerry and rule is to try and play up what will happen after them we know that in the final conversation between president obama and then president mubarak about whether he should step down he kept repeating the word muslim brotherhood muslim brotherhood muslim brotherhood despite that i think then the next day then obama came out and said no it's time to step aside i think some of the other rulers have learned a somewhat i think the the president of yemen doesn't want to end up like mubarak being on trial so he cut a deal that says ok i'll leave put you know no prosecution no for me and even in syria they did try it in the emergency emergency law but i think when it comes to whether x. terminal powers like you know europe the united states should get involved that becomes a different situation it's one thing to talk rhetorical it's

of saudi arabia's reaction because the united states is gotten so used to working with dictators that are due there will. well i think you have a couple of issues here and i think i agree that you know these people like barclays who are far terry and rulers do try and play out what will happen after them we know that in the final conversation between president obama and then president mubarak about whether he should step down he kept repeating the word muslim brotherhood muslim brotherhood muslim brotherhood despite that i think the next day then obama came out and said no it's time to step aside i think some of the other rulers have learned somewhat i think the president of yemen doesn't want to end up like with barak being on trial so he cut a deal that says ok i'll leave but you know no prosecution no for me and even in syria they did try it in the emergency emergency law but i think when it comes to whether x. turtle powers like you know europe the united states should get involved that becomes a different situation it's one thing to talk rhetorical it's another thing to do what w

saudi arabia. it's important to bear in mind this iranian saudi rivalry is not something at an islamic republic created. it's always been there. the same can be said about the kind of bribery iran had with iraq. but really the point i'm trying to get to is the impact of the arab revolutions on the iranian strategy. my key question is what strategy did iran have and am looking at the gulf cooperation council states collectively. often? right now we're hearing the word gcc is angry about iranian intervention, mailing and so forth. my point is iran has never had of one strategy for the gcc states. rather we've had to follow on a bilateral level vis-À-vis the members of the gcc states. it's always worked for them. it seems to me right now the iranians are saying the same old game can be played out in the next two months depending on how long this unrest uprising continue. the question is will that work. because there are signs already that gcc states are coming together. they are so afraid of what's h

arabia what do you think larry that's all about saudi arabia is that all about us it is going to tell you and i saw it in the united states against an energy policy they're not going to have the freedom that they would like to deal with saudi great look this is not just the middle east look you know what happened to chatham and square back in one nine hundred eighty nine you know thousands of people were killed but yet the world deals with you know with with china look what happened you know look what's happened in russia in terms of things that have happened so the idea that somehow or another the united states with or without its allies is going to make the world democratic you know i'm glad larry larry let me say in a different way than just let me let me say it differently why can't obama just say look folks the this regime in saudi arabia they're not very nice people they live centuries in the past but you know like we just have to deal with these guys they're thugs but it's a price can't why can't you be transparent and i can be a translator saudi ok a little kid and i am going

one is the domestic situation in saudi arabia, and the other is -- did i just shut it down? is that okay? >> the other is, they are only related but they do come together at the end of his presentation. you may have read analyses, and longwood in "the wall street journal," saying saudi arabia will be the next big, no of the arab spring. after all it's sort of autocratic country and geriatric leadership. youth employment bulge, it has all those characteristics.

they're the most serious to saudi arabia in terms of all come on although i do. of. course no it's not a dumb army can be early as you. know not people here live a consideration they tell you however it was really come on come on this is this is i mean either you don't know these countries or i was saying the most undemocratic states on earth is the saudi kingdom the best friend of the united states of america but in terms of the quality of life for the people there like it was a door. in syria. and i have to jump in here i have to jump in here if i want to change had all the oil of the saudi kingdom of course the people who would have a better quality of life in syria i mean this is nothing. you know and the fact actually if you look at the real figures of the saudi kingdom the fact that you have poverty in the saudi kingdom the spiders are you would always wealth if there's a lot about the kind of regime that you have there all right you know and this is that i mean by any standard if you take the women standard which also has been used by western countries i guide

what's happening in bahrain but it's not going to do anything more to saudi arabia because it's afraid of saudi arabia's reaction because the united states just has gotten so used to working with dictators that are due there will. well i think you have a couple issues here and i think i agree that you know the people like barclays who authoritarian rule is to try and play up what will happen after them we know that in the confines of conversation between president obama and then president mubarak about whether he should step down he kept repeating the word muslim brotherhood muslim brotherhood muslim brotherhood despite that i think the next day then obama came out and said no it's time to step aside i think some of the other rulers have learned arsalan what i think the president of yemen doesn't want to end up like mubarak being on trial so he cut a deal that says ok i'll leave put you know no prosecution for me and even in syria they did try it in the emergency emergency law but i think when it comes to whether x. turtle powers like you know europe the united states should get involv

arabia because it's afraid of saudi arabia's reaction because the united states just has gotten so used to working with dictators that are due there will. well i think you have a couple issues here and i think i agree that you know these people like barclays who authoritarian rulers do try and play up what will happen after them we know that in the final conversation between president obama and then president mubarak about whether he should step down he kept repeating the word muslim brotherhood muslim brotherhood muslim brotherhood despite that i think then the next day then obama came out and said no it's time to step aside i think some of the other rulers have learned. i think the the president of yemen doesn't want to end up like mubarak being on trial so he cut a deal that says ok i'll leave but you know no prosecution no for me and even in syria they did try it in the emergency emergency law but i think when it comes to whether x. turtle powers like you know europe the united states should get involved that becomes a different situation it's one thing to talk rhetorical it's anoth

now for saudi arabia. and the other gulf arab tyrannies that governed states adjacent to what we too often forget is referred to by the sunni world as the arabian gulf. let me first say that i view saudi arabia and to lesser degree its fellow arab peninsula journeys as the nationstate that is perhaps the most dangerous to united states and the west generally. yes, russia and china are threat to the united states, but they are threats washington openly acknowledges. closely watches and assesses, and is fully capable of intervening america against. saudi arabia, however, it is a serious threat. indeed, one more dangerous than iraq. toward which our governing elite in both parties turns a blind eye. our elite deceitfully pretend that riyadh is close and reliable ally. it keeps america's security depended on its enemies by relying on the saudis to play pro-u.s. role in the world oil market. it endangers our economy by allowing the saudis to buy an ever larger share, up her ever more out of control federal debt

arabia and what it wants in every sense of mubarak was overthrown in egypt the saudis probably feel pretty scared of me because it was a mubarak and the saudi royal family were the two pillars there and the saudis are are not going to budge i mean it seems like this marriage of tribal feudalism and modern capitalism is really beginning to fall apart it's breaking here why doesn't the united states really make that clear to the saudis say we've really got to how can you have a new kind of relationship because the current regime that you have in the in the region is untenable. i'll borrow one of our president's favorite quotes to say the arc of history is long but it bends towards justice i mean we've seen that there are calls for a little democracy in the middle east i believe that the al assad on the wrong side of history and saudi arabia will be a democracy sometime in the future but if the u.s. like takes an aggressive posture will promote alienation and backlash but i just want to go back to one thing that stephen said and say that when he said that essentially the u.s. has a sor

arabia and what it wants in every sense mubarak was overthrown in egypt the saudis probably feel pretty scared i mean it was a mubarak and the saudi royal family were the two pillars there and the saudis are are not going to budge i mean it seems like this marriage of tribal feudalism and modern capitalism is really beginning to fall apart it's breaking here why doesn't the united states really make that clear to the saudis say we really going to have to you have a new kind of relationship because the current regime that you have in the in the region is untenable. i'll borrow one of our president's favorite quotes and say that arc of history is long but it bends towards justice i mean we've seen that there are calls for a little democracy in the middle east i believe that the al saud on the wrong side of history and saudi arabia will be a democracy sometime in the future but if the u.s. like takes an aggressive posture will promote alienation and backlash but i just want to go back to one thing that stephen said and say that when he said that essentially the u.s. has a sort of hypocriti

arabia and what it wants and ever since mubarak was overthrown in egypt the saudis probably feel pretty scared i mean it because it was a mubarak in the in the saudi royal family with the two pillars there and the saudis are are not going to budge i mean it seems like this marriage of tribal feudalism and modern capitalism is really beginning to fall apart it's breaking here why doesn't the united states really make that clear to the saudis say we've really got to happen you have a new kind of relationship because the current regime that you have in the in the in the region is untenable. i'll borrow one of our president's favorite quotes and said the arc of history is long but it bends towards justice i mean we've seen that there are calls for a little democracy in the middle east i believe that the alsace on the wrong side of history and saudi arabia will be a democracy sometime in the future but if the us like takes an aggressive posture will promote alienation and backlash but i just want to go back to one thing to stephen said to say that when he said that essentially the u.s. has a

arabia and what it wants and ever since mubarak was overthrown in egypt the saudis probably feel pretty scared i mean it was a mubarak and the saudi royal family with the two pillars there and the saudis are are not going to budge i mean it seems like this marriage of tribal feudalism and modern capitalism is really beginning to fall apart it's breaking here why doesn't the united states really make that clear to the saudis say we've really kind of how can you have a new kind of relationship because the current regime that you have in the in the region is untenable. i'll borrow one of our president's favorite quotes and say that arc of history is long but it bends towards justice i mean we've seen that there are calls for a little democracy in the middle east i believe that the al assad on the wrong side of history and saudi arabia will be a democracy sometime in the future but if the u.s. like takes an aggressive posture will promote alienation and backlash but i just want to go back to one thing that stephen said and say that when he said that essentially the u.s. has a sort of hypocr

arabia and what it wants and ever since mubarak was overthrown in egypt the saudis probably feel pretty scared i mean it because it was a mubarak in the in the saudi royal family with the two pillars there and the saudis are are not going to budge i mean it seems like this marriage of tribal feudalism and modern capitalism is really beginning to fall apart it's breaking here why doesn't the united states really make that clear to the saudis say we've really got to happen to have a new kind of relationship because the current regime that you have in the in the region is untenable. i'll borrow one of our president's favorite quotes and say arc of history is long but it bends towards justice i mean we've seen that there are calls for a liberal democracy in the middle east i believe that the alsace on the wrong side of history and saudi arabia will be a democracy sometime in the future but that if the us like takes an aggressive posture will promote alienation and backlash but i just want to go back to one thing so stephen said to say that when he said that essentially the u.s. has a sort o

arabia and what it wants in every sense mubarak was overthrown in egypt the saudis probably feel pretty scared i mean it because it was a mubarak in the in the saudi royal family with the two pillars there and the saudis are are not going to budge i mean it seems like this marriage of tribal feudalism and modern capitalism is really beginning to fall apart it's breaking here why doesn't the united states really make that clear to the saudis say we've really got to happen you have a new kind of relationship because the current regime that you have in the in the region is untenable. i'll borrow one of our president's favorite quotes and say the arc of history is long but it bends towards justice i mean we've seen that there are calls for a liberal democracy in the middle east i believe that the al assad on the wrong side of history and saudi arabia will be a democracy sometime in the future but if the u.s. like takes an aggressive posture will promote alienation and backlash but i just want to go back to one thing that stephen said and say that when he said that essentially the u.s. has a

saudi arabia, abu dhabi, the richs nations in the world tell us to go into libya. they tell us to go in. france leads the way. that's the beauty. france is the leader. forget that. the arab league is so wealthy, they have so much money they have cash pouring out of their ears and they tell us and we're a debtor nation. they tell us to go in and take out gadhafi. why aren't they paying us? when they said that you should have said, we'll go in. we want $5 billion. we have already spent $1.5 billion on fighting gadhafi. we want $5 billion right now and we'll go in. you know what? that's peanuts to them. they'd give you a check in two seconds. they'd go boom, boom, boom, thank you very much. we don't have the mentality that thinks to ask for it. >> it's a businessm mentality. >> i think it's common sense. thank you. >> thank you very much. i appreciate your doing this. i do. >> thank you very much, candy. >> friday, we asked trump's office if they were able to check up on what percent he's paying on his personal income

libya, saudi arabia, and the others say, "we do not like gaddafi. we would like you to take them out." obama said, ok." we formed a group -- nato is us. nato is largely us. we do not even have control over what the hell we are doing. gaddafi is driving down the street waving at everybody. can you believe this? listen to this one -- do is the leader of the group? france. france wanted to go in first. of course, we have not seen them sense, but they were there the first day and they got all the glamour. [applause] they form a group and they go in and at obama talks about the regime -- we do not want to kill or hurt anybody, we want to change government -- nobody knows what the hell he is talking about. you know the other thing about libya that really bothers me? it always gets back to china. while we are spending billions of dollars being policeman of the world, china is spending $1 billion a day buying the world. i just told an apartment for $33 million. only in new york can this happen. the apartment was just sold in a building i have on central par

guest: i do not read much about saudi arabia and bahrain. it is one of those countries where nobody knows what is going on. as for saudi arabia, i believe there is a movement. there was a book written by a saudi girl. it was translated into english. i go to saudi. i have been going there for 20 years. i read the book. i was struck by the amount of things i never knew even though i go there every year. this book was an eye opening experience. people are speaking out. the girl was put in trouble for publishing the book. she is not allowed to enter saudi arabia. this morning, i checked the news. women in saudi arabia are pushing for voting. they want to vote. that is a good step. what happened in egypt and tunisia is now taking over the middle east. i hope to u.s. addresses -- you talked about oil. we have to balance that and help people to speak out and get ready to be. host: may, did you change your parents when you went to saudi arabia? did you cover up? guest: it depends on where you are. it has become more liberated than in the past. they

used idea where to go on a saudi arabia b. would love to have a very very close ally you syria in the form of a muslim brotherhood government so i would say the attention to syria in the next five six weeks and how full washington ever push this china is of course making credits for the u.s. how far would washington go in competition with beijing where the problem is good dissent washington agendas white house and national security agencies cia the pentagon the pentagon these interesting africa agenda the one two windows were in libya install an african b. in africa where we have to remember the african headquarters and structure in germany because nobody now africa had quite its peace you know an african country and then the dominoes libya i do we coast we trade sea badly so my salt he said the next day i mean us to fail according to the african pentagon agenda and then leader own the big dominoes the countries where china has substantial investments example. nature i want you. to get a real game so we have to watch how this

the imam study of a school in saudi arabia. >> we have introduced a new spirit into the country. our people are receptive to this religion. they found a new identity with islam. that is what scares the intelligence services. and that is what they want to close our school. >> and for muslims here, that has only strengthened their resolve to defend what they see as the true teachings of islam. >> what wou you do if you saw an old wooden ship? one croatian is a rare example of a sailing family, almost 100 years ago. he was determined to restore the ship to its former glory. it has not been smooth sailing. >> the water is icy cold. what is down below is also daunting. it is iraq, nearly 100 years old. it was the last -- is a wreck, nearly 100 years old. it sank off the coast. in winter, part of it was about water. these men are passionate, and crazy enough to try to raise the ship. behind the plan is this man. his father and grandfather went to see to it. this 57-year-old wants to preserve the1ship from falling apart even further and preserve traditional wooden ship building. the loc

writes told time segments and then secretary gates has traveled to saudi arabia to a supposedly discuss the role of iran track of the u.s. turned on both mubarak and saleh put hates me doing a little reassuring taking our villa but the u.s. is still on his side. let's not forget that we sat in a parked car. on the well. we have the government says they're going to keep you safe get ready because the freedom. ajam are in here broadcasting live from washington d.c. coming up today on the big picture. a new website with twenty four seven live streaming news towns like to do about the ongoing financial part unlimited high quality videos for download. and stories you never see mainstream news. media so. we listen. to her until such time as. a guy. welcome michel intel on the obama show we've heard our guests have to say on the topic now i want to hear our audience is going to use you to video respond to twitter for part of the question that we posed on you tube every monday and on thursday on the show going responses like your voice in. time for tonight's tool time award answer ninety goes t

discipline of children strikes full time segments and then secretary gates travel to saudi arabia to a supposedly discuss the role of iran after the us turn on both mubarak and saleh could gates be doing a little reassuring to canal villa but the u.s. is still on his side. let's not forget that we had an apartheid regime right. i think. either one of twelve. we never got the chance to the keep him safe get ready if you are looking for freedom. of speech on our been here broadcasting live from washington d.c. coming up today on the big picture. new web site which twenty four seven live streaming news tells what to do about the ongoing financial hardship unlimited free high quality videos for download. and stories you never find mainstream. media so. maybe the political. posts are to talk to. hi guys welcome to shelley tell me i'm going to show we've heard our guests talk to say on the topic now i want to hear. just go on to you tube the video response for the twitter profile of the questions that we've posted on you tube every monday and on the first day of the show the long response

arabia.

really who created nurtured the political elites that rule in these places why are saudi arabia. the u.a.e. and britain supporting supporting quote unquote but not crecy activists in libya but fighting against democracy activists in bahrain and saudi arabia doesn't really make sense locally on a personal note i guess i want to ask you to speak for your generation for others like you you know second or third generation generation muslims living in the west you seem and you have seen for many months angry about what's going on do you think that this is a sentiment shared you know by your peers by people like you. i think it's important to also understand that one side of my family is english you know i had. a great aunt on one side of my family who was married to a man in the military that lived on the british military base in libya as a human being i don't believe it is right for britain or any other country in the world to have any type of military base in libya and believe me if these powers get their way when all is said and done there will be a foreign military base again in l

secretary robert gates traveled to riyadh, saudi arabia for talks on the spreading unrest in the region. japanese engineers turned their focus today to preventing new explosions at the destroyed fukushima dai-ichi nuclear plant. they began injecting nitrogen near the reactor to prevent more hydrogen explosions like the ones that happened after a tsunami hit last month. that came as the new york times reported the united states nuclear regulatory commission sees a host of new threats at the plant, including explosions and growing stresses on containment structures. portugal has become the third eurozone country to request an international financial bailout. the prime minister said portugal needs the extra help to tackle skyrocketing debts amid recent political instability. he said the fact that parliament rejected austerity measures last month made the request for aid inevitable. greece and ireland have already asked for financial assistance. on wall street, stocks closed higher today as the dow neared a three-year high. the dow jones industrial average

. >>> and we are hearing tonight from saudi arabia, a nation that has a lot at stake as change rocks across the arab world. late last week on this broadcast you'll recall tom brokaw reported that the saudi arabian monarchy is so unhappy with the obama administration for the way, as they see it, it pushed out mubarak that they sent senior officials to china and russia to seek expanded business opportunities with those countries. continuing his reporting there over this past weekend, tom was given rare access inside the kingdom. here now his report from riyadh. >> reporter: saudi arabia is the richest and most powerful country in the arab world, hugely important to the u.s. because of its oil reserves, and now surrounded by populist rage on all sides. a sunni country, it is the home of mecca, the birthplace of islam, and takes pride in its orderly society. even so, there have been protests by the country's shiite minority against saudi rule. but they were quickly put down. saudi's king abdullah surprised almost everyone by sending his country's military into bahrain to suppress shiite

and example saudi arabia it's like i said earlier it's not it's not the same narrative all the way through go ahead i think there's a real ambiguity here there's not clear lines between good guys and bad guys in our media life portrayed here in the united states like you mentioned earlier the top

saudi arabia and kuwait with the technology to effectively block websites when the us government purports to be spreading democracy it's simply a sham it's a pretense it's a lie a goal of us foreign policy is to put its people in public office in foreign countries the us military has recently launched an online management program which enables it to generate multiple fake identities on social networks the false personas are designed to contribute to the flow of conversations on facebook twitter and other websites people are using social media for cyber warfare i mean that's what we're going to see more more and more of i think from from whether it's governments or non-state actors are going to try to find ways to use the internet and social media to gain an advantage in their own battle the recent turmoil in libya it's just orchestration of twitter with fake users only around five percent of libyans have access to the internet and the number of twitter users there is so small that analysts couldn't even calculate it yet in february this year a surge of libyan twitter accounts of peer repo

we are the saudi arabia of natural gas. we do not use it. we are a country that actually, despite what everyone thinks -- we have a lot of oil. we do not let people drill. we have a call. we have oil. we have lots of different things. we do not let our people use it. it all has to do with what is going on. it all has to do with your leadership. it all has to do with the person on top. the ice skating rink in central park is a good example of what can be done in the free market. the city of new york spent eight years and $21 million -- you probably do not remember it. the weather is not as nice. $21 million, and were unable to get the rink open. it was a political nightmare and a great embarrassment to the city. i asked to take over the project. i had kids. i could not take the ice skating. i asked to take over the project. after four months and $1.80 million, a big portion in demolishing the incompetent work that was done -- today, it is a case study. i did it in four months. it took them in eight years. i did it for $1.8 million. just a lit

guest: i do not read much about saudi arabia and bahrain. it is one of those countries where nobody knows what is going on. as for saudi arabia, i believe there is a movement. there was a book written by a saudi girl. it was translated into english. i go to saudi. i have been going there for 20 years. i read the book. i was struck by the amount of things i never knew even though i go there every year. this book was an eye opening experience. people are speaking out. the girl was put in trouble for publishing the book. she is not allowed to enter saudi arabia. this morning, i checked the news. women in saudi arabia are pushing for voting. they want to vote. that is a good step. what happened in egypt and tunisia is now taking over the middle east. i hope to u.s. addresses -- you talked about oil. we have to balance that and help people to speak out and get ready to be. host: may, did you change your parents when you went to saudi arabia? did you cover up? guest: it depends on where you are. it has become more liberated than in the past. they

arabia syria is iran's closest ally in the region and the cost to support the regarding syria afghan come with mentions of you ran syria is obviously a strategic ally for iran in the in the region and without syria iran loses their or their bridge their land bridge to lebanon and they're here has the one force and so of course hezbollah would suffer if the syrian regime to fall and that would be stabilizing iran and weaken its cower in the region which would be an obvious benefit to me and all american forces some experts even believe that this stabilize ation is part of a threat to the west pursues in the region we are seeing reflects a strategy which includes amongst other points the generalized weakening of the sovereign nation states of the sovereign genes in the arab world in order to try to isolate iran. with very few perhaps no friendly countries in the region and that will then leave iraq pretty much alone at least in the arab world and will facilitate further turmoil inside iran although the u.s. secretary of state has ruled out america's involvement in syria for now the cou

the situation in bahrain how will saudi arabia the u.s. react meanwhile thousands of protesters have taken to the streets for another day in yemen against their longtime president and the pentagon is calling for a swift transition of power and it's these protests and the violence against protesters but at the same time the pentagon also said there are no plans to suspend u.s. military assistance to yemen brings up another point we're asking is this another sign the u.s. war on terror makes her dubious but billows putting the u.s. in a compromising position. now when it comes to u.s. military intervention in the war on terror and now what we're seeing in libya the toll of u.s. airstrikes hits far from home far away from american eyes but one filmmaker highlighted the realities that one seen by the american public back during the war in iraq and his film the true story of our list ali and this was an animated film about a twelve year old iraqi boy who lost his limbs as a result of u.s. airstrikes and became a symbol two of the iraq war here'

or used to with hosni mubarak and definitely kuwait saudi arabia syria is iran's closest ally in the region and the cost to support the revolver in syria affan com was mentions of you ran syria is obviously a strategic ally for iran in the in the region and without syria iran loses their their bridge their land bridge to lebanon and they're hit hezbollah in force and so of course hezbollah would suffer if the syrian regime was to fall and that would destabilize iran and weaken its power in the region which would be an obvious benefit in the end all american forces some expert even believe that destabilize ation is part of a strategy the west perceives in the region we are seeing reflect a strategy which includes amongst other points the generalized weakening of the sovereign nation states and sovereign genes in the arab world in order to try to isolate iran. very few perhaps no friendly countries in the region and that will erode pretty much alone at least in the arab world and will facilitate further turmoil inside iran although the u.s. secretary of state has ruled out america's in

my fourth point relates to saudi arabia. in a way the saudis have adopted in the course of this series of events an entirely new policy, at least for them, as a sort of serial interventionist. they are now suddenly intervening everywhere. they intervened in yemen and now they've sent troops over to bahrain and they may go back into yemen again. and they're being very much -- their elbows are much sharper than they used to be and we're not accustomed to see the saudis behave that way and they have taken the gulf cooperation council into a kind of monarchial protection shoat it reminds me very much of the brezhnev doctrine for those of you who are old enough to remember. basically any country -- any country that adopted socialism was not prepared to go backwards. once you got there, you couldn't return to a different shape or form. in a way, the dcc is doing the same thing. or saudi arabia is trying to enforce the same thing that any monarch -- any sunni monarch that exists in the gulf is not permitted to revert to any other f

today, saudi arabia's oil minister says the global oil market is oversupplied, damaging hopes that opec will soon cut the output or raise it to bring down prices. saudi arabia is the largest world oil exporter. >>> in a meeting this morning, lawmakers simplified the plan for the high-speed rail project. because of a lack of federal funding, panel proposed limiting it to a single rail system. the original proposal was for two rails including features like a two-story viaduct. the scaled-out proposal would have it run on the existing cal-train track system from san jose to sacramento. student and faculty members staged informational ticket today in hayward. during a visit by a chancellor. they're upset by the budget cuts. amy hollyfield joins us. this prompted increased security. >> there was a lot of police today, cheryl. it was interesting to see. the protest is over but they have left their mark. take a look at the plaza out here in front of the administration building. chalk art with several messages. pictures in case that chancellor charles reed wants to stop and do reading. students

saudi arabia? >> bill from seattle. just asking about yemen and specifically talking about that country and wondering about -- i know that the administration changed its position, maybe, is what i have heard. i am curious what you would say about that. >> ok. i'll take them in the order they were given or asked. with regard to the first question, which had to do with the recognition of a palestinian state. we have consistently made it clear that the way to produce a palestinian state is through negotiations. not for unilateral declaration, not by going to the un -- we have approached countries and said this is not the way to do it. this does not make the announcement more likely, and not to produce a palestinian state. our posture has been consistent and we will continue to oppose it. i would note that wouldabbas himself prefers negotiation. the most important thing is to find a way to get back into negotiations. the with a palestinian statehood can be achieved. it will not be achieved through othe

we are the saudi arabia of natural gas. we are a country that actually despite what everyone things, we have a lot of oil and we do not let people drill. we have coal, we have oil, we have lots of different things. we do not let our people use it. it all has to do with what is going on. it all has to do with your leadership. it all has to do with the person on top. a little story -- the womanize getting in central park, it is a good as -- a good example of what can be done in the free market. the city of new york spent eight years and $21 million, you probably remember because the taxes are so high in new york and new left and the weather is not as nice, $21 million they were unable to get the rank company. it was a great embarrassment to the city. i ask to take over the project before my kids got too old. i could not take them ice skating. i asked to take over the project. after four months and $1.8 million and a big portion of that was in demolishing all of the incompetent work that was done, and today it is a case study

today, saudi arabia's oil minister says the global oil market is oversupplied, damaging hopes that opec will soon cut the output or raise it to bring down prices. saudi arabia is the largest world oil exporter. >>> in a meeting this morning, lawmakers simplified the plan for the high-speed rail project. because of a lack of federal funding, panel proposed limiting it to a single rail system. the original proposal was for two rails including features like a two-story viaduct. the scaled-out proposal would have it run on the existing cal-train track system from san jose to sacramento. student and faculty members staged informational ticket today in hayward. during a visit by a chancellor. they're upset by the budget cuts. amy hollyfield joins us. this prompted increased security. >> there was a lot of police today, cheryl. it was interesting to see. the protest is over but they have left their mark. take a look at the plaza out here in front of the administration building. chalk art with several messages. pictures in case that chancellor charles reed wants to stop and do reading. students

saudi arabia and kuwait with the technology to effectively block websites when the us government purports to be spreading democracy it's simply a sham it's a pretense it's a lie a goal of us foreign policy is to put people in public office and in foreign countries the us military has recently launched an online management program which enables it to generate multiple fake identities on social networks the false persona sort designed to contribute to the flow of conversations on facebook twitter and other websites people are using social media for cyber warfare i mean that's what we're going to see more more and more of i think from from whether it's governments or non-state actors they're going to try to find ways to use the internet and social media to gain an advantage in their own battle the recent turmoil in libya it's just orchestration of twitter with fake users only around five percent of libyans have access to the internet and the number of twitter users there is so small that analysts couldn't even calculate it yet in february this year a surge of libyan twitter accounts appeared

ambassadors to yemen and saudi arabia. it's hosted by the jamestown foundation and it's just getting underwa underway. >> this is a very interesting time to have this conference and we started planning several months ago and it's been quite fascinating to see the great evolution of what's happened in the arab world -- what began on december 17th last year with the tunisian street vendor unleashing a spark that set off a very contagious revolution throughout the world and we've compared of the revolution of 1848. regardless of that analogy and whether it's true or not, it's certainly a time of great change in the region. in fact, you don't have to look much further than the recent issue of foreign affairs magazine, which said the cover of the foreign affairs magazine basically says the new arab revolt which starts with -- which starts its series of articles with these questions. what just happened? why no one saw it coming. what it means? and what comes next? so this is really, you know, these type of questions are really w

in their country. >> saudi arabia is actually helping them. they sent troops, weapons. they're helping them, and we want to stop this. we don't want anybody helping them, because this is wrong. >> brown: others said the u.s. needed to live up to its own ideals on a consistent basis. >> we cannot pick and choose which peaceful revolution to support. we need to support the values that we stand on, which is human rights, justice, democracy, and that's exactly what the people of bahrain are asking for. >> brown: the marchers then headed to the white house to deliver that message in person. >> lehrer: coming up: more on the middle east and u.s. policy in the region; plus, shields and brooks; the environmental costs of the gulf oil spill; and a look ahead to robert macneil's series on autism. but first, the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: president obama promised today the initial drawdown of u.s. troops from afghanistan will be more than symbolic. the pullout is slated to begin this summer. the president talked about

almost all the detainees from saudi arabia were returned to saudi arabia. clearly those decisions were based on commitments that the united states made to those governments or commitments it wanted to keep with those governments. >> brown: charlie savage, you were telling us about these cases of detainees providing information about other prisoners, but i gather that too raised all kinds of questions about reliability. can you give us an example or two. >> certainly. well, i mean one of the things that's interesting about this whole process is because of the habeas corpus cases that some detainees have been bringing in court, we've had a series of judicial rulings by article 3 judges and in some cases military judges who have looked at the government's evidence and ruled that it's not good and the detainees needed to be let go. in some cases there were veiled references to certain witnesses against prisoners having been unliable. it was so censored you had no idea what they were talking about. with these files you can see a small number of detainees are in

in their country. >> saudi arabia is actually helping them. they sent troops, weapons. they're helping them, and we want to stop this. we don't want anybody helping them, because this is wrong. >> brown: others said the u.s. needed to live up to its own ideals on a consistent basis. >> we cannot pick and choose which peaceful revolution to support. we need to support the values that we stand on, which is human rights, justice, democracy, and that's exactly what the people of bahrain are asking for. >> brown: the marchers then headed to the white house to deliver that message in person. >> lehrer: coming up: more on the middle east and u.s. policy in the region; plus, shields and brooks; the environmental costs of the gulf oil spill; and a look ahead to robert macneil's series on autism. but first, the other news of the day. here's hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: president obama promised today the initial drawdown of u.s. troops from afghanistan will be more than symbolic. the pullout is slated to gin this summer. the president talked about i

if you look at saudi arabia, what they did, it is unbelievable. they announced they are going to raise the price of oil by cutting back on production. we have nobody to speak to these people. we have nobody that calls or talks and says, you are not going to do it, fellows. we are protecting you. you wouldn't be there, except for us. we have nobody. now, yesterday, our president said, that he has very little impact over the price of gasoline. i think he is 100% wrong, because opec is setting the price of fuel. we have oil all over the place, all over the place. every ship at sea is loaded up with oil. they don't know where to dump it. yet, every day, we are setting records. pretty soon, we are going to be at the $150 a barrel, the all-time record. when the president says he has no power over that, i mean, it is pretty sad. >> is it possible that the country is being led right now by an illegitimate president? i certainly hope it is not possible. i hope we have accomplished a lot by what i have been doing for the last couple of months. i hope we can

almost all the detainees from saudi arabia were returned to saudi arabia. clearly those decisions were based on commitments that the united states made to thosese governments or commitments it i wanted to keep with those governments. >> brown: charlie savage, you were telling us about these cases of detainees providing information about other prisoners, but i gather that too raised all kinds of questions about reliability. r can you give us an example or e two. >> certainly. well, i mean one of the things that's interesting about this whole process is because of the habeas corpus cases that some detainees have been bringing in court, we've had a a series of judicial rulings by article 3 judges and in some cases military judges who have looked at the government'st evidence and ruled that it's not good and the detainees needed to be let go. in some cases there were veiled references to certain witnesses against prisoners having been unliable.bl it was so censored you had no idea what they were talkingy about. with these files you can see ag small number of de

almost all the detainees from saudi arabia were returned to saudi arabia. clearly those decisions were based on commitments that the united stas made to those governments or commitments it wanted to keep with those governments. >> brown: charlie savage, you were telling us about these cases of detainees providing information about other prisoners, but i gather that too raised all kinds of questions about reliability. can you give us an example or two. >> certainly. well, i mean one of the things that's interesting about this whole process is because of the habeas corpus cases that some detainees have been bringing in court, we've had a series of judicial rulings by article 3 judges and in some cases military judges who have looked at the government's evidence and ruled that it's not good and the detainees needed to be let go. in some cases there were veiled references to certain witnesses against prisoners having been unliable. it was so censored you had no idea what they were talking about. with these files you can see a small number of detainees are in so