." >> moments ago, u.s. defense secretary, leon panetta arrived in baghdad to participate in the formal end to u.s. military involvement in iraq. we want to take you now live to baghdad, where you are looking at live pictures of the casing of the colors ceremony in the iraqi capital. it has been almost nine years since the u.s. invaded that country. and in that time, at least 128,000 iraqis have been killed in conflict situations. more than 4400 u.s. troops have also died. and now at this very moment,ed american military command in the country is closing a chapter in the history of both iraq and the u.s. armed forces with this somber ceremony. it is such a big contrast to the explosions that marked the beginning of the war in iraq, back in march of 2003. >> now, this moment does, in a very real sense, mark the end of a difficult period, not only for the u.s. military, but for the people of iraq. damon has covered the key moments of the iraq war and joins us from baghdad. you know, arwa, you've seen it all. i

considering that the u.s. shares the imf, this puts u.s. taxpayer at risk to the tune of $20 billion. in assessing how serious is the risk to taxpayers, it is of no that the imf has never lend money on this scale to any country in relation to the signpost countries as it has grease, ireland and portugal. the commitment to these countries are 10% of their gdps and the third of the connections. the recent european summit, european countries are proposing to make loans to the imf to the tune of $260 billion for two hundred billion euros that would be intended to loan to italy and spain. it is important to recognize that if those bilateral loans by european countries give them a claim on the imf as opposed to a claim on italy and spain the u.s. taxpayer would be put at risk for those loans to italy and spain. if italy and spain go to the imf for exposure of u.s. taxpayers those countries could be enormous. considering that the imf's combined commitment to italy and spain could exceed $1 trillion what we are talking about is u.s. taxpayers could

putting their guard up the u.s. sure likes to the idea of a nuclear free world but it isn't practicing what it preaches so ten years after the u.s. pulled out of the antiballistic missile treaty with russia what's with the blatant hypocrisy. and the time magazine person of the year goes to the protester from egypt to the u.k. the us to libya unrest has spread like a wildfire around the world so who are these protesters and why are some treated like heroes and others like villains. and speaking of pros as it looks like the u.s. is moving right on down its checklist of foreign enemies next stop syria where bashar asan is clinging on to power we'll ask if syria is on its way to becoming a libya to point out. the friendship of the companions the real body the two we're getting along with the opposite sex sort of covering fluff and not the real news as protests happen around the world that leave it to the mainstream media to miss the real headlines looks like these outlets are more concerned with getting the story out fi

well hundreds of u.s. and nato soldiers reportedly arrive on the border of syria according to a former f.b.i. official hundreds of troops have mysteriously landed on the border and are training militants to overthrow the regime of syrian president bashar al assad but she says the u.s. media has been suspiciously silent about all of this the whistleblower that is helping to bring this to light so bill admin's joined me here in studio a little earlier to expose some of the details. well my sources in turkey and those also of military sources here in the united states and these are u.s. military sources and turkish military sources familiar with the training of syrian rebels in turkey in southern turkey in u.s. bases engine like base in the southern part of turkey in hot tie area since last may and this is may two thousand and eleven and this story was confirmed by several high level people from both sides turkish military and u.s. military and they broke this story in november on november twenty second and n

more u.s. soldiers are now losing their lives to suicide than enemy bullets unable to readjust to peaceful life that's causing some veterans to warn young people not to listen. and british humor rises groups fight for no spies own it in the world's most surveilled country calling on oxford city council not to report what's being said in taps and or in other city rejected a similar surveillance tactic their. allies here in r.t.f. next are just crosstalk finds out of there are any winners from the turmoil of iraq and if a state of war has become the natural foreign policy of the us. hello and welcome to cross talk i'm peter lavelle with the american occupation of iraq officially coming to a close this week it's time to take stock was the war in occupation worth it are there any winners is a rock a better place and is war now the natural state of u.s. foreign policy. to cross-talk iraq's future i'm joined by sabri in london he's an exiled iraqi academic in tel aviv we have mayor javedanfar he's a

the u.s. policy at the moment is quite accurate we don't see president obama invading countries just because of his or will we saw he became involved to. prove the intervention of the of libya was approved by the united nations it wasn't a unilateral move by the united states and i have to say that if the international community and i emphasize the word international community and the u.n. approved the use of force against bashar assad's forces in syria who are causing mass occurs it would be a mistake for america not to participate and i don't think anybody in the middle east will forgive the united states of america if you we're not going to help when the israelis is really fairly or three you know if that's what the u.n. wants to go ahead but i'm not quite sure of your rights the concern about human rights whether it's in libya whether it's in syria or whether it was in iraq is always a fake leaf for u.s. primacy and for the u.s. to intervene whether it's libya where they don't agree syria

of the u.s. invasion is the united states has ignited sectarian tension and conflict in the middle east which is having profound effects ripple effects throughout the region i think syria is a critical piece here so is saudi arabia of course iran is the one positive thing as is as the united states withdraws even though we had a very bloody to day today in baghdad in iraq as the united states withdraws the one positive potential peace here is the united states will have less of an ability to actually use iraq as a battleground for this sectarian tensions that we've been igniting in the region that's the one potential positive but it would require from here in washington and of course there's not that much hope of it but it would require from here in washington for us to recalculate our position in the region instead of setting the different states and sectarian interests against one another we should be bringing them together in a way similar to what we did in europe awhile ago with the organizat

billions of dollars from the u.s. side and from iraq so it destroyed the u.s. image around the world. to put spin today to make this seem as a success i don't think anyone believes that and despite all these points you've brought up raid there are some believe that what we saw in iraq you know going into this war under false pretenses building in democracy quote unquote that this is a model that will carry on for the future i mean do you think this do you think that not just in the arab world but in the arab world in particular but just for the rest of the world do you think that this is sort of a model that the u.s. will follow in the future. i think it was a very hard lesson that the u.s. and other countries would think about it learned that the hard way especially that this is happening this year the year of the arab springs were many people argued for decades i argued for the last ten years that the u.s. should not have invaded iraq and that iraqis would have had the capacity to change their political regime by themselves and that was not theoretical anymor

troops a historic end to a war u.s. presence in iraq is far from over thousands of contractors will still be there and guess who's trying to get back in an interview at the wall street journal ted wright the president and chief executive of what used to be known as blackwater then turned to services had a big announcement the firm is changing their name yet again this time to academy with the intent of staying out of the headlines and being more boring and writes on words blackwater was stripped of its operating license in iraq after a number of controversial events including a two thousand and seven shoot out and as for square the right hopes that with this new name and a demand for contractors in iraq surging that they will get they've hired an outside company to help them apply for a new operating license so how's iraq going to handle a new surge of contractors and will will a real conversation arise as to whether or not this entire war was worth it joining me to discuss to scott horton contributing editor on legal a

more than a third of u.s. shoppers are already done with most of their holiday shopping, according to a new survey. another 28% of people surveyed said they plan to take a break from spending now that black friday is behind them. about four in ten shoppers plan to finish checking off their holiday lists at discount chains, highlighting that many americans are trying to remain frugal. >> tom: were bond holders misled about the miami marlins finances while being encouraged to buy bonds to build a new baseball stadium? that's what federal investigators want to know. miami, its surrounding county and the team are financing the stadium, with the city and county covering most of the $645 million cost of building the new stadium and parking lots. they issued $500 million in bonds to help pay for it. the stadium opens next spring. the team says it's cooperating with the investigation, but did not comment further. the united states postal service wants to sharply reduce overnight delivery on first class mail. it plans

aid while for the u.s. it would at the very least mean resorting to other a logistical partners in the region an option it's currently disinclined to use so strong as both countries may feel they will turn into if they're still worse ok let's talk about some of those alternatives first i'd like to go to robert you wrote an article pakistan going rogue you said it is hard to judge such things from a distance but the pakistani reaction this time feels qualitatively different from the crises preceding it over the past few months what do you mean by that what is qualitatively different this time because there's march's report pointed out there's been a lot of downs and further downs in this relationship recently. you know that there have been in the past the perception at least has been that even when the pakistanis were very angry even when they were making threats of a future action of the they might take for instance if the u.s. were to launch a nother cross border operation such as the one that it launched

of the u.s. policy at the moment is quite accurate we don't see president obama invading countries just because of his own will we saw he became involved in libya yeah we do actually in libya proved the intervention of. libya was approved by the united nations it wasn't a unique lateral move by the united states and i have to say that if the international community and i emphasize the word international community and the u.n. approved the use of force against bashar assad's forces in syria who are causing massive it would be a mistake for america not to participate and i don't think anybody in the middle east will forgive the united states of america if you were not claiming to help when there is only syria as you said earlier three us if that's what the u.n. wants to go ahead but i'm not quite sure feeling right the concern about human rights whether it's in libya whether it's in syria or whether it was in iraq is always a fake leaf for us primacy and for the u.s. to intervene whether it's libya

and the u.s. would have to build on what has been achieved in this new setting, relying on training and joint exercises, maybe with a joint security commission, with diplomatic and political means, with intelligence, rather than huge military means to play its role. but iraq will be tested and iraqi politics and whether political leaders can rise to the occasion and cooperate. those will be important to determinants. >> iraq will be tested, but so, too, will american interests. what america wants from iraq is not what iran wants from iraq. the balance of power is shifting with the end of u.s. forces in iraq. >> there is a u.s.-iran dimension, no doubt. and there is -- although both u.s. and iran wanted saddam out, beyond that, more than power, there are significant differences between the united states and iran with regards to iraq. we would have liked to maintain a military presence beyond the end of this year. the iranians are very much opposed and they used their influence quite cleverly to pre

and even predominance of u.s. and nato parties as a whole in other areas just grow you know it will always stretch the very concept of strategic stability and it may well break apart we are very sponsible in this regard how close or how far is moscow from possibly pulling out of the start treaty of the us advances with their missile defense plans in europe we have a very clear explanation of this situation by a president with video of who on november twenty third presented what i would describe as a phased adaptive answer to the phased adaptive approach our phased adaptive answer means that we are not rushing into any dramatic decisions you have just described we begin with a very minute limited response to what we think is a real danger a real threat to our assets if situation develops in a negative way if we. are still and will be still unable to arrange with the us on something meaningful in the area of missile defense so then further action may been besieged including our withdrawal from the new start but we d

and even predominance of u.s. and nato parties as a whole in other areas just grow you know it will always stretch the very concept of strategic stability and it may well break apart we are very sponsible in this regard how close or how far is moscow from possibly pulling out of the start treaty of the us advances with their missile defense plans in europe we have a very clear explanation of this situation by a president with video of who on november twenty third presented what i would describe as a phased adaptive answer to the phase the dept of approach our phased adaptive answer means that we are not rushing into any dramatic decisions like the kind you have just described we begin with a very mill limited response to what we think is a real danger a real threat to our assets if situation develops in a negative way if we. steal and will be still unable to arrange with the us on something meaningful in the area of missile defense or them further action may been besieged including droll from the new start but we

nato authorities and u.s. authorities in afghanistan have issued a statement saying that, indeed, a drone went missing late last week over the afghan/iran border. so that, of course, eastern iran, western afghanistan. this drone, as all drones are, on an intelligence gathering mission. what the u.s. and nato will not say is that it was shot down by iran. they say it has gone policing, they believe it has gone down. they believe this may well be the drone that the iranians are talking about, but they also say that the crew operating the unmanned drone, had reported a loss of flight control, a loss of control, and ability to guide the drone and that it drifted. so their working theory at this point, if the iranians are telling the truth about it being inside iran, it may have drifted into iran. so far they are saying they cannot confirm on the part of nato and the u.s. it was shot down by the iranians, but there's pretty good reason at this point it appears to be that the drone that went missing are the drones t

billions of dollars from the u.s. side and from iraq so it destroyed the u.s. image around the world so that to put spin today to make this seem as a success i don't think anyone believes that and despite all these points you've brought up raid there are some believe that what we saw in iraq you know going into this war under false pretenses building a democracy quote unquote that this is a model that will carry on for the future i mean do you think this do you think that not just in the arab world but in the arab world in particular but just for the rest of the world do you think that this is sort of a model that the u.s. will follow in the future. i think it was a very hard lesson that the u.s. and other countries to think about it learned that the hard way especially that this is happening this year the year of the strings were many people argued for decades i argued for the last ten years that the u.s. should not have invaded iraq and that iraqis would have had the capacity to change their political regime by themselves and that was not to try to get any mo

well the u.s. always says it has a gold plated military and it gets an inanimate with technical fixes and gee whiz things whereas countries like iran or china that don't have as much money what they tend to do is try to focus on what the military calls asymmetrical threats in other words they don't they want to get our expensive systems and they want to find some easy way to get into them or hack into them using cyber methods or you know find some other way to neutralize them that's cheap because they don't have a lot of money and sometimes i can be devastating like in iraq we had the roadside bomb the low tech rows. created hell out of havoc with that that's another example of asymmetric threats that the u.s. military faces in this drone was certainly an asymmetric threat being hacked like that and i'm apparently the company at lockheed martin and they knew from the beginning that these drones were had the capability of being hacked that they had their scratch that they still allowed them to fly g

let's turn to the u.s. serve housing related data will be out this week, housing starts and new home sales for november will be released on tuesday and friday. the third and final reading of third quarter gross domestic product is due out on thursday. the markets are expecting the latest figure to be a touch higher at 2.1%. durable goods will come out on friday. are consumers pulling back? we'll find out when consumer spending for november comes out. >>> here's a recap of the latest market figures. >>> that's the latest in business for this hour. >>> "newsline" is the place to turn to for the latest on japan post march 11th. we have two segments offering two unique perspectives on fallout from the earthquake and unami. "nuclear watch" brings insight and information on the impact of the fukushima daiichi crisis. and the road ahead examines the efforts to recover and rebuild. don't miss "nuclear watch" and "the road ahead." >>> the japanese government decided its next generation fighter jet will be the stealt

the u.s. military command in iraq is closing down. it means that the only mission left in this country is to pull out the some 4,000 american troops that remain in iraq, but the military command, the iraq war as we have known it for the last nine years, is ending right now. there are a speech going on by the defense secretary. they've been talking about the accomplishments that have been made. they've been talking about how saddam hussein, a dictator, a tyrant, has been toppled and that iraq now has the opportunity to build a new future. it's very different, however, from what we're hearing when we speak to iraqis off military bases like this one. what we're hearing from iraqis is that they are very worried about their future. yes, saddam was a tyrant, he was removed, but they worry that sectarian tensions could come back to the forefront, that the civil war that iraq lived through and struggled through in 2006 and 2007, might return again, although they're not exactly sure in what form. iraqi

right here in the u.s. where right is the similar things that happens yeah the bay area rapid transit which we know by the acronym which oversees the transit system in the california shut down cell phone service during the beginning of the occupy protests because they saw on twitter and other social networks that protesters were going to try and move from one protest area to another via the transit system and you know. part is sort of a militarizing police agency which we saw right now i mean they had an incident where they shot a restrained suspect i think two years ago but what bart decided to do was they they shut down cell service they didn't actually have a policy regarding this. after the fact they came up with a policy saying anytime public safety is in jeopardy we reserve the right to restrict cell service and the federal communications commission is currently headed by a democrat just to show that this is completely nonpartisan. said you know that's great as long as it's for preserving public safet

said the u.s. government breach of air space is unmanned spy plane was violation of the international law. it may help explain the administration decision not to recover that drone. >> catherine herridge live in washington bureau. still ahead, the supreme court agrees to hear another case with huge political ramifications. but first, republicans push their version of the payroll tax cut extension. >> bret: federal government is on pace to run a deficit for the month below $1 trillion for the first time in four years. treasury department says the october deficit was $137 billion. the two-month tote is $236 billion. that is $55 billion less then year ago and projects to $973 billion for fiscal year again. that is below $1 trillion for the fiscal year. federal reserve governors meet tomorrow and said to be considering a new public relations campaign. the new strategy could be unveiled next month. we could know by this time tomorrow whether a new plan for payroll tax extension passed the house. mike em

billions of dollars from the u.s. side and from iraq so it destroyed the u.s. image around the world. to put spin today to make this seem as a success i don't think anyone believes that and despite all these points that you've brought i prayed there are some believe that what we saw in iraq you know going into this war under false pretenses building a democracy quote unquote that this is a model that will carry on for the future i mean do you think this do you think that not just in the arab world but in the arab world in particular but just for the rest of the world do you think that this is sort of a model that the u.s. will follow in the future. i think it was a very hard lesson that the u.s. and other countries to think about it learned the hard way especially that this is happening this year the year of the springs many people argued for decades i argued for the last ten years that the u.s. should not have invaded iraq and that iraqis would have had the capacity to change their political regime by themselves and that was not to try to get any more now we s

the u.s. defense secretary, leon panetta, in attendance as well for what may well be a relatively gentle, somber, quiet procession of events. nonetheless, it is a day that will go down in the history books as the formal close of combat for american troops in iraq. we'll keep across that for you of course here on "bbc world news." i wanted to bring you more now on our breaking and leading story this hour, and that is that jacques chirac has been found guilty of embezzlement and abuse of power on two counts against him while he was mayor of paris. joining me now is our paris correspondent, christian fraser, with more. perhaps you can just fill out a little bit for us the details of what he's been found guilty of, first of all. >> well, he hired members of his political party between 1977 and 1995 and paid them through the creation of fake jobs within city hall, effectively using the city's payroll, if you will, to run his campaign for presidential election. and he's been found guilty, as up say,

and even predominance of u.s. and nato parties as a whole in other areas just grow you know it will always stretch the very concept of strategic stability and it may well break apart we are very sponsible in this regard how close or how far is moscow from possibly pulling out of the start treaty of the us advances with their missile defense plans in europe we have a very clear explanation of this situation by a president with video of who on november twenty third presented what i would describe as a phased adaptive answer to the phase the dept of approach our phased adaptive answer means that we are not rushing into any dramatic decisions and you have just described we begin with a very mill limited response to what we think is a real danger a real threat to our assets if situation develops in a negative way if we. steal and will be still unable to arrange with the us on something meaningful in the area of missile defense all of them further action me being besieged including droll from the new start but we do sti

and even predominance of u.s. and nato parties as a whole in other areas just grow you know it will always stretch the very concept of strategic stability and it may well break apart we are very sponsible in this regard how close or how far is moscow from possibly pulling out of the start treaty of the us advances with their missile defense plans in europe we have a very clear explanation of this situation by a president with video of who on the twenty third presented what i would describe as a phased adaptive answer to the phase the dept of approach our phased adaptive answer means that we are not rushing into any dramatic decisions like the kind you have just described we begin with a very mil limited response to what we think is a real danger a real threat to our assets if situation develops even negative way if we. steal and will be still unable to arrange with the us on something meaningful in the area of missile defense sold them further action may been besieged including our withdrawal from the new start bu

with u.s. troops now out of iraq, the pentagon is finishing work on a sweeping review of america's military role around the world. the report on strategic choices is due out next month, and will detail the tradeoffs that might have to be made as congress prepares cuts in defense spending. darren gersh takes a look at the challenges facing the u.s. military after iraq. >> reporter: now that the colors have returned from iraq, the military is preparing to make difficult decisions. hundreds of thousands of troops are likely to be cut, and defense analyst loren thompson says that's just the beginning. >> when you go into a withdrawal from a war and the coming of peace, there are adjustments that have to be made in the size of the force, in the composition of your investment budget, in the number of bases you operate. it is a huge change, and it is going to take the better part of a decade to unwind. >> reporter: in the process, the u.s. military may look very different. troops and ships stationed i

represented father in a u.s. court the prime motivation for them representing him was to say to the government if you're going to assert the right to kill one of your own citizens we demand to see the evidence against him and that case was dismissed on state secret grounds and so the obama administration saying we have this evidence we just can't show it to you because it's too sensitive do you think if there's any chance that they might release that information now or that you know if there were another law if they were to take place they won't be able to claim state secrets anymore because let's face it they already went and killed it. i you know i wouldn't expect to see any sort of mother load of proof against anwar a lockie i mean the fact is that president obama is not going to be under any pressure from anyone that matters to his administration to produce such evidence he has normalized policies that would have been the source of scorn and denunciation from liberals the nation policy the bombing multiple co

>> well, u.s. markets came down off their highs for the day after the news from standard & poor's filtered out. they stayed in positive territory, s&p 500 finished up over 1% with the nasdaq higher still and the dow ended monday up by almost exactly 2/3 of a percent. >> so what's gregory to happen today? u.s. futures looking cautiously positive ahead of the trading day on the street. currently up by a fifth of 1%. up endown over the past hour so still a long way to go before the markets on wall street open and a lot depends on what happens in europe but certainly fair to say europe remains front and center pretty much everywhere once again. >> indeed, testament to the seriousness in which washington views that. timothy geithner is in europe and will meet mr. sarkozy in paris but today being hosted in germany ahead of meetings with the president mario draghi. i wonder what he will say, diana. >> reporter: well, yes, this is his third visit since september which is testament to the severity in which

in the u.s. presidential campaign, republican mitt romney picked up the backing of a former republican president. george h.w. bush told "the houston chronicle," "i just think he's mature and reasonable, not a bomb thrower." romney also rejected a challenge by newt gingrich to debate-- one on one-- before the iowa caucuses on january third. he said it's premature to narrow the field to just two candidates. those are some of the day's major stories. now, back to jeff. >> brown: the capital of iraq was plunged back into death and chaos today. at least 16 bombings shook baghdad, leaving more than 70 dead and well over 200 wounded. the attackers used a variety of tactics to strike all over the city. it was the worst outbreak of violence in months and came just days after the last u.s. troops withdrew. we have a report from inigo gilmore of "independent television news." >> reporter: thick plumes of smoke and the wail of ambulances sirens signaled the onset of a massive barrage of coordinated attacks.

the u.s. house is sending a payroll tax cut extension over to the u.s. senate, but it looks like this version of the bill is dead on arrival. house republicans attached unrelated projects to the bill that democrats don't want. the cut expires december 31st and without an extension the typical worker will get hit with $1,000 tax increase in the new year. >>> newt gingrich has lost his iowa campaign director. craig bergman has stepped down over some comments he reportedly made about mormons. the des mois register says he called mormonism a cult. two of gingrich's rivals rather in the republican presidential race, mitt romney and jon huntsman are mormons. >>> the faa says starting friday american airlines pilots can use ipads in the cockpit. the devices will replace hard copies of flight manuals and navigation charts. american says cutting out about 50 pounds of paper on every flight will save massive amounts of fuel across the airline. don't worry about distracted pilots. the ipads will not have

the u.s. president, barack obama, has promised iraq continued support even after they watched the troops returned at the end of this year. it came in washington after meeting with the iraqi prime minister. the 8000 troops still in iraq are scheduled to leave by the end of 2011. security remains precarious, however. the renegotiations and keeping some forces in iraq, but they broke down after washington insisted that the troops remain immune to prosecution by local authorities. we will be taking an in-depth look at how iraq is preparing for the withdrawal of american troops. a spokesman for the russian prime minister, vladimir putin, says that the results of the parliamentary polls will stand as a wave of protests continue. the governing party's victory has struck the largest protest since the 1990's. his supporters are taking to the streets as well. >> pro-vladimir putin protesters held their rally in view of the kremlin, the russian siege of power. some 5000 vladimir putin supporters came out

u.s. troops have left the country. cnn was there when the final convoy rolled across the border into kuwait. this is how it all played out live on cnn on this show last night. this is breaking news hala, and it is history. the war in iraq is officially over. u.s. troops are moving across the border into kuwait now. >> and what this means is that really the last vehicle and the last convoy of the last, last, last anything you can imagine in terms of the military is crossing into kuwait. >> here's the first truck now. it's probably -- this vehicle here is probably part of the route clearance element that comes through ahead of each series and makes sure that the road is clear. and behind those vehicles is going to be the last of the u.s. military presence or fighting presence in iraq. there's about 500 soldiers who have come over, men and women who have been coming over during the night. these are going to be the last of these. it's been quite an historic moment and a very emotional moment a

by the u.s. government. and syria is on the brink of a civil war the country's opposition now calling for military and foreign intervention so will it intervention only create more tension in that part of the world. it's tuesday december twentieth eight pm in washington d.c. i'm liz blow and you're watching r.t. . well from down drones to hack computers the u.s. had has suffered some major technological blows recently this one as the u.s. splurge is on military spending and often touted being the best when it comes to advanced technology but apparently or not it bans enough for other countries to prevent them from taking down our drones iran claims to have hijacked one of our most sophisticated spying tools as it was flying over the country the drone which iran says they intercepted was made by lockheed martin one of the world's largest defense contractors the company advertises being the best when it comes when it comes to combat and cyber threats take a look at their ad. greater . so they claim to protect

the u.s. fighting forces, it was indelible. for those in the fight, those who lost a family member back home, it was world-changing. it's been nearly nine years now. today at the white house the president hosted the iraqi prime minister to mark the end, the departure of the last u.s. troops later this month. but as you're about to see it's not the end. it's not the end of u.s. spending or engagement or entanglement entanglement. top night we debut the reporting of our new colleague, ted koppel, who went back to iraq and found that for the u.s., there may indeed be no exit. >> reporter: it's been a little less than nine years since i joined the 3rd infantry division as they crossed from kuwait into iraq. >> i was trying to think of something that would be appropriate to say on an occasion like this, and as is often the case, the best you can come up with is something that shakespeare wrote. wreak havoc and unleash the dogs of war. >> reporter: and now as u.s. forces reverse direction and come b

in 2007, we started a u.s. office to start a u.s. presence. my company only has two full employees but we use a lot of contract employees or events and projects. our total payable has amounted to over $1 million and all profits have been reinvested in the u.s., nothing sent back to the uk. here is my experience with emigrations -- immigration's. 2002, they issued a visa. 2003, successfully renewed in the u.s. be given eight months to prove our viability. thanks to my attorney for her experience and patience. 2005, the says are renewed successfully. but we have to return to the u.k. for processing because the laws changed. basically, when i try to renew again, they did not believe that i was a manager. also, they refused to recognize our employee as a professional, even though a four-year degree would exactly mirror the situation. we have been in limbo for 15 months until last friday when we found out the appeal was dismissed on grounds similar to the original denial. at least we know now. or something as important as a green card process, ther

u.s. was also renewed calls for him to step down and ordered the military off the streets or face more international measures syria is already suffering under a slew of economic and original sanctions but as is often the case it is the ordinary people who are feeling the pain as r.t. sorry for ports. it's been nearly ten months since syria's uprising began the capital of damascus has remained largely sheltered from the conflict in fact in the bustling sand say it seems like it's business as usual as one says sets in the winds of change have begun subliminal stronger the arab league than taste tough economic sanctions the effects of weight at the felt even head in a poor area of damascus. and his family is struggling to make ends meet his son he has learning difficulties for the beans for a living but he barely makes one hundred fifty three in pounds a day three dollars to support him and his wife. now the fuel for his vending cart has become harder to get hold of with shortages the economi

represented on his father in a u.s. court the prime motivation for them representing him was to say to the government if you're going to assert the right to kill one of your own citizens we demand to see the evidence against him and that case was dismissed on state secret grounds and so the obama administration saying we have this evidence we just can't show it to you because it's too sensitive do you think if there's any chance that they might release that information now or that you know if there were another law if they were to take place they won't be able to claim state secrets anymore because let's face it they already went and killed it. i you know i wouldn't expect to see any sort of mother load of proof against anwar a lockie i mean the fact is that president obama is not going to be under any pressure from anyone that matters to his administration to produce such evidence he has normalized policies that would have been the source of scorn and denunciation from liberals the nation policy the bombing multiple co

with u.s. troops now out of iraq, the pentagon is finishing work on a sweeping review of america's military role around the world. the report on strategic choices is due out next month, and will detail the tradeoffs that might have to be made as congress prepares cuts in defense spending. darren gersh takes a look at the challenges facing the u.s. military after iraq. >> reporter: now that the colors have returned from iraq, the military is preparing to make difficult decisions. hundreds of thousands of troops are likely to be cut, and defense analyst loren thompson says that's just the beginning. >> when you go into a withdrawal from a war and the coming of peace, there are adjustments that have to be made in the size of the force, in the composition of your investment budget, in the number of bases you operate. it is a huge change, and it is going to take the better part of a decade to unwind. >> reporter: in the process, the u.s. military may look very different. troops and ships stationed i

i'd say u.s. centric for u.s. investors, and i'd have a combination of bonds, stocks, and definitely have some gold. and even though gold may not have found the ultimate bottom from the high up of $1921. we're estimating it gets down to 1425 or so. but in the scheme of things, i think investors want to own some gold. >> thanks for the insight. happy new year to you. >> thank you, susie. >> susie: and we've been speaking with rick bensignor, sheaf market strategist merlin securities. oil prices gushed back above $100 a barrel today on rising tensions in iran over blocking crude shipments. the spike in prices also came on that strong consumer confidence report we told you about. looking ahead, investors in commodities could be in for another wild ride in the new year. analysts say prices for everything from gold to grain could be volatile in the months ahead because of uncertainty over global economics and politics. here's diane eastabrook with the outlook. >> reporter: economic uncertainty at home and in europe, po

between two peoples the timeline for u.s. troop withdrawal was set in two thousand and eight and while the obama administration initially tried to extend the deadline the official transfer of power came sixteen days ahead of schedule on december sixteenth two thousand and eleven right now the u.s. and iraqi governments are working on a new type of diplomatic relations building a new type of trust if you will but now the next step is in the hands of the iraqi government to move the country forward as america's influence waned political infighting and sectarian divisions in the iraqi parliament have diminished as well giving iraqis hope for a strong future but as iraq prepares to move past this dark chapter they have a message for their former occupiers to our friends america that the police don't another amnesty. because you are a mystic is a great mistake and it affects you. but is teach and also your future relations and friends are few right now in a region in which america's reputation lies and friends in the eyes of many

and first two u.s. warships are vented an area that iran is using for a large scale naval war games further escalating tension between the nations the maneuvers are taking place in neutral waters close to the crucial strait of hormuz oil supply route which of rads threaten to block washington says the vessels are on a routine mission garniture cans been following the developments. day after day we see the degree of tension rising iranian and american warships kind of brushed shoulders earlier as u.s. ships past the area where terror ron is holding a ten day military exercise the u.s. fifth fleet said they crossed the strait of hormuz unhindered and that he was a routine passage iran's right in to cut off the strait of hormuz which is the major golf oil artery forty percent of the world's tanker shipped oil passes through that strait the u.s. said they would not tolerate any disruption of supplies which suggests that if you ran goes through with their threats we might see a military showdown there but no

now, u.s. officials tell cnn the flight crew operating the drone did report a loss of flight controls before the drone went down. but they're not saying it was shot down and they're not saying it's an rq-170. the key question is shot down or not do the iranians have their hands on classified intelligence technology. if the iranians do, the u.s. knows it's not getting any of that back. barbara starr, cnn, washington. >>> the cash-strapped united states postal service announces a new cost-cutting plan. first class mail would no longer be delivered the next day. the agency wants to change its national standard from one to three days to two to five. it's lost more than $5 billion and faces a deadline to make another $5.5 billion payment to it's health care retirement fund in two weeks. >>> democrats will unveil a payroll tax cut compromise plan today. senate majority leader harry reid will introduce the proposal which extends a cut in payroll taxes used to pay for social security. a compromise betw

more u.s. friendly regime and at the same time yes civil war i mean it could spill over and of course the fear here is that iran could become involved and of course the situation between iran and the united states is already incredibly tense it's on a very very dangerous limit at this moment and the u.s. is looking for ways also to pull you ron into this these types of conflicts that are going on in order to do the same there and provoke regime change i mean i think that's what this is all about in the end you know that there's a situation in the middle east where a lot of people regular citizens want changes take place in our country just as is happening in the united states is happening all throughout european nations as well and unfortunately you know there are really powerful interests from the u.s. and its allies that want to be the ones to impose whatever that changes and to to somehow craft it to their own interests that takes place in the middle east and so that's what we're seeing and

and as u.s. troops wind down and iraq violence is asking leading and syria although the arab league monitors have arrived there are economists economic sanctions against syria remain as r.t. sarah ferguson reports it's the ordinary people who are feeling the pain. it's been nearly ten months since syria's uprising began the capital of damascus is a mango as he sells it from the conflict in fact in the bustling sun so it seems like it's business as usual as one says it's in the winds of change have begun subliminal stronger the arab league's imposed tough economic sanctions the effects of which have been felt even hit in a poor area of damascus and her family struggling to make ends meet. learning the beauties of the beans for a living that he barely makes one hundred fifty three incomes a day three dollars to support him and he's really. now the fuel for his vending cart has become harder to get hold of with the economic sanctions i'm driving by i said. there are less products available and the p

represented on his father in a u.s. court the prime motivation for them representing him was to say to the government if you're going to assert the right to kill one of your own citizens we demand to see the evidence against him and that case was dismissed on state secret grounds and so the obama administration saying we have this evidence we just can't show it to you because it's too sensitive do you think that there's any chance that they might release that information now or that you know if there were another law if they were to take place they won't be able to claim state secrets anymore because let's face it they already went and killed them. i you know i wouldn't expect to see any sort of mug. a load of proof against anwar a lockie i mean the fact is that president obama is not going to be under any pressure from anyone that matters to his administration to produce such evidence he has normalized policies that would have been the source of scorn and denunciation from liberals the nation policy the bombing multipl

how does she fit into the u.s.-- of the u.s. intention. >> the u.s. has been deliberate and careful consulting her before they do anything. the surprising thing is the level of commitment she has shown to its president, it's surprising, the same government that kept her under house arrest for two decades, she is now starting to work with and even endorsing the u.s. working with. so she has a lot at risk here that she is putting into the game. secretary clinton and obama have a lot at risk as well because of the-- they are lending to the talks and the president is under extreme pressure, i think, and has a lot at risk. and so i think the more people have at risk, one of the officials was telling me, the more chance there is of this succeeding. everyone has something to lose. but again it's very delicate, all sides think this could fall apart any time. >> warner: finally so, few americans have seen myanmar, give us a flavor of what it is like. have you been able to talk with any ode burmese? >> i've tried, you know, we spent one day in the new capital t