he is a senior fellow in the middle east studies. has book "beirut 1958" is a nonfiction thriller that provides a cautionary talent for today. it is a profound understanding of the complex tapestry. in conspiracies consummating. he will be doing a presentation about his book and the topic followed by a q&a. please join me in welcoming bruce. first of all thank you for coming in july 15, 1958. the second marine regiment they anticipated that it would be d day d-day and they were going to be facing a hostile audience. in fact what they ran into was lebanese and other foreign tourists sunbathing on the beachst and some of them in the new invented bikini fortunately i don't have a picture of anybody in a bikini on the beach but i do have a picture of lebanese rushing to the shore fascinated by the marines. vendors charged down the beach selling coca-cola, cigarettes should warm schwalm and other lebanese delights. it turned out in large numbers to see the sights here you can see taxis pulling up. it was all in a way of a comic opera but

titling this program middle east dystopia question mark 20. and is that a good title for this program yes it is a good title and it is also know we are moving into something that is going to be very tumultuous very uncertain and it could end up in a much wider conflict well always happy when you come to moscow but i'm not always happy when you end on such a big note i what i really i very much appreciate you joining us here on the r.t. interview 1st time time for a new year anyway. is later systematic. and there's no no you know not. all of them ok if there. was not a master plan a little bit about who they are really. good wives. that have been. the one that had. people. give their name not even come on. shore you know the noise they need the whole. demand now. and i think. pounds of northeastern france accuse the belgian neighbors of illegally dumping rubbish across the border from the child the dubin scheme investigates. being described as dumping on i mean just real scale and you can see why. the 1st time since the start of the outbreak th

speaks with a former senior british diplomat on the outlook for the middle east. and welcome to the r.t.e. interview one peter lobo donald trump's deal of the century has been put forward what does it say about the middle east geopolitics in even metaphysics i mean game joined by a former british and founder and director of complex for allister welcome back to moscow. we talk about the middle east you know when donald trump and his administration put forward their deal of the century for what we thought was going to be the israeli palestinian conflict to be resolved actually use something much much more comprehensive and i read dozens and dozens of articles about it they all pretty much say the same thing but your article recent article israel in the middle east a civilizational and metaphysical war this is so think very different looking is the deal of the century what your thesis in this article is simply the fact to recognize that israel. is more like any normal nationalist it's not like nationalism. i'm of russian nationalism or other nationalism precisely bec

discussing the middle east in the 1st part of the program you're talking about this idea of. israel's messianic view for empire in the region as a reflection of how america looks at the world. but one thing kind of in bedded in this him prior vision is that somehow particularly sunni muslims in the middle east will have to accept zionism will they do that no i don't think in coercion they don't have to accept zionism. that would be accepting the zionist project but they have to accept the old 30 some of the if you like the. project. just as i said you know in rome people have spain and if one had to accept. all of. even if they did their own thing to a certain extent they have to but it really in some ways were almost i mean it needs to be sort of consolidated but most of the arab states some of the gulf states who are already you know. the head human is like of the vision of the civilization they get out of it what do they get out of it is that they hope they're going to get business and they going to have a front door to washington and be accepted. but the great difficulty

it looks at the causes of instability in the middle east and where u.s. action against iran a lead. >> welcome. the scheduling of this book and panel is certainly timely given the rising crisis with iran. we will get to that subject eventually, but the book entitled "seven pillars" and the discussion is to look more broadly and deeply at the drivers of instability of the middle east. from yemen to syria to iraq and now with iran, the region more than ever seems in a permanent state of turmoil if we can't become a land of before and tragically despite decades of intense and often well-meaning intentions into the expenditure of billions of dollars, u.s. policy has more often than not been a failure. maybe the caveat more often than not is too kind. it's been an absolute failure if one accepts it was a better life for the people of the region. of course the ones ultimately responsible for the success or failure are the people who live there. but the catastrophe of today's middle east raises a lot of questions about whether the united states should continue t

>> good morning i'm the director of the middle east program and we are delighted to welcome you to what i think will be a fascinating program on us policy and strategy after the qassem soleimani strike. first in the unlikely event we need to evacuate the building i will tell you where to go. i don't think that will be a problem but i will direct you. also thank you for those who have supported today's activity. they have done it in a way that is exemplary for the way a policy discussion should do so to set up a conference so there is no responsibility for what we say but but it is an issue of significant broad interest we are grateful for the support. looking at what has happened in the gulf there is a broader national debate if the us should be digging in or pulling out. iran is perceived to be a threat. even within the chump administration even how the us should deal with that threat the us increasingly has been facing asymmetrical threats and responding with conventional tools that has been expensive and affected limited - - effectiveness january 3rd gave us a punctuation mark to loo

just about every middle east problem always has a chicken and an egg base. how do we get in this mess? which comes first the chicken or the egg? but in the case of the current problems in the gulf is the chicken and the egg. so to be sure we did not create this animosity between the persians and arabs. that is clear that is not our responsibility or our fault. but pulling out of the iran nuclear agreement added fuel to a fire that was always approaching and set off a chain reaction we haven't been able to direct even with the iran nuclear agreement so let me make a basic point it was not at all the agreement but it did two important things it bought space on which to work other aspects of iran's behavior which some assurance the nuclear issue would be under control for a predictable period of time and a rare instance if a coalition of ad one - - adversaries could agree from european partners to china and russia it was a platform the us could bring multilateral leverage to bear on other gulf issues. that is all gone now in fact i would argue the unilateral ac

in the middle east. if one person wants to move these elites talk about this way then there is someone whose interests are affected that way and i don't think all of these states it's going to be easy to have reform i don't think reform i don't think they can reform themselves as things stand so i expect these protests will get worse and increase particularly easy economic situation of the middle east as israeli much of europe is already in something of a recession. and its parts of the middle east are in deep recession and this is going to have big popular. populist if you like impact and i'm not sure all that all of these states will survive this period because they contra form i don't think we will see. that because you know in lebanon the sectarian interest in. there is difference is the gulf interests and all sorts of different interests and none of them really are capable the elites in the middle east i don't think any of them are really capable of making the reform look at the gulf states they say

and this pathway. >> i am with the middle east but not as much as any of you have. talking about the middle east in your book with lebanon to iran. >> and those and that university of michigan. >> one quick comment and then a question. but when you say while we may be here with the religious extremist against another. you have to remember religion has been adopted as a tool to gain power. not the other way around. but my comment is may be afghanistan. and doing it for purely religious regions. about the question is there are two historic ancient thoughts the religious divide between the sunnis and the shiites and the ethnic between the persians and arabs. i think i'm not wrong war between more people died between iraq and iran than any other conflict put together in those years. so my question is i think we see a little bit of that now because so in the long term with those two divides do you and then to say i will get that right half the time for and would say i only get that right about half the time. i simply don't know. the factors of persian versus arab. this i

middle east peace plan was unveiled last month and it allows israel to annex all of its west bank settlements in turkey demonstrators are holding a rally in istanbul. some of the same the playing out in the moroccan capital robots protest says there are also condemning the trump administration's plan. but as the headlines and news continues here on the listening posts. in japan thousands of men and women that are without a trace one i want to investigate why people need their own disappearance and. how does the. concept but. i'm i'm. i'm talking it's that i get these pictures i've got. a lot to come oh my god hello i'm richard gaisford and you're at the listening post among the media stories that we're covering this week unrest over a new citizenship law in india are all those news channels out to inform or incite a state of a union divided donald trump on years of controversy of talk radio host media in the middle east and the troubling use of blackface why is it still considered an acceptable form of entertainment. plus the u.k. breck's it and the war of words. we want my. french words as i

and its parts of the middle east are in deep recession and this is going to have big popular. populist if you like impact and i'm not sure all that all of these streets will survive the spirit because they contra form i don't think we will see. that because you know in lebanon the sectarian interest in. or is difference is the gulf interests and all sorts of different interests and none of them really are capable the elites in the middle east i don't think any of them are really capable of making the reform look at the gulf states they say they need reform to i don't see that we're going to see there's that level of inertia or slow you do have these states here that spend lavishly on arms and we all know why didn't they keep their own populations in our control it's not our national defense i want to go back to the palestinian question here because you know it's we've all long known i mean from slow to the present is that israel has a choice as democracy or a zionist regime in which palestinians are 2nd class citizen and i'll use the. word there for both word essentially apart

and it's parts of the middle east are in deep recession and this is going to have big popular. populist if you like impact and i'm not sure all that all of these streets will survive this period because they contra form i don't think we will see that sort of because you know in lebanon the sectarian interest in jordan or is difference is this the gulf interests and all sorts of different interests and none of them really are capable the elites in the middle east i don't think any of them are really capable of making the reform look at the gulf states they say they need reform to i don't see that we're going to see there's that level of inertia that is slow you do have these states here that spend lavishly on arms and we all know why didn't they keep their own populations in our control it's not our national defense i want to go back to. the palestinian question here because you know it's we've all long known i mean from slow to the present is that israel has a choice as democracy or a zionist regime in which palestinians are 2nd class citizen and i'll use the. word there for bo

and losing their position in the middle east i think my it's just my own post. believe but i think america will not be in iraq in any meaningful way by the end of the cea nor in syria in any meaningful way i don't think it's going to be sustainable the pressures are already beginning from afghanistan right through. this region to tax it hasn't started yet because the iraq he's still paul came to the americans and the americans seem ready to at least leave in part from iraq so with that leave israel is virtually the sole sarah get proxy for the united states in the middle east is this part of the deal of the century if the u.s. footprint does shrink it will have its proxy i guess you could throw in the saudis as well where you would have that that that axis right there the tell of the axis with it would that be play it presumes that you actually undermined a weakened or destroyed a look principle opposition to this project and that's what's going on well in a sense you know we've all heard the term arab street real or imagined but we're talking about elite decisi

and this pathway. >> i am with the middle east but not as much as any of you have. talking about the middle east in your book with lebanon to iran. >> and those and that university of michigan. >> one quick comment and then a question. but when you say while we may be here with the religious extremist against another. you have to remember religion has been adopted as a tool to gain power. not the other way around. but my comment is may be afghanistan. and doing it for purely religious regions. about the question is there are two historic ancient thoughts the religious divide between the sunnis and the shiites and the ethnic between the persians and arabs. i think i'm not wrong war between more people died between iraq and iran than any other conflict put together in those years. so my question is i think we see a little bit of that now because so in the long term with those two divides do you and then to say i will get that right half the time but the other is that i simply don't know the five. >> with the arab versus sunni but to raise the point to the question of

the slight capacity within the middle east. how much they can wrap up production or turn it down depending on under supply or oversupply in the rest of the world. overall, this prosperity, which is fueled by middle east oil, facilitated the containment of the soviet union and its communist allies, and helped win the cold war. anyways, i think -- in the remaining time i have, i think i have one more minute, what are u.s. aims, broadly speaking, regarding the oil industry past and future? i would argue there is not a whole lot of difference from what they were in 1945 and what they are today. the most important factor is control over the global oil trade. not control over foreign oil fields. remember, the oil is only useful if you have a market for it. as long as we control access to those markets -- the developed world who tend to be more oil intensive -- as long as you control access to those markets, you don't actually need to control the oil fields themselves in the producing world, which obviously makes relations with oil pr

east journal and the journal of middle east studies. i recall a conversation i had at the time with a mutual friend of ours former deputy ambassador to the united states i said us was lucky to send a deal with arabic to smooth the way that abdullah corrected me. know. the opposite is true. arab-american diplomats have a much hired - - harder time everybody expects them to do favors and make exceptions and they don't get the same respect as the other diplomat we don't have to listen to him he is one of us. and when your government does something the locals don't like they hold them personally responsible. so we are eager to hear your thoughts to be the arab-american diplomat in the middle east during the era of volatile and vacillating relations. we are on the record. so please come to the stage the floor is yours. [applause] >> this is a great audience it's a treat for me to be here with you. thank you for the great introduction. by this book. [laughter] the first thing one author has to say to another. we have known each other a long t

the middle east history of slavery the casual racism particularly against. people from the south of egypt and the depictions of black arabs on screen interwoven but as many arabs often say the context is different if it really fair it's a compare slavery and blackface with their western counterparts. i am sure that when people object to the idea that blackface is offensive in the middle east they're saying we're not talking about the american south we're not talking about plantation slavery we're not talking about the same kind of abuses or the same scale that happened in the southern united states. however the slave trade in the middle east was huge and the cultural impact of this slave trade has everything to do with black face in the middle east nobody has ever discussed any of that and nobody has ever acknowledged this very dark and shameful history so like we keep shaming americans and the europeans for when they really do like i think racist but at least. somewhat common terms with their dark history at least they're trying to confront it and face it h

be it in the middle east or in the west blackface is rooted in flavor and racism reinforcing a toxic notion that blackness is the best the joke. from western politicians to media personalities i mean truly for little correctness has gone amuck to even a jumper designed by gucci black face scandal of all over the news social norms have moved slowly by comparison in the middle east things are changing however take the case of shame at say a star on the arab world's most widely watched media network and we think it should be formed last year because the storm online shamus safe is sitting in the front of a van and she's speaking just it's not comprehensible arabic it's not concept principle anything. this. awful overly sexualized nonsense dialect that is an attempt i think to represent the sudanese dialect and it's very offensive in the other video there is shame about with a proportionally her little boy. who constantly has to go to the bathroom and she has him urinate in a jar and when he does so people are horrified. i cannot imagine a woman wiping the urine off of her hands on to ot

withdraw from the middle east. it's a pressure tactic they are trying to institute. they do direct attacks. but i'll remind you guys a few months ago they were putting mines on commercial vessels and there were people in the city arguing we've seen no evidence it was the iranians, it wasn't luxembourg or the belgians. that's the kind of denial attack they seek to conduct and kill americans. the person that rain that program was general soleimani. when i say he was a general, he wasn't really a general, he was a terrorist with a uniform on. that is the campaign iran is trying to carry out. when they decide what kind of attacks to conduct against americans, they weigh a couple of things. the first is, how many americans can we kill before america retallates because they don't -- retaliates because they don't want a war with america. it's a war they can't and will not win. they are trying to see how many americans they can kill, how much they can get away with before triggering a direct response from the united states

the middle east history of slavery the casual racism particularly against. people from the south of egypt and the depictions of black arabs on screen interwoven but as many arabs often say the context is different if it really fair that's a compare slavery and blackface with their western counterparts. i am sure that when people object to the idea that blackface is offensive in the middle east they're saying we're not talking about the american south we're not talking about plantation slavery we're not talking about the same kind of abuses or the same scale that happened in the southern united states. however the slave trade in the middle east was huge and the cultural impact of this slave trade has everything to do with black face in the middle east nobody has ever discussed any of that and nobody has ever acknowledged this very dark and shameful history so like we keep shaming americans and the europeans for when they really do like i think racist but at least. somewhat common terms with their dark history at least they're trying to confront it and face it

what what what has he done in the middle east. well here's what we heard from the democrats well what is done in the middle east let's look at it under president obama and the mess that he inherited what the president's trying to do is say you know we can't be there forever we can have a presence we can have military assistance but we do not need to own the middle east and i think that most people in the middle east are saying you know what we do want want to be allies with you but we want to run our own countries and so i think it was time for us the really really examine our policies over there but we have not had. the terrorism that we could have had and the terrorism that has been predicted again let me say this world's a very dicey dicey place these days but it's a we all know there is going to i'm sorry jack it's always been a dicey place. adrian when he was elected. for that he's going to alex goen whoa ok now i want to know how the hell is your president mr obama did you want me to answer the question of the number of bomb

into theore troops middle east. 15,000 more troops in the middle east today than when president trump took office. for a man who says he was going to lower the number of troops in the middle east, under his watch, we now have 15,000 more. i think we need to have a discussion to avoid the expansion. thati pointed out secretary mark esper told me not the au mf would authorize war with iran, the administration pivoted to other excuses as to why they were conducting this. this. that we do i care that we do this because i care about our troops. if you truly care about our troops, then you would be in a position to support talking about having about real discussions in cameras -- commerce -- congress. said, let's hope the president does not veto this so we can get on with the bipartisan work in front of us to make sure we live up to the sacrifices of our troops. thank you. >> thank you for that very moving statement. there was one thing she said that i think is moving. knowary families want to when their children are out there on the line that the u.s. government is pulling behind them -- f

i am grateful for all of those serving in the middle east and around the world that's why i refuse to stand by it except they can be put in jeopardy are the nation's foreign policy or safety by the inappropriate late-night tree i continue to demand he provides legal justification for the drone strike and then come to congress ahead of any steps to explain how he will move forward in the region with the goal of protecting americans, our allies and interests. in the meantime considering the unique recklessness of this administration, it is urgently important for congress to pass this resolution to pass the trump's ability to ensure congress is given the opportunity to hear what the president may have before taking a vote before determining the dow path we want our nation to go down. in 2002 i voted against the war in iraq because i felt we were sending men and women into harm's way without a plan or a goal. last week the house passed legislation to repeal the 2002 aumf which is a step in the right direction to d bring our troops home. the senate should stand up and assert authority to r

east -- oppress the middle east. truly, jerusalem is liberated. [applause] jerusalem is a safe, open, democratic city that welcomes people of all faiths and places. it is time for the muslim world to fix the mistake made in 1948 when it chose to attack instead of recognize the new state of israel. it is time. [applause] since then, the amount of needless bloodshed and squandered opportunities, so many squandered opportunities in the name of senseless causes is beyond measure. the palestinians have been the primary upon in this regional adventurism, and it is time for this sad chapter in history to end, quickly and now. it is never too late for courageous leaders set a new course and pursue what is right, to change the future, only for the better. america is prepared to work with all parties on our vision, so many other countries are willing, ready, and able to work with us. i cannot believe the amount of supports that this morning has, i cannot believe it. i have been called by leaders, so many called and they are sa

where he said he studied the middle east extensively you gotta get. you've got to get them in there and you've got to you know it's a negotiation you've got to have both sides involved and we've seen it even though the arab league has said no i mean a lot of different countries from that part of the world who i think listen a peace between the israelis and palestinians is beneficial to everybody i mean can you imagine a peaceful middle east i mean we can't we've never even thought about it we take it for granted that it's going to be a constant conflict when we still have it in for shipment free speech yeah which. countries in the world amen do you think trouble in trouble absolutely when i see people that my comedy shows sometimes you know telling me that i can't make fun of our president that worries me because i think that they don't understand what you just said that we have the freedom of speech when they see the president attack the media and he says everything they say is wrong well how can it be that everything they say is wrong and everything

madam president, with soleimani's evil influence removed from the middle east, iran has the chance to chart a new course, to rethink its participation in terrorism and its oppression of its own people. i hope, i hope, madam president, that iran will moderate its activities. but of course, we have to be prepared for the likelihood that it won't. we have to continue to ensure that our words and actions make iran and any other hostile nation think twice before attacking american citizens. and we have to continue to ensure that our military and intelligence community have the resources that they need to identify and to defeat any threat. madam president, i will continue to work to ensure that our military is the best prepared, best equipped fighting force in the world and that our intelligence professionals have the resources that they need to protect our country. madam president, order.

it's the longest standing commitment to maritime security and stability in the middle east. this is not a new mission. it is the 68th royalist really -- royal australian deployment to the region since 1990. it commenced operation on january 21 and has already conducted a transit of the strait of hormuz, but throughout her deployment, she will be dual assigned. she is also supporting the combined maritime forces which is a 33-nation partnership which is targeting terrorism, piracy, drug smuggling in the middle east region and also on the east to northeast coast of africa. she is also supporting, as i said, the international maritime security construct, broad international efforts designed to protect freedom of navigation and design safe passage for commercial shipping and maritime trade in the region. a series of security incidents against shipping in the strait of hormuz and working with international partners to secure trade and energy flows throughout the middle east region by ensuring the safe passage of commercial and also civilian vessels. when operating in support of t

it's the longest standing commitment to maritime security and stability in the middle east. this is not a new mission. it is the 68th royal australian deployment to the region since 1990. it commenced operation on january 21 and has already conducted a transit of the strait of hormuz, but throughout her deployment, she will be dual assigned. she is also supporting the combined maritime forces which is a 33-nation partnership which is targeting terrorism, piracy, drug smuggling in the middle east region and also on the east to northeast coast of africa. she is also supporting, as i said, the international maritime security construct, broad international efforts designed to protect freedom of navigation and design safe passage for commercial shipping and maritime trade in the region. a series of security incidents against shipping in the strait of hormuz and working with international partners to secure trade and energy flows throughout the middle east region by ensuring the safe passage of commercial and also civilian vessels. when operating in support of the imsc, they will

what what what has he done in the middle east. well here's what we heard from the democrats well what is done in the middle east let's look at under president obama and the mess that he inherited what the president's trying to do is say you know we can't be there forever we can have a presence we can have military assistance but we do not need to own the middle east and i think that most people in the middle east are saying you know what we do want want to be allies with you but we want to run our own countries and so i think it was time for us the re re examine our policies over there but we have not had. the terrorism that we could have had and the terrorism that has been predicted again let me say this world's a very dicey dicey place these days but it's all we all know there is going to do and i'm sorrier about it jack it's always been a dicey place. adrian when he was elected. for that he's got it alex goen whoa ok now i want to know how the hell is your president mr obama did you want me to answer the question of the number

what what what has he done in the middle east. well here's what we heard from the democrats well what is done in the middle east let's look at it under president obama and the mess that he inherited what the president's trying to do is say you know we can't be there forever we can have a presence we can have military assistance but we do not need to own the middle east and i think that most people in the middle east are saying you know what we do want want to be allies with you but we want to run our own countries and so i think it was time for us the really really examine our policies over there but we have not had. the terrorism that we could have had and the terrorism that has been predicted again let me say this world's a very dicey dicey place these days but it's all we all know there is going to do and i'm sorrier about it jack it's always been a dicey place. adrian when he was elected. for that he's going to alex goen what ok now i want to know how the hell is your president mr obama did you want me to answer the question o

it's us choice longest any commitment to maritime security and stability in the middle east. this is not a new mission. hms is a 68 royal australian naval deployment to the region since 1990. it commenced operation of it 31st of january and is already conducted a transit of the strait of hormuz with united kingdom royal navy, hms defender. but throughout her deployment she will be dual assigned. she is also the combined maritime forces which is a 33 nation partnership which is targeting terrorism, piracy, drug drug smuggling in the middle east region and also on the northeast coast of africa. she's also supporting as i said the international maritime security construct, a broad international effort designed to protect freedom of navigation and support the safe passage of commercial shipping and maritime trade in the region. australia joined the -- forming a series of security come following a series us to get incidence -- against the shipping in the strait of hormuz. hormuz. under the imfs treaty we're working with international partners to secure trade and energy flows throu

madam president, with soleimani's evil influence removed from the middle east, iran has the chance to chart a new course, to rethink its participation in terrorism and its oppression of its own people. i hope, i hope, madam president, that iran will moderate its activities. but of course, we have to be prepared for the likelihood that it won't. we have to continue to ensure that our words and actions make iran and any other hostile nation think twice before attacking american citizens. and we have to continue to ensure that our military and intelligence community have the resources that they need to identify and to defeat any threat. madam president, i will continue to work to ensure that our military is the best prepared, best equipped fighting force in the world and that our intelligence professionals have the resources that

be it in the middle east or in the west blackface is rooted in flavor and racism reinforcing a toxic nice and the blackness is the best the joke. from western politicians to media personalities i mean truly follicle correctness has gone amuck to even a jumper designed by gucci blackface scandal of all over the news social norms have moved slowly by comparison in the middle east things are changing however take the case of shame at say a star on the arab world's most widely watched media network and we think it should be formed last year because the storm online shamus safe is sitting in the front of a van and she's speaking just it's not comprehensible arabic it's not concept principle anything. this. awful overly sexualized nonsense dialect that is an attempt i think to represent the sudanese dialect and it's very offensive in the other video there is shame with a proportionally her little boy. who constantly has to go to the bathroom and she has him urine a in a jar and when he does so people are horrified. i cannot imagine a woman wiping the urine off of her hands on to other pass

militarized in middle east so this militarization could do certain imagination ideas of 0 to become a man so if you're 47 becomes a purchase or accessory of. certain male groups in the. i mean that i was needing that so passing i wrote that down and how to become a man eunice because we're actually hearing from people who talk about the use of the 8 k. by children especially child soldiers i want to share this from you tube nathan says as a u.s. military veteran any weapon of war does not belong in civilian hands i'm a 4th generation bat my father faced child soldiers in vietnam with a k 47 s. and we also got a comment from a former child soldier himself in the south sudan region that conflict i wasn't too emmanuel jal and here's his experience with that gun. in my experience it's a k 47 and it's light it's easy to cotton and when you find out you enjoy the beach the reason makes you strong strong when my friend died i had to cut a sky plus my. what i can say now is. that. no child should ever case. when we were growing. we're taught to take you for 7 days so far and how much we looke

closest ally in the middle east iranian people love american culture i remember i left iran when i was 6 years old so this was 1900. and he ate and i remember as a kid even being in thrall with american culture i saw the 1st rocky movie in iran i love zorro back then i'd have to order man comics i had all that stuff so i think iranians love america american culture and i think unfortunately a lot of times the way you see us in the media they show people chanting stuff burning flags but that's a minority of people and doing it for political reasons within the within the country you can type against you know larry early on i was getting some typecasting as a matter fact i wrote a book called i'm not a terrorist but i've played one on t.v. because it was making fun of that and for the past 1520 years i've been able to tom agents know more terrorist parts so i haven't had one of those in a long time what do you make of the period we show where i come to terms of the. you know the oscar nominees i think it goes beyond the nominees obviously it goes about trying to open our eyes to movies th

now there has been a lot written about the middle east. i know that, but i am trying to present a different approach. you will find a lot of poetry and literature and cultural references in this book because i think it is important also to remember the richness of the region and humanize the region that has been so void of context so this isn't a book about buddhism, it isn't about about al qaeda or crisis. it isn't even about the dangers of fundamentalists pose for the best. this has been everything that you've already read some everything you've already seen on television and in the headlines with all due respect to my colleagues even i sometimes because that is just the nature of the business and that's why i wanted to take a step back and write this book. this is the story of those that haven't been silenced because they continue to fight against the intellectual and cultural darkness that has involved us. they are intellectuals, poets, lawyers, young progressives, arabs, iranians, pakistanis and, men and women with an equal number of

look at three major shocks in the middle east. you have 73 war and then you had 79, 74 and five, and then you have the second shock with iranian revolution and 79, 82 carter loses to reagan. and then you have the invasion of current kuwait, spike in oil prices. then by 92 and bush moves into claimant rates are three times when you've had a shock in the middle east is a spike in oil prices crashing the market and the economy, we've had regime change in the united states. iran knows if negative for the fourth time. be eight but this time the u.s. is much less dependent on the middle east for oil. they are an exporter of oil would have the same effect even if oil went $220. barrel? >> first about even if it's a hundred and 20 cannot be at 60. the prices global and $10 below. to the price goes up normally. second point when the producer of oil is going to make a fortune in terms of profit and revenue you will have consumers of oil, guys with prizes of $67 a gallon, utility prices increases a spike in the middle and you have all you ha

militarized in middle east so this militarization could do certain imagination ideas of 0 to become a man so if you're 47 becomes a purchase or accessory of. certain male groups in the. i mean that i was needing that so passing i wrote that down and how to become a man eunice because we're actually hearing from people who talk about the use of the 8 k. by children especially child soldiers i want to share this from you tube nathan says as the u.s. military veteran any weapon of war does not belong in civilian hands on a 4th generation that my father faced child soldiers in vietnam with a k 47 s. and we also got a comment from a former child soldier himself in the south sudan region conflict i've listened to emmanuel jal and here's his experience with that gun. in my experience it's a k 47 and it's light it's easy to cotton and when you find it you enjoy the beat of reason makes you strong strong when my friend die and i have to cause lots more. what i can say now is. that. no child should ever come this. is when we were growing. we're taught to take you for 7 years so far and how much

of the middle east. but you gotta get you got to get them in there and you've got a you know it's a negotiation you've got to have both sides involved and we've seen it even though the arab league has said no i mean a lot of different countries from that part of the world who i think listen a peace between the israelis and palestinians is beneficial to everybody i mean can you imagine a peaceful middle east i mean we can't we've never even thought about it we take it for granted that it's going to be a constant conflict one. for shipment free speech yeah which. countries in the world amen do you think trouble in trouble absolutely when i see people that my comedy shows sometimes you know telling me that i can't make fun of our president that worries me because i think that they don't understand what you just said that we have the freedom of speech when they see the president attack the media and he says everything they say is wrong well how could it be that everything they say is wrong and everything you

we have more troops in the region into the middle east and 15000 more troops in the middle east then there were president trump took office so for man who said he would lower the number of troops in the middle east under his watch we now have 15000 more and i think that we need to have a discussion to avoid the expansion in the mission creep that happens. when i pointed out that secretary mark esper told me under oath that the a.m. uf has would not authorize war with iran the administration gave other excuses as to why they were conducting this strike against soleimani. the rationale has been its fluid as water. i care that we do this but i care that we do this because i care about our troops and we truly care about our troops and the military family and the will of the world then he would be in a position to support sunsetting the oath, talking about real discussions here in congress and i am so proud of the rob wiggins who joined us and cast their affirmative vote today and as chuck said let's hope the president does not veto this so we can get on with those bipartisan work to make

what what what has he done in the middle east. well here's what we heard from the democrats well what is done in the middle east let's look at it under president obama and the mess that he inherited what the president's trying to do is say you know we can't be there forever we can have a presence we can have military assistance but we do not need to own the middle east and i think that most people in the middle east are saying you know what we do want want to be allies with you but we want to run our own countries and so i think it was time for us the really really examine our policies over there but we have not had. the terrorism that we could have had and the terrorism that has been predicted again let me say this world's a very dicey dicey place these days but it's a we all know there is going to i'm sorry jack it's always been a dicey place. adrian when he was elected. for that he's going to alex goen what ok now i want to know how the hell is your president mr obama did you want me to answer the question of the number of bomb

confirmed in europe in the middle east in india the number of people killed in unrest in new delhi has risen to 17 more than 150 others have been injured in 3 days of violence over the country's new citizenship last seen by many as discriminating against muslims about violence was happening is u.s. president donald trump wrapped up his 1st trip to india. democratic presidential hopefuls of held a fiery debate in south carolina days ahead of the state primary joe biden is still leading in the polls but bernie sanders and tom style chipped away at. the stream is next stay with us here on out. americans live side by side in 2 parallel universes the truck parts of america are getting in trouble here there is a poll out a few weeks ago that you had almost 30 percent americans believing they were on the cusp of civil war both sides accuse each other of doing things that are so blatantly wrong the bottom line on u.s. politics and policies and their effect on the world. i am really could be here in the street today we're talking about the kalashnikov assault rifle or a k 47 just what makes it

release of the middle east. but you gotta get you got to get them in there and you've got a you know it's a negotiation you've got to have both sides involved and we've seen even that the arab league has said no i mean a lot of different countries from that part of the world who i think listen a peace between the israelis and palestinians is beneficial to everybody i mean can you imagine a peaceful middle east i mean we can't we've never even thought about it we take it for granted that it's going to be a constant conflict the one thing we still have for the moment free speech yeah which. countries in the world amen do you think that's been trouble in trouble absolutely when i see people that my comedy shows sometimes you know tell me that i can't make fun of our president that worries me because i think that they don't understand what you just said that we have the freedom of speech when they see the president attack the media and he says everything they say is wrong well how can it be that everything they say

and stoltenberg said, ok, we will try to do more in the middle east. so, it is hard to tell the difference when things are happening so quickly as to what will actually be implemented. the next day a nato delegation went to washington dc and started exploring how nato could do more in the middle east. so, president trump again gets his way sometimes when he makes these statements that may seem outrageous or unlikely, and that -- then in fact, you know, by bits and bobs, it has been. it remains to be seen exactly on this case what data will be -- what nato will been doing to take over some u.s. responsibilities in the middle east, but there will be some changes and we will be hearing more about those i believe next week with the defense ministers meeting. brent: and we know you will be covering those for us as you always do. teri schultz in brussels tonight. teri, as always, thank you. on both sides of the atlantic, political taboos are being broken. we saw it today here in germany when chancellor angela merkel's conservative gdp party teamed up with th

on january 13, i took a crew of 690 personnel on a six-month deployment to the middle east, and i'm very happy to report to the senate that they are already doing our nation proud. this is not a new mission. it is the 68th royalist really enable deployment to the region since 1990. it commenced operation on january 21 and has already conducted a transit of the strait of hormuz, but throughout her deployment, she will be dual assigned. she is also supporting the combined maritime forces which is a 33-nation partnership which is targeting terrorism, piracy, drug smuggling in the middle east region and also on the east to northeast coast of africa. she is also supporting, as i said, the international maritime security construct, broad international efforts designed to protect freedom of navigation and design safe passage for commercial shipping and maritime trade in the region. a series of security incidents against shipping in the strait of hormuz and working with international partners to secure trade and energy flows throughout the middle east region by ensuring the safe passage of comme