a member of nato do you think becoming a member of nato is becoming a less attractive or do you think. what do you see on this front in the future. i mean i would like to cheer you would you say because i don't think is the right way to put it. middle is not and if so and soon he's still going to need to is an organisation of free nation willing to share together certain value and first and foremost the value free democracy they want to protect them and it was through to be a close to to save the planet. the atlantic charter which was written in one thousand forty nine well before the open door points clearly said we are. not going to lines in which any european member who share these values in the freely choosing to be part of these alliance it can contribute to the value of the land is welcome so there is nothing to do with the expansion to the east to the north to south to the west we are an organisation in which any nation willing to abide to these values can we will and when i say any i see any european nation large beak small or medium and even the us even very large do you thin

who is the chairman of the nato military committee as you may know nato was established as an alliance between countries to defend against outside threats with me today to talk about the possibilities of a future between russia and nato as well and the direction nato is taking so thank you for joining us admiral a pleasure really pleasure the first question let's get right down to it anders fogh rasmussen has called on russia to join the new anti-ballistic missile defense project now in your opinion what could make of this an attractive option for russia well i believe first of all that. russia and the alliance have a common interest to put take them and put a new emerging threat the prove creation of a bottom of the structure and the means of delivery including ballistic missile is this is one of these threats so there is i believe general interest. to protect them since this i also believe that the new u.s. approach so-called feast. approach to missile defense is also potentially attractive but cost is focused on spiral development so looking at the turret as the a manage which is al

want nato forces to remain. ok if i go back to you in washington i mean there's the u.s. hopes in one way one fashion or another that the pakistani this is what they're pakistanis what they're supposed to do in the deal is to bring the taliban to the negotiating table in one form or another hopefully not have to deal with them directly they're the intermediary but in a broader picture and i think i want to address this to everyone here and this is my own opinion all across the region everyone's just watching really waiting waiting for some kind of strategic withdrawal defeat of the united states be it. in iraq if the if the state were to not be a solid is the americans who told me when there is hard to believe there always are already talking about leaving afghanistan i mean the united states is talking about the future and for americans the future comes real soon in the region it's a lot more long term so how can we be talking about a negotiated peace when at the same time the obama administration are enormous

well yes i think so but i have to say i mean first on such of nato i mean nato is already leaving i mean you have this again saying we we are in afghanistan what date what is it what would you like we you know what's the we know what's the we can't solve it you know what it is in afghanistan effectively as a coalition of the willing as usual mostly britain and america and britain by now i mean the rest are doing the minimum possible to maintain a relationship with the united states which keeps the united states in europe which they still regard as essential in a way which some of them will candidly admitted private this is not really about afghanistan at all it's all about european countries believing that they still depend on american security terms and therefore have to help america but as you say in the end the decisions will be made in washington and the question for obama will be the balance between on the one hand the growing unpopularity and seeming hopelessness of the war but on the other hand of course the aid the damage to his administration which would come from the appearance

we think the root cause is related to the intervention of the united states and nato. it's been for about 20 years that the americans are interfering in afghanistan. >> reporter: afghanistan's not the only issue iran's confronting with the international community. its alleged attempt to build a nuclear bomb has drawn new sanctions. let me ask you about sanctions, if i may. does it concern you that the people of iran may be feeling the effects now of sanctions that result from iran's nuclear policies? >> translator: i think the policies by europeans and americans are ridiculous. they think they're going to influence the life of the iranian society. if fact, they're imposing sanctions against themselves. iran is a great nation with a great population. we have vast and rich resources and it's very much easy for us to overcome all problems. >> reporter: one unsolved problem is the 31 year freeze in relations with america. five years into your presidency, i sense that you feel an opportunity was missed for a reconciliation and accommodation with america. but you clearly don

they're working with nato and bagram. the idea is that they would practice their air assault techniques but also go and do some work. they wanted to prove that these guys the plan their own operation, operate the aircraft, do it safely, bring all the moving parts together -- the ground troops, the landing zones, aircraft, bringing it together and do it safely and then execute a mission at the end. they did it. they executed a landing zone, they flew in and went into the village, had boxes of cheap radio and supplies, and a allowed the villagers to commend and get some of the stops. that is where it all broke down. [inaudible] the military side of the operation was well planned and executed. no one had bothered to check with the village of authority -- the village authorities. from their perspective, they got invaded by an afghan commando force. ironically, one of the points of giving out humanitarian aid for was the commandos to build good relations with the community. they undermine that by not coordinating their arrival

and nato forces confirm two american navy personnel went missing friday. a massive manhunt is underway with photos of the missing men, and an offer of a reward for information about their whereabouts. >> from what know right now -- i don't have all the details -- this is an unusual circumstance. >> alan: admiral mike mullen says he is more optimistic than ever at that time the u.s. mission in afghanistan will be accomplished. he warned, as more u.s. troops arrive in afghanistan there will be more instances where troops are in harm's way. >> carolyn: "the new york times" are reporting one of the biggest leaks of classified documents in military history. the papers are from 2004 to 2009 and reveal fears among nato leaders that pakistan and iran are fueling the insurgency in afghanistan. the document ease veal unreported incidents of afghanistan civilians killed by nato forces and covert special forces operations against taliban figures. an online whistle-blower organization provided early access to the 90,000 documents they're leaking. a u.s. analyst has bee

and independence on the using terrorist methods and he was also supported by the united states and nato doing effectively dirty work for them to enable them to bomb themselves into cost of all and take control of that region let's be quite clear the largest military base of the united states and europe has been built in castilla since then so mr howe to deny clearly enjoyed protection at the hague and i don't regard the hague simply as a un. you know i mean it is many people regard it as a washington tribunal there are now questions as to why this is this retiled is taking place well some of it is but the guy really. was if you like absolved of any guilt because as you say and no evidence but the reason is essentially intimidation numerous people have been killed in cost of sales of this i think they now want to show that some kind of justice exists and that is why we are having that trial i've seen nineteen nato countries developing the equivalent to a foot of hiroshima bombs in a seventy eight days war of aggression against the then federal republic of yugoslavia this is twisting thin

with violence peaking, the rules of engagement for nato forces have become a particular flashpoint. recently relieved u.s. commander stanley mcchrystal had instituted tight new standards, to lessen civilian casualties. the vast majority of civilians are killed by insurgents, but coalition killings bring routine and widespread condemnation from president hamid karzai on down to the streets, as seen this past weekend in mazar-e-sharif. >> ( translated ): foreign forces have carried out an operation, and they have killed two civilians and have arrested three others. that is why we are out here demonstrating against them >> lehrer: coalition-caused civilian deaths have declined, but mcchrystal's rules also led to resentment in the ranks. troops said they increasingly found themselves with fewer options to respond and repel danger. the new nato commander, general david petraeus, underscored the core tenet of counterinsurgency warfare, in brussels, shortly after being appointed. >> the human terrain is the decisive terrain. and therefore, you must do everything humanly possible to protect

we are halfway through. >> given the importance of standing up the afghan army, you also pointed out nato is still short 2000 trainers to mentor these guys. you say they need to be pressured to step up. i guess the best way would be to name them. can you give me some ideas? >> i would rather not name them. they know who they are, and i would rather not name them. >> you mentioned this extraordinary protection rackets. i take it the private contractors are paying private security firms sued replace passage, and that ended up in the hands of warlords and the taliban themselves suggesting we are funding the people killing our troops. how serious do you think that is, and what can we do about it? >> it is very serious. they are determined we are going to end it. i am sure of their determination. they are pretty explosive. the afghan army protects afghan convoy is providing suppliers to the afghans. they do not rely on these contractors. they end up being a protected racket. we will protect your convoys, but they are making sure there is no end to the threat to those convoys because they are m

the trust between the afghan national army and the british army and other nato units is working well. this is a rogue element in the afghan national army. this is not typical of what the afghan national army is doing. >> with some of these afghan troops setting off on patrol without british support earlier this year. independent operations, even on the scale, are rare. instead, the emphasis is doing things alongside -- the emphasis is on doing things alongside nato units. a spokesman rejected that this creates dependence. >> the reality is this is training them to stand on their own feet. giving them more autonomy now would not do the job because they are not ready. as they learn from us, they will increasingly be ready to stand on their whole -- on their own feet. that is the whole point of partnering. >> a comment from the u.s. senior official suggests the afghan army men as is poor. he estimated only 3% of soldiers and 12% of police can operate unsupervised. he added the 17% of the police are absent without leave. the problem for nato is knowing whether partnering is working well o

nato wouldn't give details of the plot. leaders from more than 60 nations are expected to attend. >>> in iran tens of thousands of people gathered the city for the funeral procession of 27 people killed in thursday's terrorist attack on a mosque. the bombings also injured 270 others. the insurgent group has claimed responsibility calling the attacks revenge for the execution of its leader. police have arrested 40 people connected to the bombings. >>> in greece several children's camps have been evacuated after a large forest fire expanded southeast of athens. fanned by strong winds as many as 45 fires are racing across the country burning large sections of vegetation. crews battling them from the ground and from the air. so far no injuries have been reported no homes have been damaged. huge forest fires devastated large areas outside of athens in 2007. >> now to the gulf where bp is extending its trial run of a cap keeping oil from going into the water. the oil giant was initially given 48 hours to test the latest effort bu

and nato forces. very little is being made of that. the coverage would indicate that it's more of an issue for the u.s. to kill afghan civilians than it is for the taliban to do so. >> couric: thanks very much. and now let's go to chip reid at the white house. as we mentioned the white house seems to be downplaying these documents. why is that the case in your view? >> well, katie, they are trying to make it sound like this is really nothing new. they want the american people to understand that the white house was already aware of all of these problems including the pakistani intelligence service and civilian casualties. >> the president does not need to read a leaked document on the internet today to be shocked and horrified by unnecessary... and every civilian casualty is unnecessary. casualty of innocent life. >> they may be underestimating the problems here because, yes, people were aware and certainly if president was aware of the problem with civilian casualties but if we're now going to be bombarded for days on end with a long s

complete and one possibility is to show that now that this is a stake in place and that essentially nato occupation and on that it costs a lot ministration that they actually want to show that this is not all right. that was balkans political expert. from london talking. told us have a look at some of the international news in brief remain you have got what i believe to be the bodies of the remaining dictator nicholai ceausescu and his wife and children want to confirm they were actually buried at the sport in bucharest officials took samples from the corpses before repairing the coffins. remaining for twenty five years before being executed in an anti communist revolt. the worst flooding in more than a decade has left at least seven hundred people in china dead so far this year millions of been evacuated from homes and more than three hundred still missing due to continue rainfall roads and rail lines from a lot to landslides officials say the rainy season will continue until the end of august at least. in france said traffic controllers are on strike protesting a plans to merge europea

nato has not confirmed these claims. the u.s. government has condemned the leaking of tens of thousands of classified documents on the conflict in the afghanistan, saying it could threaten national security. they were published on the internet by wikileaks, which is an organization that specializes in publishing anonymous sensitive documents. >> there are reports from the from lines and have set on the afghan conflict. -- from the front lines and have sensitive information on the conflict. the leader of the taliban is a list of ordering attacks. the documents could be the tip of the iceberg. >> they do not include most reports from u.s. special forces. they do not include report by the cia. they do not include reports by other coalition bodies. but they do include the majority of regular u.s. army activity. >> the news out let that had access to the documents said that the u.s. special forces units had targets to be killed bin areas controlled by german troops. it insists it is not involved in targeted killings. >> the purpose of

army i mean dependent on me using terrorist methods he was also supported by the united states and nato the doing effectively dirty work for them to enable them to bomb themselves into kosovo and take control of that region was required the largest military base of the united states in europe has been built in kosovo since then so mr hardin i clearly enjoyed protection of the hague but i don't regard the hague simply as very few when we talk for you know i mean it is many people regard it as a washington tribunal there are now questions as to why you assess this three trial is taking place well some of it is very dry really. it was if you like absolved of any guilt because as you said no evidence but the reason is essentially intimidation numerous people have been killed in kosovo as a result of this i think they now want to show that some kind of justice exists and that is why we are having that trial i've seen the nato countries dropping the equivalent to a free year oshima bombs you know seventy eight days of war of aggression against programme for the republic of yugoslavia this is

it's been a very difficult summer for nato troops in afghanistan. so i think they feel the need to respond to this. obviously there's serious issues within the department of defense or the army, the fact that individual, or individuals were able to leak 92,000 documents that were supposed to be secret. so clearly, they have legitimate concerns there. but, yeah, i think the sort of attacks on the founder of wikileaks julian assange were probably uncalled for, but i think they clearly needed to respond somehow. >> larry: michael and daniel remain. peter, thanks for joining us. when we come back, general wesley clark and anthony sheaffer will join us. don't go away. ♪ [ male announcer ] like summer, it's here, but not forever. the lexus golden opportunity sales event. see your lexus dealer. the lexus golden opportunity sales event. when you least expect it... a regular moment can become romantic. and when it does, men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis. with two clinically proven dosing options, y

leaks be include reports on the deaths of hundreds of civilians increase taliban attacks as well as in nato fears that pakistan and iran are backing the insurgency. but from london has more on this. this is essentially a detailed account of the last sixty six years of the war in afghanistan that begins at the beginning of two thousand and four and right at the end of two thousand and nine and there has been quite a lot of criticism and skepticism about these documents criticism from the white house which says that the release of documents like these could lead to danger for the personnel who are on the ground and compromising operation and skepticism about whether this is really new information the military experts are saying that we've always known that there was corruption going on in the war in afghanistan and that this is this is nothing new essentially but nevertheless these ninety thousand documents many of them refer to the toll that the afghan war has taken on civilians . hundred forty four details incidents of the deaths of civilians during this conflict some of them have been from

it's been a very difficult summer for nato troops in afghanistan. so i think they feel the need to respond to this. obviously there's serious issues within the department of defense or the army, the fact that individual, or individuals were able to leak 92,000 documents that were supposed to be secret. so clearly, they have legitimate concerns there. but, yeah, i think the sort of attacks on the founder of wikileaks julian assange were probably uncalled for, but i think they clearly needed to respond somehow. >> larry: michael and daniel remain. peter, thanks for joining us. when we come back, general wesley clark and anthony sheaffer will join us. don't go away. ♪ check the hottie walking by... ♪ ♪ ...wait that's a dude, no thanks ♪ ♪ check the new hairdo check the mic one two ♪ ♪ 'cause i'm about to drop some knowledge right on top of you ♪ ♪ you check a lot of things already why not add one more ♪ ♪ that can help your situation for sure ♪ ♪ check your credit score ♪ free-credit-score-dot-com free-credit-score ♪ ♪ y

leaks they include reports on the deaths of hundreds of civilians increased taliban attacks as well as nato fears that pakistan and iran are backing the insurgency that is lorimer from london as more. this is essentially a detailed account of the last six years of the war in afghanistan that begin at the beginning of two thousand and four and right at the end of two thousand and nine these ninety thousand documents many of them refer to the toll that the afghan war has taken on civilians that are hundred forty four detailed incidents of the deaths of civilians during this conflict some of them have been from controversial as strikes that we've already seen a lot of in the news in that the afghan government has complained about that some of them also with fists from something as simple as troops shooting at all no i'm civilians on the streets either the drivers of cars or the drivers of motorcycles because they wrongly thought that they could be suicide bombers there's details in these reports of one hundred ninety five civilians killed and one hundred seventy four wounded but that's conside

the nato-led international security assistance force fired a rocket that hit a house. vihouse to flee the fighting between taliban insurgents and the isaf. many women and children were among the victims. president karzai denounced the incident and demandeded that the isaf take every possible measure to avoid civilian casualties. an isaf spokesman said they are still investigating. this is a major source of hostility to isaf and u.s. forces. >>> u.s. and south korean war sxhpz helicopters are carrying out maneuvers off the korean peninsula. the media was shown some of the exercises on monday. on the second day of the four-day drill, earl morning aircraft staged takeoffs and landings on the "uss george washington." refueling activities were also shown. the large scale war game involves 200 aircraft and submarines. it focuses on detecting submarines and destroying torpedos in the event of an enemy attack. the exercise is apparently a warning to north korea in the wake of the sinking of a south korean naval ship in march. north korea strongly protested against the exercise

troops from nato primarily and organized around the nato flag, that obviously includes noncontributing nations, for example, australia, we're seeing, i think, very effective operations. now, it's often said the only thing more difficult than fighting a war with allies is fighting one without them. it's not that there's not any friction, but when you look, for example, the very mature german operations up in the northern sector, as we make certain that the enemy can't find a new home there under increasing pressure in the eastern and southern areas, when you look at those kind of performances and those are the romanians, the astonians, these are countries that will are fighting alongside us. thousands of kilometers from europewhere we initially set nato up to fight. so i think it's going well. we also have 71% of their 9,700 re-enforcements already on the ground. frankly, that's ahead of where i thought it would be right now. so besides our 85% of our 30,000 there, we're seeing this coalition re-enforcement coming in, and also the civilians. we'll get the civilian piece of it, right. an

, one adult female, exactly the kinds of civilian deaths that have caused so many afghans to resent nato. as of june 2007 there is a report on task force 373, a secretive u.s. unit try to capture or kill top insurgents. one is marked that the following information must be kept protected. the founder is now talking of possible war crimes. >> it is up to a court to decide, clearly, whether something is a crime in the end. that said, it does appear on its face to be evidence of war crimes. >> the problem is separating and distinguishing insurgents from civilians. flares are fired to ward off an afghan. britain is accused in the report of causing civilian casualties. today the afghan government tried to sound positive. >> we have made progress in trying to minimize civilian casualties in what we hope is information that the international community and the afghan government, for everyone, that we learn from it. >> these revelations about taliban capabilities most worry the troops on the ground. we are told that insurgents have access to affordable he's seeking anti-aircraft missiles. frank ga

nato officials have not confirmed the reports and so characterize the unidentified men as missing. they're also conflicting reports about whether the body of one of the two has been recovered. nato officials refuse to say what the men were doing in such a dangerous part of the country. >>> the obama administration is condemning yesterday's release of more than 90,000 classified field reports from the war in afghanistan. the sensitive military records made public by an organization called wikileaks span from 2004 to january of this year and contain previously unreported killing of afghan civilians by coalition forces. they also describe u.s. fears that pakistan's intelligence service was aiding the insurgency and meeting directly with the taliban. according to the white house, the disclosures, quote, put the lives of americans and our partners at risk. >>> a tragic stampede at a music festival in germany has people pointing fingers after one of the world's deadliest public events in years. 19 are dead and 340 injured after nearly a million and a half people showed up saturday for a

separately, a claim that a nato rocket killed 52 civilians. all threatening support for president obama's plan to escalate the wa ar. >> there's minimal support from the american people for a long campaign. >> all of that information out in a public way has the potential to do harm. >> reporter: secrecy, tough to protect in modern warfare. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, washington. >> the main leaker is believed be to be a 22-year-old army intelligence officer from maryland. >> just ahead, imagine riding through the drive-through in this. we'll show you who's behind this whacky invention. >>> up all night in oakland. we'll take you to the coliseum where you can join hollywood a-listers shooting a move about the a's. >> and police think they have a the people who killed a man over $17. >> and prepping for your morning commute. i'm tracking it for you this morning. >>> good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> i'm brent cannon. straight up 5:00 in a couple of seconds. it is tuesday, july 22nd. >> we want to check in with

is far from the official picture nine hundred thousand pages details civilian deaths at the hands of nato troops as well as concerns pakistani intelligence could be helping the taliban calls to end the war now growing louder in many countries including the u.k. . it's not a former british soldier who's refusal to fight cost him his freedom. this is the soldier who said no to speaking out against the conflict what he calls illegal and unjustifiable his advice to the government so i would say listen to simply. the morning with. this conflict. you know fall off the wagon which was the message which spin cycle fusion the. two public clinton joined the army in two thousand and four and fought for seven months in afghanistan he says he came home a changed man suffering symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder which he claims he was bullied when he heard he was being sent back to afghanistan did from the army and didn't come back for two years initially his military superiors were understanding but when joe spoke at an antiwar rally in london. charges to desertion which carries a ten year pris