government or to the taliban officials in any case. and that was journalist and writer we'll say and that's going to do it for now and to see my entire interview with neil or for more on any of the stories we covered today but r.t. dot com slash usa or check out our youtube page youtube dot com slash r t america you should also for sure follow me on twitter at christine frizz out coming up next the big picture with tom hartman just a half hour and we talked today a lot about the iowa caucus and tom hartman will take the discussion even further following a narrow romney victory tom asks dr robert jeffers if he will be starting a crusade against mormonism but that's going to do it for the news have a great night. sometimes you see a story and it seems so for like you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize that everything you thought you knew you don't. like is a big.

, and they support the taliban. and they certainly support and maintain very extensive links with the haqqani network, which is one of the most deadly insurgent groups operating in afghanistan. >> smith: the haqqani network is a major branch of the taliban, with close links to al qaeda. pakistan's military intelligence agency, the isi, has a history of supporting them. >> without their protection, without them tolerating the presence of these operatives-- to do planning, training and using pakistan soil-- they won't be able to do these operations. so, isi knows they are doing it, and isi is happy they are doing it because through them, pakistan promotes her policy in afghanistan. and the policy is "taliban are ours, and they are to dominate afghanistan." >> smith: and we're going to help those who help them. >> yes. >> smith: by protecting them. >> yes. >> smith: by not arresting them. for example, one militant alleged to be close to the isi is a known leader in the haqqani network. (horn honking) according to u.s.

should shipboard the opening of a taliban office so that taliban leaders can freely travel without fear of arrest or assassination. next, the obama administration should offer, offer to suspend the u.s. policy of assassinating taliban local commanders in return for the opening of discussions with local tribal leaders in southern afghanistan on creating mutually agreed cease-fires by taliban commanders as well as by u.s. and afghan government forces. and experience of years ago when he did try to demilitarize the british made contact with taliban commanders through the tribal leaders and achieved a cease-fire which lasted struggle months, is was the kind of model but, unfortunately, the americans at this stage didn't like it and they by assassinating one of the taliban leaders in the area, and the taliban therefore said the agreement is off and we entered the town, which had been demilitarize and both sides had gone that. but that is really the model to try and get mutually agreed cease-fires using tribal elders between local commanders and the u.s. rather than the current policy which i

the taliban our brothers in the past so he's no stranger to this idea that the taliban elements of afghan society is going to continue to to exist i think that for many afghans particularly those who live in the north and sort of the central parts of the country where there hasn't been traditionally a very strong taliban presence those are the people who are really going to be looking at this and saying what is the united states doing what is nato doing you've been fining them for ten years and now you want to talk i think for those people who are not part of the pash to an ethnic group and who generally don't have much relationship with the taleban they're the ones who are going to be confused by this you know what surprised me the most i mean you were in afghanistan as a journalist and not as somebody you know with a mission or fighting what surprised you about what's happening right there that people should know about. well one of the things that you mentioned earlier i think that if most americans understood the way that afghans live and work and what's afghan society looks like they'

but in recent years the taliban has made a dramatic return. this man was a taliban commander here. as the leader of 35, he battled for years against government and international forces. but in april, he was persuaded by the government to give up his struggle. a ceremony welcomed the commander from the militant group. local television gave the event heavy coverage. >> translator: i come here in response to president karzai's call for reconciliation. other taliban members should follow suit. >> reporter: but the command ead other deserters regret their decision. they say the government has failed to deliver on promises to provide them with the welfare and security. all they received was a one time cash payment award of $100. less than what they used to get every month with the taliban. >> translator: i can't take being poor any longer. the government gives us the run around. and does nothing to help. >> reporter: the taliban says it plans to open a liaison office to facilitate dialogue with the united states. but at the same time the militant group is collecting its offensive in afgh

taliban jan i think he said. so that of course makes them suspicious because they think at some point this could be some secret deal and karzai will and the whole thing over. so yes, there's massive suspicion, but i still think the war is not working, so you have to find an alternative. and you have to try and end the civil war. i mean, there's the argument the u.s. pulls out. and perhaps that may be what happens and i'm pessimistic about that. what may happen eventually if the u.s. will pull out, leave a few thousand troops behind described as trainers and then the afghan civil war will continue and the comforting psychological line for everybody or to adopt and were there for 10 years, 12 years and we brought a constitution and then these people look at them in ages fighting each other like they did in 1993. >> is it possible that we could pull out and support karzai, maybe after 2014 will be someone else and he could survive at least in the near-term. i think you depicted in this book, najibullah -- i mean --

is ready to release high ranking taliban officials from guantanamo bay so after more than ten years of war that's a big move and it's a big change from the rhetoric that we've heard from previous administrations. some seem to believe that we should go with the terrorists and radicals. as if some ingenious argument. were persuade them they have been wrong all along. we've heard this foolish delusion before the turks who helped rule afghanistan are found in dozens and dozens of countries around the world. and that is the reason this great nation with their friends and allies will not rest until we bring them all to justice. so now they're meeting to go she ations so is that some hail it a breakthrough or is it a final capitulation by the u.s. by the obama administration to finally wrap up this war and get out of this crisis that means matthew hoh former u.s. marine and state department employee he's also senior fellow at the center for international policy and the director of the afghanistan study thanks so much for joining us tonight thanks how do you look at this i mean if you could sa

so after ten years of endless war is the taliban winning. the good evening it's wednesday january fourth seven pm in washington d.c. i'm christine and you're watching our t.v. well there's no turning back now the madness has begun for real now people are actually voting not just talking to pollsters and with those votes counted the results are in romney of course came in first place in iowa with thirty thousand fifteen votes were santorum got just eight fewer votes and ron paul in third place with twenty six thousand two hundred and one thousand votes so in total about one hundred twenty two thousand people voted in last night's caucus the first real test of the voters well under twenty two thousand people isn't that much and when you think about iowa it's not only an extremely rural state it's about ninety one percent white according to u.s. census data it's also traditionally very conservative so if you put those factors all together it's extremely non-representative on the rest of the country and yet it's the reason one candidate michele

marines urinating on dead taliban taliban terrorist purportedly shot in afghanistan uploaded to the internet that shows a group of u.s. marines in uniform you're an aging and what appears to be several dead bodies for u.s. marines desecrating the bodies urinating on the bodies of taliban fighters with a green corps pretty confident that these are in fact u.s. marines in this video and very like just about everybody else who has seen those video called disgusting secretary of defense leon panetta has promised a full investigation of this videotape we don't know for a fact that it is indeed u.s. marines u.s. military leaders from the defense secretary on down say they are outraged they are promising a full investigation. now i've got a few things to say about this and some of it i believe from my discussion with tony shaffer that's coming up but for now let's just take the time out to say well it's nice it's nice that the mainstream media has recognized that this is a story and this reflects on our war efforts and what war does to people but the truth is that it's not enough it's not nearly en

bush we don't negotiate with terrorists terrorists we will not negotiate with the taliban if you look at any of the g.o.p. candidates right now at any of the debates they will say the exact same thing why didn't president obama try to set up negotiations when he first came into office i mean you know in that. sense that really seems like a fine we finally give up we get it can be one of the biggest problems that we have in pursuing the gaucherie actions with the taliban in trying to find an end to afghanistan's civil war and i think it's important for people to understand that you know the u.s. can end the war the u.s. can get out of the conflict which i believe the right thing to do because there's no value in the u.s. fighting in afghanistan and it is not there it's not keeping us safe for terrorists but the u.s. can serve a role rather than a combatant or a belligerent in a conflict as a mediator. the problem is going to be is just as he said we're in the middle of g.o.p. campaign and so even though ron paul got twenty twenty one percent of the vote in iowa yesterday which you can

this man was a taliban commander here. as the leader of 35, he battled for years against government and international forces. but in april, he was persuaded by the government to give up his arms struggle. they welcomed him from the militant group. local television gave the event heavy coverage. >> translator: i've come here in response to president karzai's call for reconciliation. other taliban members should follow suit. >> reporter: but commander bero and other deserters now regret their decision. they are frustrated, and they say the government has failed to deliver on promises to provide them with security. all they received was a one-time cash payment of $100. less than what they used to earn every month with the taliban. >> translator: i can't take being poor any longer. the government gives us the run around and does nothing to help. >> reporter: the taliban says it plans to open a liaison office in qatar to facilitate dialogue with the united states, but at the same time the militant group is collecting its offens

and taliban -- taliban. washington has been considering releasing several taliban prisoners from guantanamo to pave the way. >> united states remains strongly committed to helping build a secure, peaceful, prosperous, democratic future for the people of afghanistan. >> reporter: afghan president hamid karzaifszyf has issued a statement demanding the u.s. government investigate and severely punish those responsible for the act. the taliban calls the video shameful. but says for now, it will not hamper peace talks itch the taliban also says, despite peace talks the group will to -- fight against what it calls an illegitimate government. the u.s. says regardless of the status of peace talks its military campaign against the taliban will continue. katie marzullo, abc7 news. >>> still ahead, not so cheery about cheerios. the mothers who are calling for a boycott of the newest variety. >>> find out what you won't be able to do on any uc campus in the near future. >>> a friendly 49er-stain -- 49er-saints wager. the

marines desecrating the corpses of taliban fighters. good evening, i'm jeffrey brown. >> woodruff: and i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, we assess the impact of the images on anti-american sentiment in afghanistan and the prospects for peace talks with the taliban. >> brown: then, we look at the assassination of an iranian nuclear scientist. >> woodruff: betty ann bowser reports some good news in the fight against cancer. >> one of the great success stories in medicine over the last 40 years is pediatric cancer. we'll introduce to you two survivors and how they're coping. >> brown: margaret warner gets the latest on the decision of a mississippi judge to halt the release of 21 inmates, pardoned by outgoing governor haley barbour. >> woodruff: and ray suarez examines sweeping changes to internet names that could allow for a new world of dot anything. >> brown: that's all ahead on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> and by the bill and melinda gates foundation. dedicated to the ide

karzai is not a fan of taliban. he will be the first to be bumped out if the taliban have any kind of authority in afghanistan. they will not stop fighting. >>trace: is it this their best interest, if they did stop fighting, that america would leave and the taliban could, then, try to resume control over that nation? what is your take on that? >>guest: there is a very, very distinct line between the north and the south. the north typically ethnic, and they were severely abused by the taliban back in the late 1990's and they will not cross that line. so what you will see is a split and possibly a civil war is what i predict between the north and south. >>trace: and the taliban has made it clear as we said in the interim, that they will not deal unless the prisoners from guantanamo bay is released s that a deal break in your estimation? >>guest: this is a back doorway to get a couple of mullahs that i was with in november, released so by transferring them from guantanamo we will see a pardon or some type of back room

also wants high ranking taliban prisoners to be freed from going ton of the day. when it's a contributor. but he leaves the move could signal a major american defeat a decade long conflict. uncle sam has just recently authorized the opening up the official office for the taliban in doha qatar for. the opening of the taliban office doesn't bode well because he effectively has been cut from this wheeling and dealing between americans and taliban on the other side americans it looks like a real deal it looks like they have accepted demands by the taliban that is to keep cut is the government out of the loop and as for taliban themselves they look like one in the only winners in this shadow negotiation the. taliban open out their office in doha they might as well door in it with the two nameplates with the calls from the counterinsurgency doctrine the first if we are not winning we are losing at dressed for the us armed forces and second if we are not losing we are winning for the taliban themselves but look at some of the mains from around the world now and first a t

possibly the taliban in afghanistan and taliban in pakistan separately you know i think that all members have to be involved in the talks for the any chance of peace and for it to work properly george we'll leave it there thanks very much indeed george joining us live from the usa thank you. when it's been a turbulent week for poland which saw from.

marines urinating on what appears to be dead bodies of the taliban well such an embarrassing display of behavior by american soldiers surely is not helping to win the hearts of people abroad and it's likely to strain relations between washington and kobold this at a time washington aims to form some kind of a diplomatic relationship with the taliban but it isn't the first time you relating acts by the u.s. military have been captured for the whole world to see brings back memories of the infamous case of agression who can forget these haunting images these photos were released back in two thousand and four from the aga group prison in baghdad american guards piled naked inmates into human pyramids and forced them into embarrassing positions apparently just for the fun of it and now do these acts serve as the best work recruiting tool for al qaeda and the taliban afghanistan war by jake deliberate joined joined me earlier to talk all about this. yeah i mean basically what happens when you go to war it brings out the worst of human behavior and from all sides from doesn't matter if you

taliban open out their office. they might as well door in it with the two nameplates with the calls from the counterinsurgency doctrine the first if we are not winning we are losing at dressed for the us armed forces and second if we are not losing we are winning for the taliban themselves. but at some of the mains from around the world now and first a tragedy new zealand where one hundred ten balloon burst into flames after hitting power lines killing eleven people on board two of those who died had jumped out of the basket desperation before the plummeted to the ground zero as deadliest and exhausted almost fifty. last crowds have gathered in gammon's characterise suspicions grow their presence sunday with again when a guy has agreement to quit the protesters also want to release of all political prisoners held since until government protests began. a position leaders for sunday would use the country's own rest to stay in power despite signing a regionally backed deal to hand control to his vice president in exch

though sharing with the taliban something the u.s. under president bush vowed never to do some seem to believe that we shouldn't go with the terrorists and radicals. as if some ingenious argument. well persuade them they have been wrong all along. we've heard this foolish delusion before when i said no negotiations i meant no negotiations but that's exactly what's happening today after more than a decade of trying to defeat the afghan fighters the u.s. has reportedly agreed to release high ranking taliban prisoners from guantanamo bay and an effort to start peace talks those sets of be released include mohamed fossil a former taliban deputy defense minister accused of commanding forces that kill thousands of shiite muslims as part of the deal the taliban will open a political office in qatar a safe haven for talks i think this this marks that point or there is a mission maybe not openly that we're not going to achieve that military overwhelming dominance tol'able. so with the us giving in to their demands going to be seen as a victory

possibly the taliban in afghanistan and taliban in pakistan certainly you know i think that all members have to be involved in the talks for the any chance of peace and for it to work properly george we'll leave it there thanks very much indeed george joining us live from the usa thank you. well it's been a turbulent week for poland which saw thousands of people protesting against the anti web piracy pact countries signed up to along with twenty one other european states and i to say the multinational deal which still needs to be ratified by the european parliament allows firms to censor the internet next year to shift the reports now from warsaw. at first thousands across poland directed their anger squarely at the notorious anti counterfeit trade agreement the idea of punishing the site for publishing the. material is somehow illogical to me it's like punishing the corporation that produces knifes for. being used to kill somebody but with every passing rally the protest grew more political the crowds put prime minister government under fire for signing the agreement on thursday most g

taliban into jeopardy at the taliban's announcement earlier this month that they would be opening a political office in qatar but then a taliban spokesman said that while the images were shocking the tape won't affect talks or a prisoner release at the same time though what talks are negotiations even really mean how they end up according to a new top secret u.s. intelligence assessment reported on by mcclatchy the u.s. intelligence community has a very serious doubts and it seems like the pentagon just doesn't agree joining me to ask us this is retired lieutenant colonel anthony shaffer senior fellow for the center for advanced defense studies and packed america and he's also author of the book operation dark heart tony i want to thank you so much for joining us tonight and if we can first just start you know we we first saw this video released just as we were starting the show yesterday but i like to get your comments and your take on it well i love i love your walk into this we're at war for ten years now and the inevitable consequence of that is you have a grinding effect on the military.

and taliban -- taliban. washington has been considering releasing several taliban prisoners from guantanamo to pave the way. >> united states remains strongly committed to helping build a secure, peaceful, prosperous, democratic future for the people of afghanistan. >> reporter: afghan president hamid karzaifszyf has issued a statement demanding the u.s. government investigate and severely punish those responsible for the act. the taliban calls the video shameful. but says for now, it will not hamper peace talks itch the taliban also says, despite peace talks the group will to -- fight against what it calls an illegitimate government. the u.s. says regardless of the status of peace talks its military campaign against the taliban will continue. katie marzullo, abc7 news. >>> still ahead, not so cheery about cheerios. the mothers who are calling for a boycott of the newest variety. >>> find out what you won't be able to do on any uc campus in the near future. >>> a friendly 49er-stain -- 49er-saints wager. the

the videe shows united states marines urinating on dead taliban fighters. catherine herridge explains the timing of the potential war crime couldn't be worse as the military tries to end the war in afghanistan. afghanistan. administration officials confirm that next week marks a major push to jump-start peace talks with the taliban as the us special representative marc grossman, travels to region where he will meet with afghan president hamid karzai and seek his formal blessing of the talks. the new push comes as a potentially embarrassing video reportedly shows us marines urinating on the corpses offdead taliban fighters. secretary of state hillary clinton expressed "total dismay" over the video, and stressed the military personnel were apparently rogue actors. clinton says: "it is american values. anyone -- participated or known about it, having engaged in such conduct, must be held fully possibility of another abu ghraib-type scandal could pnflame the situation in afghanistan just as the u.s. is trying to help broker peace talks to end the more than deca

the taliban looks like that there will be. and as a target and now the talk has been changed from the from the location qatar has been changed to saudi arabia that's what i'm hearing lately and we'll see what's going to come out indeed mr cohen there were thanks very much indeed for sharing your views of us here on the program thank you very much like our visit of russia's economic priorities that's what prime minister and presidential hopeful while we are putting sees as one of the main tasks if he regains the top job a fresh bottle of ideas now with an economic tent comes and his third pre-election article published and one of russia's major newspapers are going off summed up the main points. to prime minister putin the world is currently witnessing a very interesting time when the global economic crisis has led to a reorganization of power with some traditional fever stepping down and new players gaining more influence and the prime minister says russia has all the chances to secure a place the leaders of course are problem

nori fought alongside al-qaeda as taliban military general. another was deputy minister of intelligence who describes himself as al-qaeda member. and they participated in meetings. >> the afghan government knows who we have at guantanamo. >> deputy assistant defense secretary under president bush, he personally reviewed the file of the taliban leaders. >> these are the enemies' senior field commanders and irsuspicion ran leaders -- inspirational leaders to reinspire taliban and al-qaeda. >> while prisoner swap may be seen as confidence building measure, they wonder what the taliban can offer in return. >> i understand what the administration's objective might be. i only hope that if we were to make such a major concession, removing the people from american to afghan control we also get a major concession in return. >> reporter: by identifying the taliban leaders who may be transferred the obama administration could test water to gauge political fall-out. former senior intelligence official question whether the u.s. could have the upper hand in

the pakistani taliban is the largest islamic group in the country. they told nhk that representatives from the afghan taliban visited them in november and december. the afghans asked the pakistanis to shift their target from the pakistani military and police to u.s. troops in afghanistan. the spokes person said his group had accepted the request and plans to send fighters to afghanistan in march. the groups also agree to set up a five-member council to coordinate their activities. >>> four japanese have landed on the disputed island senkaku islands in the east china sea. japan controls them, but china also claims sovereignty over the islands. japan's coast guard says the four japanese, including two members of the municipal assembly from the city in okinawa left on a fishing boat on sunday. they landed on the island on tuesday. the coast guard says the four people approached the islands on a raft saying they were going to fish. then they landed despite warnings by japan's coast guard. the group left the island about two hours later after strolling al

now do these acts serve as the best recruiting tool for al qaeda and the taliban afghanistan. joins me now to talk about this welcome so i mean is this what war can do to soldiers when you go to war do things like this become accessible to the nicest guys i mean basically what happens when you go to war it brings out the worst of human behavior and from all sides doesn't matter if you're the dominant side or the weak side and you could take them and there was the number two al qaida and you could adam gadahn and the rest them you could give them a million dollars and send them out to a camp in the middle of iran and they could try to imagine the best way to recruit more more al qaeda members and we could give them nothing better than what we do when we have incidents like abu ghraib and this situation here this is the hugest recruitment for al qaida that we can do that a body can do and where really what it shows is that the utility of open ended war long force. open into war and the long occupations the utility of it is has very real limits and so the united states ought to t

taliban are pretty communication savvy. they message out very frequently and they make a lot of statementses after every attack or after almost every situation in afghanistan claiming responsibility for it. it may be taliban sometime. sometimes it's other factions in afghanistan that claim responsibility. this time, however, nato says they are very certain that they believe at this point there will be an investigation but they believe it was a mechanical failure that brought this helicopter down. and, of course, other sad news from afghanistan, four french peacekeepers shot by an afghan policeman. that country in mourning for its loss. there was also a massive attack in kandahar yesterday, afghan civilians killed. so while politics is front and center in the united states, understandably, the war in afghanistan goes on. zoraida? >> suicide bombers. barbara starr, thank you for joining us this morning with an update. we appreciate it. >> sure. >>> it is 17 minutes past the hour. minding our business now, u.s. markets closed

talk the taliban. can you count on the taliban to abide by any agreementt you make with them? i doubt it. on top of that you wonder about the administration's eagerness to diminish the military and to end these commitments because the democratic party hates them. and whether they want to enter into peace talk to get the victory and solutionn or because they want to get out? >> the fact is, not just democrats but republicans also don't like the foreign involvement and think that we have been in afghanistan for a questionable outcome, the larger point to get back to the incident there is a media front in wars these days and you don't want to give your opponents a recruiting. >> and the way to deal with that. you know, i will uphold standard and these were enlisted men and will be disciplined in the normal course of things and not posture and preen as if this is. >> chris: i got that. we want to get to the question of the peace talks. is it good or bad. >> if they were decent it is good. but an excuse to