by the end of 1957, algiers was safe. you could argue in a tactical sense, and a tactical sense the french had won the battle of algiers. the problem was, the publicity that attended their practices. they could not keep secret the way they're retreating detainees. for example, some and extricable reason he was allowed to live. he wrote a book called the question which became a best seller in france. there were others who spilled the beans and a was happening in algeria, and that, huge public backlash, not only in france, but around the world. ultimately it was that public backlash that cost france the injury and more. by 1962 they had to grant the algerian independence. and so the tactics, the scorched-earth tactics which have been very effective tactic before then backfired and led to eventual defeat. now, on the other side of the world and virtually the same time the bridge were fighting their own counter insurgency. and the war effort they're starting in 1952 was led by this man, general sir gerald humbler who should n

attacked a boarding house for staff working at an oil-related facility about 1500 kilometers south of algiers. it says the militants are holding the captives on site and are warning they will blow up the facility if authorities try to step in. the agency also reports that a gun fight erupted with algerian forces and that there are reports of casualties. the algeria press service says two people died in the violence and six were injured, including two foreign nationals. one expert tells nhk the reported kidnapping in algeria could be related to conflict in neighboring mally. french troops have been bombing islamist rebel positions in that country since last friday following a request by the malian government. middle east and african expert tells nhk the reported kidnapping could be retaliation. hatanaka says i lal lambist forces in algeria and mally have tied with algeria. >>> shinzo abe has made his first trip overseas to vietnam. he flew to hanoi on the first leg of his southeast nation tour. high on the summit agenda is the region's coordinated response to maritime activities. vietnam was c

or sometimes he calls him algier, like algier hiss, a communist spy. and there's norm yap vincent peal, who helped advice nixon on his mid-:-to. one of the behind the scenes guys giving advice to richard nixon to engage not we call telepopulism, and charlie chap children chaplain pass -- was bolted out of the country, and there's also obviously another central character, the foil to richard nixon and to dwight eisenhower, and that's adlai stevenson himself. he backs throughout the course of the story a fey egghead, an intellectual entering politics. he had a very noble vision of politics. anybody hearing these word will be surprised by them in his acceptance speech in his 1952 convention, he talked to his fellow democrats and said, we shouldn't just worry about winning the election. we have to worry about how it is won. how -- listen to this language -- how well we can take advantage of this great opportunity to debate issues sense my and civilly. better we lose the election than mislead the people. at it time to talk sense to the american people. nobl

rose: did you ever engage in teaching at all or instructing at all in which you used the battle of algiers as a kind of explanation. >> when i used to teach terrorism courses back in los angeles with the joint terrorism task force, i would always start with the battle of algiers because as a historical document, it showed that the terrorists used terror to turn the people against their government because the government couldn't protect them. and the government went to such lengths to put the terrorists down that they became the other terrorists and the people turned on them. when you start a terrorism discussion you got to remember one of the goals of terrorism is to destabilize government and one of the risks is government will over react and destabilize itself. >> rose: peter did you advise the movie makers at any point. >> they asked me to come and look at the early cut of the movie. i advised them as an unpaid adviser i advised them the torture scenes they had in there were basically way over the top. and mark the screen writer told me subsequently that based on that critique and someb

we have brisk winds in algeria. 11 degrees in algiers. seasonal rains pushing it across africa. v. >> welcome back. israel's prime minister has cast his ballot as polls open for parliamentary elections. he is a favorite to win another term in office but he will meet to form a coalition. this video shows a town which is close to a military base. japan's central bank has taken a bold step to kickstart the economy and taken on a commitment to buy assets. a japanese delegation has arrived in china to try to repair talks. both countries claim sovereignty. in another dispute involving china, the philippines says it will challenge chinese claims of the united nations. they claim sovereignty over islands in the south china sea. we have more from hong kong. what does the philippines hoped the u.n. will be able to do? there are not any powers of enforcement. >> what this is is not so much one thing to say who owns what. all these countries are on the south china seas and china are signatories to the united nations convention on the wall of the sea. they are obliged to uphold the agreement

shunichi suzuki met with abdelmalek sellal in algiers. he delivered a letter from prime minister shinzo abe. suzuki asked for details about the deaths of the two latest victims, and he requested help in bringing their bodies home. >>> investigators are looking into the timing of the attack. executives from energy companies had a meeting scheduled on the day the militants moved in. algerian security forces surrounded the plant soon afterward. then they fought their way in. at least 37 foreign nationals died in the operation. a senior manager with jgc corporation was among the japanese hostages. he was scheduled to meet with managers from the british oil firm bp. bp leads the gas development project. some officials have questioned whether someone leaked information about the meeting to the militants. friends and relatives of the victims are expressing their sadness and their anger. more from nhk world's keiko abe. >> reporter: rokura fuchida ran building sites around the world. he was 64 years old and retired. then his former bosses asked h

everyday in algiers at 18 degrees. tunis, mostly cloudy, >> good to have you. the top stories on al jazeera. algerian soldiers have surrounded a gas facility near the libyan border. two people have been killed and gunman are holding 40 people inside. some people are reported to have escaped the facility. french forces have launched a ground offensive against rebel fighters in mali. a spokesman for the rebel group says the two sides are fighting at close range. doris truong nigeria and chad are expected to arrive over the next few hours. -- soldiers from nigeria and chad. chile is no longer flying that the boeing 787 dreamliner after recent problems. boeing maintains it is safe to fly. thousands of protesters in front of pakistan's government, the cleric is holding talks with the government. as of the ruling coalition are negotiating with him after he threatened further action. he wants the government to resign. there's no sign the prime minister will heed his call. the anti-corruption chief of pakistan has been depending the prime minister at the supreme court.

the algerian say they killed at least 32 terrorists, their bodies displayed on algiers tv. now the focus is on this man the leader of the terror group. he is believed to have masterminded the attack from the safe haven of molly -- mali. >> five people were heard -- hurt at gun shows tonight. a man shot himself while leaving a gun show. in ohio, one man showed another man a gun and accidentally pulled the trigger. and take a look at this crowd. in raleigh, north carolina came running out of the dixie gun and knife show after shots were fired. and then unzipped his rifle case and then the gun went off. everyone involved in the shootings is expected to be ok. the message was loud and clear. kroger and supporters holding rallies at state capitals across the country. -- pro-gun supporters holding rallies at state capitals across the country. martin o'malley revealed sweeping new gun control proposals. some say these will step on second amendment rights. >> i think they are deliberately going out of way to make it harder for law-abiding citizens to be able to protect themselves.

rose: did you ever engage in teaching at all or instructing at all in which you used the battle of algiers as a kind of explanation. >> when i used to teach terrorism courses back in los angeles with the joint terrorism task force, i would always start with the battle of algiers because as a historical document, it showed that the terrorists used terror to turn the people against their government because the government couldn't protect them. and the government went to such lengths to put the terrorists down that they became the other terrorists and the people turned on them. when you start a terrorism discussion you got to remember one of the goals of terrorism is to destabilize government and one of the risks is government will over react and destabilize itself. >> rose: peter did you advise the movie makers at any point. >> they asked me to come and look at the early cut of the movie. i advised them as an unpaid adviser i advised them the torture scenes they had in there were basically way over the top. and mark the screen writer told me subsequently that based on that critique and someb

the reason that's not clear, erin, it's a long way from algiers. they aren't really allows an international presence there. they want to handle this on their own. we know that today they launched a succeed series of efforts on the facility. that did result in freeing of more hostages. it now has the hostage-takers kind of hunkered down. we're just not sure the numbers, the numbers have been all over the map. the algerian news agency has released numbers. i have a feeling we'll find those aren't accurate either. >> right. they are satisfying 12 total hostages have been killed. we have no idea whether the numbers have been accurate and they have been all over the map, it's a fair point, and i want to emphasize it. we know at least one american is among the dead, whatever the dead count may be. i'm curious as to your perceptions whether the u.s. is taking too much of a back seat. yes, it's a sovereign country. they said they were going to take the lead. they went in without telling the united states, shocking the united states, according to many repor

so they have a very tough hold on algiers, their city in the north. it gets a little less down south toward the border areas. some of the facilities, this one included, is in a very remote location. it's closer to the libyan border. it's not likely that we would have had great capability as quick as the algerians did to actually get to the facility. i think, erin, that they made the conclusion, listen, i'm either going to have to negotiate with london, paris, washington, d.c., and tokyo or we're going to go handle this problem that is growing in perception that emboldens, they believe, the al qaeda folks from doing even more of this kind of thing. and i think they decided to take quick action for those reasons and didn't include the other nation states for that reason. >> a spokes person for the group claiming responsibility for this, has said the war in mali is the terms. they're saying they will release an undisclosed american hostages in exchange for two prisoners that they want. and the state department spokeswoman, victoria nuland, was asked abou

the militants attacked the plant on wednesday. 1,000 kilometers of the capital algiers. they kidnapped an unconfirmed number of people and were in a standoff with the algerian army. the governments of norway, france and japan say the citizens are among the captives. reuters news agency is reporting 25 foreign nationals escaped. it says two japanese citizens among them. algerian tv station says 40 algerians are also free. a news agency has also been reporting the militants said algerian army helicopters launched attacks. the militants had been threatening to kill the hostages if the army intensified its assault. they demanded france end the military campaign in neighboring mali. the french government has yet to issue an official response. the algerian government says it will not negotiate with the hostage takers. the british firm bp and other foreign companies operate the natural gas facility. >>> investigators looking into the emergency landing of a 787 dreamliner in japan have found evidence smoke did appear inside the aircraft. officials weren't immediately able to con

rain pours out years as well as -- rain appear in algiers as well as in tunis. also remaking its way here, low clouds as well. temperature's only getting into the middle teens. toward cairo, only reaching 23 degrees. down toward central portions of africa, we will be seeing mostly clear conditions, but we are seeing some clouds here. along the coastal regions, saturday, january 26 at 8:00 p.m. >> headlines here now on al jazeera. china calling for restraint after north korea announces further nuclear testing. the u.s. defense secretary is set to lift the ban on women in contact -- in combat. that means they will be able to serve on the frontlines and potentially lead commando teams. spain's unemployment rate hit 26.2% at the end of last year. almost 6 million people are out of work. there are new pictures from last week's hostage crisis in algeria. a local journalist says 11 workers at the compound were helping the attackers. the japanese government it has also concerned that two of its citizens were killed in that attack. >> life inside the compound during the

. >> a professor of science and international relations at the university of algiers said the final assault saved hundreds of lives. >> i think it was the least has been done by such an operation, because otherwise we would be facing a more destructive situation, whether materially or humanly. if we had complied with the terrorist demands. for example, giving them the facilities to take hostages outside of the borders, which means that algeria and the world would have faced another problem, giving the terrorists another way of provoking more actions than they have done. i think the defense minister of the united states was saying, both sides were correct, algeria was correct. it is a very complicated situation. nobody would like to lose humans, but in situations like this, you have to think of the least you can do, and that has been done. >>> the foreign minister of france has called on west african leaders to take the lead of the military intervention in mali. they say it could be weeks before their forces could do so. we have this report from the capital of mali. >> the army shows off wha

and to stop algiers from helping france. french president warns mali will be a long and difficult mission as with any inurgency especially in a nation size of texas. careful deliberation is required. and the blood will be in vein if al chi cofran cando it aloni must not be allo >>> in the innovation race, as europe falling behind the u.s. and asia? two venture capitalists say no. i'm eric pierce, welcome to "biocentury this week". >>> your trusted source for biotechnology source and

militants attacked the complex south of algiers yesterday. the gas plant is surrounded by the algerian army now in a standoff with the militants. >> by all indication, this is a terrorist act. we condemn it. it's serious when americans are taken hostage. >> they say they are operating in north africa. they say the raid is meant to punish algeria for helping france's military operation against islamic fighters in nearby mali. >>> it's been over 7 years since hurricane katrina devastated new orleans and now federal inspectors have found hundreds of levees in danger of failing all across the country. cbs 5 reporter elissa harrington test us northern california levees could be at risk as well and she joins us

the algerian rebels are fairly well armed anyway because they have been fighting the government in algiers as you probably know since one nine hundred ninety these islamist rebels but of course the supply of weapons from libya can only make matters worse. the u.k. says there won't be any british boots on the ground so to say but we've already seen footage of armed british soldiers on u.k. cargo planes flying french hardware to mali is there a feeling that london might not be coming clean about all the facts oh i think you know in a democracy people have to come clean it's clear that you don't send your airplanes into a war zone without ensuring they have some sort of protection so there will be people on board who are armed but that's a whole different thing to having. fighting on the ground with with an organized and large body of troops. we're turning to david cameron and him saying that this could take decades years certainly kind of this overall fight against islamist in north africa west africa in the entire region if we look at the at the u.s. and their war against terror and how was

some of that gas also to be then sold on to britain was britain doesn't import very much directly from algiers and i reason why it couldn't in the future so this is seen by the europeans particularly france and britain as a resource war the french do present it as a humanitarian intervention that is true but they seem remarkably relaxed almost about the appalling behavior of the mahdi army which has been carrying out summary executions and some of the terms that it's got so i think that is something quite difficult to see how this is going to be quickly or easily resolved this loose talk about it will reopen a few months seems of far off the mark to me jeremy corbyn the labor party m.p. joining us live on the line from atlanta thank you for that analysis. i spoke. to the head of egypt's army is warning that the country is on the verge of collapse after almost a week of violent unrest between the government and opposition militias earlier the cabinet pushed through along giving the military the power of a rast while the president declared a state of emergency and curfews in three provinces this

it's six pm here in moscow three pm in algiers you're watching r t with me and isa now way our top story algerian media is reporting that the number of hostages who died in the gas plant has risen to twenty five and that's expected to increase several foreign civilians were among those killed when algerian forces stormed the site taken by islamic militants in revenge for the french intervention in neighboring mali there are increasing fears the military campaign could backfire on paris well some analysts say there is more to it than meets the eye as polly boy now reports. we don't always but it's terrorism was about to overwhelm the friendly country the terrorism that threatens not just all of west africa but also the entire world. he's vowed that front's won't stop its intervention in mali until islamic extremism in the country is stamped out the military has announced that it's going to be sending more troops but the total set to exceed two hundred thousand a stated goal to help the government in bamako drive out his limits to insurgents before the francois alarms talk of freedom and d

it's five pm here in moscow this is r t coming to live with me a nice and now way it's two pm in algiers and the algerian military is stepping up its efforts to free the last remaining international hostages held by islamic terrorists at a gas facility the siege is now in its third day and has seen at least twelve civilians killed when all cheery and forces launched a blitz rescue attempt and hundreds of local workers and several foreigners were freed but the remaining captives include british american and japanese nationals the islamists say they took the hostages in retribution for the ongoing french intervention in mali in neighboring mali paris is standing by its campaign and claims the algerian crisis justifies it further but some say the stance could backfire on the french government as probably boycott now reports. it's all calm on the streets of paris but with an escalating military intervention in mali and an algerian hostage crisis in response to it french public opinion is projected to turn against francois hollande pledged to help the mali government once he's really hit by t

the prime minister spent i can reach the shore my right honorable friend i am only planning to visit algiers, not anything else but i'm sure the event to which he referred he put down energy question and got a response at a time. [laughter] >> i am grateful, mr. speaker. last week the prime minister said that he was -- last week the prime minister said he was think of britain's debt, but on his what you go up by 600 billion pounds. would you like to take the opportunity to break the record? >> i'm very clear. we've got the deficit down by a quarter, and in order to get on top of our dead you have to get on top of the deficit. that is a state located on top of our dead. but it is worth reminding ourselves why we are having to do this in the first place. who was it who wrapped up the dead? who was it who racke rack up the deficit? who was it that gave us the biggest deficit of any country, virtually anywhere in the world? it was, it was the government which he supported. >> if the prime minister it agrees the shortage of binging skills our greatest threat, and anticipation rate of women in eng

and he said now it's good to have you with us seven pm here in the russian capital it's four pm in algiers and islamic terrorists are still holding an international group of hostages at a gas plant in algeria with the local military continuing their attempts to free the captives about sixty foreigners remain unaccounted for a number of civilians were killed during a blitz rescue attempt by algerian forces which drew anger from the international community now the militants say they're acting in revenge for the french intervention in neighboring mali but paris maintains that only helps justify its campaign probably boycott now reports. wildly varying reports as to the number of casualties how many hostages. all dead but we do know that at least two civilian workers two brits have been killed and up to as many as thirty more international hostages could be dead now these are peaceful civilians from all around the world that were working at the facility they've suddenly found themselves in the middle of this very dangerous situation where the algerian military have apparently been criticized f

moved to overthrow him and indeed to facilitate his lynching i think we in effect military regime in algiers is very afraid that president along may be trying to be supportable from is he supportable because this brings the influence of parts greater into a juror and then algeria may have an arab spring star salute toted or motored by the western states who still seem to be committed across the board to this project of democratization of the arab world which we see also going on in syria and of course like it or not the regime in algeria will say this is not in our interests many algerians may say looking at the chaos in algeria libya this is not something we wish to share with the resistors thoughts of sorry. we unfortunately have run out of time but i appreciate thoughts on the subject live from oxford that was international relations of professor mark almond thank you for being with us thank you. hundreds of people gathered in new york to pay their respects to aaron swartz online freedom activist who hanged himself last week the twenty six year old computer prodigies suicide came ahead of

in november i sent deputy secretary bill byrnes on an interagency group to algiers to continue that conversation. and in my stead he co-chaired the global counterterrorism forum held in abu dhabi and meeting in tunis working on building new democracies and reforming security services. these are just a few of the constant diplomatic engagements that we are having, focused on targeting al qaeda's syndicate of terror, closing safe havens, cutting off finances, countering their extremist ideology, slowing the flow of new recruits. we continue to hunt the terrorists responsible for the attacks in benghazi, and are determined to bring them to justice and we're using our diplomatic and economic tools to support the emerging democracies including libya in order to give them the strength to provide a path away from extremism. but finally, the united states must continue to lead, in the middle east, in north africa and around the globe. we have come a long way in the past four years, and we cannot afford to retreat now. when america is absent, especially from unstable environments, there are consequences.

the algier ja algerian governmeg that number is far fewer, perhaps no more than 10 or 11, i say, it is at least a better number if you will, than the 30 to 35 that have been reported earlier. we'll keep you up dated throughout the hour. lou: several state officials across this country say, they are fighting back again any effort by federal government to impose new gun control laws they consider unconstitutional. at issue is the president's call for legislation to ban assault weapons as well as a number of executive actions and orders. our next guest wrote a letter to vice president this week, stating quote. any federal regulation enabled by congress or executive order of the president offensing constitutional rights of my citizens shall not be en forced by me or my deputies, we're pleased to welcome sheriff tim mueller of lynn county, oregon. i would leak to start by asking -- like to start by asking reaction, to those you serve, what has been the preponderance of their reaction. >> overwhelmingly supportive, that is know under statement, since we sent this out, they have been telling

the attractions of communism began in august of 1948 when he identified algiers yes the golden boy as a fellow member of the underground communists of of the 1930's. his was a former assistant to franklin d. roosevelt the acting secretary general from the founding conference it in san francisco and also named from the carnegie endowment for peace and a radically denied chambers allocation. a great deal more than the rest of station was at stake into communism and those associated with nixon a prominent member of the committee would be dealt a devastating blow. the guilty and communism occupy a part of the political landscape and furthermore chambers and hiss each represented one side. one represented freedom and western civilization and the other the etiology of totalitarianism. both the left and the right to understood america and the world was at a critical point* in history consider the major political events that transpired between august 1948 when chambers confronted hiss and may 1952 when chambers published "witness." 1948 the communists through a justice of akia coup d'etat the

seen from inside recorded by one of the hostages and broadcast today by algier state tv based on official accounts at least 38 of the men were either executed or killed in the bloody rescue attempt. among the dead 3 americans. gordon lee rowan of oregon and frederick and victor lovely from texas. >> we asked him are you safe? do you feel safe? if you don't feel safe you don't have to go. i feel in safe nothing happened there in so long. >> wife of one of the 7 american to survive steven told us her husband hid at the plant for 2 and a half days often just feet away from the terrorists. >> there were a couple of times when he said he truly did think he was going to die. >>reporter: rogue al qaeda leader behind the attack said in a video made public today that more such attacks should be expected. now he is target no. 1 in a rapidly expanding u.s. french military open rigs near his base where the first american transport plane landed today. brian ross abc news new york. >> back here police san rafael looking for help identifying armed robbery suspect who took a shot at employees of cell pho

what happened inside the building as workers are taken hostage in algier. story people who made it out alive. >>> and where are the waves? tonight the conditions we found at one of the world best surfing spot with renowned mavericks competition [ woman ] ring. ring. progresso. i just served my mother-in-law your chicken noodle soup but she loved it so much... i told her it was homemade. everyone tells a little white lie now and then. but now she wants my recipe [ clears his throat ] [ softly ] she's right behind me isn't she? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. of green giant vegetables it's easy to eat like a giant... ♪ and feel like a green giant. ♪ ho ho ho ♪ green giant >> live breaking news. >> that breaking news has to do with this man. forty-niner michael crabtree. tonight the wide receiver is reportedly under investigation. good evening. right before the nfc championship game sunday there are reports tonight that crabtree is under investigation for sexually assaulting a woman. incorporating to the san francisco chronicle p

the militants attacked the gas complex yesterday about 800 miles south of algiers. >>> by all indications, this is a terrorist act. and the united states strongly condemns these kinds of terrorist acts. it is a very serious matter when americans are taken hostage. >> the militants say they are part of an al qaeda-affiliated group operating in north africa to punish algeria for helping france fight in mali. >>> inspectors are finding hundreds of levees in danger of failing in the united states. this information comes seven years after hurricane katrina toppled levees in new orleans and tore up the gulf coast. cbs 5 reporter elissa harrington is in east palo alto to tell us how northern california levees could be at risk. >> reporter: inspectors have found hundreds of levees in 37 states unacceptable. they have not said if any of those are in the bay area. but it's up to a local government to make levee improvement and 61 could alcohols. we are in east palo alto next to the san francisquito creek. and it flooded in late december leaving the levee damaged and weakened. a major project will g

the militants attacked the gas complex and took dozens of hostages yesterday about 800 miles south of algiers. >> by all indications, this is a terrorist act. the united states strongly condemns these kinds of terrorist acts. it is a very serious matter when americans are taken hostage. >> the militants say they are part of an al qaeda affiliate operating in north africa. they say the raid was meant to punish algeria for helping france's military operation against islamic fighters in nearby mali. >>> inspectors are finding hundreds of levees in danger of failing right here in the united states. >> this information comes 7 years after hurricane katrina toppled levees in new orleans and tore up the gulf coast. cbs 5 reporter elissa harrington is in east palo alto to tell us how northern california levees could be at risk. >> reporter: what that study found is that major levee repairs are needed across the entire country. hundreds were deemed unacceptable. they haven't said if any are in the bay area but they have found 326 in 37 states covering more than 2,000 miles that are in four conditions

building in algiers and one of the justice buildings. they have had multiple suicide bombings over the years, and these are the guys that are training the militants. so the threat is very real. the other thing is for france, is 10% of the french population is north african, in some generation or another. what we're seeing among the islamists are there are some fighters who have poured in and some have experience fighting in iraq and afghanistan. this is definitely a concern. >> and jeffrey, france surprised a lot of people. the pentagon was clear to tell me, we were giving advance warning of what france was going to do, but there's supposedly been a force getting ready to go in and deal with this. the u.n. said they would be ready in weeks. that's the umpteenth teen we have heard this. why has it taken so long for anyone to get involved? >> i think up until 2012, aqim, i disagree with the other guest, up until 2012, aqim was a marginalized group, it was good at kidnap for ransom, but it wasn't a terrorist organization. the thing that cha

spring of 2004, i brought all my commanders together in afghanistan and made them watch the battle of algiers and brought an expert in. the purpose was i had come to the conclusion that some people say torture doesn't work. i don't know if it works or not. >> rose: you don't know? >> i think sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. >> rose: to work mean getting information you need. >> yes some people say you get bad information. the point is i think both are true sometimes you do and sometimes you don't. the realty is the effect it has on you. when you become the torturer, something happens to that force. i think it has a corrosive effect over time. i think you move down a path that's difficult to come back from. and i think that happens to individuals involved and i think it happens to the force. if you mapped a situation where someone had an atomic bomb in new york city and we had one guy who knew where it was, would we torture him? >> rose: that's the hard question. but what would you do. >> the question is i don't know because i have never been in that situation. >> rose: you don't kn

in november, i spent deputy secretary bill burns to follow up in algiers, and then in december, in my instestead, he co-chaired an organization we started to respond to some of these threats, the global counterterrorism forum, that was meeting in abu dhabi, as well as a meeting in tunis of leaders working to reform security services. we have focused on targeting al qaeda's syndicate of terror, closing safe havens, cutting off finances, countering extremist ideology, slowing the flow of new recruits. and we continue to hunt the terrorists responsible for the attacks in benghazi and are determined to bring them to justice. we are using our diplomatic and economic tools to support these emerging democracies and to strengthen security forces and help provide a path away from extremism. but let me underscore the importance of the united states continuing to lead in the middle east, in north africa, and around the world. we've come a long way in the past four years, and we cannot afford to retreat now. when america is absent, especially from unstable environments, there are consequences. ex