within northern mali. that is to say there are weapons coming from libya, through algeria, down into mali and there is a worry that this could become another afghanistan. >> rose: and for analysis of algeria and mali we turn to max boot, jennifer cook, and peter pham. >> the ramification of what happened in algeria and the strike against the gas installation there and the hostages being taken there really opens this up and internationalizes it with a number of year mean citizens taking u.s. citizens and japanese as well. so the events of this last week, the french incursion, the islamists move south and the taking of the gas installation in algeria really puts a whole dramatic new spin on this and adds momentum to the whole problem. >> rose: we conclude this evening with jeff bridges the actor and bernie glassman, their new book is called "the dude and the zen master" >> well, one day bernie says to me, by the way, you know that in the buddhist circles the dude is considered a zen master. i said what are y

mali and to stabilize the country over the long term. international community has largely backed the intervention, but whoever joins the fight likely faces a long and difficult war. >> countries like mali need to establish a stable government capable of guaranteeing security to its people. and not just security, but also living conditions that will prevent people from supporting terrorists. >> elections had been planned for april. that is now completely up in the air. even if the military intervention is a short one, mali is likely to remain politically unstable for some time to come. >> coming up, floods are causing havoc in the indonesian capital. >> first, here's a look at some of the news. >> syrian activists are reporting a new massacre by government forces. the syrian observatory for human rights says pro-assad troops killed more than 100 civilians on tuesday. witnesses are reported as saying troops hunting rebel fighters slotted entire families, including women and children -- slaughtered entire families including women and childr

involvement in mali, the u.s. government has been supplying mali and niger and other countries with counter- terrorism assistance. it is millions and millions of dollars every year in equipment and training and other ways in order to fight al qaeda and others in the area. i have talked to a lot of people in thwho have told me that the d the u.s. sent supposedly to fight al qaeda was actually diverted to fight the tuareg rebellion in the north, which is kind of continuously simmering and has never fully gone away. i hope when this whole conflict calms down a little bit, there will be a chance for people to really take a look at the mistakes that are made by the previous malian government and by its supporters in the united states and european union who really looked the other way on an unbelievable amount of corruption and misuse of the materials they were giving them, as well as -- there are serious allegations coming even from neighboring niger that the former president himself was involved in some kind of a deal

the situation in mali is also critical. on friday last week france launched an area bombing campaign against rebels with ties to al qaedament since then a ground force has engaged in combat with rebels trying to stop their advance to mali's capital. it remains unclear what support will be offered by the united states. secretary of state hillary clinton addressed the situation earlier today in a joint press conference she had with the president of somalia. sheikh mohammed. >> now let me say the situation is very fluid. it's in a remote area of al geria near the libyan border. the security of our americans who are held hostage is our highest priority but of course we care deeply about the other algerian and foreign hostages as well. and because of the fluidity and the fact that there is a lot of planning going on, i can to the give you any further details at this time about the current situation on the ground. but i can say that more broadly what we are seeing in mali n algeria reflects the broader strategic challenge, first

military intervention in mali still another example of the west's overall war against islam has there ever been one instance where an outside intervention in the name of fighting terrorism has ever produced peace stability and democracy and will the lessons of blowback ever be learned. to cross-talk the west's assault on the muslim world i'm joined by johnson in london he is an africa expert and in philadelphia we have daniel pipes he is a historian writer and political commentator all right gentlemen cross talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want if i can go to you first in london if we if we look back over the years here you know we've had the eight country and four years muslim country invaded assaulted whatever by western powers i mean is this a war against islam. but we would hope it's not a war against islam but there is the perception that the west has made some fundamental mistakes very much and crucially in terms of the message that's been sent around the world there's got to be a consistent approach a consistent message and somehow there's a discord b

why does france care about mali? >> here is why france cares. mali say former colony of france. right? >> stephen: okay. wait, they had colonies? >> they had a ton of colonies. >> stephen: really? there were countries that surrendered to france? [ laughter ] >> and for many decades. >> stephen: no longer colonies. >> no longer a colonies. the french gave up the colonies around 1960 but kept them on a longer or shorter leash depending on which country and how much stuff they had. mali is in the middle of a part of africa where there's natural resources, tons of oil offshore. a lot of that oil gets dealt to the french on good terms. algeria is a place where there's all kinds of stuff the french want and get. >> stephen: is this al qaeda in there? >> it's al qaeda. >> stephen: there a guy like bin laden? is there a name i have to peoplerrize again? >> not yet and i hope there won't be any. >> stephen: my abu and bin this and bin that bin is kind of full right now. [ laughter ] >> think of these groups is a combination of mexican drug organization and islamic terrorist group. how ma

mali and to stabilize the country over the long term. international community has largely backed the intervention, but whoever joins the fight likely faces a long and difficult war. >> countries like mali need to establish a stable government capable of guaranteeing security to its people. and not just security, but also living conditions that will prevent people from supporting terrorists. >> elections had been planned for april. that is now completely up in the air. even if the military intervention is a short one, mali is likely to remain politically unstable for some time to come. >> coming up, floods are causing havoc in the indonesian capital. >> first, here's a look at some of the news. >> syrian activists are reporting a new massacre by government forces. the syrian observatory for human rights says pro-assad troops killed more than 100 civilians on tuesday. witnesses are reported as saying troops hunting rebel fighters slotted entire families, including women and children -- slaughtered entire families including women and childr

officials say this conflict could take years to resolve a report from mali coming up. in the black mark on u.s. credibility abroad but it looks like the guantanamo bay detention facility isn't going to shut its doors anytime soon in fact the obama administration is actually reassigning the special envoy tasked with closing the facility i had a look at the change of heart. it's tuesday january twenty ninth four pm here in washington d.c. i'm liz wall and you're watching our t.v. we begin today taking a look at plans the u.s. has for establishing a spy drone base in north west africa the goal is to keep a close eye on al qaeda affiliates and other islamic extremists in the region this as french forces continue to invade northeastern mali and an effort to fight islamist extremists that were gaining traction in the rejet if the base is approved it would likely be here and niger a west african country about borders mali niger's ambassador to the u.s. today told c.n.n. that his government has agreed to allow the u.s. to place to do. romans near niger right now the only other

moved into mali. it's interesting that what actions showed is how closely knit the so-called two parties three parties at the top of the french electoral system there is really very little difference and no matter how much french media bombard the french public with the importance of mali intervention or even the francois hollande is particularly was particularly different just sarkozy there's very little difference between these parties just as there are in most european countries it whether it be italy or greece when it comes to the media supporting them real change a real person in the end is a palace who would fight against these colonial colonial temptations that well where are they right now no one was covering them in the french elections last year so for the next certain let's just take a final thought over the next week or two now what do you think the response is going to be from france from other nations to what's going on now in algeria in mali where are they going to go are just folks in

the french intervention in mali faces a blowback with foreign workers killed all. apparently in retaliation to the military campaign next door. britain gamble's it's very easy you membership as the prime minister of places to reign in brussels of a business leaders warn disaster if his bluff is called. and he speaks exclusively to the mastermind of the current of public outrage and who promises a revolution which has nothing in common with the arab spring and political reshuffle. the dream job made in china an american worker classified data for an easy life and face time by outsourcing his day's work to the east until he was caught out by chance that his. global news around the clock this is live from moscow with me welcome to the program. is the most militants who are holding it dozens of foreign hostages at a gas field in algeria reportedly made some of them wear belts packed with explosives a gunman attacked the facility on wednesday killing at least two of the kidnapping around forty now reports suggest that around a half of the hostages have managed to escape

of course in mali it took chooses a completely different path and it's got a short consistent message especially when you have a. jump in here if i can jump in here i mean there is one consistent message there muslims that's the message of western media. well this is a battle of hearts and minds and for that reason the west has failed to be able to win over there's a billion muslims out there who clearly have a voice and in this particular instance it would appear it's the west against muslim countries are on of course it would appear that the the the wars that we've seen across the middle east hasn't helped afghanistan iraq has made things difficult of course in mali specifically the longer the french stay on the ground you could have the local population think that they were what stay there welcome that could in itself create further problems so yes to an extent there is that notion so the west has got to do that much more in its p.r. we have to sell the reasons why it gets involved in some of these conflicts and how we make sure that it understands the why the ramifications for the

fronts wattle and jumped into this intervention just one week ago when the strikes in the north of mali began and of course with the crisis now the sakes with the crisis in algeria the stakes are really getting much higher we've got a number of civilian casualties from countries that aren't even fronts from the u.k. from britain from japan all in this very dangerous situation and a lot of political analysts saying that yes other terrorist attacks in retaliation for the french military offensive in mali are very much a possibility now we've also got critics over in the u.k. and in the u.s. saying that this is the place that the allies of france are now paying for supporting this intervention that was quite a hastily planned and a bit of a surprise announcement last week so of course francois london needs to spin the crisis to see to their needs and he said that the behavior of these militants and the very brutal reports that we're receiving from the gas compound in algeria that justifies he says the french military intervention in mali. probably just take us through what led up to the ri

government once he's really here but the enormity of what they may be taking on in mali. there may be a lot of questions then asked about his judgment and a lot of people who are supposedly supporting him now or may very quickly turn around and criticize it's already beginning to happen we've spoken to provisions here who lament the fact that they weren't told in advance that the military offensive was set to take place meanwhile voices in the french media complain of a war with no pictures they say that there's a media blackout and accuse the government of making it intentional that journalists are bracing for him is that. we have no. recourse or information from. the day after this really started for most of all to when you see what's happening with what has happened in iraq or in afghanistan surely if you will if you spread to the region and if he lasts long it's going to be a problem comparisons already being made to the usa as experience in iraq and afghanistan conflicts that were initially supported at home out of a sense of patriotism and support for the troops but

together it will cause even more problems now i julie even though mali is we're on the west and so mali as we on base the two are linked because in fact what we are here is that our president our london pirates once you decided they were going to intervene in mali what we are putting together what we are speculating he then decided ok we have some information rescue our hostage. in somalia and it went wrong and you are right president obama just sent a letter to the congress because u.s. law says that if we mix in the military removed and goes into a foreign country with a military he has to perform congress so we know that he held the french in somalia business in the letter he sent to congress after the event our they even so much really to talk about sadly we're out of time thank you so much for coming in a quite a the founder of the democracy and conflict research institute i think so much my pleasure thanks for having me. so i have here on our team at mixing business with pleasure and beastie is combining real journalism with entertainment programs like thirty rock and sixteen hund

french intelligence told them to go to northern mali and destabilize mali and the coup leader in mali who overthrew the civilian government it's on record again on the jamestown foundation website that he was trained by the u.s. and french intelligence services and so not only was my money destabilized and what with terror these courts and so-called your hobbies they're not your hobby if your heart is an honorable obligation to fight against oppression these are death squads who targeted the heritage of mali and the margin people and then nato have wanted these people to actually to draw in our jewry and so this is what's happened and this is a direct consequence nato of sort of the french and the british are bombing these death squads so so to them stop them going southwards but for them to go northwards into algeria and that's what's happened with libyan worth of weapons this whole situation is crystal clear in my opinion so you can let me get this clear then we get this clear that the suggestion is that these are the same militants that the coalition helped to get to power in libya

if you ask people in mali you'd be surprised they were waiting for somebody to say you. because their army is not equipped to train to oppose these militants but it was necessary to intervene in mali people see this operation as a liberation they hardly wanted to live on the islamicists misery had is the philosopher in the former tunisian ambassador to damascus his view on the positive impact for the people of mali is that it is actually a colonial throwback. it's ok if you want to come you resources but then it's logical that locals profit as well those riches go to improve their lives after but that's not the case this was wild the kind of slavery in mali among the richest national resources in africa remains one of the poorest nations the world for many years there's been in paris was the headquarters of the country's ministry of colonies the body which administered french territories overseas today that ministry no longer exists and former french colonies are independent someone that alone no idea is all just part of history and that history may be repeating. from pa

french hostages are also being held in mali by al qaeda in the area. the botched mission together with the situation in mali makes their future look very bleak indade -- indeed. >> the french president spoke about the hoft situation about an hour ago. >> i have taken some days ago an action intend to carry out an action to free one of our agents held for more than three and a half years in terrible conditions. this operation was not successful in spite of the sacrifice of two of our soldiers and no doubt the assassination of our hostage. >> let's get the latest live from the capital. originally, rory, the french government was saying it wasn't going to put troops in. what changed things? >> well, lauren, you are right. as recently as i think two months ago, in october and november of 2012 francois hollande was saying yes, he could consider sending troops into mali but they would be just for training and logistics. but the request mali put out this week specifically to france for military assistance really changed things and also the speed at which thin

mali insurgents issued a stark warning to france over its military campaign against them as fears grow western nations are now dealing with the fallout from their other campaigns in the region. history repeating itself a source years after the end of the u.s. military involvement in the vietnam war american veterans question that country's current foreign policy leading to similar interventions and more lives and money problems. around enough is enough germans are getting ready for a legal fight with the e.u. central bank and other plans which could see no control other buildings money flowing into troubled states. and around the world this is our see with me your leadership of our thanks for joining us molly islamist militants have issued a warning to france saying it has opened the gates of hell by intervening in the country despite being bombarded by french war planes since friday to help the government it's a mess insurgents controlling the north have managed to grab more territory return and the u.s. are supporting the french operation raising fears of an african quagmire in a new

french intelligence told them to go to northern mali in peace stabilize mali and the coup leader in while you overthrew the civilian government he was trained by the u.s. and french intelligence services so not only was my money destabilize and what with terror these are death squads who targeted the heritage of mali undermining people and then nato have wanted these people to actually to drop in our jury or so this is what happened and this is a direct consequence in french and the british are bombing these death squads so so to them to stop them going southwards for them to go northwards into algeria and that's what's happened with libyan work or weapons this all situation is crystal clear in my opinion well adam cooper the associate editor of cease fire magazine suggests that france may have a vested interest in expanding its intervention in north africa france has like to have a lot of military presence in its former colonies far more than britain and i think the second thing would be favorable terms of trade oil and natural resources they're attempting to militarize huge ships of afr

to quote the remarks of one of them, "without france, there would have been no mali." >> mali gained independence from france in 1960. more than 100 people have reportedly been stabbed, shot, or potentially burned to death by a massacre in the syrian city of homes. the attack in a poor area of the city's edge killed 106 people, some of them children, according to the britain-based syrian observatory for human rights. many homes were set on fire and some of the victims' bodies appeared to have been burned. it was unclear whether the attackers were part of the syrian army or members of a militia loyal to president bashar al-assad. widespread violence was reported thursday across syria, with continued bombings by government planes and clashes between troops and anti-government rebels. the obama administration is continuing its push to rally support for sweeping plan to address gun violence. on thursday, vice-president joe biden called for action before hundreds of u.s. mayors gathered in washington, d.c. foreign annual meeting. in his address, biden referenced the shooting rampage in ne

islamic militants threatened to carry out more terror attacks in retaliation for the french campaign in mali accusing paris of a crusade. the german coalition government felt an important task months ahead of the national parliamentary vote. christian democrats lose ground to the social democrats opposition in regional elections. and as israel prepares for its own parliamentary poll on tuesday we report on why many in the country are growing increasingly frustrated with the policies of the party that said to win the vote. it's five pm here in moscow this is r t with me and you see now way our top story and the islamic terrorist cell allegedly responsible for the deadly siege in algeria says france is carrying out a crusader campaign in the region almost sixty hostages were killed after militants captured a remote gas plant in retaliation for the ongoing french intervention in neighboring mali where the islamists claimed they wanted to negotiate the release of their captives but the offer was turned down syrian military deciding to storm the facility causing a bloodbath more terror attacks ha

in mali? >> clearly, we and the rest of the world don't really want the al qaeda affiliate to establish its roots there. the government is weak. it's not a democratic government. and so defense secretary leon panetta has said that the u.s. government is willing to assist the french with logistics and intelligence. the drones you mentioned are not -- they would not be armed drones. they would be intelligence gathering drones but the french have taken the lead on n. i think so far the u.s. is standing on the side lienls pretty much -- sidelines pretty much cheering them on because it's an important mission. >> we've sent 55,000 americans there according to-- >> 50 million? >> what is it? 550 americans and they are there not as soldiers but there to help with equipment and so forth. >> this is an area, northern mali is an area the size of texas. and you've got-- >> twice the size of texas. >> you have al qaeda in there and the french with 500 troops. they're not going to recapture that place. the

he is in mali often. when we were along the border this summer, we were told he was in a town that was nearby. he is also now apparently from what we understand working with some other groups, including ansar dine. i spoke to the military commander about how many fighters we have and what their goals are. i wanted to play for you what he had to say and get your reaction. >> listen the numbers of fighters doesn't mean much for us. it is 2000 or if it is 10 people only. it makes no difference. it's no longer only in north mali. yes, it is, not only -- >> congressman, i don't know if you speak french. our viewers could read that. i don't know if you could. the number of our fighters doesn't matter, whether we have 2000 or 10. it makes no difference. it is no longer in northern mali. it is not only bamako, it is the entire western africa we are going to hit and the united states and britain. a lot is their intent and their goal and bravado. how serious are these groups coming together and their intents from y

is warning of a growing crisis in neighboring mali. there was a focus of heavy fighting. >> fleeing the violence that is engulfing much of their country, these people are from the strategically important town. it has been the focus of much of the recent fighting, with conflicting reports about who is in control. those who have escaped the violence there are grateful to have made it this far. >> people are terrified. often, they are in a horrible position, without having brought anything with them. >> a ungroup says it believes hundreds of thousands of people are being displaced by the conflict -- a u.n. group says that. they are carrying out atrocities on the civilian population. >> they report to having witnessed executions, amputations, and large amounts of money are being offered to fight against the malian army and rebels. >> they are trying to deal with this, an influx of french soldiers. these men are one element of the international stabilization force including troops from a regional group. >> a promise was made that they be yo

has been involved in mali and turning the military and equipping, barring the military of mali. i think we have to examine, especially u.s. taxpayer dollars, where are they going and what are the results? it is a u.s.-trained army captain who launched the coup in mali and a series of coups since last march. the u.s. has played a very heavy hand in terms of support for the military are ready. it has not brought the results intended. i think what is needed, with the community and others have been calling for is a comprehensive approach that will look at issues of political negotiation, understanding the concerns of the ethnic group in the north, those root causes of this crisis, those concerns must be acknowledged and addressed in order to actually bring about an end to this crisis. as you said, there is a dramatic humanitarian emergency under way. i think until the humanitarian crisis with hundreds of thousands of refugees flowing across borders as well as internally displaced, that the real long-term needs of economic livelihood for the people not only of the north, but the enti

may be in negotiations with an easier next to mali over the possibility. see all of the drone base there and those drones flying from near the border with mali could take part in these operations to try and hunt out the most militants there there's also been talk of a u.s. base down in. the south of mali the details of that not really clear at the moment it is worth noting though that is very rich in natural resources boyle gold you renia a lot of those exports go to france and the u.s. so we have talk of drone a u.s. base how far could this possibly spread. the question on many people's lips as the as the first phase of this operation winds up where are these militants going to go where is the violence going to go raising the fears that around the region this fighting as the militants are pushed out of the strongholds they've been in they could scatter all over the place and spread violence with them or it might be a fair argument then to say that the french might be getting a little bit ahead of themselves by claiming there's been a successful mission. t

i hope some parents for a swift military campaign in mali with american and british combat supplies being sent to help amid criticism of french imperialism. boxed in with no way out for the family of online prodigy aaron swartz points the finger at overzealous u.s. prosecutors for driving their activist son to suicide. and thousands of kilometers of underground tunnels leave the pentagon in a cold sweat with the u.s. awarding itself the right to a preemptive nuclear strike on china's atomic national. international news and comment online on the screen around the world this is r.t. britain has sent one of its cargo warplanes to mali to back the french led military campaign against islamist rebels there london says that more help is to follow with washington also pledging its assistance the french military has been involved in combat action in the west african nation since friday in trouble which some see is blowback from the recent interventions in the region more now from. london. well britain and the u.s. are reportedly providing help with transport and communications and logistics to th