Transcripts For ALJAZ NEWSHOUR 20240714

Why. This is bikini the room of an agent underwater volcano in the Marshall Islands with its necklace of 23 islands bikini is a place of beauty and silence and menace or. Look closely where the emerald. Suddenly folds into a vase black hole this is the crater of one of the greatest manmade explosions the Hydrogen Bomb they call profit. If a prize an entire island and poisoned almost everything and everyone. Has a plane flew low we seem to touch its deathly void. The Marshall Islands lie in the vast Pacific Ocean between the United States and asia captured from the japanese and while war 2 they have long been americas strategic secret its stepping stone to asia and china. 7 hips take position 3 miles off to stop are the shattering impact of the tomic. Warships was assembled in bikini. In order to blow them to bits. The decks of the 73 test ships anchored in Bikini Lagoon are steamed up the bridge activity at hand this product bamidele Program Designed to furnish data blast the banks of the mighty atom by animals up many animals were strapped to their decks like a snow was on. The experiment was to see how theyd done it. Right all right but thought of prior to determine their perfect products are part of your care bear the atom black. Today bikini is unfit for human life radiation poisons the food and water. Shoes registered unsafe on a geiger counter. The abandoned symmetry looks out to where the sun rose one morning then rose again as apocalypse. The equivalent of one hiroshima bomb was exploded in these on every day for 12. You as. A scot beauty has returned to the island but the people havent. Exiled to Barren Islands many of them spawn. In 968 president Lyndon Johnson told them people are safe to go. But it wasnt safe and the u. S. Authorities knew it was inside. I mean. At sea then. When the wrath. Of the willing. You know anyone and you named them on and on. And im not. On and get on plane you added that you had given what happened as a result of the bravo test was that a coverup was launched very shortly after march 1 mean theres such a history of wrong information outright lies deception there was no no attempt to take the most conservative approach and make sure that everybody was ok they knew where the radioactive fallout was going to go. And they took that risk and when they then made known full well equipped. They still had an opportunity to evacuate even on day of the show but these people were not evacuated we were not evacuated and the people. So that only leaves one blown up one believe it number one in the United States and they this from guinea pigs they thought that. The effects of radiation would do. That its a pretty strong indication that even if they should do it seems extraordinary here we are this. And of the 21st century talking to people still frightened of all that Nuclear Fallout all those tests all those years ago the impression i get is that this little trust among people the us is trying to provide as much information as much good information as we can and so i wouldnt accept the characterization that that there have been lies and cover ups the word guinea pigs comes up a lot from these survives i would i would refer you to our Embassy Website on that ive read it and that question was looked at during the Clinton Administration and that was not the conclusion they came to. The secret of the Marshall Islands this project full point was declassified documents reveal a Scientific Program began the study of mice and became a study of human being exposed to radiation. Chicago is where it all began im too they are gone lab in chicago last week came 7 men natives of the Marshall Islands led them is from here on the ranch where radiated by a march 19th for Hydrogen Bomb. John is mayor of which is 100 miles from the. John as we said. But a happy amenable to. His grandfather ran almost make it on his car on. A white man brought money and religion and a market for it. And is a pretty good mayor. Iron room is a Radiation Detector for a human being. Inside john. Whose 1st visit to the white mans country men time francisco cable car and chicago skyscrapers and streamlined right. 1st visit to the white mans country and the iron rule. These people are getting paid as they are part of the experiment project 4. 00 they are being returned to wrong girl at an island 100 miles from bikini by the u. S. Navy they were told repeatedly it was safe to go home. They are being returned to an island described by a u. S. Atomic Energy Official has by far the most contaminated place on earth he added it will be interesting to get a measure of human uptake when people live in a contaminated environment. The people of. Poison island for 28 years as guinea pigs to. The objects of regular scientific examination. This is the largest of the islands. Occupied by one of americas most important and secretive bases. Known as the Ronald Reagan test site its a missile. The Pacific Ocean all the way to asia and china. Here the people of the mushroom islands of once again being subjected to the testing of weapons of mass destruction designed for a coming war on. The basis part of a remarkable. Knownas vision 2020 devised in the 990 s. Its amos described officially as full spectrum dominance. This means control of all land sea. Cyber space and space 54321. From california almost 5. The u. S. Air force tests its Intercontinental Missile by firing them at the. Imagine a missile coming screaming out of the sky its absolutely terrifying there i think that there is theres really nothing. That i can imagine that that would be more terrifying than this and were talking about. Devices that any one of them could go off course. None of this disturbs life on the base where small town america has been recreated a wonderland of the suburban good. That realize that theres Nothing Better than living on a Tropical Island im pretty much of each property you know its great living here. Just across the bay busybody. Known as the slum of the pacific more than 12000 people live here on the strip of land less than a mile long. Moony of them refugees from what is now a missile base and from islands poisoned by nuclear testing. Every day people from the by are brought to work on the missile base to water the gardens and the golf course. Then they are ferried back to the poll for. This is apartheid in the pacific. The men. Any medicine. And feel able and full. Page to build and for us here we are its a tropical. And you need vegetable and for. Fish vegetables and fruit but once abundant only by. Today fish is contaminated by toxic pollutants so the Environmental Protection agency. Now the only food most people can afford is process and imported they have the highest rate of diabetes in the world. When someone gets really. Do they go to the hospital live from the base because theyve got a pretty modern clinic. They dont treat 3 of them with whom it is in. Places where they are for taking the blood and then. What happens when somebody is seriously ill. To hear maybe. The most consistent. Example given is the example of the Ronald Reagan missile site and e. P. I. Next to it on the Ronald Reagan missile site. Is a vivid example of the United States golf courses and. Swimming pools and all kinds of manatees. Right next to it is what was called the slum of the pacific and said its a challenge by. In great need right now we talked about infrastructure one of the projects the u. S. Is working with our australian colleagues and with the Asian Development bank is a sewer and Water Project desperately needed pretty by he buys overcrowded schools need repair actually the us military did a survey back in the seventys and found that the service didnt work and the water didnt run on the electricity wasnt there it only happened nor all that long ago they found almost exactly the same thing why why hasnt that been fix weve theres complete agreement that the by should be a priority and not only because of the current activities of the Ronald Reagan space and Missile Defense side but theres also now an additional component that is providing for Global Security and thats the space fence project by the air force. Every missile fired on the Marshall Islands by the us military costs 100000000. 00 each. This school bus is the only one only by they cant afford to replace it. With. The people we have no need for. Its being used to test missile the Foreign Countries like china. And anywhere else if they want. What would you like to see happen. I want our land. To strengthen the good you have to shoulder good all the more with your calm still fight against corruption. Destroy news heroes heroes like new who are about to be refused a 15000000. 00 bribe the achievement of heroes like him to showcase by the International Ace award it shines a light on these heroes because the best way to fight a dark used to shine a light lets make the road to a better place nominate your Anti Corruption mirror now. Tells me the cost of priceless results on the threats the amazon rainforest is a blaze in its links to brazils drive for beef and soy production and look at that bus as he had always global ambitions which have left investors missing from big losses. Counting the cost on aljazeera going as i want to finally were going to ask about it but thats the ball is about us whether its north up or not the south says theyre not. Part of the double of a cousin punches approach on the bottom. In part one of these 2 part series aljazeera explores the world of performance enhancing drugs. Sports doping the endless chase on aljazeera. Alarm citizen and then with the top stories on aljazeera the taliban says the u. S. Has the most to lose after the cancellation of a secret meeting with the group the surprise move by President Donald Trump follows weeks of attacks by the taliban in afghanistan the Afghan Government says a cease fire is essential for progress we expected an outcome that could lead us to a ceasefire that could lead us to a direct negotiation with the Afghan Government and the taliban so unfortunately so thats thats we didnt see. Commentary we saw and we are observed that there could be risks to any process that the Afghan Government is not the main stakeholder in that and any process that cannot guarantee a cease fire a halt to the violence could be our fall for all of the achievements that weve gained place a fire tear gas that prodemocracy protesters in hong kong as the demonstrations and to their 14th week demonstrators set barricades on fire blocked major roads and vandalized the metro station area thousands marched to the u. S. Consulate calling on President Trump to help at least one person has been killed in the latest anti immigrant riots in south africa these youth stun grenades and rubber bullets to break up the crowds in johannesburg at least 5 people were killed over the last week in a wave of xenophobia attacks. So dans 1st cabinet since the ousting of president Omar Al Bashir has been sworn in 18 ministers from the list named by Prime Minister doc early this week off formally and charge the other 2 were not sworn in because of a dispute the governor has 4 women including sudans 1st female foreign minister will stay in office until elections are held in the next 3 years thousands of people in the bahamas abandoning their homes destroyed by Hurricane Dorian one of the strongest storms to hit the caribbean at least 44 people are now known to have died but the government says that number will climb significantly as recovery crews reach more remote devastated islands there are growing concerns that deteriorating conditions could lead to the spread of disease those are the top stories stay with us as the coming war on china continues. This is shanghai this story short on the Yangtze River chinas greatest city. And arranged to meet the american author James Bradley whose latest bestselling book the china mirage reveals an extraordinary Hidden History of American Power and martin china. It was almost illegal for someone like me to know it chinese for almost all of American History the chinese came to america to mine gold and build the railroads and americans decided we didnt like the competition so in 882. 00 we had the chinese exclusion act which kept the chaneys out of the United States for about 100 years so you have the largest population in the world that can come to the United States so it just the point were putting up the statue of liberty saying we welcome everybody we were wrecked you know wall saying we welcome everybody except those cheneys. Fear of a rising china today is the latest chapter in the history of propaganda but president of the chinese has on couth and in front. To western popular and political culture the chinese became the yellow peril. And racial stereotypes told the constant theme. And threat. To speak up as the t. V. Show is. Was just. As a rebel its a lot of stuff. That. I. Felt. This caricature of an entire people can see old enough or adjourned. For the american to lead to 19th century china was a goldmine of drugs. War and delano the grandfather of Franklin Delano. Roosevelt was the american opium king of china he was the biggest american opium dealer 2nd to the british he welcomed the 1st American Ship into china to help with the opium or as much of the east coast of america columbia harvard yale princeton were born from opium money the American Industrial revolution was funded by huge pools of money where did this come from it came from Illegal Drugs in the biggest market in the world china let me get this right the grandfather of. The most liberal president Franklin Delano roosevelt was a drug runner yes Franklin Delano roosevelt never made much money in his life he had Public Service jobs that were very lowly paid but he had yachts see it summer homes he had mansions in new york city the kids went to private schools he inherited a fortune from Warren Delano his father who is the american opium king of china if you scratch anyone with the name forbes in their name John Forbes Kerry secretary of state John Forbes Kerry youll find opium money his great grandfather was an opium dealer. How big was opium money opium money built the 1st Industrial City in the United States lol massachusetts it built the 1st 5 railroads in the United States opium money all over the east coast but it wasnt talked about it was called the china trade and if you go to various museums you can see teas and silks. Exhibited and they keep quiet about all that big opium money. In the scramble to get opium money china was invaded and colonized by britain and the other imperial power was. Far anomalies grab the whole swathes of china. This is the American Army in Tiananmen Square peking in 1900. Great cities like shanghai were taken over and declared concessions and foreigners lived a life of privilege and luxury amidst terrible poverty imposed on the chinese. Resistance known as the boxer rebellion was put down with the savage. This rape of china set the tone for how china was perceived in the west well into the 20th century. This is the distinguished historian we should know theodore wrights white 105 go to the white house speaking in the 1960 s. Perhaps china is too vast to be governed by mercy yet of chinese mine craves. They must be brought to recognize they are the biggest factor in the worlds disorder. And we must untangle the madness of their mind the most difficult task in the world is to reach the minds of men who. Want what was really complaining about what the loss of a china but the imperial west could dominate and go to feet of general Chiang Kai Shek who were these famously powerful christian wife mailing sume guarded americas interests in china. That is until they were thrown out of 949. 00 by a communist revolution led by mouth said. Mali had beaten Chiang Kai Shek 3 times in huge battles involving millions of combatants mao was a winner in this contest from the early 1930 s. On but we know very little about it and people dont understand that even today. Hi heres the message clearly as foreign businessmen bought up their shops go now go quickly communism archers take what you can but please. Tell no haste the western powers evacuate the city they have built for good and bad alike mostly the businessmen come for profit as well as missionaries come to feel must say good bye south b. N. C. Steams the last of western influence farewell to a century. People and today its difficult to understand the paranoia ignited by mouse revolution. As we look at china on the map we can see that china is the basic cause of all of our troubles in asia i believe that for the state or. If you meant that the. To be prepared for the puppy beneath. A shiny new me at their own the united way. One of the myths about mao is that he was an implacable enemy of the capitalist west. Shanghai today is a prosperous International City still run by the communists at least in name. When i was last in china more than a generation ago the loudest noise was the tinkling of bicycle bells now just the streets were dark the universities were closed the chaos of the cultural revolution had given way to a great silence where exhausted was the freest comment. Coming back the change was barely comprehensible. Here in shanghai the freedom bears no comparison yes there are issues with human rights especially the right to speak against the state and challenge its power since i was last here millions of people of been lifted out of poverty many of them into an entirely new middle class this is still barely understood in the west or should there be wilfully misunderstood the truth is that china has matched america crn great game of capitalism and that is one forgivable. One measure of chinas new capitalism is the run ritualised this league table of chinas mega rich has published by rupert hogan wore the old attorney and his chinese name as her run hes received many awards including chinas man of the year this year 2015 its probably been the most extraordinary year of Wealth Creation in the history of china again you know ive been doing this little 1516 years ive never seen a year late 2015 you know it normally for 200000000. 00 pounds or 300000000. 00 we find say by 800000. 00 people this year 2015 its doubled theyll be more dollar billionaires know about in china than in the u. S. So the u. S. Up until now has been the leader in terms of business. Even the most successful business tycoons in the world. China 2015 with the taking the us said amazing. Modern china is full of telling irony is not released this museum that was once the house where mounties comrie secretly founded the communist party of china in 1921. Today it stands in the heart of an exclusive fairy capitalist shopping district. When you leave the shrine to chinas great revolution youre confronted by a surreal spectacle for right outside where the Chinese Communist party it was blown all the very symbols of capitalism Starbucks Apple cart here. And down there perhaps the free market the greatest triumph bottled water but in short you lived beyond costing 6 pounds for a small bottle in my hotel. Now spin and as to if he was here im not so sure Hidden History is always a key to the truth 5 years before his great communist revolution in 149 mts sent this secret message to washington china must industrialize wrote. This can only be done by Free Enterprise chinese and american interests fit together economically and politically america need not fear that we will not be cooperative we cannot risk crossing america we cannot risk any conflict. Mal received no reply. Nothing has changed. Miles say tongue was looking to be a friend with the United States from the beginning miles says i will go meet Franklin Roosevelt in the white house moll reaches out 950. 00 to harry truman he reaches out to Dwight Eisenhower his hand was tossed away. This opportunity that might of changed history prevented was saved countless lives was lost because the truth of miles of the true was was denied in the washington of the 1950s. Stayed to pop and officials who had carried maos messages were condemned done justly as communist traitors. Everybody who knew my who spoke chinese was gone in the 1950 s. The state department had no employees who spoke cheney its resulted in us not having relations with the number one most populous country in the world in 1979 this man. Became chinas paramount leda he said socialism does not mean shit poverty. This was code for the most radical reform since miles revolution. The return of capitalism to china but this time controlled by the communist party. To be riches glorious dame was reported as saying. America was now threatened by the emergence of a vast image of itself. This is one of the many very exclusive gated communities in shanghai where an apartment is one of the prices of the new communism. I had a range to see professor zion way way a close aide to the late things out paying the man who changed china. Though in. Really extremely. Long. Visionary the leader always exceed the long turn Strategic Vision for his country for his people that this to you for the past you know theyre true this is really a tradition from chinas long history you look at even like mao he said we should suppose you could. Supply. So they could didnt use to this that the. Of actually or many chinese have problem with the western media is this theory about china if you. Contend with fear it hypes you missed so many things you know if the b. B. C. Broadcast something they are happy to always mention this comment is to dictatorship this autocracy not actually with this label you cannot understand this china as it is but if you watch b. B. C. C. N. N. Or read economist and try to understand china it will be a failure its impossible. Multiple parties fight for political power and everyone voting on them is the only path to salvation for the long suffering thats. A shanghai entrepreneur educated in america and typical of a new confident outspoken chinese Political Class in china there are a lot of problems but at the moment the chinese the party state has. An extraordinary ability to change me i make the joke. In america you can change Political Parties but you cant change policies. In china you cannot change the party but you can change policies. So in a 65 or 66 years china is being run by one single party yet. The political changes that have taken place in china in the past 66 years have been wider and broader and greater than probably any other major country in modern memory so in that time china seems to be communist separate will say well china is a market economy and survivor a market economy but it is not a capitalist country heres why there is no way a group of billionaires could control the politburo. The owners control american policy making. So in china you have a vibrant market economy but capital does not rise above Political Authority capital is not does not have in trying rights in America Capital the interest of capital and capital itself has risen above the name of the american nation the Political Authority cannot check the power of capital and thats why america is a catalyst country but china is not this is the ironic title of a bestselling book by zhang leisure a journalist and critic who lives in beijing. Many americans imagine that the Chinese People live miserable repressed her life these no freedom must have a. Thats not quite sure if you toss speak to many ordinary Chinese People they will tell you that they feel that their life i quite free some 500000000 people being lifted out of poverty and some would say probably 600000000 people thats a great achievement. For many ready americans the yellow peril has never left and i think of the theres the fear about china of course theres the fear of chinas rep it rise but its also has a lot to do. With chinas. The label as communists and states china subject of some modest compare where their weight theyre not trying to run the world theyre not even trying to run asia pacific i think they want to keep america from dominating the asia pacific so they have what they believe is their rightful place in asia pacific because it also was asian law history and their size so their objectives are really modest compared with their capacity. The wealth for new wealth in china often so this is this is the product of self made entrepreneur skill but is it not also the product of the exploitation of people at the bottom what are known in china as migrants but theyre not really migrants. If you really. Go to port to this my woodworkers you will find quite surprisingly. Over the past 5 to 70 years they have experienced. Greater increase there in the social groups china not a car society. But china is a class society. Views of the homes of Migrant Workers people who build and service the new china. Here its not uncommon for 3 families to share one tiny flat. You know you would get a socialist country wheezy quality but a unfortunately things the reform has started china has become one of the most unequal societies in the word the income gap is widening governments i feel have retreated some of the responsibility left the markets to takeover by the market does not always treat women kindly some private companies they would just refuse to high and challenged bearing age women and sometimes when their men become pregnant they want them because they dont want to pay the matelote leave and in fact income gap has grown much bigger between men and women. Your old boss. Presided over the bloodshed and. What would you say to the survivors of Tiananmen Square. Many of those did fight for what they saw as Democratic Change in china. In 1809 there were 2 Political Force one was the present a by the Chinese Students there was a. Who happen to be. Slogan was. Unions today chinas tomorrow so the idea was a political reform 1st other reforms otherwise be hopeless and the. Opposite he saw. It he saw china must have economic. Reform 2nd this. Must be set clear. Is the front line beckoning. With china we cant continue. To rape our country and thats what theyre doing there never have been 2 countries more into depending on each other. And theres like a total disconnect with the changing world you have a giant rise in. This. Why would you expect. To have more control over. What is the purpose i mean where are we going to stop this process before it starts. And then. Hello again its good to have you back well the weather that we saw here across parts of tasmania as well as New South Wales is finally moving out towards the tasman sea but what is going to be left are some winds are going to be dealing with those coming out of the south so keeping things fairly cool over the next day so for melbourne here on monday expect to see about 11 degrees sydney at 16 we could still be seeing some coastal winds thats going to be a problem but as we go towards tuesday things are going to be looking better temperatures are coming up from melbourne to about 15 degrees well temped as a going down from perth were going to see you come down to about 21. 00 degrees previously on monday youre about 25. 00 to 26. 00 so that was looking quite nice up towards Alice Springs so plenty of sun with a temperature of 25. 00 degrees there well for the north and south island of zealand that same system is going to cause a big problem particularly towards the north island of new zealand over the next few days a lot of rain a lot of wind over the area south island you can be clearing out but we do expect your temperatures to stay in the Single Digits as we go towards the next 24 to 48 hours so Christ Church at 8 degrees there and as we go towards tuesday only creepy up to about 9 degrees well for parts of japan well watch of course a typhoon make its way across parts of tokyo that system is going to be moving quite quickly bring very heavy rain across much of the area but by the time we get to tuesday things are going to be clearing up across much of the area. And you know that corruption has reached a level like never ever before in our country. Count saeeda. To president of the United States. Was in the daytime we will honor the American People with the truth and nothing else discussed. For winning the white house unfair game on al jazeera. I remember the 1st time i walked into the news room and it felt like being in the. Assembly of the United Nations has that so many nationalities. Just that we all come from different places but its one that gives us that gives us the ability to identify the people who may live the other side of the world but we can understand what its like to have a different perspective and i think that is a strength for al jazeera. Over the decades millions of arabs have moved from the middle east many refugees but others economic migrants taking their skills abroad. Aljazeera world meets to talk to us to forge new lives in the struggle and the us. Never forgetting their roots. But each committed to building a new life helping others. Arabs abroad the surgeons on aljazeera. This is aljazeera. Hello im citizen this is the aljazeera news out live from london coming up the u. S. Says talks with the taliban are dead for now the donald trump counters a secret meeting with the group at camp david. This frantic asset purchases and shoppers in hong kong as violence breaks out after a march calling on the u. S. President to help. As Boris Johnson braces for another tumultuous week we look at the impact hes had on Britains Conservative Party and why swarms of loan cursed saw being welcomed in war torn yemen. And im were hardeen in doha with sports rafael nadal is currently fighting for his 19th grand slam victory and the u. S. Open final end for ari when theyre hungry italian grand prix for the 1st time in almost a decade. The taliban says the us has the most to lose after President Donald Trump can father a secret meeting with a group in the United States leaders were supposed to fly to camp david on saturday night the surprise move came after a series of Violent Attacks in afghanistan and the killing of a u. S. Soldier last week tony berkley reports from kabul President Trumps Early Morning tweet cancelling the meeting with the taliban surprised many including the Afghan Government but it has actually welcomed the decision the main goal of our peace road map is is a ceasefire and a divided negotiation with the taliban so these 2 components are very important. The taliban refuses to talk directly with the Afghan Government who she regards as illegitimate and corrupt but it did agree to negotiate with the u. S. These forces invaded afghanistan 18 years ago after the 911 attacks on america they have been 9 rounds of talks its october last year but during that time taliban fighters have carried out numerous attacks and suicide bombings and america has also continued its air campaign which is hit the taliban but this year has also caused the biggest number of civilian casualties the latest taliban bombing was in kabul last thursday in which 12 people were killed including an american soldier 2 days later the u. S. President in a tweet ditched what he said was going to be a secret meeting at camp david. Even as the taliban was claiming responsibility for thursdays attack Zalmay Khalilzad the u. S. Chief negotiator was on his way to katter for further talks that were later described as positive but the Afghan Government said the talks gave the taliban recognition the taliban has responded angrily to trump canceling the talks in a Statement Released on its website they said the agreement was finalized on saturday both sides agreed to all points they talked about intra afghan talks to begin on september the 23rd but warned that their struggle will continue and the u. S. Would suffer more the u. S. Has been criticized for offering the taliban too much for raising fears that the country could descend into civil war once the bulk of American Forces withdraw if there is a new agreement between the problem in the United States government about the role of supporting Foreign Forces from afghanistan that will be diverted forth through not the only part of pakistan that will be there for the world situation part of that region and the International Community and that is something that troubles many afghans. We know the taliban is not trustworthy and they do whatever they want and they misuse islamic laws in a terrifying way this country boy would be better with them and the government the mother of all madonna we are free of the taliban come out not only will womens rights be violated but also all human rights. All sides appear to agree that militarily they can be no winner in this conflict but also achieving a lasting peace is not going to be easy either where this leaves the Peace Process is anyones guess it depends largely on what the taliban chooses to do next either escalate the violence or return to the negotiating table in a different frame of mind afghanistan waits to see which one it will be Tony Berkeley al jazeera kabul and rob reynolds now reports on the reaction from washington d. C. Talks between the u. S. And the taliban are dead at least for the time being following donald trump surprise cancellation of a secret summit with taliban leaders at the president s retreat at camp david we made Real Progress and then the taliban failed to live up to a series of commitments that they had made when that happened President Trump said im not going to take that deal im not going to work with someone that cant deliver on their commitments pump a also said the u. S. Special envoy for afghanistan is being recalled and he warned that things are about to get worse for the taliban after fighters took responsibility for a suicide bomb attack that killed 12 people in kabul last week including a u. S. Soldier Trumps National security adviser john bolton and Republican Party politicians have been dubious about the nearly year long negotiations hosted by cantars saying taliban leaders are not to be trusted it doesnt seem to get better but im sure it will get worse if we leave frankly i think backing away from where we were just dealing with the taliban is the right thing to do leaving troops there for right now is the right thing to do democrats criticize trumps to go shooting style saying he doesnt take advice from experts that our president isnt listening to his generals to his diplomats to the Intelligence Community frankly thats largely why general mattis for whom i have huge respect resigned in protest was our president s tendency to make a prop decisions without knowing the context or the region and without relying on the advice of the skilled diplomats and generals we have trump has promised to withdraw around 14000. 00 u. S. Troops based in afghanistan failure to fulfill that pledge could have adverse political consequences in the president ial election a little over a year from now whether the talks are truly dead remains to be seen pompei own noted that trump has employed similar tactics before only to resume negotiations later he walked away and annoy. From North Koreans when they wouldnt do a deal that made sense for america will do that with the iranians when the chinese moved away from the trade agreement with the talks on hold the longest war in u. S. History will continue to drag on approximately 2400 u. S. Service members have died in afghanistan since 2001 and more than 100000 afghan civilians soldiers and fighters have lost their lives robert oulds al jazeera Washington Well Phyllis Bennis is a fellow at the institute for policy studies and author of ending the u. S. War in afghanistan a primer and she joins us now live via skype from washington thank you very much for coming on to aljazeera i 1st want to get your reaction from basically what looks like the president the u. S. President pulling the rug from underneath the taliban is this a tactic hes using. I dont think its strategic enough to call it a specific tactic i think hes pulling the rug out from negotiations not just from the taliban from the possibility of bringing this long war to an end the negotiations that were underway between the us and the taliban even if they had succeeded would not have by themselves ended the war there was still fighting underway between the taliban and the Afghan Government military but it was necessary as a 1st step towards ending the war so cancelling it at the last minute which may well have been under pressure from his National Security advisor john bolton who had long opposed these talks has has really made that far more difficult for people in the afghanistan and some ways people watching from afar might be thinking that if the taliban are still very much engaged in violence not just as you say with the Afghan Military but also targeted as they said targeting foreign. Convoys miniature convoys how can they sit down at the peace table but in one way thats the 1st thing that has to happen no there will never be any any peace thats exactly right you need to talk with your enemies not only with your friends and if you dont you dont have any chance of negotiated solutions and this for a war when from the beginning these leaders have told us that there is no military solution if thats true and i believe that is there is going to have to be negotiations we dont know for sure the exact reason that trump canceled this whether it was pressure from bolton or others in the military or whether he was worried about congress or Something Else but we do have to take into account that the violence had been going on throughout these negotiating periods the negotiations been under way for about 10 months and the fighting had actually been increasing not only on the taliban side on the same day as the attack that the that claimed was the rationale for his decision to to end the talks. There was an attack by the us backed Afghan Military that killed 4 civilians brothers and watched house so the attacks on both sides have been continuing the taliban had never agreed to stop its attacks during the negotiations nor had they often government nor had the United States so these attacks were continuing and of course afghan civilians were paying the hardest and the highest price for that theres also a lot of talk about which taliban do you have to talk to to get this to end because we are talking about it as if its one huge group that is under the control of certain individuals but that theyre not quite so how much. Theyre not and of course were talking here about the Afghan Taliban which is backed largely historically by special forces of various sorts in pockets earlier efforts at negotiations were scuttled by pakistan in years past but were not talking here about the the Pakistani Taliban this is sort of the other side the taliban in afghanistan is not completely homogenous as you say there are dual and contending leaderships but it did seem that the negotiations were going far enough to move quickly towards. The this this stage of an agreement where the u. S. Was agreeing to pull out part of the troops not all of them the rest would be pulled out according to President Trump special envoy. Would be pulled out in about 16 months which brings it right up to the moment of the u. S. Elections in 2020 that was that would not of course and the war itself the pakistan sorry the the taliban position at that point would be to guarantee that its territory and the area that it controlled would not be able to be used by foreign terrorist forces or others who might try to attack the United States so there was an agreement that had been reached said that it had been agreed to in principle across. Board and was just waiting for President Trumps signature thats what he refused to give an insect and the very grateful for getting your thoughts on this news breaking news coming out of the u. S. For the spanish there speaking to us about whats happening with the taliban thank you the day of protests that started peacefully in Central Hong Kong has ended in more chaos demonstrators set barricades on fire blocked major roads and vandalized a metro station this after thousands marched peacefully to the u. S. Consulate calling on President Trump to help demonstrations which 1st started months ago over a controversial extradition bill have now developed into a movement calling for Democratic Change give you a couple and has more from hong kong. This is one of hong kongs main shopping this to