Correct ways. Hello if youre watching r. T. International im or is on a lot thank you for joining us and we do start with this breaking news iran has fired dozens of Ballistic Missiles bases housing u. S. Forces in iraq the Iranian Military is calling it a revenge operation for the death of Major General. Who was killed in the u. S. Air strike last week the pentagon has confirmed that the end base in western iraq and the herbal base in Northern Iraq have been hit those 2 facilities housing u. S. And Coalition Forces alongside iraqi forces and there are now reports of iraq casualties in both strikes this of course follows irans warning that it would hit u. S. Targets. In response to the death of its top general on january 3rd the Iranian Military has named the operation martyrs solemn army and warned that further strikes are to come since news of the attack broke there has been a 4 percent spike in the Global Oil Price and the Us Federal Aviation Agency has banned all flights over the persian gulf for security reasons meanwhile u. S. Defense secretary mark asper and secretary of state might have arrived at the white house and the white house says consultations are ongoing. Well as a bit of analysis on these latest developments we can add bring in human rights lawyer and author dan dan thanks for joining us look at the pentagon confirmed that 2 facilities housing u. S. Forces in iraq have been hit by missiles from iran just how serious is this escalation well i think its very serious the last report i saw was that movie really you were sort of have been killed in iraq. I think you can expect the trumpet ministration to now retaliate in current possibly within were on. You know im very concerned that we may be headed towards a war with iran at this point do you think that president chavez expected retaliate so quickly and in this manner and for it to happen in iraq i dont know for sure if you expected this. But truthfully i believe that the murder of general solomonic was done in order to provoke this response i believe that the people in charge of the u. S. Government at this point want a war with iran and they were looking. To create a provocation which would elicit this type response and then the u. S. Going to say see this is why we have to talk and so i guess to answer your question in short i didnt think they thought this type of thing would happen again im not sure that we this isnt what they want are. You saying this is what they want dan but trump has made it something of a policy throughout his presidency to say theyre going to pull u. S. Troops out of the middle east weve got stop trying to win these as he has its unwinnable wars in the middle east so suddenly assassinating this general in iran for a lot of people that came out to know are you saying it was an intentional provocation but surely no u. S. President would actually want to provoke an all out war with a major power in the middle east. Again im not sure about true lets look back at the war with iraq in 2003 that was based on a lie they were told us that there were weapons of mass destruction in iraq and thats why we had to go in there where it turned out to many of us knew the time by the way that was just a lot so they were provoking war with iraq in their case same thing with libya that was based on lies we now know after this leaked internal government documents that the war with their interesting and has been a lie for years they do want war i mean that is that they did this sad and tragic truth here in the song last week that major arms. Merchants of the u. S. Lockheed Martin Raytheon for example their profits jumped the great leave after the news of this why because the prospect of war theyd be able to sell more arms you know this is the military Industrial Complex that president eisenhower warned about we have a country then thats economy is wedded to war a country that is addicted to war and yes i believe the u. S. On this occasion. Engaged in a provocative act to trigger a real war who will also makes me say that is we now know the general saw he was at her watch on a Peace Mission he was there to lower tensions in the middle east to try to reach sums terms reside you rabia i think b. O. s was afraid peace was going to break out in again we seen this time and again. There were weve heard my pompei earlier in the white house refuting the idea that Major General soleimani was in iraq for diplomatic in peace reasons. However i want to pick up on that point you made about the military. Just real complex and that your argument big thats what provokes us president s into war but if we pick up on the feeling pop pop popular Public Sentiments in the us a lot of people are starting to wonder why troops are being sent to the middle east to then you know die in worth noting by the way that we havent got any confirmation of u. S. Casualties in the current strikes iraqi casualties not us thats the information we have at moment however how does public sentiment play into the idea of sending yet more u. S. Soldiers into the middle east how does that transfer into somebody actually winning the u. S. Presidency. Well again i dont know except that we see time and again the way this works is that yes americans in advance of a war again if we look at the 2003 war with iraq americans were against that war before it started there were a major demonstrations throughout the war world against that war before it started but once it started. You know the sentiment largely in the United States was well we have to support the troops now so i guess now we have to support them more and know the Peace Movement tolly dissolved that there. And i do think that the clock of ministration is counting on that now that the americans are perfect he did a war d theyre tired of war the troops are so tired of going to the middle east 63 percent of us veterans now believe these wars in the middle east were useless were counterproductive but again if trump can convince the American People that somehow the u. S. Troops are under attack in the middle east. He probably could gain a lot of support for an intervention in iran and i dont say that with any relish i think thats terrible ive worked very hard against a war with a lot i wrote a book in 2018 a part to tackle one which caution against the move towards war with iran but i do think the trumpet ministration just decided that thats what it wants and before we let you go down i just want to focus back on on washington because the u. S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she is closely monitoring the situation and she said quote needless provocations from the Administration Must and so thats the sort of criticism of the Trump Administration and the actions theyve taken say far in iran do you think as a growing sense of alarm within the u. S. Establishment. About what stalin trump is doing in the middle east i think there is or among segments. Of the us Political Class amongst us ruling class. About a possible war with iran and yet you think there are strong elements within the ruling class that want such a war theres never any unanimity. You know amongst the rumors on these types of issues there are some divisions but i certainly think there are there is a large d group in washington who does want this war to go forward dad lets focus for a 2nd on the middle east region because irans Tasnim News Agency is quoting about america that iranian officials are warning that if the u. S. Retaliate to these missile strikes hizbullah will fire rockets at israel obviously its very concerning hearing these kinds of allegations amongst countries in the middle east if that happens what could be repercussions for the entire middle east and what do you make of the dynamics that are interplaying there. If that happens i think youre looking at a major. I think youre looking at a wall or. A shoulder to think that way but yes i think. It would be a terrible war that could happen to you soon you will remember israel as 102200 Nuclear Warheads of course the u. S. Has thousands over be afraid that one or both of those countries might use them in. Human rights lawyer and author dan thanks so much for your time and insights. Thank you very much. Like a national you live pictures from the state funeral of Major General kasim solomonic its happening in his hometown in tehran he was assassinated in that u. S. Drone strike in baghdad on january 3rd in that strike was ordered by President Trump and has been branded an act of war by iran for 2 decades so the money served as the commander of irans could force which is the external wing of the Islamic Revolutionary guard he played a crucial role in irans military Decision Making process and helped expand irans role in the middle east he was also a leading figure in the fight against Islamic State terrorists. Well we can now cross live to r. T. Scale of more pain and new york im paula slayer in tell of if paula lets start with you could you talk us through whats been happening and how all this is being viewed in israel where you are right now. Lets you quickly say we know that more than a dozen Ballistic Missiles were fired by iran at iraqi they says that howells u. S. Troops one of them is not far from baghdad and the other one in o. B. L. We have received confirmation from the iraqi side that the arts. Amongst the iraqi forces but were still waiting to hear whether or not there are any american soldiers who have been killed and were being told that theres an assessment of the situation thats happening at the moment now the Iranian Revolutionary guards have taken responsibility they say that this is in a bridge for friday mornings assassination of the mommy and theyve called the operation operation revenge. Theyve also threatened that if theres any kind of reaction from the United States they will be a severe response the words they use using is a more crushing response and theyve also warned that if theres any kind of response from American Allies in the region they too will be targeted so of course you have a talking about jordan saudi arabia kuwait and israel where i am as of yet no official reaction from the israeli side no doubt the israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu is being briefed and is meeting with the top security official on the israeli army has been on standby since friday morning particularly on the border in the north and the south of the country and this is in anticipation that should you use either of its proxies hamas in gaza or his beloved lebanon they will fire at israel and since in the mood here in the country over the past 23 days in talking to israelis many of them were expecting such an attack such a revenge attack but they thought it would come actually from one of the proxy groups and we are hearing from iran that if there is any kind of retaliation from israel has been will respond so we were on standby to see what will happen we are also on standby because there are threats coming from iran that they will be a 2nd wave so were waiting to see whether or not theyre going to be more attacks like this as i mentioned the rain in t. V. Saying that a 2nd wave is imminent and were waiting for official confirmation and if its already official reaction from the region its still quite early will probably be any stock in reaction in the next hour or so concerning developments poland would be coming back to you sure of the coming hours to get more on these breaking news developments kind of want to come to you in new york. Because so far the u. S. Response has been somewhat music and were not expecting now an address from president trusts not after there were earlier rumors that he would be given address the nation from the white house we now know that its not can you tell us what has been said so far in washington indeed at this point we are not hearing any official announcement from the white house we have heard however that trump has been briefed on the situation and that trump is being briefed on what exactly has happened with this attack this is what weve heard from the white house staff lets take a listen. We are aware of the reports of attacks and u. S. Facilities in the rock the president has been briefed and is monitoring the situation closely and consulting with his National Security team furthermore we do have interesting responses coming from members of the u. S. Congress its pretty clear that views regarding this attack and the escalation with iran the killing of qassam solomonic as well as now irans response are not unified if youll take a listen to these 2 views coming from marco rubio from the republican side and nancy pelosi from the democratic side it seems like they have very different assessments of who is responsible for this incident and what should happen next take a listen. Closely monitoring the situation following bombings targeting u. S. Troops in iraq we must ensure the safety of all assume its members including that in the in his provocations from the administration and demanded that iran sees its violence and the world cannot afford war iran is now officially calling for americans to turn on each of the the time will come to debate u. S. Policy tonights american and allied troops have come into direct attack by a nation state and americans must come together to support and protect them and respond appropriately. Now republican voices seemed to be praising the killing of qassam solomonic and saying it was a great decision by trump many democratic voices seem to be arguing that it was an unnecessary provocation so there seems to be clear divisions about this well be waiting to hear you know officially from the white house at this point no official address is planned but well be waiting for official word which most likely will come soon but at the moment the country seems quite mixed in how its reacting to these ongoing events. Correspondents caleb maupin in new york and pulled in tel aviv thanks for those updates when we come about you have the coming as. President trump had backed down on a threat to destroy irans cultural sites the u. S. Leader calls global along with a series of tweets on saturday in which he said key iranian landmarks could be targeted if the country were to seek revenge for the assassination of Major General sunni money but on tuesday trump said washington would obey international we are according to various laws supposed to be very careful with their Cultural Heritage and you know what if thats what the law is i like to obey the law and earlier on she stayed the Iranian Parliament here not to mislead pasta bell designates in the Us Armed Forces as a terrorist organization. Full of those who did this is when this the perpetrators of this crime the killing of general kassim son the money who with the pentagon and the military counted as terrorists. Will stay in the middle east of blood and putin has paid an unexpected visit to syria the talks with president Bashar Al Assad they discuss the volatile situation now unfolding. Reports. This is a lot of putins 1st visit says syria since the year its wednesday 17 and his arrival is there it comes amid tensions in the middle east following the killing off a top Iranian Military official in iraq and after arrival according to Vladimir Putins spokesperson he visited the Russian Command Center in damascus where he held a meeting with president bashar assad and also received a state of affairs reports from the military about whats going on in the rest of the country now in a meeting with bashar assad lot of mir putin. Thats a long way and significant steps have been made to establishing the countrys territorial integrity as well as statehood meanwhile president of syria bashar. Thanked the Russian Military for establishing in his country and of course for their fight against terrorism well on wednesday flooding appeared to be holding another top level meeting this time with president in turkey theyll be formally launching the new turks stream pipeline and also discussing the fallout from Major General soleimani death well of course because following these developments closely here on r. T. Now the latest movie by the british direct to go i richie has been getting some less than stellar reviews with critics branding the picture as racist and out of touch the gentleman has say for any been released in 4 countries of the rest of the world getting to see it in 2 months time but heres a look at what is already getting people angry. Its really moving out yeah. I. Think. Every imaginable demographic gets their moment to be targeted and denigrated the only thing the gentleman finds worth celebrating is the bravado white masculinity. A less forgivable blast from the past however it is a discomforting strain of racially based humor running through out reach its original script making flat punch lines of multiple aging characters. Its just a shame that guy Ritchie Falls back on his bad habits casual racism i dont know lynn and lack of female characters problematic but still very entertaining. Good and im being absolutely sincere much rather watch cats than the angry racist mass that is the gentleman. When we put this up for debate with political commentator david vance and social activist. This is a sort of bygone bricks movie a sort of muscular reassertion all day we can say what we like. And we dont give a damn what anybody thinks he can tell us about our most foul and disgusting racist language this was a movie about gangsters on hey guess what really gun stores dont speak in politically correct balanced way is the us know what gangsters do when we see movies like this is the following day when those racial epithets are repeated on the street that give calls will come sudden. Movie makers like guy should have a broader social conscience and responsibility. Produce in a day if you want to see. Imagine dresses and then thats fine you go and see it if we go to see a gangster movie you know were not expecting to. Find a philosophy were not expecting to experienced walk culture thats just reality i think is outdated is outmoded and hes not reflecting the kind of future which is of a more inclusive sense of british nationalism you know here we are in 2020 and what were experiencing over this movie is just an early flutter of walk culture of the perpetually offended black panthers one of the most successful movies in the world and its successful economically for a reason i think im not in favor of any artistic ban or any law i do think there should be greater diversity in the production and creative rooms quite amusing that you just referenced black panther and you went on then to talk about diversity if i recall the black panther movie successfully there wasnt a huge amount of diversity in that so if you want equality and i do then i think we have to have the fundamental right to have all opinions of all sorts heard saying and understood. Now lets continue our look back at 29000 or more of the events that marked those last 12 months. And we have divided this review of the year into a few different categories so lets take a look at this 1st one disruptor in chief donald trump a dominating the headlines near that was stirring up politics both at home and abroad and he also found himself as the butt of many jokes in the Mainstream Media and on late night shows but as well as being on the receiving end the president also dished out his own barbs takes a look at who got the last laugh. What should be the golden rule of anyone who wants to sound or look funny i dont mind a bit of comedy in my work so why is it repeats the same joy teutonic thats. Ok so what then happened to the gods of comedy and 2019 because they joked about or mocked the same person 102 times as you can see most of america is good. For the. Lakes. Orange picked out of refrigerator is actually the most accurate way trump has ever described himself. You know like sometimes like you know the way we try to get our steps and hes trying to reach a certain number of lies on his fitbit every single day you know hes like oh i havent had my 10000 yet my dad was from germany yes 10000 im not really have 10000 im not on. You know what i actually just bumped into a blog post titled 6 ways to handle trumps impeachment during holiday dinners hasnt gone that bad time for another comedy extract. The everyone flew here for the holidays and i mean even more happy that they did it their impeaching try well they did it peaching trump could we please talk about politics instead oh you mean how trump is definitely getting preached and then definitely getting reelected im good. Yes it has well while some americans will probably be happy to mock or go on about donald trump til the end of time there are others who are sick of it and these folks gotta love a new feature on netflix a button that allows you to skip donald trump jokes now thats what i call innovation although seth meyers who came up with the idea didnt think people would use it. Anyway what about the president he couldnt just sit in the corner and cry right well jokes by trumps breed assessors never really crossed the line causing exactly the right amount of modest giggling but the differences between bush and mccain may be just too vast. I mean mccain is bushs running mate hasnt the man suffered enough and with that i just have 2 more words to say. Obama. And 29 tango donald trump took it to a whole new level the ha has from his jokes were meant to slap his opponents hard bread and butter have been. Specially raised by the jacksons to remain calm under any condition which will be very important because theyve already received subpoenas to appear in adam shifts basement on thursday Debbie Dingell thats a real beauty she calls me up to since this thing thats ever happened thank you so much children would be so thrilled hes looking to. Thank you so much. And says its ok dont worry have a. Baby. And as a true twitter troll he began to make good use of means. So what then everyone happy happy new year t. V. Shows can save plenty of time on planning just fill up air time with have that fall in the white house be like for at least another year the president can keep on taking aim at rivals by fully mastering mean making and be proud of his razor sharp humor and just in case the publics now got a butt to skip jokes about the mega man. Bring it on. Well now lets take a look at this 2nd category warning the world 29000. 00 was also a year of hostility from the trade war between washington and beijing to a wave of terror attacks around the world and last year did see a spike in the number of places of worship being targeted as nicky aaron reports while 2019 saw fewer terror attacks 3 years so are more worrying trend with acts of terror inciting a tit for tat circle of hate 3 months into the year we saw one of the most peaceful countries in the world raise its Terror Threat level to high for the 1st time in its history. People around the world were left stunned when a 28 year old man unleashed carnage on 2 mosques in christchurch new zealand. This is one of new zealands darkest days the appalling attack set the tone for the remainder of the year the question was what could have motivated this surge in olds right leanings the obvious songs that to many was donald trump the u. S. President who had taken what some perceived as an anti immigrant stance also a man who had the misfortune to be named in the Christ Church attack as a manifesto making him the perfect target for education mr trump your awards not. Your policies matter i think the Public Discourse from the president is a factor in some of these actions while politicians play to the blame game a much darker reality was unfolding 9 days off to Christ Church the 1st copycat attack. This time on a synagogue in California Police later found graffiti on the driveway leaving little doubt over whether the attacker had been inspired by the new zealand massacre the po way synagogue shooting took the life of one person and injured 3 others in a chilling echo of the new zealand attack the perpetrator also released a manifesto in which he praised the christchurch terror months later copycat attack number 2. On the 3rd of august 22 people were killed and 24 others injured in a mass shooting at a walmart in El Paso Texas again the attacker released a manifesto revealing how he was inspired by the Christ Church mosque shootings. Days later another one this time on a mosque in norway one person was injured