Newly leaked classified documents give a detailed look inside u. S. Drone programs raising questions about the accuracy of the strikes and whos being targeted and surviving the big one. L. A. Takes a big step to prevent loss of life in a major earthquake. Good evening. This is al jazeera america. We begin tonight with the white house changing course in afghanistan. The nearly 10,000 u. S. Troops now in the country are going to remain there through most of 2016 and many will stay beyond next year. That announcement was made by president obama this morning. He said the situation in afghanistan had grown too fragile to move ahead with next years planned withdrawal. Reporter president obama announced today that taking the advice of his top commanders, he is scrapping his plan to end the u. S. Involvement in afghanistan by the end of his term. Instead, he is slowing the withdrawal of u. S. Forces to a trickle and leaving more than half the force in place until sometime in 2017 or possibly beyond. The president s about face comes days after the talibans take overof kunduz exposed the shortcomings of the u. S. Trained afghan army. But the pentagon insists kunduz was not a Tipping Point and the president says his new timeline has been months in the making following extensive consultations with the Afghan Government, nato, and u. S. Commanders. Figure out whats working, whats not working. Make adjustments where necessary. Obamas revised plan keeps most of the current force of 9,800 u. S. Troops in afghanistan through tend of 2016 instead of slowly withdrawing them over the course of the next year. And only to undertake other operations either to protect our own forces or in extreme situations. The pentagon says the original timeline was overly optimistic in part because it failed to anticipate the many months it would take to form the unity government of president ghani. But it also says unity government was a major factor in the president s decision to make an extra effort. Because unlike in iraq where the president asked u. S. Troops to leave in 2011, the two afghan leaders have all but begged the u. S. To stay. We have a serious partner with the Afghan Government who wants our help and the people share our goals. We have a Security Agreement to guide our cooperation. He also noted while they will not be in combat, they will be in danger and some troops may face another tour of duty in a war thats killed more than 2200 americans and wounded 20,000. No plan survives First Contact with the enemy. In this case the plan was president obamas pledge to bring troops homably the end of his term and the enemy was antaliban and an afghan army not ready. Todays announcement means a third american president will have to deal with american troops in afghanistan. Reporter president obama stated what has become obvious. I do not support the idea of endless war. Reporter but there he was extending u. S. Involvement in what became the longest war in the countries history. The president campaigned on ending two wars in iraq and afghanistan with u. S. Air strikes in syria, he may leave office with three. In the run up to the 2012 election, mr. Obama laid out his goal for withdrawal from afghanistan. By 2014 this transition will be complete. Reporter a month before the vote, a vow to pull out was part of the stump speech. I said wed end the war in afghanistan, and we are. Reporter but those numbers got smaller over time and troops remained. Now were finishing the job we started. Reporter but with the afghan army still unable to stand on its own, the president faced a choice to leave a potentially unstable afghanistan or leave a troop presence there and let the next person in the white house sort it all out. Despite his past promises, mr. Obama took the second choice. Hell leave 5500 troops. This decisions not disappointing. Reporter for more than a year, critics hammered the policy drawing parallels with iraq. In afghanistan, many said telegraphing a date certain for u. S. Withdrawal allowed the taliban and other groups to simply wait it out. Did mr. Obama overpromise or was the policy misguided from the start . Some point out the situation on the ground has changed leaving mr. Obama with little choice. The president wanted to end two wars but its changed into making sure that the wars he inherited arent worse than when he got them. Reporter when will the troops come home . This time the only thing is certain is that the decision is no longer president obamas. A huge new leak of classified documents is giving us a detailed look inside the u. S. Military secret drone program. In some cases, the vast majority of those killed in Drone Operations were not the intended targets. Reporter 90 of People Killed by u. S. Drone strikes over one 5month period in afghanistan were not the intended targets. Thats just one claim. The Obama Administration has said publically that such operations are only authorized when theres an imminent threat and certainty that the target will be eliminated. That and other revelations appear on a website, the intercept. The drone reports cite classified documents leaked by someone identified only as the source, one some people are already calling the second snowden. Many articles were written by a journalist who says the leaker wanted the americans to know. The banality of it is to clear, the cold, corporate words they use to describe killing people, the basics of manhunting is a term they use. The tyrrany of distance. Arab features to describe people theyre looking at from thousands of feet above. Slides include details about the drone programs in afghanistan, yemen, and somolia from 2011 to 2013. Another claim, president obama has the ultimate signoff for drone attacks. The aclu says its eye opening it has been the use of lethal force and the rules under which its carried out and the consequences. The government has claimed the authority to use lethal force based on vague changing standards including in places outside of armed conflict. Reporter and theres this. These documents raise serious concerns body about whether the u. S. A. Has consistently violated law. On thursday, the white house responded to the stories saying the u. S. Goes to Great Lengths to limit civilian casualties unlike, for example, the taliban. Its friday morning in jerusalem where new restrictions on young muslim men will be in place for midday prayers. Men under 40 will not be allowed into the alaqsa mosque compound. Access to the mosque has been at the heart of the most recent eruption of violence in israel. Benjamin netanyahu is accusing the leader of palestine of inciting the unrest. Hes justifying it and calling for it saying he wants to see more blood in jerusalem. Its time for the International Community and fair minded people to make that distinction. Stop justifying murder. He has refuted the allegations. The Palestinian Authority has urged the u. N. Security council to hold a meeting friday to help quell the violence. Mike hannah has more. Reporter intense security at entrances to the old city. Police ordering palestinians to lift their shirts. Some instructed to remove their shoes. But this group waving israeli flags passes through unchecked. The security clamp down is related to the degree of anxiety among jewish israelis. False alarms about impending attacks have sparked panic and there have been several reports of israelis with dark complexions being afakeed by fellow jews after they were mistaken. Our Security Forces Work Together with the public to make sure theres a wide and large understanding of Security Issues involved and of the tense period were in at the moment. Reporter but even the Police Spokesman is wearing a vest. My own personal safety is important. We have to be careful both being jewish, religious, and a police officer. I could be targeted. Reporter in occupied east jerusalem, a number of neighborhoods have been sealed off and all residents having to pass through police check points. This barrier adds at least an hour of commute time for those leaving for work or university. Only a handful of individuals have been involved in the attacks and the dominant emotion among residents here is anger, that so many are being made to pay for the actions of so few. He voices the frustration of his fellow residents. Netanyahu is putting pressure on the Palestinian People and the people of jerusalem. This pressure will create a bigger explosion and wont calm things down. To calm things down, you need a political decision, not a security one. Reporter the warning that this structured humiliation may threaten the very security israel contends its designed to enforce. One day after news of the fbis investigation into fantasy football, regulators in nevada ordered Fantasy Sports sites to shut down in that state. Operators could face fines and ten years in prison if they dont stop immediately. The sites say they offer games of still and not chance and are therefore projected under federal law. More ahead on our top story, the planned withdrawal of u. S. Troops from afghanistan is on hold but a former u. S. Ambassador to the country argues that may not be enough and a Prosecutor Says Dennis Hastert, once second in line for the presidency is preparing to enter a guilty plea in federal court. Flash flooding in Southern California left hundreds of people stranded in their cars earlier tonight. This was the scene along interstate 5 north of los angeles. Heavy rains caused mud slides that left the highway impassable. Several other roadways were buried under as much as five feet of mud. There were no reports of any deaths or injuries a federal Prosecutor Says former House Speaker Dennis Hastert will plead guilty in the federal hush money case against him. Its not clear exactly what charges he will plead guilty to or what punishment he could face. Hes accused of trying to hide more than 3 million he paid to cover up allegations of Sexual Misconduct with a male student decades ago. He is scheduled to appear in court on october 28th. The president of afghanistan welcome the news that the u. S. Was delaying its withdrawal from his country. He has warned the white house that the taliban was making a come back. In recent months, hes expressed concerns that a complete pullout by the u. S. Would destabilize afghanistan. Todays announcement came after discussions with both ghani and the afghan chief executive abdullah abdullah. Ambassador, good to have you with us. Last night we discussed the Atlantic Council report issued yesterday. You were among the coauthors. You called for the president to keep troops in afghanistan at current levels. So is this new plan enough . I think it is good enough. I would have preferred the numbers to be linked to conditions in afghanistan. And i believe that the military commanders believe that the current numbers, 10,000 or so, are sufficient. Im a little worried about the reduction to 5,500 next year and after the president s term of office finishes. So i hope there is flexibility but that will be something that will be decided by the next president House Speaker john boehner said the administration finally admitted the arbitrary political deadlines are selfdefeating and have el boledened american enemies. I think theres something to be said for that which is we saw the withdrawal from iraq and the very negative implications there of the u. S. Withdrawal. And the taliban were also counting on total withdrawal from afghanistan and this year you saw that their level of effort against the government was more intense than previous years. They were testing the afghan force. They were hoping to break that force. They did make some progress as we saw in kunduz but then they were pushed back and the situation in afghanistan remains difficult. But the president as he said, its a fragile situation and still need our help and its in our National Security interest to help them. I understand the danger of pulling out and what could happen. But can the u. S. Afford also to keep the ongoing presence in afghanistan because could it turn into something indeferent like north korea . Your report says that its generational and long term. Yeah. At the current level which is between 5 to 10,000 forces, its quite sustainable in my judgment because we used to have an afghanistan only a couple of years ago over 100,000 u. S. Troops. Now that the afghans are taking the fight themselves to the taliban, they still need u. S. Help. The report calls for afghanistans neighbors to play a role. Is that realistic given where russia and china stand and how pakistans help has at best been questionable . I think you are right that the neighborhood is important on the one hand but on the other hand, so far the effort that we have made and also that president ghani has made, he took a Bold Decision to try to embrace pakistan and to bring about a reconciliation with the tal began who are based in pakistan but theres been no result so far. But the american decision to stay could change a pakistani al cue congratulations and the taliban calculation because they assume the u. S. Were going to leave and that the balance was power was going to change against the government, why negotiate now. Wait them out and see where the forces that remain and then decide. I think with the american decision, a signal has gone to everyone that the u. S. Intends to stay and help afghanistan succeed. Hopefully, that will or should have a positive impact. Look forward to having you back. Thank you a heroic former canadian am bass core to iran who heped six americans escape in the 1979 u. S. Hostage crisis has died. His exploits were what the movie argo was based on. Viewers of homeland saw some messages last week that some didnt know were there. The secrets in the background. Also, a new city ordnance is protecting residents from earthquakes. The only way to get better is to challenge yourself, and thats what were doing at xfinity. We are challenging ourselves to improve every aspect of your experience. And this includes our commitment to being on time. Every time. Thats why if were ever late for an appointment, well credit your account 20. Its our promise to you. Were doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. Because we should fit into your life. Not the other way around. A scottish nurse thought cured of ebola in january is critically ill with the disease once again. World Health Organization Officials Say there are several cases where the virus went dormant and then resurface resurfaced. Many of those who survived the disease are still suffering from lingering Health Problems billed as the Worlds Largest earthquake drill, itses mated 22 Million People took part in the great shakeout today, half of them in california. California now requires more than 15,000 buildings in the city to be fitted and less prone to collapse. Jake ward reports. When a big earthquake hits, its a feeling that nobody can ever really be prepared for. But los angeles is about to try. The 1994 north ridge earthquake did 40 billion of damage to the area. The city then brought in scientists to figure out a new plan and as of october, its the law. We focused on three areas of living through it, responding, and being able to recover. And within that among the many recommendations, one big area is dealing with the buildings that we know are going to kill people. Across los angeles theres a particular kind of building type that regulate regulate regulato scientists are worried about. A building like this. When it comes to lateral shaking, side to Side Movement in an earthquake, thats where you get in trouble. These pillars can snap in that kind of shaking. Now, this is not an isolated building type. Youre talking about 13,500 of these buildings at least here in los angeles. And the goal here is not to make this thing earthquake proof. Its simply to earn people the seconds they need to get out of the building alive. The other reason is that theyre rent controlled. Without them, thousands of people could not afford to live in this city. I mean, if people are displaced, theyre going to have to find other housing and at that point they would probably move into buildings where they were paying the rent they would have to pay more than they were paying before. The city is deciding weather to bend rent control rules. For some buildings those costs could exceed 100,000 per structure. Earl vaughn decided to beat the rush and just finished his retro fit. Its the largest single expenditure ive made since ive owned this. He says if an earthquake wiped out his property, hed have no reason to put the same kind of building up again. Its very difficult to keep up with my costs because of the rent control. Reporter considering everything that l. A. Stands to lose, a big quake could change the city for years, maybe for a generation. The largest growth decade in the history of los angeles is the decade after the 1906 earthquake as people came south. We look at los angeles and say we gained at that time. Whats going to happen when its our turn . The creators of the hit show homeland are admitting they were sabotaged. A group called arabian street artists were hired to create the set and instead painted messages like homeland is racist, homeland is not a series, and black lives matter. Regardless of the fact of it being fiction, it presents itself very realistically using very real world contemporary issues. Its still important to address this idea that stereo typing an interregion of people, a huge region of people to a very shallow and one dimensional perspective is something that is potentially dangerous. Homelands creators said the series strives to be sub versive in its own right and that they admired the act of artistic sabotage. Thank you for joining us. For the latest use any time, headover to aljazeera. Com. Have a great night. Ray suarez is next with inside story. Two people, one patch of land and permanently contradictory visions of the future. Tensions have been rising in jerusalem and Israeli Occupied areas captured in the 1967 war and still disputed territory. Palalestinians are attacking and Promised Land . Its the inside story