They have. Judgments. Against. One way for iranians to demonstrate they are serious. This is supposed to be the frontline of the war on terror. I knew i was missing the story, there was another war hidden in the shadows. I see miles of traffic. People are stranded, running out of gas. Players on the Northwestern University team want to join a labour union. They knowingly established a system to skirt labour laws. We begin with a Nuclear Program and reports of what could be a Deadly Alliance in syria. United Nations Nuclear inspectors visited a mine in iran on wednesday, a trip called a goodwill gesture before negotiations on the Nuclear Program resume next month. Can iran be trusted. Despite the smiles and wiles of president Hassan Rouhani. Meanwhile in syria there are reports the Assad Government is buying oil from groups allied with al qaeda, up to now they were considered assads deadly enemies. Im joined from washington d. C. From mark ginsberg, former ambassador to morocco, he moderated a panel on whether one could deal with iran in good faith. How far is iran willing to go. We heard the foreign minister say they will not dismantle centrifuges or the water reactor that could be used to make plutonium. Is some give necessary . Sure there is. There has to be horse trading. But the parameters should be objective. There shouldnt be terms for wiggle room. After all, we can count the number of centrifuges the i. A. E. A. Can count, whether a Nuclear Reactor in iraq is being moth balled. Everyone could count to what extent iran is enriching uranium or isolating or neutralizing uranium and plutonium. Theres a lot of spin going on. The wiggle room. Every time theres a conversation, first the initial deal, and then the second conversations. Every time theres an agreement, then the iranians Say Something that doesnt mesh with what the americans are saying. Particularly given the fact that i can understand theres everybody has to play to the home base. But why are the iranians going out of their way after the accord was negotiated to lead for the to this Framework Agreement that hopefully will be negotiated, why are they going out of their way to completely detract from the agreement that they reached. The United States says, for example, that the iranians agreed to x, y, z. Hassan rouhani goes on another Television Show and says no, no, no, we didnt agree to that, the americans are spinning this. Right. Theres a lot of that going on. Here is what president obama said about iran last night. For the sake of our National Security we must give diplomacy a chance to succeed. If irans leaders do not seize of opportunity, i will be the first to call for sanctions and stand ready to exercise all options to make sure that iran does not g a nuke lawyer weapon. Is the threat implicit, convincing or does the u. S. Pulling out of iraq and afghanistan, plus the fact that we pulled back there. Is this going to be seen as americans not a serious threat. Obviously thats a concern. Its ironic that the president said she would be the first to support actions. Yet it was he was the president that largely was the last person to favour Stronger Economic sanctions. Its objectively clear that the Obama Administration went kicking and screaming after sanctions led iran to negotiating table. Be that as it may, theres no doubt that the president has not in any way, shape or form prepared the American People for what may be the consequences of a failure if negotiations do not succeed. While all of us, everybody wishes to see that there be an empirically ironclad agreement, what will happen if the agreement falls apart. The president threatened to veto sanctions against iran, which a lot of people in the senate support, because he thinks the talks about fall apart. By saying that, by taking a strong position, did he weaken his hand. There was a certain good cop, bad cop going on. The senate made it clear that hes not going to bring that sanctions bill any time soon to the table. The fact of the matter is that the more the iranian leadership tries to dispute the interpretation of what the United States and european allies, as well as russia determined to be the goals and objectives, it would behove the administration to wink and nod at howard reed to call for the negotiations to brink the legislation to the floor. Lets talk about syria. And the talks there. Here is what u. N. Mediator bro had to say about the talks between the rebel factions. I do not expect to achieve anything substantive. Im not disappointed, i did not expect a result. This is what i thought wed do, talk to one another, and also agree that we would continue talking to one another. Its depressing to lisp to that. Is that enough for the talks to keep going. The assad regime is refusing to let the humanitarian aid into the community of holmes. This functionality between reality on the ground and what is taking place in geneva, you can drive 10 drugs through. The problem is Neither Party is prepared to lay down their arms and negotiate a transitional government. You and i know it took eight years after the civil war in lebanon for it to burn itself out. The fact of the matter is if you can get humanitarian relief for the people caught between the cross higher of homs and aleppo. Between al qaeda seizing territory, and barrel bombs raining down on innocent civilians, and the party not agreeing to anything that resembles prisoner exchanges and not enabling humanitarian supplies to go flow, it doesnt bode well, and the u. N. Representative is probably as accurate as anyone. And the assad regime has been spinning itself as the bulwark against terrorism. Theres reporting today that the al nusra front and isas, are now controlling many of syrias oil fields and reports saying that the terrorists are selling some of the oil they are getting to the syrian government. Why is this going on. Theres one theory that bastard may be doing in in order to weaken the moderate elements of the opposition and strengthen extremists so he can position himselfals antiterrorist leader. Isnt it ironic that the artonist and chief is billing themselves as a firefighter and chief. When i read the article, and as you reported, you shake your head and say this cant possibly be. Given the dia bollical nature of what has gone on for floting and machiavelian politics, think about the fact of what assad wants to do is destroy the secular moderates that represent his most Formidable Political opposition, and then in effect empower al qaeda in order for him to be seen an a ball work for Sunni Islamic extremism pure machiavelian dealings in syria. Ambassador mark ginsberg, its a pleasure to have you on. We turn to the ongoing effort to free a former American Marine who spent more than two years in irans evan prison. He was arrested in 2011 when in iran visiting grandparents. His family was horrified when he was sentenced to death in 2012 for allegedly spying for the c. I. A. Iranian tv broadcast his confession, a confession that he made because his integrators were sitting near. The trial as over turned and a new trial ordered. There has not been one. In a letter amir said he was held on false charges based on confessions obtained by force, threat and iltreatment. As for his release he wrote the following . for more im joined by it michigan democrat who represents the district where members of the amirs family live and made his release a priority. This seems to be a courageous young man anyone saying, dont swap me ive done nothing wrong. He is convinced of his innocence and so am i. Amir assist a High School Hockey player like i was, served in the u. S. Marine corp, went to visit his grandmother and within a couple of weeks was grabbed and in prison before you knew it. Its a horrible situation for amir and his family. He does not believe that anyone should negotiate or trade anything for his release because he knows hes innocent. You have to be brave to say that. You spoke with president obama tuesday, after the state of the Union Recording amirs information, and secretary of state kerry. Do you think the administration is doing enough. I do. At least since ive been in congress. Ive been in contact with the state department and responsibling with the president about this, and minister powell and secretary kerry. Im convinced that they are pressing as hard as they can. Its important that we not put the negotiations into the mix when it comes to amirs situation. I think its a precondition that iran must accept before the u. S. Congress or the world will accept any agreement thats negotiated, and they cant continue to hold americans. Its important we not conflate his situation with the current negotiations going on. Former secretary of defense. Retired general james joan and joseph rol ston sent a letter urging the administration to help get amir released and said president obama reportedly brought this up with iranian president Hassan Rouhani when they had the phone call in september. Others have raised his plight during the recent negotiations. But they lifted the sanctions as part of the nuclear negotiations. Dont you think he should have been a part of the deal. It would be dangerous to make him a part of the deal because then we are in a position where we are giving concessions in the negotiations in exchange for the release of a free man. This is a situation that is up to the iranian government. They have to decide whether or not they want to be taken seriously as a member of the international community. That includes negotiating Nuclear Agreements and any other international engagement. If they want to be taken seriously, they need to release amir, and any other american that they may be holding. That is a precondition to us taking a permanent agreement more seriously. Having said that, im one that believes that these negotiations ought to be given a chance to work. There are members of congression who are skeptical. I understand that. So i say that to make sure that the iranian government understands that that skepticism and many of us who have been been willing to engage or impose additional sanctions now will be very much ready to act swiftly if the negotiations fall apart or if somehow as the ambassador noted, there seems to be an indication that the iranians may be pulling backment we can act quickly if we need to. At this point in time we need to give the negotiations space, but the iranians need to understand they need to release amir if they want to be taken seriously, or seriously as a potential member of the global community. You mentioned an american pastor in prison, bob levinson has been missing for seven years. Do you know anything about them . I dont. Ive been focussed on amirs situation, his family are my constituents, as is amir. Each case is you neek and different. I know that amir is incident. Hes a young man that went to visit his family, and as a result of that circumstance, and the political situation, he was apprehended, tried and convicted on false charges. When he was arrested in august 2011, tensions were high. Do you think he was arrested in order to use him as a bargaining chip . Its hard to put myself in the minds of iranian government 2. 5 years ago. The facts are clear. This is a situation where amir travelled on his own passport, using his own name, visiting family, he doesnt fit the profile of someone over there on anything other than a mission to see his grandmother. Has the family in iran been in contact with him. Does he know that his father is ill with brain cancer . Yes, he does. Hes had visits from an uncle and grandmother, and his mother at one point visited. This is really difficult. I know his mother, his father, his sister, his brotherinlaw. This is on their mind every minute of every day. Amir hes a tough guy, a former mar each, but he is a young man that needs to be returned to his family, especially at this difficult time when his father is ill. You sent him an alert in november to let him know you and his family are doing everything possible. Do you know if he received is it . I dont know, but we have a good sense that he has. It was reported through the iranian media the messages get to him. I hope it got to him. I thought what would i want my congressman to do if my son was sitting in a prison. I would want to make sure that he knew as he sits in that cell that his government is doing everything that it can to get him home. I would want my congressman to do everything he or she could. I want to make sure he knows hes continuing to fight. U. N. Human right officials have been involved. Have the family heard from the up as to how far along they have gotten . Theres a range of discussions taking place. I would be careful to characterise those conversations. The family is in discussion with a multitude of folks. We communicate ourselves with folks within and outside the u. N. So, you know, the message is getting through to the iranian government that this is really important. If they want to be taken seriously, they know that. We wish you the best in your efforts. Thank you for joining us. Represent dan kilty from michigan. Before going to the break id like to update the situation of five al jazeera adjournist, Mohamed Fadel fahmy, baher mohamed, and peter greste were picked up by egyptian authorities a month ago, abdullah alshami, and Mohammed Badr were locked up in august. Egyptian authorities accused them of spreading false news and belonging to a terrorist organization. In a News Conference in london journalists from the bbc and britains sky news called for their release, and the chief political commentator request the daily telegravel had choice words. For a great nation like egypt treating people doing jobs like journalists, an ethical decent jobs which all decent societies need, for egypt, of all countries to treat journalists in this way is a shame on that face. Al jazeera pursues all possible avenues to get our five journalists released. Is the u. S. Creating a counterinsurgency against itself. Our social media producer is tracking the top stories on the web. What is trending . Wine is trending tonight. You may be surprised to find which Company Became the top consumer of red wind. Here is a hint. Its not europe. What do you think. Join the conversation at twitter and on the facebook and google pages. Is americas war on terror creating new enemies wherever it spreads . Thats a claim this a disturbing documentary that has been nominated for an Academy Award called dirty wars and follow a journalist as he hunts the story. Its hard to say when the story began. This was supposed to be the front line in the war on terror. I knew i was missing the story. There was another war hidden in the shadows. A nightmare. Theres two men in a guest house the first killed. You saw the u. S. Forces take the bullets out of bodies. Who were the men that stormed into his home and why go to horrifying lengths to cover up the actions . There were killings. How had a covert unit taken over the largest war on the planet. Hes still alive, are you paranoid. Hes dead, what happened. He had an accident. Jeremy is a Senior Investigative correspondent with first look media, which launches over the next few months, he wrote and produced dirty wars, theres a companion back dirty bars the world is a battlefield. Lets listen to what president obama said about the war in afghanistan. Even as we actively and aggressively pursue terrorist networks by building the capacity of our foreign partners america must move off a permanent war footing. Thats request why i imposed prudent limits on the use of drones. You spent a lot of time in afghanistan, is that the role we should have. A few months into obamas first term in office. President obama said there was less operatives in afghanistan. A lot are asking what are we there for. I think we have created a lot more enemies. Should we leave a presence there to help the afghans out. Its similar in some ways to what is happening. The taliban, as repry hencible as they are have an Indigenous Support Network greater an the n. A. T. O. Occupation. What terrorists are being counterered. The attacks against u. S. Forces are led by taliban individuals. You were rough as you tweeted and ill quote one you movie starts, disturbingly with an attack, a raid on a small down in southern afghanistan where special forces went in and killed 13 people, including a couple of pregnant women, two brothers, one a Police Commander trained by the americans. Is that when you woke up to the fact that our efforts around the world are not necessarily winning hearts and minds . I basically worked in war zones my entire adult life. I was familiar with the fact we had special Operation Forces and the c. I. A. Had paramilitary. I didnt understand that the force that did that raid and many of the killcapture raids around the globe was an elite force which is effectively a private Paramilitary Force reporting to the white house, and dont operate within the normal chain of command. Once we realised that it was like peeling back the onion. You realised it through photographs showing the admiral with afghan troops and had brought a sheep to the town, the americans prosecutor apologising for what happened. Last week we talked about the expanded role of special forces. We have 22,000 special forces in different places, in more than 75 countries. Now its more than 100. Thats the current statistics we have. Is this how we are going to wage war. Is it a special operations war. What we are seeing as the barack Obama Administration is coming to a close is he wants to keep the u. S. Away from largescale droop deployments. We are getting away from human intelligence and relying on the technology of drones, mon forking telephones and going around the world hu