08/09/2011 BBC News at Ten


08/09/2011

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Appalling and gratuitous violence - a devastating report on the death

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of an Iraqi civilian held by British troops in Iraq. 36 hours in

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British custody that left a family without a father. Baha Mousa had 93

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separate injuries. It is clearly a truly shocking and appalling

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incident. It should not have happened. It should never be

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allowed to happen again. Mousa and others were subjected to

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banned interrogation methods. The report calls it systemic failure.

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We hear from a soldier who was there. My personal views are,

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everybody that was there on that day initially has their own

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responsibility for his death. Whether you hit him or you did not,

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you still have your own responsibility for his death.

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We'll ask what lessons have been learned. $NEWLINE Also tonight:

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The biggest economies in the world in danger of stagnating - a new

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warning on growth from leading international economists. Another

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one just hit the building. Another one hit the World Trade.

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New audio tapes from 9/11 - first confusion, then the moment they

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knew it was a terror attack. commander has declared we can shoot

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down aircraft that do not respond to our direction. Copy?

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10 years on, New York is on high alert. Fears over what security

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officials found in Bin Laden's compound. We are worried about

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something happening on the anniversary of 9/11, because we saw

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that there was discussion about the ten-year anniversary, the ten-year

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memorial. Paralympic tickets - Britain aims

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for a sell-out competition. I will be here with Sportsday later

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in the hour, including the latest Good evening.

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The inquiry into the death of Iraqi civilian Baha Moussa while in the

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custody of the British army has reached the devastating conclusion

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that he was subjected to "appalling, gratuitous violence". The inquiry's

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chairman, Sir William Gage, said the death eight years ago pointed

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to "systemic failure" at the Ministry of Defence - it failed to

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give clear guidelines about the treatment of prisoners. The Prime

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Minister described the episode as "truly shocking". In a moment,

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we'll look at the lessons learned. Our first report from Caroline

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Hawley contains distressing images. Her father of two, 26-year-old Baha

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Mousa had 93 separate injuries when he was battered to death in British

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custody. -- A father of two. This video was filmed the day before he

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was killed. It was an army major who instructed the soldiers

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guarding the detainees to use hoods and stress positions which had been

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banned by the British Government back in 1972. The footage shows

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corporal Donald Payne shouting obscenities at the Iraqis, among

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them Baha Mousa. Acts of shocking brutality were to come. My judgment

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is that they constituted an appalling episode of serious

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gratuitous violence on civilians, which resulted in the death of one

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man and injuries to others. They represented a very serious breach

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of discipline. These pictures show the wounds of surviving detainees.

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One was left with acute kidney failure. The inquiry found it was a

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violent assault but triggered Baha Mousa's death, but that he had been

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made physically vulnerable by hooding in extreme heat and the

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stress positions. The report blamed their use on a corporate failure at

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the Ministry of Defence. It said stress positions and hooding were

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wholly unacceptable in any circumstances. It also found that

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many soldiers had assaulted the Iraqis. Even more had failed to

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intervene. There had been, it said, a lack of moral courage. It is

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clearly a truly shocking and appalling incident. It should not

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have happened. It should never be allowed to happen again. And the

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British Army, as it does, should uphold the highest standards.

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inquiry found that Major Michael people's knew that detainees had

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been assaulted. He is accused of unacceptable failure. It is said

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that if Lieutenant Craig Rodgers had acted when he first knew what

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was happening, Baha Mousa would almost certainly have survived. It

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found that the decorated commander of the Regiment, Colonel Jorge

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Mendonca, ought to have known what was going on. And that corporal

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pain was a violent bully who tried to cover up what he had done. --

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corporal Donald Payne. No doubt they are reading the report right

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now and they will be considering the war crimes of torture, inhumane

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treatment and submitting people to grossly humiliating behaviour.

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There are a number of people who have every reason to be very, very

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worried. Back in the Middle East, a family still grieving. Baha Mousa's

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father had to identify his son's battered body. In my heart, I love

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:05:51.:05:51.

Baha. Baha Mousa's children are now orphans. Today, the former soldier

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who tried to resuscitate their father expressed his remorse.

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will never probably be a night that goes by when he is never on my mind.

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Granted, I have to live with that for the rest of my life. But so has

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his family. The Baha Mousa is buried in Najaf, Iraq's holiest

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city. Today's report into his death is a big step towards

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accountability but the scandal over what happened to him has not yet

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been laid to rest. The inquiry's chairman said what

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happened to Baha Mousa had left a great stain on the reputation of

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the army. We've asked Caroline Wyatt to look at what lessons have

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been learned in the past eight years.

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Basra, September 2003. An increasingly hot and hostile place

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for British troops battling to control the growing insurgency,

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with soldiers being killed and maimed. But the army and the

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Government today made clear that none of that excused the brutality

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laid bare in this inquiry, nor the corporate failing by the MoD to

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make clear to soldiers what they could and could not do to detainees.

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Baha Mousa was not a casualty of war. His death occurred as a

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detainees in British custody. It was avoidable and preventable, and

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there can be no excuses. While acknowledging that British troops

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in Basra faced stark challenges, the head of the army, too, so they

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could be no excuse for the loss of discipline and the lack of moral

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courage that occurred. -- he said there could be no excuse. It is

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clear from the inquiry report that we were ill-prepared in 2003 for

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the task of handling civilian detainees. The army has made

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strenuous efforts since then to transform the way we train for and

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conduct detention operations. have to treat everyone you catch a

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humanely. No exceptions, no IFS, no buts. It amongst the

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recommendations were an update to this training video for British

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soldiers on prisoner handling. It came out in 2005 in the wake of

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Baha Mousa's death. The inquiry also said the MoD must keep in

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place the ban on hooding and improve training in prisoner

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handling and interrogation. It also wants to ensure more rapid medical

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attention for detainees, and the possible civilian inspection of

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British military prisons abroad. The army insist many of those

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improvements have already been made. They knew this was going to be a

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critical report and if you know you are going to be criticised, you

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review your procedures so that you can say, we do things to from the

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now. And they do. We will see in due course whether the military

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really have reformed their system, but I suspect they have and I

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believe they have. British troops may have lowered the flag over

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Basra in 2009, but it still casts a long shadow. Today, the army made

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clear that those named in the report who are still serving have

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now been suspended. They could face disciplinary action, a fresh court

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martial, or perhaps even prosecution in a civilian court.

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The outlook for the world's leading economies is looking even more

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gloomy and a return to recession cannot be ruled out. That's

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according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and

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Development which said some G7 economies are in danger of

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stagnating. It predicts growth in the UK of less than 1% this year.

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Stephanie Flanders reports. The closer you examine the world

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economy, the worse it is starting to look. Today, the OECD added to

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the gloom with a report that talked of the recovery coming to a halt,

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of World Trade stagnating, and the risk that unemployment will become

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entrenched. Time for a Plan B? You might think so. The OECD said

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countries with credible budget policies can and should respond to

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the slowdown, but apparently that does not mean the UK. There is now

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an interaction both on the manufacturing side and a degree of

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confidence which affects growth negatively and may continue for the

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next few months. But this does not mean that the efforts of the

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Government should be changed. Chancellor today met with vice

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premier of China, which is growing a lot faster than everyone else. --

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the vice-premier. In the G7, only Italy has a weaker forecast than

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Britain over the first half of 2011, but he says that is not due to

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budget cuts. Countries that pursued frankly completely different

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policies two hours over the last year - the US had a huge fiscal

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stimulus - they have not seen markedly more growth than we have

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in the UK. George Osborne's Decisions a year ago choked off our

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recovery in Britain even before this latest crisis in the eurozone

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and in America, which means we are very, very badly exposed indeed now.

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The economy is flat lining, unemployment is rising. The case

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for a Global Plan B and a change of course in Britain is growing by the

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day. The Bank of England today decided not to change policy, and

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we had the same thing from the European Central Bank in the

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eurozone. If the news continues to be this gloomy, we may see them

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give even more emergency support to their economies, but it has been

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three years since the height of the financial crisis and the collapse

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of Lehman Brothers. Even the central bankers are starting to

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worry whether they are running out of ammunition. The head of the ECB

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was downbeat about European recovery today, and rather

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defensive about the central bank's handling of the crisis. We are in

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the worst crisis since World War II. We do our job. It is not an easy

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job. The job is no easier in the US, where the head of the central bank

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tonight hinted that he was exploring new tools to help the

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economy, hours before the President unveiled his plan for jobs. There

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is no shortage of bad news about the world economy. Solutions are in

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short supply. Well, that speech by President

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Obama will be happening in just under two hours time. He will use

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it to announce a $300 billion spending package aimed at creating

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new jobs. The address, before a joint session of the US Congress,

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is seen as crucial to his chances of rebuilding the economy and

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winning a second term. Mark Mardell reports.

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He promised hope and change. What he has delivered provokes pessimism.

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14 million Americans are out of work, the economy seems to be

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stalled, and the President needs to come up with some solutions. His

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poll ratings are at an all-time low and still sinking. One this week

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suggested 53% of Americans disapprove of the job he is doing,

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and 62% disapprove of his handling of the economy. 82% think the

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country is in recession. At the Reagan Library, Republican

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presidential hopefuls debate, agreeing that Obama does not have

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the answers. America is in crisis. This President has to go. He is a

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nice guy but he does not have a clue how to get the country working.

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The challenge is to prove that wrong. The President's main

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domestic policy adviser told me this is an important night. People

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are sitting around their kitchen tables wondering how to make ends

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meet, how to send kids to college. This will be an issue on the minds

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of Americans for months and years to come, but the President's burkas

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is making sure today that we are doing everything we can to make

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sure Americans are working. -- his focus. How places like Richmond,

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Virginia, greet the plan could be vital for the President. This was

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one of the states that helped Obama to win, he took it from the

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Democrats for the first time in 44 years. But it is uncertain he will

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be able to repeat the trick unless the economy improves. Geoff voted

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for Obama last time and his electrical business is doing well,

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but he wants the President to do more to create jobs and things he

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has not proved he deserves a second term. If you do not get Excellence

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by compromise. I want to see a president that is willing to spend

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on what he was elected for, without compromise. And to push that agenda

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forward with sincere tenacity,... With my company, if you are not

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getting the job done, you're not there any more. Barry lost his job

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designing bathrooms and kitchens 18 months ago. He, too, voted for

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Obama and once the president to pull a rabbit out of the hat. But

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he worries that the Republican House will block any plan. All that

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I have seen is a buck -- a bunch of adults acting like children.

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Sometimes I am truly proud to be an American. Sometimes I am just

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embarrassed. What has been happening in Congress just

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embarrasses me. No one doubts that the President can deliver a good

:15:06.:15:14.

Coming up on tonight's programme: We travel to eastern Russia and

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meet the man Britain blames for the murder of Alexander Litvinenko in

:15:17.:15:27.
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Audio tapes released by the US authorities give a new and dramatic

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insight into how officials reacted to the 9/11 attacks on New York and

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Washington. The tapes, many of which have not been heard before,

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show how confused and horrified pilots and air traffic controllers

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were as they struggled to work out what was happening. This weekend

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:15:55.:15:57.

marks ten years since the attacks A September 11th, at 8.13 in the

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morning air traffic controllers lose contact with American Airlines

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flight 11. Then a telephone call from the plane itself. It is Betty

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Ong, an attendant. Somebody has been stabbed in business-class. We

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can't breathe. I think we're getting hijacked. Shortly

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afterwards, this. Nobody move, everything is OK. If you try to

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make a move, the airplane is in danger. The voice of Mohammad after,

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now at the plane's controls. -- Mohamed Atta. We have a problem, we

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have a hijacked aircraft heading towards New York. We need someone

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to scramble some F-16s to help us out. Is this real world or

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exercise? This is not an exercise. Then -- the head of National Air

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Traffic Control was on his first day in the job. I found myself

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standing in the middle of that floor, mostly trying to comprehend

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what the heck was going on. events unfold, in the control

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towers, bafflement and disbelief. If you look out of your window

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right now, it looks like he is... That is another situation. Another

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one has hit the building. The whole building came apart. At 10:30am,

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orders go out to shoot down hijacked aircraft. The commander

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has declared we can shoot down aircraft that do not respond to

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last. Copy that? But there were none left to shoot down.

:17:43.:17:46.

The New York City police commissioner has told the BBC of

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his concerns that al-Qaeda could attempt another attack to mark this

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weekend's tenth anniversary of 9/11. He said his fears are based on

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intelligence seized during the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound

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earlier this year. Our security correspondent Gordon Corera has

:17:58.:18:01.

spent time with the New York Police Department as it prepares a massive

:18:01.:18:11.
:18:11.:18:15.

New York on alert. A city where the fear of attack, especially in the

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next few days, is high. We want to prevent another attack from

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happening here. We are not afraid to be visible about that. This is

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assertive policing, in-your-face like New York itself. We watch as

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patrol cars from every precinct gather at Times Square. With a

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signal, they pull out. Three times a day, dozens of police cars surge

:18:43.:18:48.

across the city to key locations. It is a show of force designed to

:18:48.:18:53.

deter any terrorists thinking of attacking the city. We have been

:18:53.:18:58.

given rare access to the counter- terrorism work of New York police.

:18:58.:19:08.
:19:08.:19:08.

On the ground, Underground, on the Out on helicopter patrol, the

:19:08.:19:14.

challenges in protecting a city of 8 million are clear. That is the

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George Washington Bridge, Very Very famous, very, very critical. It is

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always a potential target. Beneath us lies the still visible scars of

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10 years ago, another police helicopter witnessed the attacks.

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The whole tower! It has led to a fierce determination not to allow

:19:39.:19:45.

terrorists to slip through the net again. We want people to know...

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his command centre, with screens showing live surveillance images,

:19:49.:19:54.

New York's police commissioner explains that intelligence from

:19:54.:19:58.

Osama Bin Laden's death has heightened concerns. We are worried

:19:58.:20:02.

specifically about something happening on the anniversary of

:20:02.:20:06.

9/11 because we saw some of Bin Laden's materials where there was

:20:06.:20:14.

discussion about the ten-year anniversary. Heavily-armed officers

:20:14.:20:19.

carry out spot checks on the subway. Bags are swiped for explosive

:20:19.:20:23.

traces. Anyone seen avoiding a cheque is followed by an undercover

:20:23.:20:29.

officer. As well as the visible, there is the covert. This

:20:29.:20:34.

surveillance video shows an undercover FBI operation in which a

:20:34.:20:41.

group of men were caught trying to use a surface-to-air missile. But

:20:41.:20:44.

the widespread use of informants has led to accusations of spying on

:20:44.:20:49.

the Muslim community. They are criminalising and they are creating

:20:49.:20:55.

a sense of guilt for all Muslims in New York. Instead of building

:20:55.:20:59.

bridges after all the Islamophobia or that we have experienced over

:20:59.:21:04.

the last 10 years. Around Manhattan, boats patrol with heavily armed

:21:04.:21:09.

officers. For the authorities deny they are going too far. But 10

:21:09.:21:13.

years on, they also say they will do what it takes to keep the city

:21:13.:21:17.

safe. You can see more on that story on

:21:18.:21:21.

Newsnight at 10.30pm on BBC Two. American forces in Afghanistan have

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admitted that a BBC reporter who died when the Taliban stormed a

:21:24.:21:28.

building in July was shot dead by US troops in a case of mistaken

:21:28.:21:33.

identity. Omaid Khpulwak, who worked for the BBC's Pashto service,

:21:33.:21:36.

was killed while hiding in a bathroom after a soldier mistook

:21:36.:21:45.

him for a suicide bomber. He's left a wife and baby daughter. To travel

:21:45.:21:48.

to Russia on Sunday, it's emerged tonight that no British government

:21:48.:21:52.

minister or diplomat has spoken to Vladimir Putin since 2007.

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Relations went into sharp decline following the murder in London of

:21:55.:21:57.

Alexander Litvinenko, which investigators here blamed on a

:21:57.:22:03.

former KGB member who they want extradited. Daniel Sandford has

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been to Russia's far east, where the suspect, now a member of the

:22:06.:22:16.
:22:16.:22:17.

country's parliament, continues to He remains one of Britain's most

:22:17.:22:22.

wanted men. Andrei Lugovoi, a former KGB officer, is accused of a

:22:22.:22:27.

shocking murder in a luxury London hotel. But he agreed to let us join

:22:27.:22:31.

him for two days in the Russian will do this. Even urging Britain

:22:31.:22:36.

to get over the crisis the killing caused. TRANSLATION: Are we going

:22:36.:22:41.

to fight about it for the next 100 years? We should be looking for a

:22:41.:22:44.

way out and the ball is not in the Russian court, it is in the English

:22:44.:22:51.

court. While he can visit the Kamchatka peninsular, 5,000 miles

:22:51.:22:57.

from Moscow, he has not left Russia since 2006. If he does he will be

:22:57.:23:01.

detained on an international arrest warrant. For almost five years,

:23:01.:23:04.

Andrei Lugovoi has been the source of huge diplomatic friction.

:23:04.:23:08.

Britain wants to put him on trial for murder and Russia won't give

:23:08.:23:13.

him up. Alexander Litvinenko, the man he is accused of killing, died

:23:13.:23:20.

as slow and painful death, poisoned by polonium-2 10, which is lethally

:23:20.:23:25.

radioactive. He had also been a KGB officer, but had recently become a

:23:25.:23:29.

British citizen. Andrei Lugovoi was the key suspect, having left a

:23:29.:23:37.

trail of polonium across Europe. But he has always denied the murder.

:23:37.:23:41.

Russian British relations went into the deep freeze, the pro-Kremlin

:23:41.:23:46.

youth group Nashi targeted the British ambassador. Two foreign

:23:46.:23:49.

ministers were not talking to each other, Number Ten was not in touch

:23:49.:23:54.

with the Kremlin, I was being hounded around Moscow by Nashi, the

:23:54.:23:58.

British Council had it in effect been thrown out. The powerful

:23:58.:24:01.

Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin has still had no substantive

:24:01.:24:06.

discussions with any British minister since 2007. Andrei Lugovoi

:24:06.:24:11.

is now a member of the Russian parliament. The chances of him

:24:11.:24:14.

being tried in Britain seem more remote than ever, though he made

:24:14.:24:20.

one suggestion to break the deadlock. TRANSLATION: In the

:24:20.:24:24.

famous Lockerbie case, Britain passed a special law allowing the

:24:24.:24:28.

terrorists to be tried in the Netherlands. Why don't we get a

:24:28.:24:33.

third country to conduct an independent investigation? With

:24:33.:24:37.

Lugovoi confident that he will never face trial, David Cameron is

:24:37.:24:40.

about to be the first British prime minister to visit Russia since the

:24:40.:24:44.

poisoning and he will meet Vladimir Putin. But the murder remains

:24:44.:24:49.

unpunished. The organisers of the 2012

:24:49.:24:53.

Paralympics have promised to make theirs the first sell-out games.

:24:53.:24:56.

Tickets will be available from midnight. Today, Paralympians

:24:56.:24:59.

gathered in Trafalgar Square to demonstrate their sporting prowess.

:24:59.:25:09.
:25:09.:25:10.

Anyone for a quiet game of wheelchair rugby? Or how about

:25:10.:25:18.

sitting volleyball? Table tennis, or a near 17 other sports? Today

:25:18.:25:22.

you could watch them and tomorrow you can buy a ticket for them. The

:25:22.:25:26.

Paralympics are coming for town and for its most famous face, London is

:25:26.:25:32.

ready. The people are coming out and enjoying the sport. I have seen

:25:32.:25:35.

some people clenching their jaws watching the wheelchairs clash

:25:35.:25:40.

behind us. It is exciting. Excitement around the sport is what

:25:41.:25:46.

is needed. I am looking forward to it. So of these two, Boris Johnson

:25:46.:25:50.

and David Cameron and using the crowds with an enthusiastic display

:25:50.:25:54.

of their tennis skills. For London Paralympics has heavyweight support,

:25:54.:25:59.

but the big question is can they sell the tickets? At previous games

:25:59.:26:04.

they have given away thousands of them, but London insists they will

:26:04.:26:09.

sell every one. Prices are competitive. There are 2 million

:26:09.:26:12.

tickets for sale and they are cheaper than the Olympics, half

:26:12.:26:17.

will cost �10 or less. You can buy them online from 9am tomorrow for

:26:17.:26:24.

nearly three weeks. The Paralympics were born in Britain at the Stoke

:26:24.:26:31.

Mandeville Games in 1948. Organisers hope that traditional --

:26:31.:26:35.

tradition will translate into ticket. Our history in the

:26:35.:26:38.

Paralympic movement, the fact that many Paralympians are household

:26:38.:26:42.

names, the fact that more Paralympic sport you show young

:26:42.:26:45.

people, for more interest there is gives us a real head start.

:26:45.:26:54.

perhaps the best reason to watch the Paralympics will be this.

:26:54.:26:57.

Britton won 42 gold medals in Beijing, second only to have China

:26:57.:27:02.

and with home support, anything is possible. Being in Beijing and

:27:02.:27:05.

having the Chinese crowd cheering for you, even though you weren't

:27:05.:27:11.

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