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U.S. Troop Deaths at Eight-Month Low in Iraq; U.S. Military Getting Help From Former Insurgents; British Army Ends 38 Years in Northern Ireland; U.S. Working on Arms Deal With Saudi Arabia

Aired July 31, 2007 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The so-called surge under scrutiny. U.S. deaths in Iraq are down. Is the troop buildup the reason?
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Northern Ireland's evolution. After decades of deployment, the British army prepares to finally stand down.

CLANCY: A garlic backlash in Italy? Critics say the presumed benefits of the pungent herb are nothing more than urban legend.

GORANI: And we'll meet the latest CNN Hero, a Canadian teenager who has figured out a way to quench thirst in a part of the world that needs it most.

It is 5:00 p.m. in Belfast, 7:00 p.m. in Kampala, Uganda.

Hello and welcome to our report broadcast around the globe.

I'm Hala Gorani.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy.

From Belfast to Baghdad, Kampala to Kuala Lumpur, wherever you are watching, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.

GORANI: Well, we start in Iraq this hour. And numbers don't always tell the story, but the U.S. military thinks they may be welcomed evidence that the war strategy for Iraq, the latest one, that is, is working. The U.S. death toll is at an eight-month low, leading some to credit the so-called surge of troops this summer. Others, though, say it has more do with controversial political deals.

Dan Rivers reports from Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The surge has kicked in, but is it working? The end of the month figures are being poured over by both the supporters and opponents of the strategy for clues as to whether it's having the desired effect.

In the last year, the number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq has fluctuated from month to month, reaching a peak in May at 126. This month, according to CNN's count, it's 73 and may rise. That's the lowest monthly count this year, but still much more than in July last year, when 43 were killed.

Some say the fall in the U.S. military deaths is a result of deals cut with Sunni militia and tribal leaders. Once insurgents, these men used to be considered part of the problem. Now they're seen by U.S. military commanders as part of the solution.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have Sunnis and some groups reaching out to us to reconcile.

RIVERS: Reconcile or grab some power. The groups now being courted by the U.S. were, until recently, part of the enemy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They certainly have cut some political deals at the very least with the militias. Which, again, is something that they said they wouldn't do, and have ultimately ended up doing. And not quite sure about the wiseness (ph) of the strategy. It's a bit of robbing Peter to pay Paul in terms of what you are trying to achieve.

RIVERS: And bringing Sunni militias on side has come with a political price. It's infuriating the Shiite-dominated government, which sees the move as a betrayal. U.S. commanders say it's not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are not providing arms to anybody. But what we are doing is we are having groups come to us that say we want to fight al Qaeda and we want them to become part of the apparatus of the government of Iraq's security forces.

RIVERS (on camera): It's clear the number of attacks has dropped and the number of U.S. casualties has fallen. But the situation here is still bleak.

Every day, U.S. soldiers are dying. The Green Zone is being regularly mortared. And outside these walls, parts of the city are still lawless and hostile.

(voice over): What senior commanders are hoping is that the reduction in U.S. casualties is the beginning of a trend, not simply a one-off dip. A trend that if it continues will allow them to bring peace to the Iraqi people and hand more responsibility to the Iraqi forces. But if things go wrong, critics say the U.S. will simply have bolstered another armed faction in Iraq to counterbalance Iranian- controlled militia. A recipe for civil war.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: All right.

And Dan Rivers joins us now live from Baghdad.

Let's put it in perspective, Dan. We see this figure for the month of July 2007. Overall, it's not a trend, yet, though, is it? It's just one month.

RIVERS: It's just one month, Hala, and both sides are going to seize on this one-month figure to prove that either the surge is working or the surge is failing. Those that say the surge is working will say, look, this is much better than we were doing back in May, when 126 U.S. soldiers died. They'll say that in parts of Iraq now with these deals in place with some of the Sunni militia, that it's much safer, that you can get out on the streets much more.

On the other side of the argument, people will say, look, it's ridiculous to take one month's figure and try and extrapolate a whole trend from this. They will say that July was always much less fatal for U.S. troops if you look back in '06, '05, '04. There were far fewer U.S. troops being killed than there were this year.

I think the important thing to remember in all this is we shouldn't measure the effective of the surge just by U.S. casualties alone. There are so many other figures that have to come into line for it to be seen as a success.

For example, the number of Iraqi civilians that are being killed, the amount of electricity people have here. The safety on the streets. Can you walk down the road without fear of being kidnapped or shot?

All of those trends have to start moving in the same direction for people to genuinely say, yes, the surge is working and there is now success in Iraq.

GORANI: All right. And August figures as well will be interesting.

Dan Rivers live in the Iraqi capital.

Thank you -- Jim.

CLANCY: Well, most controversial, and Dan was pointing it out in his report, is those deals with Sunni groups. Now, a U.S. military commander in northern Iraq is defending them. Major General Benjamin Mixon telling CNN why he thinks the strategy of working with former insurgents, Ba'athists, in some cases, is sound.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAJ. GEN. BENJAMIN MIXON, COMMANDER, MULTINATIONAL FORCE, NORTH: Certainly any time you are involved in a counterinsurgency you want to work with a variety of groups. We are doing that.

General Odierno points out we are not arming those groups, we are principally getting intelligence from them as to where the enemy is located and how they are operating. And that's how we are using them in our area. But more importantly, this is a tribal-based society. So if we can get a tribe to stop supporting any aspect of the insurgency, we can dominate the terrain that that tribe lives on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CLANCY: Well, Mixon also refers to the communications that are going on, the relationship that's developing. He says that the military hopes that the groups then can be eventually incorporated into legitimate security forces. GORANI: All right. Now some business news. And there's word this hour that media giant Rupert Murdoch has closed the deal for the company that owns "The Wall Street Journal".

CLANCY: Reuters news service quoting a company executive as saying that Dow Jones & Company's controlling family, the Bancrofts, have accepted a $5 billion buyout offer from Murdoch's news corporation.

GORANI: All right.

Dow Jones is the publisher, of course, of "The Wall Street Journal". The deal has been in the works for a while. But "The New York Times" says there was some holdup from family members who wanted Dow Jones to pay their expenses for advisers on the buyout.

Now, The Times estimates those fees could top $30 million. And it's important to note that at this point, CNN has not confirmed this information. We are working on getting this information confirmed. This is coming to us from Reuters at this stage.

Well, moving on to this -- the British army's operation in northern Ireland will come to an end -- an end at midnight on Tuesday, after 38 years.

CLANCY: Thirty-eight years. It started off, Operation Banner, that began in 1969. That's when street riots between Catholics and Protestants got under way. This has been the British army's longest, continuous deployment.

GORANI: Now, more than 300,000 personnel have taken part in the operation, with 27,000 soldiers deployed to northern Ireland at the height of the troubles there.

CLANCY: Now, the police are going to be left in charge of security, have a small garrison of troops remaining to be deployed in foreign action.

Now, many of those troops training for deployment to Iraq, where they would face a situation that is eerily similar.

GORANI: Well, in some ways it is, because they would be fighting a bloody insurgency, really not on the same scale. Let's put it in perspective. But the one thing that all conflicts have in common, Jim, is that civilians are caught in the middle.

CLANCY: It's not the only parallel between the two fights either.

Bill Neely reports the long-fought battle in northern Ireland has many people wondering, was it all worth it?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL NEELY, REPORTER, ITV NEWS (voice over): It was meant to last a few weeks, but the army's deployment on to the streets of northern Ireland went on for longer than anyone imagined -- four times longer than the two world wars combined. It brought almost a third of a million British soldiers on to northern Ireland's streets and fields and claimed the lives of almost 800.

In the worst single incident, 18 died in a double bombing at Warrenpoint. But at midnight tonight, it will all be over.

Bombardier Steven Restorick (ph) was the last of the 763 British soldiers to die there. For his parents, tonight revives an old question.

RITA RESTORICK, MOTHER: Well, I would like to think he didn't die in vain. He was a small cog in a big wheel, you might say. You know, they all played their part out there.

JOHN RESTORICK, FATHER: I think his death and other deaths in northern Ireland are probably contributed to the peace process, because people have actually in -- people we've spoken to in northern Ireland have actually said that they want the killing to stop.

NEELY: Their son was killed just outside this army base at Bestbrook from where the final troops have now withdrawn. One man who spent parts of three decades in the province and then headed the British army is careful about declaring victory there.

GEN. MIKE JACKSON, FMR. HEAD OF THE BRITISH ARMY: If winning means that the perpetration of unlawful, illegal violence in a democracy in an attempt to change constitutional arrangements against the wish of the majority of the people of that party, if that is winning, then that is what has happened.

NEELY: At its height, there were 27,000 troops in the province. From midnight, 5,000 will remain, ready to fly to Iraq or Afghanistan to practice the lessons of northern Ireland.

It was a low-level war with no winners. The army's longest war, which midnight brings to an end.

Bill Neely, ITV News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: All right. Let's check some of the other stories making headlines around the world this hour.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Welcome back, everyone. You're with CNN International and YOUR WORLD TODAY.

CLANCY: And we're taking a closer look at some of the global stories taking shape this hour, like the massive arms sales that the U.S. is planning in the Middle East. Now, on its face, the announcement Washington intends to sell billions of dollars in advanced military hardware to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states sends a strong message to Iran and, to some extent, Syria. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates are making a rare joint show of diplomatic force to get their point across. The U.S. says its goal is to unite Arab allies against growing Iranian influence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: The United States is determined to assure our allies that we are going to be reliable in helping them to meet their security needs. We have a lot of interests in common in this region in the fight against terrorism and extremism, in protecting the gains of peace processes of the past, and in extending those gains to peace processes of the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: All right. Secretary Rice there on her Mideast tour.

Let's remind our viewers what is exactly on the table with this proposed deal.

CLANCY: That's right.

The U.S. is developing a $20 billion 10-year sales package for Saudi Arabia that would shore up its military capabilities to counter any potential threat by Iran.

GORANI: Now, Egypt, also a U.S. ally in the region, getting $13 billion in a similar deal. The same amount, essentially, that it's been getting for at least the last six years.

CLANCY: And then Israel, of course, they want to keep the balance here. The U.S. offering the Jewish state a $30 billion arms package. Unclear how much U.S. taxpayers would foot for that. It's about an increase of 25 percent.

GORANI: Now, other countries in discussion with the U.S. include the UAE -- that's the United Arab Emirates -- Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and right under Saudi Arabia you've got Oman.

CLANCY: Now, selling arms to countries in the Middle East isn't new, but with the Iraq war and Iraq's nuclear ambitions looming in the background, the timing may be crucial for U.S. interests.

Joining us from Washington is U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns.

Mr. Secretary, thank you so much for joining us here.

NICHOLAS BURNS, U.S. UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS: Thank you, Jim.

Let me begin -- and put this in perspective for us. How will selling billions of dollars in terms to Saudi Arabia somehow convince Iran to give up its nuclear program or pull back its support for Hamas, the Taliban, Hezbollah?

BURNS: Well, Jim, this is a continuation of decades of U.S. policy. We have been in the Gulf with a naval presence since 1949. We have been providing military assistance to Saudi Arabia and most of these states in the Gulf for three decades.

It continues our attempt to give them defensive assistance, mainly defensive assistance to build up their ability to protect themselves. And it's first and foremost an investment in very good friends of the United States, countries that are our partners, countries that want the Middle East region to be more stable and peaceful.

But you also know that with the rapid buildup of the Iranian military, with the fact that Iran is trying to increase its own influence in the region, and Iran is attempting to become a nuclear weapons power, this is a needed investment in countries that want this kind of assistance, and we think it will help to provide for a longer- term basis for peace in the future. And if you combine that with the fact that we have announced a long-term 10-year aid program, military assistance program for Israel, and a similar program for Egypt, you can see that the United States is reinforcing our position as a force for peace and stability throughout the entire Middle East region.

CLANCY: Well, or we're choosing sides.

Look, let's reflect for a moment. Syria reacted to all of this. Its foreign minister today had some comments about it. And he doesn't see this as a force for peace.

Here's what he said. "He who wants to make peace does not start out with an arms initiative."

BURNS: We're not starting with an arms initiative.

CLANCY: Well, he says that's dangerous for the whole region.

BURNS: I'm not surprised that the Syrian government would react that way. The Syrian government that occupied Lebanon for 29 years and still is trying to exert its influence in a negative way in Lebanon. That's not surprising. Neither were the Iranian comments.

These are two countries that, of course, recently met with Hezbollah and with Hamas and other terrorist groups in Damascus. They're countries that stand for everything we're against. And we are -- we are certainly against the spread of terrorism.

CLANCY: OK.

BURNS: We're certainly against those countries that want to destabilize the Lebanese government or the moderate factions within the Palestinian community. So the great number of countries in the Middle East are going to support this effort by the United States because it's not new. It's a continuation of three decades of our policy, and it's the right thing to do.

CLANCY: All right. You know, you've been around the Middle East a lot. And you know what the sympathies are on the streets. You know what the problems are with "U.S. allies" and the difference of opinion between their streets and their governments.

Which would be more effective, these multi-billions of dollars in arms deals and help for these allies, or really getting down and sorting out the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? You know, getting a solution on Jerusalem, getting the borders defined, doing something, getting some arrangement for the hundreds of thousands, millions of refugees, people living in refugee camps?

BURNS: Jim, you have to do both. And we are doing both.

Secretary Rice just left Sharm El Sheikh, and she issued a statement with the foreign ministers of the Gulf cooperation countries in Egypt and Jordan saying just what you said. We want to drive forward and see if there can be a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

We want to pay attention to the economic and humanitarian problems of the region. We want all of our countries to be a force for good and to be a positive force in the Middle East. Of course we do that. But at the same time, in a troubled, violent region like the Middle East, you also want to protect your friends. You want to maintain the defenses.

CLANCY: All right. But in by doing this...

BURNS: Which is what the United States has been doing for three decades now.

CLANCY: ... are you trying to -- is the U.S. trying to undercut the economies of Syria and especially Iran by forcing them into some kind of an arms race?

BURNS: Well, we are not starting an arms race. We have been providing this type of assistance for a long, long time.

It's Iran that has challenged the status quo in the Middle East. And on the nuclear question that you mentioned, Secretary Rice and the foreign ministers of Russia, China and three European countries have offered to sit down and negotiate that nuclear issue with the Iranians. And the Iranians have refused for the last 14 months to accept that invitation to negotiate.

So, we want negotiations. We want a peaceful future for the Middle East, but we also want our friends to be strong in a region where countries need to be strong.

CLANCY: All right.

There's the view from the U.S. State Department Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns.

BURNS: Thank you, Jim.

CLANCY: I want to thank you very much for being with us on YOUR WORLD TODAY.

BURNS: A pleasure. Thank you.

GORANI: It's an interesting debate.

CLANCY: It is.

GORANI: Because in the Middle East, you hear a lot of people saying, well, you can -- the U.S. is supporting Egypt with arms, but essentially what it's doing is telling Egypt it's OK, it doesn't have to reform, it doesn't have to become more democratic. Because it's...

CLANCY: Well, there's a lot of facets in all of this. And we're going to hear more about it, not only in the days, but I think in the months to come.

GORANI: Try years, Jim.

CLANCY: Yes.

GORANI: All right.

We're going to take a short break.

It's overwhelming and pungent. Some say it down right stinks.

CLANCY: Yes, I don't know. Garlic has been a beloved staple of Italian cooking for generations.

GORANI: All right. So why does one prominent chef say it's now time to give garlic the boot? Yes, you heard us.

CLANCY: There it is.

GORANI: Stay with YOUR WORLD TODAY.

CLANCY: Something's cooking. We're going to tell you what.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: All right. Welcome back to all of our viewers this hour joining us from 200 countries around the world including the United States this hour. This is YOUR WORLD TODAY. I'm Hala Gorani.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy and these are some stories that are making headlines in YOUR WORLD TODAY.

GORANI: Supporters of the U.S. troop surge, as it's called, in Iraq says the strategy is beginning to work. U.S. Troop casualties have been going down since May, and this month's death toll is the lowest in eight months. Critics say that has more do with controversial deals struck with former Sunni insurgents that they say could haunt the U.S. later on.

CLANCY: After 38 years on duty, the British army is standing down in Northern Ireland. Troops stationed there will now have only a peacetime garrison where they will train for deployment to crisis spots elsewhere around the world. British soldiers were sent into Northern Ireland in 1969 to quiet fighting between Protestants and Catholics.

GORANI: South Korean families are pleading with the U.S. to take a more active role in freeing 21 hostages in Afghanistan. The Taliban killed a second captive Monday when the Afghan government did not release insurgent prisoners, as asked.

CLANCY: All right. Let's take a look at another story today making news in London, certainly. People wondering will foggy London town become smoggy London town? Not if one cab company can help it. It's rolling out a fleet of trademark black hacks powered bio fuel. Sasha Herriman takes a spin in one of the new green, black cabs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SASHA HERRIMAN, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is the oil seed rape plant and this is a taxi. Put one into the other and it's billed as a greener taxi ride. And it's getting the cabbies at one company excited.

STEVE WILLIAMS, RADIO TAXI: It does run a lot smoother. Certainly hardly any black smoke under the -- at all. And you can put your hands under the exhaust and you can smell it. It's, you know, I know -- it's hard -- but that's what it is, it's cleaner.

HERRIMAN: Radio Taxis has 3,000 London cabs. From now they all use bio-diesel, a mix that includes with 30 percent oil seed rape, and 69 percent standard unleaded diesel. The rape seed oil comes entirely from crops in the south of England, the blend helps reduce Co2 emissions.

It is called E-3 and is specifically blended for taxi use. At the moment there's only one pump in London where the drivers can fill up. If they're in a fix, though, they can use regular diesel. So what are the incentive for the company? Well, they're honest.

ANDREW HERBERT, RADIO TAXIS: This is not a total altruistic move on our part. We are looking to win business by being the most environmentally friendly taxi business in London. We think we are. We're carbon neutral and now the launch of our bio-diesel project is the next step in that presence.

HERRIMAN: Fuel change has been welcomed in London where low Co2 emissions are the buzz words.

MAYOR KEN LIVINGSTONE, LONDON: This has worked well. We certainly want to sit down and talk to the rest of the cab trade about bringing the rest of the cab trade along.

HERRIMAN: But there are a total of 21,000 black cabs in London. Some other drivers we talked to still need convincing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, anything to help the universe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it were RoyalShell or BP, if they produced a bio-diesel, yes, I would use it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just the cost, it's the cost of it all.

HERRIMAN: Good news there then. The company says it costs the same as regular fuel. Vehicles don't need alterations to use it, and you get more miles per gallon. The greener alternative is something already developed in New York. There they've announced the entire taxi fleet will be changing to gas/electric hybrids by 2012. That's 13,000 vehicles.

MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK CITY: Anything we can do to reduce the pollution in the air and to our dependence on outside energy sources, we're all better off.

HERRIMAN: And in case you are in London and confused about how to spot a greener car, they will sport window stickers. So you can make your snap judgment.

(On camera): Of course, it all depends on how much of a hurry you're in when you want to take a taxi. Whether or not you have time to make that moral decision, green or not green. Taxi! Sasha Herriman, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: Now to a story we have been reporting on in the past few days. A man who is a self-described pedophile, who operates freely, so freely he even talks about it online. Now he insists he's not doing anything illegal. What do police think? What will you think? Watch Ted Rowlands report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): He says he's a pedophile who likes little girls.

JACK MCCLELLAN, SELF-DESCRIBED PEDOPHILE: I just think they're cute. They're a lot cuter than women. And I admit there is kind of an erotic arousal there.

ROWLANDS: Forty-three-year old Jack McClellan claims he has never molested a child, but not surprisingly, McClellan's behavior and outspokenness have outraged people. First in Seattle, where he was living and now in Los Angeles where he recently moved.

MCCLELLAN: It isn't really just a sexual thing. It's the whole -- ah -- ambience of children that I enjoy. ROWLANDS: McClellan says he goes to public places and events usually wearing the same hat and sunglasses looking for little girls. On his Web site he posts photographs of girls and writes about what he sees. That site was shut down by its host a few weeks ago. But McClellan plans to possibly start it again.

This cell phone video of McClellan earlier this year was taken by a news reporter who recognized him at a street fair in the Seattle area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you doing here?

ROWLANDS: McClellan, who has done a number of interviews over the past few months, says he even went to a Wiggles concert to watch children.

MCCLELLAN: I really don't see the problem with it, as long as you're not hurting children.

ROWLANDS: Parents see a problem with it. Especially those who have seen pictures or descriptions of their daughters on McClellan's Web site. Despite calls for action at meetings like this one in Seattle, police say they have their hands tied. As creepy as it is, McClellan hasn't been caught breaking the law, yet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That kind of person is a person of interest in my business.

ROWLANDS: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lieutenant Thomas Sirkel (ph) says McClellan is a major concern.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not all pedophiles violate the law. My experience says that most of them do and eventually they do offend. But I have no particular knowledge of any violations of any violations of law that Mr. McClellan has been involved in.

ROWLANDS: The Santa Monica police department has posted a public notice warning parents that McClellan was spotted in the children's section of the local library. The notice warns if you see McClellan please closely monitor your children.

At one point McClellan wrote on his Web site that he likes hugging and cuddling little girls. He says he's gotten death threats and safety was a factor in moving to Southern California. But then he also cites the weather and places like Disneyland as places to see little girls.

MCCLELLAN: I'm not doing anything illegal at these things. If they pass a law saying you can't go to these things to admire kids, I guess I'd have to obey that.

ROWLANDS: Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: When you go out for Italian food, you know you're coming home with a bit of garlic breath, usually.

GORANI: Usually. Or are you? Why some chefs in Italy are joining a growing battle against the pungent herb many consider a staple of the Italian diet, but not everyone. We'll tell you why after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Welcome back. You're with YOUR WORLD TODAY.

We have been telling you over the last 24 hours about that U.S. arms deal to some Middle Eastern countries, that it considers allies in the region. Saudi Arabia, among them. That's created controversy. Israel is getting more money. That's angering some countries like Syria.

Now, arms deals are not unique. They occur all over the world all the time. The global arms trade is a multi-billion dollar business, try trillion, sometimes. It is getting bigger. Rosemary Church has some insight.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT: What do you find when you shine a spotlight on the global arms trade is the private businesses and governments share a very special relationship. Private business that (AUDIO GAP) that makes the arms trader a unique, lucrative and potentially dangerous business.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAJJAN GOHEL, ASIA-PACIFIC FOUNDATION: It is seen as an important strategic dimension in some countries. Foreign policy, it is designed to bolster relations with countries, enhance their own geopolitical role within certain regions. For that reason some regimes are sold weapons, even though it's not ethically correct, even though it could lead to long-term problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Now, last year global military spending totaled $1.2 trillion. A post-Cold War record. And growing military budgets mean more money is being used to buy weapons.

Just five years ago, international arms transfers were at their lowest level in four decades. But that figure has been rising every year since to about $27 billion in 2006. Now, the majority of the weapons exported around the world each year come from just two countries. The United States accounts for 30 percent of weapons exports; mostly to the Middle East, the Asia Pacific and Europe. And close behind is Russia. Its weapons go mainly to China and India. Increasingly to other countries the United States won't deal with, like Venezuela.

But globalization is making it more difficult for arms suppliers to dictate who they'll do business with. Take the AH-64 Apache helicopter, for example. The United States makes Apaches and sends them to countries like Israel. That's something the U.K., Ireland and the Netherlands say they won't do, because they won't supply major weapons systems to Israel. But parts from each of those countries are used to manufacturer the Apache. So they're sending a major weapons system to Israel whether they intend to or not.

But customers who can't afford attack helicopters or smart bombs there is an increasing number of countries that produce less high-tech weaponry, bullets, small arms and light weapons which end up in the hands of armies, militias, rebels and other groups all over the world. That's a growing problem in the ever-expanding global arms market.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOHEL: They're sold often to regimes that are seen as despotic, run by dictators, some that have been accused of suppressing their own people. They have been involved in controversial conflicts in say parts of Central Asia or Southeast Asia. And the biggest concern is that there's not enough accountability as to what actually happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Now, it's worth noting that the arms trade has no effective global controls at present. That's why Oxfam International, as well as Amnesty International, and other campaigners around the world are calling for an arms trade treaty. That treaty would establish global standards for the import, export and transfer of all conventional arms. Oxfam says these global standards could save 1,000s of lives and hold irresponsible arms dealers accountable for their actions. Back to you.

CLANCY: All right, Rosemary. Thank you very much for that.

A lot of controversy coming out over these arms deals. In fact, Germany's senior foreign ministry official there saying that he doesn't think the region is suffering from a lack of arms. He says but a lack of stability and he says he doubts that this arms deal being put forward by the U.S. is going to bring any stability. And he says certainly isn't going to cut back on Iran's ambitions in the region.

Well, going to be a lot of conflict.

GORANI: A lot of controversy.

CLANCY: A lot of different opinions on that.

At the same time Italy --

GORANI: I was going to say, let's switch gears here.

CLANCY: -- embroiled in amounts -- it's a conflict. It's a cultural food fight over garlic.

GORANI: Right. Many can't imagine Italian cuisine without it. Others say it overwhelms every dish it's used on and should be banned.

CLANCY: Our own Alessio Vinci went on the front lines in Italian kitchens to bring us this report on Italy's garlic war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bella pasta, coca, el dente ...

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): At first glance Felippo La Mantia is any Italian chef. But take a closer look at his kitchen in one of Rome's trendiest restaurants, and you will not find the one item used in just about every kitchen in this country -- garlic.

Yes, you heard me right. Garlic.

"It stinks," he says, "And overwhelms the flavor of other natural ingredients such as herbs and citrus."

La Mantia says garlic is a leftover from when Italians were poor and need it to flavor their meager meals.

"But with all the fresh produce today," he says, "Who needs it?" His diners eat it up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's what I always associated with Italian food, is the garlic. I'm excited that this does not have garlic. You want to have a romantic evening with somebody, and not have garlic breath. It's great.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it does not taste traditionally Italian to me because the eggplant is sweet. It's very sweet, but its delicious.

VINCI: La Mantia's no-garlic approach has some support.

CARLO ROSELLA, JOURNALIST: It happened to me, to kiss a lady, who was eating garlic, it was terrible. The worst kiss of my life.

VINCI: Carlos Resella is a prominent television journalist who is writing a guide to garlic-free restaurants. He is also a close friend of Italy's best known garlic foe, Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

RESELLA: He's educated not to eat before speaking with somebody, before you go to a business meeting, you know, he hates garlic for this social reason.

VINCI (on camera): I'm in Campo Sharolli (ph) one of Rome's best known and oldest farmers markets, which supplies some of the city's most renowned restaurants. Let's find out what people here think about garlic.

Claudio Tampa (ph) agrees. "Garlic stinks," he says. "But that's good. It's a battle of a small minority. Something for the elite," he says.

The numbers back him up. Italians consumed more than 100 million pounds of garlic last year. So does it stink or make for a tastier dish? The answer is both.

Alessio Vinci, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GORANI: I'm not a giant fan of garlic, myself.

CLANCY: I like it.

GORANI: All right. Well, OK.

CLANCY: We have to take a break.

GORANI: This is YOUR WORLD TODAY. After the break, a "CNN Hero".

CLANCY: That's right. You'll like this story. It's about a Canadian teenager who has traveled the world bringing people one of the most precious and essential commodities they could ever want. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CLANCY: You know, did you ever take a look at a big problem, you see it in the world, you see it on the news, and you wonder what can I do possibly to help?

GORANI: Yes. And oftentimes people end up doing nothing at all because it seems too overwhelming. One Canadian teenager has moved well beyond the wondering stage. Ryan Hreljac is the latest "CNN Hero". Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stand by. Go ahead, please.

RYAN HRELJAC, CNN HERO, "YOUNG WONDER": Every day 6,000 children die because they don't have access to clean water. That's like 20 full jumbo jets crashing every day of the year. I feel that we shouldn't live in a world like that.

I was six years old, and I was in my grade one classroom. My teacher said there are people that have to walk 10 kilometers to get to a dirty mud hole. And I decided to do something about it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ryan told me he has been saving money to put up a well in Africa. And he said, he wanted it in a schoolroom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let us look at example one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The well which Ryan built was the first clean water they ever had.

HRELJAC: I went to Uganda when I was 10. I was pretty excited to go see what the impact was.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You read it.

HRELJAC: Ryan's Well, Funded by Ryan H.

CHORUS SINGING: Thank you, Ryan, for the water ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Up to that moment maybe Ryan never knew how much this means. A little boy who had this big dream, now look where he is. Not only doing one well, but so many wells. The clean water has reached far and wide.

HRELJAC: When a well is built in a community, the health it skyrockets. You see smiles light up on people's faces because they have clean water to drink. It's great to see the impact.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ryan has changed many, many lives out here. So he is a hero. He is a warrior who made it happen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: Great story.

GORANI: Nominate your own. That's it for this hour. I'm Hala Gorani.

CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy. And this is CNN.

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