RT America -- September 23, 2014

The US and five Arab nations attacked the Islamic State group in Syria on Monday night, using land and sea-based weapons to launch 14 strikes. The campaign is billed by the White House and Pentagon as an operation to defeat the radical jihadist group, but successfully completing this goal may take longer than originally expressed, according to Lt. Gen. William Mayville Jr. During a press briefing Tuesday at the Pentagon, the commander told reporters that efforts to dislodge IS should be thought of in terms of years. Doctoral researcher Jake Diliberto and RT producer Tyrel Ventura join RT’s Ameera David to discuss the strikes and the politics behind the military campaign.

Automated license plate readers are quickly spreading across the US, with nearly 70 percent of US police departments using the systems. Los Angeles in particular is a heavy user, adding three million scans to a shared database every week, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Activists fear information repositories such as these add to the possibility of abuse and the erosion of civil liberties. RT’s Lindsay France is in Los Angeles and takes a look at the debate.