involvement in the conflict in syria legitimizes us involvement in the conflict in syria that because we got involved in the first place that somehow we should escalate our involvement this is a completely circular i don't want to say because the kind of rise in this i mean i said the russians and the iranians and hezbollah and we can a point let our. everyone let you talk please. go ahead they're all right but wait a second wait a second the notion the notion that hezbollah and iran are involved ok i would like somebody who is using that white house talking point to provide me with documented evidence of hezbollah's involvement anywhere in syria aside from the town of qusayr so far looking at the documented record there is no evidence of hezbollah involvement anywhere beyond the region that's nearest to the lebanese syrian border so that is once again a united states and israeli talking point to legitimize and to justify continued so-called intervention which is not intervention the conflict in syria is an aggression against syria they may have used a civil uprising they may have use

long will allow syria to heal its. grasp of the peace building i think that's a very important question and that's a very huge challenge for whoever becomes president of syria and if we think that president assad will continue to beat syria for another proof for another ten years of seven years then most probably he will find it a little bit difficult to reconsolidate syria with its immediate surroundings of the arab states let alone the western countries who have combined spent a lot of resources to try and topple him but that. although this is an issue what is in the minds of syrians is to you know little the international community learn the lesson that no matter how much they try nothing is going to happen unless syrians in their majority approve of it but i think that lesson to be taught to the western community and to your immediate neighbors would be very costly for syrians themselves because you have to keep in mind that once the war is over and it's still not over but if we were to imagine that base and milita

position on syria. its policies toward syria have been largely focused on diplomatic isolation of the regime, economic sanctions, assistance to the opposition in terms of both trying to help bridge some of these gaps that i mentioned, as well as training and technical assistance to those elements of the opposition or those on the ground who are already involved in some level of government on levels beyond the regime control. the u.s. has been a huge provider of humanitarian assistance. the united states is the largest provider of humanitarian assistance to syrian refugees. but as many in the room probably know, the united states is also approached syria with a great degree of caution when it comes to the question of any sort of military intervention. whether it is arming the rebels or the question of establishing a no-fly zone or targeting military strikes. all of these military options, i think my colleague will be talk about, the u.s. has opted at this point not to pursue those. i think it's in large

is anyone in syria actually listening? as the leaders flow away from yet another summit, the question remained unanswered. will words be turned into actions? there is the rub. as the fighting in syria fears grow that lebanon will become another background. sunni rebels are fighting against president aside. the work could easily spill over that border. our middle east editor has been to the valley to investigate. saide lebanese army reinforces -- reinforcements. it is already stretched thin trying to keep the peace. loyal side where gunmen to an extremist sunni clan -- cleric has been stirring up intention. the other set belong to a group that supports the shia militia. through thene runs middle east. right now it is rumbling because of some -- sectarian killing and exporting hatred and fear. the army managed to calm things inside. ordering the gunmen off the streets. the city remains tense. every time there is an incident like this in lebanon, there are more fears that the nightmare could return to this entry. as ever, the

look, syria is not libya. in libya most of the targets were on a flat slightly populated littoral strip. operations in c. would involve flying over and through mountains and inhabited areas. this terrain is much better for the use of surface-to-air weapons than it was libya and the cancellations involving conducting aerial military operations over syria are much, much, much more complicated. my fifth point, and i haven't heard any other commentators do this, perhaps it's my background special operations, is that modern u.s. practice not to deploy a pot into an egg we can't retreat ensured his planes be shot down. an amazing amount of air force special operations forces are devoted to airmen recovery. this means that any man in activities with it the potential for ground combat, albeit of a very limited nature. we should understand the implications of what is being proposed. don't let the salesman for you. airplanes get shot down and airplanes with violence resulting president. my final point is my most importa

delivering over to syria. in the civil war in syria i mean russia is giving arms to assad to key is helping others to get weapons from from from other sources as well so we should not be on this there is well i don't want to i'm not the supply of arms of arms by the russian government but i think you know that this is in accordance with international law and legal quite contrary when this in turkey and in syria i believe the groups that turkey supported. well hardly legitimate i mean i'm sure you yourself have probably have some. concerns about their tactics and their altima goals and i don't need to mention the names like i don't know other groups as well yeah but i'm not i'm not talking i'm not talking about the nuestra he's not supporting i'm not supporting all nusra. if you're the league is purely legally stick me you know what's happening with the russian weapons it's a fake argument to say this is illegal where you provide the arms to a dictator which kills his own people but i did see what he and what i

the alawites have the right to live in syria. no one should be excluded from society. >> narrator: the next morning, just as the united nations truce begins, ahmad and his comrades prepare for battle. >> (translated): we always try and pray before battle. it makes us stronger. we've realized that only god will help us. so we ask god for the strength to attack more checkpoints. >> narrator: ahmad is going to attack a large government base at wadi daif. it's a major launching point for artillery attacks in the region. it also protects the regime's main supply route from the capital, damascus, to syria's embattled second city, aleppo. >> narrator: for weeks, they've been besieging the base at wadi daif. the fighting has been intense. the brother of rebel leader jamal marouf was killed here only weeks ago. today they plan to storm the base and overrun it. the fog allows them to move unseen to within striking distance. the base lies less than a mile down this road, and is manned by up to 500 regime soldiers. >> narrator: jamal used to

we begin today's show in syria. pro-government forces have seized control of the key border town of qusair, which have been controlled by rebel fighters for the past year. qusair, which lies on a cross border supply route with neighboring lebanon, had been the site of a fierce battle over the past two weeks as fighters from the lebanese militant group hezbollah joined forces aligned with then-president bashar al- assad. since fighting broke out over two years ago in syria, more than 80,000 people have been killed and another 1.6 million syrian refugees have fled. earlier this week, the united nations accused both sides of the syrian conflict of reaching "new levels of brutality." the u.n. panel chair paulo pinheiro accused government forces of murder, torture, rape, forcible displacement and other acts, many of them carried out systematically against civilians. but he said anti assad rebels were guilty of similar atrocities. >> armored groups have also committed war crimes including murder, execution without due pro

let's get more on syria. who writes extensively about the middle east in his blog cole it looks like a deal has now been sewn up with the backers of the syrian opposition agreeing to supply arms so will lists no change the conflict. i don't think so i mean if there is a change a bit then a change towards more escalation and transforming the syrian uprising further into voting it down into a civil war and increasing obviously a donation of conflict dynamics and probably beyond down the international conflict dynamics because we see you know different sides the west and russia are taking different sides in syria so i think it was it really undermines move and there have been enough. policy within policy circles within both britain and the us warning of such moves and but i think the group collectively didn't pay attention to these kind of warnings about the possibility of going to the conflict further and obviously more loss of life and extending the conflict isn't something that syria needs now after two and a

for the arming of the syrian rebels to prop up the opposition and plan for a limited no fly zone over syria that's also being drawn up and it comes off to the u.s. administration concluded that assad's forces had used chemical weapons on a small scale details now from our correspondent we're in a port. this is quite a game changer being announced by the obama administration what we know is that the u.s. has decided that it will provide military support to syrian rebels but u.s. officials would not specify what that support will involve the national security council that the pfizer ben rhodes says that the new assistance to the syrian rebels will be different from the non-lethal communications type of quitman that the u.s. has given before and this of course leads many to believe that the united states will now be arming the syrian opposition now these decisions are being made after the u.s. intelligence community has independently concluded that the syrian government has used chemical weapons including the nerve agent gas sarin on a small scale against the opposition however washington so f

this is a really complicated situation in syria. it is a civil war within a civil war, and even if assad goes, then there's going to be another civil war between sectarian groups that are already fighting amongst themselves. there's no clear leadership of the opposition, and the other piece is the chemical weapons. i don't know of any way to secure those chemical weapons without troops on the ground, and i don't think that's anything that we want to do, so i guess my feeling is we should be cautious. we keep learning, you can't just go in with a light touch. once you go in, you're committed and it becomes deeper and deeper. i just hope the administration if they are going to take further action has a clear idea what the mission is they want to accomplish and what the exit strategy is. >> you have been on the record saying you prefer a cautious approach when questioned about that back in april. as we think about where it stands now, the u.n. says yesterday 93,000 have been killed in this two-year-old conflict, 152 people killed by ch

syria is their own arab ally. only port in the black sea and vladimir putin doesn't want to see the west enter vaccine and push assad out. it's a bad precedent for him at home. >> paul: one of president obama's big goals was to reset relations with russia. what has he had to show for it? >> he has to salt treaty over nuclear reduction. otherwise, very little. by the way, he wasn't the first president to restart relations with russia. george w. bush tried in back in 2001 and you find yourself disappointed by vladimir putin he is a soviet men believes the greatest tragedy was the fall of the soviet empire. what he has been trying to reconstitute that empire. keeping syria and hue mill crating the united states is parts of the strategy. >> paul: what about syria. the the same day they announced the change, president sent his deputy, national security advisor to alert the press of this change. and under cut it the same day he only did it because he wants to get assad to the negotiating table seems to undercut their me

policy towards syria. an audience like this and audience watching on c-span knows very well the issues that are at stake, the humanitarian issues that are at stake of course, the political and motels -- military and strategic issues that are at stake and there is a broad national, broad consensus about the urgency of the situation in syria but yet considerable debate about what the united states should do and what the united states should be leading in order to affect the situation on the ground. we at the institute, the washington institute, have been actively engaged in trying to present a broad range of information to the policymaking community in addition to our speakers today from the institute, andrew i want to draw attention to everyone here into our viewing audience at the washington institute's web site which includes data from first-hand visits to the region by institute staff exhibiting all bordering countries around syria, detailed reports based on these investigations and policy prescriptions.

hezbollah's involvement in syria has come at a price. rebels or their sympathizers have been regularly firing rockets at shiite towns in lebanon. among the most frequent targets: the hezbollah-dominated town of hermel. vice-mayor issam blabel took us to the site of last tuesday's rocket attack. >> the rocket fell at 4:00 in the afternoon, when people are resting in their homes. >> warner: hermel has been hit with more than 70 rockets in the last month, ever since the battle for qusayr intensified. >> every house here has a hezbollah member, and the shi'a are almost all supporters of hezbollah. they claim that this is a base for launching operations against them, but they are targeting it because it's purely a shi'a village. >> warner: the rebels have said if hezbollah doesn't withdraw from syria, they are going to increase attacks on hezbollah bases in lebanon. >> our bases and offices are not exposed, and nobody knows where they are. >> warner: blabel said 3,500 hezbollah fighters are in syria. whatever the number, they are battle-teste

ground troops in syria. the president also not anxious, not really looking at putting a no fly zone into place, though senator john mccain wants that. the most likely option, potentially arming the rebels. let's remember that this is something that mccain himself has been pushing for for quite a bit. listen to what he had to say a short time ago. >> i applaud the president's decision. i applaud the fact that he has now acknowledged what the french and others and the rest of us knew, that bashar al assad is using chemical weapons. >> mccain wants to see the next step of arming the rebels. what could that mean? the u.s. either supplying directly or going to some third-party supplier in eastern europe, desperately needed, mortars, rockets, machine guns. it gets into very dicey territory very quickly. are you going to give the rebels shoulder fire anti-tank weapons, anti-air weapons? because the concern always remains with syria, so unsettled. could that kind of weaponry get into the hands of al qaeda there or i

is still to decide just how far it might go with syria its e.u. allies are preparing well for themselves for a possible flood of refugees from the war torn state germany could end up bearing the brunt giving shelter to some ten thousand who have already fled syria despite it having been rather reluctant over western calls for direct military action in the country and all of this is germany already fears the radical threat potentially posed by the return of hundreds of europeans who have gone to fight assad. has this report. these protesters behind be in pearl in a campaigning for better rights of all refugees here in germany and big number of refugees in the country could be set to rise by around ten thousand now that's the number of people escaping violence in syria that's expected to come here to germany when it comes to the international response to the own going crisis in the embattled little eastern country germany has certainly be more reserved and its criticism and some of its european partners particularly the likes of france and the unite

the case of syria, syria is the row house in the middle of the block. and the problem with what we see inside of syria is that what happens there doesn't stay there. it's not like vegas where whatever happens there stays there. it's actually the potential for spillover is so great, and has accelerated over the last few months, whether it's the refugees or the involvement of hezbollah. if you would have told me a couple of years ago -- i have many friend inside the audience, that andrew in a short period of time you're going to watch hezbollah rocket fire another arab country for at hour from lebanese territory. i would say, you've got to be crazy. the equivalent of hell freezing over, and yet i've seen it in the last two months and those who have been tracking the involvement of hezbollah. i don't think what's happening in syria will just stay in syrian i think it's less and less containable and i think that in and of itself threatens not only syria's neighbors but the security architecture as well in the region. right now, refugees in cross-border fire

use reacted to washington's allegations and for more on that i'm joined live by our t's tessera syria live for us in brussels so teso what is the world body there the european body rather had to say. well the statement that came out today from the spokesman of catherine ashton has offices that the e.u. would like to have you when mission to have to have independent investigation whether or not the use of chemical weapons really did take place they want independent verification of the facts presented by the united states that is happening in syria now that they are in constant contact with washington and also they said that while this u.n. mission has been authorized they are still waiting to be granted access on the ground they did point out indicate the importance of getting an independent verification on the ground with facts on the ground for them to be able to make a decision now this is generally reflective of the opinion of most of the e.u. countries if we remember is made or was this is that they made on whether or not to extend the arms embargo to syria five out of twenty seve

us all provide military aid to syria's rebels are claiming it has evidence of the assad regime to use chemical weapons moscow called washington's reasoning flawed. plans to develop a balkan istanbul that calls weeks of protests turkey has been frozen but there's no clear agreement on how to prevent anti-government demos continuing. and with polls now close in iran's election we examine the controversial legacy left behind by the nation is all going president ahmadinejad. watching live from moscow with me to mom would say let's take a look at the news. washington will put lethal weapons there in the hands of syria's rebels it's concluded that bashar. has used chemical weapons albeit on a small scale and so will offer more help to those fighting him or his murder to put my has the details this is quite a game changer being announced by the obama administration what we know is that the u.s. has decided that it will provide military support to syrian rebels but u.s. officials would not specify what that support will involve national security council get the prize or ben rhodes says that t

tragedy as syria is, in strategic terms it's a side show. the issue here is and has been from the get-go the regime in iran. the world's central banker of international terrorism eagerly pursuing a nuclear weapons program which, by the way, it will continue to do despite yesterday's presidential election. that has been the power to worry about in the middle east, and i think the obama administration was reluctant to take on the assad regime in syria because it knew if it crossed iran over the syria issue, it would never get negotiation over iran's nuclear weapons program and that was the obama administration's priority. i've long thought that was a mistake but i think that's what dominated president obama's thinking. and i think now you're seeing the consequences of operating under a delusion. >> speaking of iran, newly elected president said to be a reformer or in your review just more of the same? >> you know, you've got to strain pretty hard to find reformers in the leadership in iran. i remember him when he was the chief nuclear negotiat

arms into syria jordan with patriot air defense batteries and f. sixteen jets already deployed there author and historian gerald horne thinks washington's allegations of chemical weapons use only serve to escalate the conflict. it seems to me this is a very dangerous and ominous moment particularly since sunni clerics have just met in cairo egypt in a call for a holy war against the regime in damascus and instead of trying to calm things down it seems to me the obama administration is about the throw gasoline on the flames keep in mind also that just a few weeks ago the turkish authorities found that some of the rebels housed in turkey had syrian weapons. weapons in their possession keep in mind as well that it's difficult to say if these weapons were used if they were used to use them for example what was the chain of custody that allowed the obama administration to conclude that it was damascus and not the rebels how did those samples get from the battlefield to washington how do we know that some really good soldier in the syrian military used t

let's start with syria. david, i guess the big question is why are we now going in apparently with some kind of military support to the rebels in syria? >> syria is the problem from hell as one analyst has described it. the reason that we're finally two years into this war deciding to provide military aid is basically what the president said. when you have clear evidence that chemical weapons have been used against a civilian population, when missiles are being fired into civilian population centers, when you have 93,000 people dead, it's -- i think almost impossible for an american president to stand on the sidelines and watch that. so obama is going into syria. he's got to explain to the country where he wants to go. he's decided to back a moderate syrian rebel general who i've talked to on the phone and a very sensible guy. does he have military power now to beat assad? no. he doesn't. so somehow the u.s. is going to help him build a real opposition army. get some real command and control. and begin to ma

leadership's using the war in syria to divert attention from problems at home. it helps obama and it helps president. prime minister here in britain all three of us have c.d.'s domestic problems economic problems social unrest etc etc when he is facing serious domestic problems than you do already. is this. threats to national security. and try to unite the population with these massive. domestic opposition activists in the u.k. argue it's banks that are actually in debt to them and not the other way around coming up a protest held ahead of the g eight summit in northern ireland saying the crisis only made the rich richer and worsened the social. and deadly chemistry in louisiana as twin blasts of chemical plants raise speculation the state is neglecting safety one expert's opinion still to come. but first turkish authorities are demanding all the names of the doctors who treated protesters injured in clashes with police as part of a health ministry probe prime minister aired on the government claims medics acted illegally giving aid to demonstrators in istanbul

is syria we have to think about the country of syria twenty five percent and they're displaced or refugees the humanitarian problem is really really catastrophic it has strategic implications for the region iran syria is a different thing the u.s. certainly didn't start this didn't support the rebels in order to get rid of assad it all happened by itself and in the end outside powers can meddle but they can't really do very much internally which is why the u.s. but one russia forty dollars of saudi that continues to support. how do you know that retains the support of about half of syrian society what about them. judith go ahead that's what you think that's what you think but that's not what you what we know we don't know a lot of people work for the bureaucracy a lot of people are in the intelligence the army is totally practically of the verge of collapse the brothers fourth division of course they have to be loyal to the regime because their paychecks their lives and the future of their families depend on it i don't think there's any way now to manage here who is real lay in support of

he has not taken his message to syria's state tv. so far his plan has brought mothers here to damascus. , evensociety activists from a country with no diplomatic relations here, but what about the west? most of their diplomats left the capital along time ago. will this kind of initiative ever work? will the other side even listen? all sides talk about ending a brutal conflict, but some in the west are now focused on army what they call a moderate opposition. , iran, andom lebanon iraq are backing damascus. with every month that passes, this is not just syria's more. war.ria's >> that special report from syria. that issue dominating the agenda at the g-8 summit. another one is a tax issue. alice is here. specifically transparency, trying to get tax avoidance. >> the uk prime minister david cameron who is hosting the summit has promised to put evasion and aggressive avoidance at the very heart of the summit. it comes after the weekend meeting, places like the virgin islands, places many viewed as tax havens, labels they strongly disput

syria is a place. >> stop there. why not? john mccain has a record here. he is making a judgment call as people who interpret politics and i don't think it's crazy to make the reasoning off of a track record who is making this argument. >> you should make your reasoning based on what's happening on the ground and what the situation is in the region and based on your understanding of the facts and not what john mccain does or doesn't do. he could be right or wrong, but that should not be the way that you make your decisions or anybody else does. as far as syria is concerned, as we are talking, he is under heavy gunfire and air strikes surrounded by more than 5,000 members of hezbollah. we are talking about a country that is in the middle east where they are working to save their own interests in the region regardless of if they survive or not, where they keep it and able to arm hezbollah and have major implications for the region and us in the future. being able to support a hierarchy where we see people who join the battalions and others, by no means they

aleppo is syria's commercial center. half thebels have held city for almost a year. >> i think it will be a huge mistake for those who are supporting the regime on the ground to attack aleppo. if they do such a mistake, am sure there will be a huge resistance and unfortunately many people will be lost. .he reports are so tragic i don't think such an attack in aleppo will be without any response by the neighboring countries. such a humanitarian tragedy being repeated in aleppo will create a huge reaction. shouldime and followers not be making such a huge mistake. >> the syrian government has criticized egypt's position to cut diplomatic ties. the egyptian residents mohamed morsy announced saturday he was closing embassies in damascus and cairo. the information minister says egypt's decision is motivated by a us-led conspiracy to divide and control the middle east. rebel held suburbs of syria's capital, residents spent another day in the midst of battle. overseas, diplomatic maneuvering counts for little. president bashar

no fly zone over syria has been drawn up it would be costly with up to fifty million dollars per day and unlikely to have any effect on things on the ground but the white house thinks it's necessary in order to reduce the risk of arming the risks of arming the rebels restricted areas could stretch up to forty kilometers into syria just one hundred kilometers short of the capital damascus even without a no fly zone washington could send arms through jordan with patriot air defense batteries and f. sixteen jets already deployed there author and historian gerald horne though things washington's allegations of chemical weapons use only escalate the conflict. it seems to me this is a very dangerous and ominous moment particularly since sunni clerics of just met in cairo egypt in a call for a holy war against the regime in damascus and instead of trying to calm things down it seems to me the obama administration is about the throw gasoline on the flames keep in mind also that just a few weeks ago the turkish authorities found that some of the rebels housed in turkey had serious weapons tha

lethal arms to rebels and a possible no fly zone washington's response to syria's apparent use of chemical weapons but damascus calls the evidence lies and russia says it's not convinced. other stories that shaped the week after exposing the u.s. secret surveillance program cia whistleblower edward snowden remains holed up in hong kong awaiting washington's expected retaliation. iran's new president hassan rouhani promises a new moderate voice as the west hopes for a major shift in the country's nuclear ambitions and a softening in the stance on syria. eleven pm in moscow treasure bring you today's top stories and a look back at the week's news we begin in it is ten below where turkish police have resorted to their tried and tested methods to prevent protests from restarting using tear gas and water cannons to prevent crowds from gathering in the city center taksim square the symbol of anti-government unrest sealed off after special forces drove out demonstrators and destroyed temporary camps but the crackdown having the opposite effect with angry protests now flaring up across the country

proposals on mate to introduce a no fly zone over syria. and to expand the support to oppositional forces and to be in their position of syria some sometimes deny to a speech in the conference don't to think that it all ruling the prospects of the conference i don't think that the idea of the conference is ruined and fool to it i foolishly share mr prime minister's view that possibly of this is one of the most but a yacht with appropriate means of resolving this syrian issue but i believe with me the issue can be resolved only by political and diplomatic means mr prime minister is one of the active proponents to hold this geneva two conference we have talked to them that in details. which one with maps and sultry and we also are able to live it or i will not argue against it but dealt with our american partners after wants we inform the united kingdom and all of the partners how things are advancing at a time sure i'm confident that the probably a final resolution of the ground putting all those warring parties to that and go straight into

all providing military aid to syria's rebels or claiming it has added as the as assad regime used chemical weapons moscow called washington's reasoning floored. plans to develop a balkan istomin both led calls to weeks of protests across turkey have been frozen but there's no clear agreement on how to prevent anti-government demos continuing. and as iranians they elected a new leader we examine the controversial legacy left behind by the nation's outgoing president mahmoud ahmadinejad. is a pm here in the russian capital you live with us on our t.v. with me to bomb would say it's good to have your company with us let's take a look at what we have for you five washington will put lethal weapons in the hands of syria's rebels it's concluded that bashar assad's regime has a use chemical weapons be it on a small scale and so will also more help to those fighting him artie's marina has the details. this is quite a game changer being announced by the obama administration what we know is that the u.s. has decided that it will provide military support to syrian rebels but u.s. officials would not