military intervention in syria we'll tell you more next and in war torn syria the violence has reached a small town near the nation's capital it's a village that holds one of the oldest christian minorities in the world the growing concerns of this community coming up and don't forget to put your best face forward the department of homeland security is putting together a huge database for facial recognition but does this really help law enforcement more on that and today show. it's friday september sixth five pm in washington d.c. i'm lynn neary david and you're watching r t we begin today with syria as the debate for and against a military strike continues in congress president obama cleared a major hurdle this week by gaining approval from the senate foreign relations committee as they voted ten to seven on their own version of military authorization however it hasn't exactly been easy for the administration to continue that momentum giving a full breakdown on the numbers behind this fight is r t political commentator sam sax i've long believed that our power is rooted not just in ou

from syria. so this also has to play out but i think it can't play out for an eternity. >> sure. >> i think the commander in chief needs to set some parameters here. >> in the meantime, you bring up a good point here because there has to be some sort of timetable or guidelines here. this is put on hold, but congress still have to grapple with other business, if you will. you're talking about balancing the budget, you're talking about the dealing with the debt ceiling, implementing obama care. how does that all fit into what we're dealing with here? do they put that stuff on hold while they deal with syria? >> no. here you are, president obama. who would you rather deal with vladimir putin or are house republicans? it's kind of a tough choice for him. he has to deal with both at the same time, right? he's going to have to pursue syria, but on the other hand, republicans say they're going to be very, very aggressive on this quell of whether you -- how you raise the debt ceiling. there are some repu

action on syria. the syrian regime sorr refor its backing of iran, hezbollah and even china, that is in place against the world's only super power. the u.s., whe a coalition? a sit of allies? does it not seem strange to every senator, every representative in the house of representatives that this president has not been able to find a single leader who the stand shoulder to shoulder with the united states, germany said no, britain said no, france is waitining to see what congress does. then the matter in the president's goal in striking syria. in libya, united states had a clear mission. president obama struck, purpose was on thtake out moammar gadhae change, they were that, at least in this scope. our goals in syria, not regime change but punishment. president obama said any action will be limited and proportional as he put it, we do not know if those words have any means for president obama. >> president obama said that the red line is not his, he wants a limited proportion al-milh stare strike again

international is very good to have you company so many developments over syria today syria has agreed to russia's proposal that it puts its chemical weapons stockpile under international control u.s. secretary of state john kerry initially suggested such a scheme earlier today as a way to avoid a military strike on syria but then in a parent you turn the u.s. state department issued a retraction saying it wasn't a genuine offer thomas reports. it started off as a day of a meeting of the ministers both from the western side and with russia and the syrian foreign minister in fact they met earlier today that is. and is sergey lavrov coming out of that meeting they both agreed that syria would work with russia to stop a strike from the west and also syria had agreed to come to the negotiating table with no conditions that's big news but the biggest news is that syria has agreed to release their chemical weapons arsenal to the international community let's listen to what. i had to say about that i have listened to the russian foreign minister statement and i want to say that we welcome his

syria. it was announced yesterday that five the council's permanent members including the u.s. and russia had come to an agreement on a resolution and it's now going to be brought before the other members of the security council for consideration. reuters has a story on a resolution saying the major sticking point up to this point was russia's opposition to enforce compliance with the threat of sanctions or military force. the article goes on to say the draft resolution makes the measure for removing weapons legally binding but provides no automatic enforcement of syria fails to comply. instead the security council would have to draft a second resolution and we will take a look now inside the room. the security council meeting and watch as they all come together. just take a look here as is the meeting comes together. [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> we are live at the u.n. in new york city at

al qaeda affiliated groups fighting here in syria. against the regime of bashar assad but mostly for their own radical islamic state and it's known it's believed to be the best armed most successful and at the same time the most aggressive opposition force here in syria and it's listed as a terrorist organization by the you when u.s. and some other members of the international community and we can see that the tactics were also. very similar to those that terrorists all around the world use we know that. early on wednesday suicide bomber struck a checkpoint at the entrance of my little village and after a car exploded at the checkpoint the militants of just stormed and we have online and i hope you can see it right now showing the rebels. the. residents have been telling media that the same day the militants managed to take over a mountain top sophia hotel and they been firing from that strategic point what we know is that a village is a very special play. not only speaking. in terms of syrian reality but internationally speaking it i

in syria there is a sunni-shiite divide that plays itself out in syria. and yet our public opinion by and large really ever since the uprising, which did not like assad, they favor the rebels mostly him and nonetheless they don't want to see an international intervention. they don't trust the intentions in particular of the u.s. they think we will be doing it for the wrong reasons that nobody really believes that we would have intervened it would be over chemical weapons. they see what happened in iraq. by and large there was a public that did not want to support it, and that is why the arab league institution could not formally supported despite the pressure from gulf states. and then you have egypt, which obviously is the most populous arab state, influential historically. it is going through a lot of transition. certainly does not like assad and has criticized him. but after the overthrow of the muslim brotherhood in egypt and the overthrow of resident morsi -- president muslim, you have a sentiment in egypt that is so anti-muslim robin hood it trumps

syria's best friend, russia, saying that, in fact, syria will sign on to that ban. and syria will allow the international community to take all of its chemical weapons and destroy them. and syria seems to be going along with what russia says here. and that is why everything changed today in washington, and that is why the senate has delayed its vote and the u.s. government and the president say now that the only reason this progress was made is because of a threat of u.s. military force seeming real in this case. and they're saying that is what russia and syria responded to. and if it is up to the guy who i guess saw this coming, then the senator, joe manchin pass out of here, the way forward is that the u.s. and the senate and the president should change tact to reflect this progress today. say yes to this offer from syria and russia. say yes to this offer from syria to come in from the cold and hand over their chemical weapons. lead the world in universal approval of that move. see to it that it happens and save the prospect of the use of force for if they don't f

mediated through syria. also echoing the same sentiment but why am i giving you these details when i can cross over to aussie's and he said no way she filed this report about the rough up to the twenty thirteen g. twenty economic summit or bowling operation but was meant to be a two day summit focusing on how to revive the global economy how to reverse economic global downturn turned into a two day debate on syria that's putting it lightly almost all of the round tables the discussions the bilateral meetings in one way or another came down to syria and whether or not a u.s. strike on up. damascus was in fact something that they should support a lot of different views here president putin sacked down with obama despite speculation that the two won't meet and it has to be said their views not only of the chemical weapons attack back in august but in how to deal with syria as a whole couldn't be more opposing. i was elected to end wars not start a u.s. military intervention in syria dominated talks at the g twe

military strike against syria. he promised to take that message back to washington next week and vote against the white house plan to strike syria. david hawkins, aljazeera, michigan. >> ahead, richard murphy speaks to us. for the latest, you can always go to aljazeera.com. >> a bomb has exploded in front of egyptian minister's home in cairo in a possible attempt on his life. six people were injured in the explosion. two attackers were killed by police. witnesses tell aljazeera a car bomb was set near the interior minister's convoy. >> the cleveland medical examiner confirmed that aerial castro hanged himself with a bed sheet. he had just started serving a life sentence as punishment for kidnapping and torturing three young women for a decade. those three women have not spoken publicly. we visited the cleveland neighborhood castro called home to see the impact his death is having on people there. >> on the 2000 block of seymour avenue in cleveland, flowers offer no hint of the painful history of the house that once

syria formally agrees to russia's proposal to hand over its chemical weapons to the u.n. potentially pushing washington back from its threats to launch military strikes the u.n. security council is set to convene the c evening in new york. sources suggest to watch either rebels in syria are planning to launch a chemical attack on israel designed to look like it was carried out government. and in other news the. immigration party is set to join the new coalition government to form a member. killed dozens and a crusade against multiculturalism we look at europe's shift to the right. now from a studio in moscow where it's just turned nine pm this is r.t. with international news and comment now we have some breaking news to start with and the russian president has given his first public reaction to r.t. on events surrounding syria and its agreement to hand over chemical weapons stockpiles to you and we also got to how the idea came about and this is what he had to say. it is well known that syria possesses a chemical weapons arsenal which they have always considered a counter

like what we've seen in syria. they are not apples and apples and ultimately, we'll make an individual decision. i think american people need to be consulted. if we want to rally them around action to stop iran from getting a new clear weapon, then we maybe have to pay attention to what they say here, and i worry that publicly everyone is war weary and will get more tired if we go into syria and will make it more difficult if we need to take steps from preventing iran from having a nuclear weapon. >> john mccain said he thinks he has a commitment from president obama to start sending lethal weapons to the rebels in syria. the president made that commitment in principle a few months ago, still hasn't done it but looks like it is beginning now. are you on board at least with the united states supplying arms to the rebels? >> well, i'm not in part because i still don't think we have a good hand on who the rebels are. general dempsey said today in open session the rebel groups are not ready to leave today because in pa

soldiers in syria. how could iran help me. >> charlie: supplies, weaponry. >> we always have this kind of of -- >> charlie: hezbollah fighters have been here. >> in the border -- only on the border where the terrorist attacked them on the border with lebanon. this is where hezbollah retaliated. this is where you have cooperation. that's good. >> charlie: hezbollah forces are in syria today? >> on the border area of lebanon where they want to protect and serve and cooperate with us. but they don't exist all overseer i can't. they cannot exist all overseer i can't. from any region that they exist on the border. >> charlie: what advice are you getting from the russians? >> about? >> charlie: this war. how to end this war. >> looking for a solution, we have this advice and we are convinced about it. >> charlie: do you have plan to end the war? >> of course. >> charlie: which is -- at very beginning it was fullly political when you have these terrorists the first part of the same plan which is political shou

they don't have any idea of a syria they intend to create. i am quite sure that that is simply not on the agenda to create a new syria or to fundamentally alter the present balance of power within the country they're talking about degrading certain capabilities of the syrian government. if they if they are serious about doing that of course that means a much more fundamental commitment to getting involved in war that they have exhibited so far so you know there are obvious contradictions here in the official position of the obama administration on one hand trying to emphasize the limited character of what they are planning to do and on the other hand claiming that somehow this will make a difference i don't know how they can square that circle. in washington as well when you square the circle. i'm not sure i can square the circle either but i can tell you that the l c c's position as the largest network of nonviolent activists in syria our position is that we would support airstrikes if they were to fundamentally degrade the capability of the

places mean syria. although because it will come you know large would continue to keep the relative peace for the this is why it's a symbolic religious a very cool term but not only. here. for a long period. of. oh. this may look like an ordinary farewell amongst friends but the man in the long as lama coat is a suicide bomber leaving on his final journey. this is his last conversation with his elder brother in a car that is supposed to take him to the roles of the central prison in aleppo syria and then explode sending him to paradise according to his beliefs these clips were found on a laptop taken from one man seen in the food age who is now in a syrian prison he calls himself rush on and says he came to syria from a former soviet republic to fight. a group called murat approached me a year ago and convinced me that muslims in syria are being oppressed and killed and that i should go and take up arms against assad for world jihad and help establish a caliphate that will extend worldwide to europe ame

over all crisis in syria. a mill industry solution is not an option. >> the arab league is due to meet in the egyptian capitol to discuss the crisis in syria but there's little unity of how they respond to the chemical weapons attacks. saudi arabia and other uniteed the emirates support military enter jennings but libya, iraq rule against using force. what is expected then from the the arab the league? >> reporter: on sunday, first of all the meeting will be at ambassador level and later in the day the foreign ministers consider a draft text put forward by the ambassadors. already we know that -- a lot are saying the arab league have as far last tuesday in an ambassador's meeting. an issue which con tkepls what it called the haoe news crime can carried out by prointernational prohibited chemical weapons. i laid it at the feet of the assad government of in syria. it was suspended from iraq t lebanon and al tkp*e ria. i think the feeling today is that there won't be any show of unity. there will be a discussion

reflection from damascus in syria. he's raring for war and president francois hollande says there will be no vote on the matter despite a recent poll suggesting that three in four french people want parliament to have a say on attacking syria and perhaps a wary or by u.k. like a defeat by lawmakers or loans administration insists he alone has the power to order an attack i'll choose to associate reports now on the french perspective. the french president a lot is constitutionally able to order over the top without a parliamentary approval but france along has been under a lot of pressure from opposition to to put this issue to a vote with the opposition and also pointed out that a lot is in a court of what he merely a position of having to wait for before acting i was spokesman from along the office said that the president hasn't yet decided whether or not to ask for a vote but what's interesting to note is that in the u.k. the prime minister is also able to work over the top without parliament the prime minister david

one allied borders syria. a commentary on what has happened. 25 years after the end of the cold war. the original rationale for the alliance has disappeared. the alliance has been trying to adjust to a very different international environment we do have is a degree of many countries of war weariness. also anti-americanism that was sent to the british boat. you have all the bad feelings, if you will, that were the results of iraq, and all of it has come together and you simply don't have the kind of natural support and interest. >> what is what president obama doing is sending a signal to syria and iran. >> it is to send a signal of any would be user of mass destruction, iran, north korea, what have you but in the case of iran specifically, this is the other country to whom the united states has set a red line. the president, as people know, said several times the goal is not to contain iran with nuclear weapons, but prevent iran from obtaining them. the president has essentially allowed the red line to syria t

keeping track of syria' syria's chemical weapons. what the country has at their disposal and the weapons used to deliveer the agent. it's not just al qaeda-linked groups in that country. reason why iranians are riskinging their lives in the middle of war. . . >>> syria is believed to have one of the largest chemical weapon os stockpiles in the middle east. here are the main locations where those we upons are reportedly stored. according to to french surveillance the government has been developing its chemical we tpopbs program since the 1970s. the syrian government has more than a thousand turns of chemical agents. these chemicals include sarin and another substance called vx which is one of the most in the world. syria is capable of delivers chemical weapons using missiles with a range of up to 300-miles. earlier i spoke with professor kimberly martin from bonard college at kphrup columbia univ. i asked if the u.s. will allow syria of getting rid of chemical welfares by acceptin accepting s proposal. >> no, i don't think so. putin i

syria joined them. and now more than a thousand syrian civilians lay dead due to assad's decision to bring back these horrors. how will we react? our former colleague and respected national security leader, dick lugar, says chemical weapons -- and i quote -- "may be the greatest threat to our country of any security risk that we have, much more than any other government, for example, or any other nation because these weapons can be used by terrorists by very small groups." dick lugar, who played such a great role in securing nuclear weapons after the cold war, dick lugar, who understands what could happen if we turn our back now. so i respectfully ask my colleagues, don't look away, don't rationalize inaction. we cannot stay silent. if we fail to act in the face of such a brazen violation of international norms, in the face of an assault on conscience, then these laws, outlaws these weapons, become meaningless and we put the security of all of us at risk. if we fail to act, we make it more likely that t

and so that this is all part of the larger picture and syria has just become. the. person to the country to beat up on to extend this it would it would certainly have a major impact throughout the throughout the entire arab world and if somehow. assad can survive i can i can tell you that the arab countries are really going to be in desperate ways because they're going to be very very fearful of their own retribution as a consequence and i think that that's something that they're very fearful of and they see that they see that the possibility that they're over looking and not even considering the fact that al qaeda exactly the muslim brotherhood can move into these areas exactly and and they're just living day by day and we haven't even consider the ramifications and here we were already appeared on the science side as i did ok but according to john kerry that the the rebels have been hype been hijacked by jihad is he said that yesterday to congress brian i mean that's just totally you know this is what kind of world to see living in i mean this is i mean here we ev

all syria timeline everything you need to know it's all if we. well with america blaming the syrian regime for chemical attacks the u.s. national security adviser susan rice expressed concern that israel could also be at risk the use of chemical weapons also directly threatens our closest ally in the region israel where people once again have readied gas masks she's worn the chemicals could easily fall into the hands of terrorists he has received information from a number of sources that rebels active in syria are planning to launch a chemical attack on israel it would be used as a provocation against the syrian government and our correspondent has more from tel aviv. i've spoken to both the israeli foreign ministry is what is the army spokespersons units and i was asking them for a reaction to the reports we have that there is an imminent threat being planned by syrian rebels originating in territory in syria that is controlled by the syrian government against israel now the reaction was to quote one of the spokespeople for off aged the response

allen asked for syria. amanda, syria. nicole, please discuss syria. alia, and we are all watching about syria. this is a mass relevance map. it shows in real lifetime exactly all social media active ty about syria. these red dots, it's concentrated in north america. here is a trends map. here is where syria is being discussed all around north america on twitter. >> the words, the darker the black, the more people are talking about it? >> there you go. it's l.a. my beloved bay area all the way in mexico. texas, madison, wisconsin, the east coast. even florida. so the entire community. we have had some very opinionated passionate responses. here is ali: where was this indignation years ago? this is like six years. we have one more joseph phillips summarizes, i think, the opinion of americans. >> it is impossible to take any sides. there is no clear side to take. so you, the viewer at home, today, you are the third host of the show. as always, you have driven our discussion. throughout this show, tweet at us live using the hash tag ajamstream and join th

syria is the key. that's why you're seeing a lot of iranian troops in syria because they need to protect their investment in that part of the world, just like we do. >> diplomacy is everybody inner pretty. although it sounds pretty, it is messy. colonel, if you could stay with us. i have other questions moving through this program about these two countries, and it leads to this question -- the military. how is the united states maneuvering all of those big, heavy assets? ships, aircraft carriers. they can't just stay hanging out there forever. so what are we doing about it as we still maintain a threat over syria? first, though, today is september 11th, and there are memorial services throughout the country, and in shanksville, pennsylvania. in new york city. and in washington, d.c. and we will pause to remember, next. [ male announcer ] campbell's angus beef & dumplings. hearty cheeseburger. creamy thai style chicken with rice. mexican-style chicken tortilla. if you think campbell's 26 new soups sound

still to come here i speak to those making a pilgrimage to syria to fight in what they believe is a holy war. also the opening of a crew from the international space station successfully coming to an end. on the beautiful steps of. both. here and. he with me. thanks for joining us today it looks like president obama is toning things down after weeks of bombastic statements threats that the syrian government deserves a u.s. military strike. to his nation which according to recent polls is against america getting involved in a brand new civil war he agreed to give way to diplomacy for reporting from washington. we saw president obama engaged in verbal acrobatics with the message that many americans will find very confusing he was forcefully pushing the idea that strikes against syria are necessary asking the american people to support him at the same time he would say maybe they will not be necessary and maybe diplomacy can work he was referring to russia's proposal for seriously give up its chemical weapons take a listen it's too early to tell whether this offer will succeed in any agreem

stumbling in syria there can be no doubt the obama administration would very much like to strike syria and strike a hard problem is if you actually buy into the administration's so-called common sense reasoning surrounding assad's alleged use of chemical weapons what is the administration's real aim and has it painted itself into a red line corner. you know i'm abby martin and this is breaking the set so even though it is solders agreed to give it give up its chemical weapons arsenal a bomb and his team of one man there's a new danger closer to the night in a powder keg in syria as a result of two thousand speech from the then state senator obama started to attract attention and his campaign web site posted a video in two thousand and seven to highlight his fierce opposition to military intervention during the run up to the iraq war conveniently only thirteen seconds of the original two thousand and two speech exists online take a listen i don't oppose war in all circumstances and when i look out over those clouds of day i know there is no shortage of patriots. or patriots there's a wh

our subject is syria. what began there two and a half years ago as part of the arab spring has turned into an all-out civil war. now has come the shocking evidence of poison gas attacks. a fatal escalation that has led president obama to ask congress to authorize the limited use of military force. and if we take action, where and when does it stop? historian and analyst andrew bacevich is here asking those questions.[ a graduate of west point and vietnam veteran, he served in the military for 23 years before becoming a professor at boston university. his books include "the limits of power" and "washington rules." his latest, "breach of trust." andrew bacevich, welcome. >> thank you very much. >> well, i'm pleased to have this chance to chat with you for a lot of reasons. one, i don't know who else has more cred than you. what would a 23-year graduate of west point offer us now regarding the dilemma in which obama finds himself, regarding syria? >> well, i mean, if i could have five minutes of the president

missile strikes on syria in return for syria turning over all its chemical weapons to international weapons inspectors to be destroyed. it all started out as an answer to a question in london this morning by his secretary of state, john kerry. >> is there anything at this point that his government could do or offer that would stop an attack? >> sure. he could turn over every single bit of his chemical weapons to the international community in the next week, turn it over. all of it. without delay and allow a full and total accounting for that. but he isn't about to do it and it can't be done, obviously. >> the state department quickly called that a rhetorical argument and not a real proposal from kerry. but within a few hours, the russian foreign minister turned kerry's answer into a concrete proposal that suddenly started gaining traction around the world and on capitol hill. shortly after that announcement, syria's foreign minister released a statement lacking details but saying syria welcomes the russian proposal. and shortly after that, the united nations secretary general, ban ki-moon,

and he said as you were saying you bring up the subject of syria. certainly a lot of a lot of talking heads going on about it but as we know as we know the french president francois hollande has said in recent weeks that. that the assad government actually carried out three chemical attacks against its own people of course the u.k. prime minister cameron he had a resoundingly defeat in parliament just several days ago today saying you are not going to war in syria and even last night the secretary of state the u.s. secretary of state john kerry getting a grilling on capitol hill he tried to clear the way for some sort of military strike against syria any movements on done today i know we're supposed to be talking g. twenty economic for anything more on syria and he said. it's really beginning to look like the u.s. might have to go it alone yes they virtually have had support from france so far we'll know more after president obama sits down with french president francois hollande on what exactly the french support could mean whether or not it's just

toward syria. it requires a report to congress on the status of those military operations. let me thank senator corker and all the members of the committee for working together in the interest of the american people. o respond to this challenge, i believe it is a declaration of our values. it sends a clear message that the world cannot and will not tolerate the use of chemical weapons anywhere. with that, let me turn to my colleague and ranking member, senator corker or his statement. >> mr. chairman, i thank you. i want to thank you for your patience. or especially the briefing that we had this morning where obviously some themes were developed. in particular, through the line of questioning that took place -- i want to thank all the ommittee members for the humility but also the thoughtfulness that everyone as approached this issue with. in particular, i want to stress my appreciation to senator mccain and senator coons who i think were able to grasp the essence of developing themes hat are going

will take military action against syria but first the u.s. leader says he will seek authorization from congress speaking in the rose garden obama said that he believes he has the authority to carry out a military attack without approval from congress but he feels that going before congress having above public debate debate having a vote would make the country stronger if if there was actually a national conversation taking place about obama's intended military strike against syria now the u.s. leader says that he feels comfortable carrying out an attack against a syrian targets without the approval of the united nations security council u.s. officials believe that any security draft resolution allowing for the use of force against syria would be vetoed by russia and or china now obama says his plan military strike is not time sensitive that means that it could happen one week from now it could happen one month from now but ultimately the u.s. president says the syrian government will pay consequences for allegedly carrying out a chemical weap

military action in syria. only 42% support it. then when you ask them what about military action without congressional approval, four out of five of those surveyed say no, that's not how we want it to go. that's why i think the president made a strong case for this strike, he doesn't want to say he's going to go ahead with it if congress says no. he was sort of signaling, not totally clear, that's not what he wanted to do. he said this wasn't a symbolic practice where he put this before congress. he talked to observers and they think if president obama gets both chambers saying no that he may not go ahead with the strike. this will be devastating to his presidency but there's the open question. if just the senate says okay will the president go ahead with that and that's where he's not committing. >> i'm curious about the dynamic between he and vladmir putin. mr. obama had hope to go there and do some convincing. it sounds like there was a lot less dialogue and a lot more just restating already firmed positions. >> reporter: that'

reaching out to russia, or in the says of syria, reaching to the embrace of putin to help with syria, engaging with iran on nuclear weapons issues. it's very pragmatic, restrained, realist foreign policy. >> thank you very much. john terrett is in new york. john, the president saying a harder humility and i kept thinking about another president who said walk softly but carry a big stick. >> his speech was 43 minutes long, dell, and a lot of the time was talking about the middle east and north africa. he talked about being chastised in medelling in affairs of other countries. he also put out a four or five-point plan for u.s. foreign policy in the middle east and north africa, and the policy that could stay in place during the rest of his i'm in office. regarding iran he said actions speak louder than words. he talked about iran being verifiable in terms of its nuclear plans. the knew iranian president says they are very keen on moving ahead for peaceful nuclear energy. and president obama said that was welcome by the united states. they supported iran's move towards that. and also he

see reporting from syria. now when it comes to the whole issue of chemical weapons attacks in syria of course western powers have been blaming the assad government was and stay one russia and many eastern power saying well it was the rebels who did this as a provocation to get some sort of outside intervention well as washington accuses assad of the chemical weapons attack or some westerners who were inside the country at the time they challenge these accusations and my colleague bill doughty spoke to a belgian writer. and then he came to syria under the rebels protection they later found himself in their detention here's what he had to say. i don't think bashar al assad in the syrian government are to blame for the chemical attack and. during that time my italian friend and i had been taken hostage by jihadists from the oil for root group in syria we were held at one point in a room facing an office of the free syrian army and the elf jihadist group we have been in the barracks of the pre syrian army and of t

and arab league envoyed on syria. lobby world leaders to distress that his view is that the only solution is a political solution, he was asked about the international legality of u.s. military action. >> i think the secretary general or myself would not express personal opinion. we say what international law says. and international law says that no country is allowed to take the law into their hands. they have to go through the security council. >> here at the u.n. nearly everyone you speak to is talking about syria but no formal meetings have been scheduled. everyone is looking towards washington and waiting. >> well, that's james bays reporting. and here to talk about president obama's challenges going forward al jazeera's contributor michael sure. glad to have you. >> pleasure to be with you. >> how difficult a decision it is, talk about the -- the pressure that's weighing on him internationally and domestically. >> let's start domestically because as randall pinkston said, as mike viqueira said that's where the p

intervention in syria. well as i said nothing official came out from the country so far we are certainly expecting some sort of joint statement during the day later on but judging by the statements made in the margins of the summit we can see which countries are supporting the strike and which countries are opposing it certainly the position of russia and china are staying the same on the case they are strongly against it just as obviously. the countries like argentina india indonesia several other states like brazil and probably mexico also not supporting the strike just as it's in the also said it would not support the military action against syria also we have a statement from the head of the european commission the mr barroso who sees no possible military solution to the problem only a peaceful solution he called on president obama to reveal his evidence of chemical weapons used by the assad forces as quickly as possible even though that hasn't happened yet as far as we understand also we have the state

strategy towards syria. clearly, president obama believes contrary to the assad regime and its orders that there is no military solution to the syrian crisis. obviously, he would like to see a diplomatic solution consistent with what was agreed to by p-5 in geneva in 2012. although it is obvious that the president wants military strikes to bring about the deterrence and prevention results mentioned, clearly there must be a syria related national security set of objectives that transcends the response to the horrible events of august 21. prior to that date, the assad regime had already killed tens of thousands of syrians using mostly conventional munitions in a campaign of mass terror, one that has produced over 2 million refugees and nearly 5 million internally displaced persons. a campaign having enormously negative affect on american allies and friends in the region. prior to that date, the assad regime had already established itself as a palpable threat to the peace in the region. prior to that date, the

gecko -- in syria? matthew is joining us, why do you support it? technician.a former it definitely looks like there are some nerve damage going on to the people in syria in those videos. that is definitely making me lean right. needs to do something and why not just bomb them from away? no troops on the ground, punish the syrian government, and we can be on our way. host: from reuters this morning -- he let the world's 1.2 billion one .2 billion catholics in world prayer. he said "violence and war only lead to death. of violence and war are the language of death." from our facebook page, here are some of your comments -- next is elaine joining us from fairfax virginia, good morning. go ahead. i am a numeral -- a liberal democrat and i was opposed to the iraq war from the beginning. but something tells me this is correct to do. it is a moral obligation. we have treaties with other countries on chemical weapons. when a country starts to use , i think it iss just a moral obligation and principle that we ha

or outside syria. damming reports showed heart-breaking statistics. even if you are a syrian living inside your house, who didn't have to leave as a result of the conflict, you are still suffering to make ends meet, and you are suffering to put food on your table. the specific concern is about the issue of hunger. figures released by relief agencies indicate that 4 million children, half children - that's under a quarter of the population - are struggling to have access to food. it's not just about buying food, because, of course, prices of food have skyrocketed. it's the infrastructure of getting access to food - agriculture, the industry of food has been in tatters. these are very damning and concerning reports that showed syria could be on the brink of mass starvation, and what relief agencies are saying is that there should be a renewed push for humanitarian assistance - not just a push to rid the country of chemical weapons, but to ride the positive wave, perhaps, to allow for humanitarian access

no one disputes that chemical weapons were used in syria. the world saw thousands of videos, cell phone pictures, and social media accounts from the attack. and humanitarian organizations told stories of hospitals packed with people who had symptoms of poison gas. moreover, we know the assad regime was responsible. >>> vladimir putin disagrees. quote, no one doubts that poison gas was used in syria, but there is every reason to believe it was used not by the syrian army, but by opposition forces to provoke intervention by their powerful foreign patrons, who are besiding with the fundamentalists, unquote. >>> question, the u.n. reported this week that war crimes are widespread on both sides of the fighting in syria. giving that background, is it conceivable that putin may be right and obama wrong about who ordered the saran attack in syria? >> no. >> it's conceivable. it's just not true. the u.s. and european intelligence agencies collectively agreed that it was somebody within the syrian government that did this, not the rebels. the question

damascus syria. over the past week morea for an ocean of has also been reporting on the rebels fight for the ancient christian village of mostly from damascus and hellacious suppose she says the settlement which is home to some of the walls oldest son has reportedly been taken from forces by government forces mari is on her way to check her twitter feed and our website for the latest top day. comes i will bond very short break with more news including a successful touchdown the soyuz capsule bringing the crew will be international space station. after completing a months long mission in the space. of a small he's hoping to make a big impact on germany's national election and also how they plan to make loads from mainstream power is accused of boring the electorate that's coming up in. new york london. the whole world. of the original one the one on the end. of the court building at the end of the street another one a more transparent society get the money or the puppet years become we see military an

he said that many syria is there. whatever happens in syria spreads spreading all over the region in syria libya egypt television. gas fields in syria. so a company of. serious. question in the war on terror may be good for israel's expansion but the u.s. just gains new enemies. to speak to how can you be against its interests traditionally the democrats got more than two thirds of the campaign contributions that flow into their federal elections from the aggressively israeli faction and that was earmarked support for israel was the condition of taking that money a clean break document was issued by you mean and the neoconservative mostly americans who also happen to be dual citizens people like wolfowitz and perle scooter libby all of those people and this document proposed. regime change in these middle eastern countries. overthrowing all of these independent middle eastern countries and imposing imperial control these people really do want to create greater israel the phrase israel working with its partners. agains

and while the blame game over last month's salary gas attack in syria continues r.t. sources close to the conflict telling us tonight as well that rebel fighters are now planning a chemical property provocation strike against israel following that up closely no comment on that from our correspondent. also to the battle for moscow is over acting. in selected for a new term in office but opposition rather of alexina valley refuses to concede defeat but his supporters staging a mass rally to demand a recount. fellows just after ten pm here in moscow my name is kevin i will face a big where this is a day of potentially big developments in syria syria's agreed to russia's proposal that it put its chemical weapons stockpiles under international control us so critics state john kerry initially suggested such a scheme earlier on as a way to avoid a military strike on syria the u.s. state department then though issued an apparent retraction of that saying it wasn't a genuine offer. thomas picks up the story. it started off as a day of a meeting of the ministers both from the w

efforts in syria. praying for peace, the pope calling on people of all religions to cry out against war there. >>> and the international olympic committee reversing itself on one of the oldest sports in history. >> overseas and here at home, the white house is now building its case for international action against syria. in paris, secretary of state john kerry is trying to convince a skept tall community. he says momentum is building. meanwhile in washington, congress is going back to work tomorrow and president obama goes on a media blitz after a series of high-profile interviews, he will address the nation in prime time on tuesday night. the white house pushing for more support in his plan to strike syria. we are following this story with live team coverage. paul beban is in washington. and washington developments over -- watching details overseas we have phil london. overseas secretary of state john kerry is currently in paris trying to build an international coalition there. how many countries supp

going into syria is really bad idea. this is syria. you poke syria, you poke iran, you poke russia. the unintended consequences here are huge. the other part of this is, if you go in, on whose behalf are you strikeing? you could say well, this is punishment strike for the use of chemical weapons against bashar assad. could you make that argument but i agree with doug, the president hasn't made that argument yet. if you go in and strike, even if it's a limited strike you will degrade assad's power. you will weaken him somehow. the question becomes, if you create a power vacuum who is best prepared to fill it? you see on the other side, al qaeda, muslim brotherhood, sundry other islamists who will be ready to step in. in that case, what do you get? you get chaos or islamism or some combination of both which is what we see in libya and egypt. martha: that caused conservatives and democrats to have concerns about this, doug. because it isn't just a limited strike. there is no doubt, retaliation, whether it comes the next day or whether it comes six months later from iran. >> but there's

continue our discussion on syria stay with our. good lumber tour. was able to build a most sophisticated. doesn't sound anything tim's mission to teach me. to care about humans. this is why you should care only. one of. pleasure to have you with us here on t.v. today i roll researcher. and we. welcome back to cross talk where all things are considered i'm peter lavelle remind you we're discussing the war in syria. ok phyllis right before the break you were very much in disagreement with senator you would you like you are talking about the use usefulness of violence committed by the united states against syria go ahead well i think there's two points one is that what the president has proposed is a small surgical limited how many adjectives can we come up with to say it's going to be a really tiny military strike which is not designed to take out any capacity will kill people according to the pentagon because they admit that the cruise missiles are not very are not very controllable in terms of hitting their target so what are we really talking about

strike on syria this while the war torn nation of syria remains in a growing state of chaos the latest updates up ahead also the california state senate overwhelmingly boats to reject indefinite detention meantime the highest court in the nation is considering fearing a lawsuit challenging the n.d.a. egg. complete update coming up. ok well then college students have one new york city university are saying no way to military recruiters and former high ranking military officers on their campus and more about events cuny in today's show.