the country there are going to drive the future and the decision that the regime makes and the opposition makes and of course that's very complicated because that's a dynamic relationship neither one of them is and actor but they're going to determine the future of this country much more than the rest of us are standing on the sidelines that's why i really think with what the rest of us are standing on the sidelines with the united states and other countries should be doing is you know we can work to ensure the stability of the region and to deal with this crisis with every direction it goes rather than delude ourselves in that somehow we're going to tell the syrians what their future is going to look like a week or a month from now make you know we are it was already mentioned at the beginning of this part of the program is iran and my suspicions are it's less about israel because i think israel actually is very worried because it's very confused about what's going on with the arab spring in general in the region because it's not as black as black and white as it used to be but iran is an issue here and we hear a lot of saber rattling right now in and so let's look at the issue of syria and iran because there's a lot of countries in the world including the united states would love to see the

iranians punished somehow one way or another you know take down hezbollah you mention to masala ready i mean it's really has nothing to do about the poor people of syria or democracy it's a geo political play to go after to turn around and turn around would be oh i met loser if the regime in the mountain passes did fall well it's both exactly and which part of the reason why the united states would like to see assad go because then iran looses its only regional ally and it further isolates you are allowing the united states and israel to put more pressure on it to stop its nuclear weapons program suspected nuclear weapons program so there is a clear strategic interests go ahead jump in. i just want to jump in i do think there are any and they're greatly concerned here i think one of the problems at the top of their concern is if the syrian regime falls that in a sense the arab spring will blow back into iran again and they'll see an uptick in their in the opposition our own country so i think just for the strategic reasons

they want syria to stay because it's their pipeline and lawson has a lot of support regional allies but i think it also has domestic implications for them that they're really concerned about what you think about that james i mean what how does the rand play into all of this here because again i look at western mainstream media and they're just doing this typical colored revolution element here which we we all have to be honest with ourselves we don't really know what's much of what's going on on the ground because western media all media as far as i can tell been banned from the country so all these numbers coming about casualties are guesstimates as far as i'm concerned. well that's a very valid point peter i mean the endgame here is iran i mean the neoconservatives and the rest the pro israel lobby want to take down the ronnie regime because it supports the enemies of israel and hezbollah and lebanon and hamas and that's what this is all about that's what iraq was all about iraq wasn't about oil how much oil are we getting out of iraq it's negligible i mean it's nothing how many a lot with oil company merican oil companies there was about taking down saddam

hussein because he supported the enemies of israel and with regard to the palestinian resistance there so with iran that's what then game is for this agenda like i said i'm not saying that elements of the pros are a lobby started that revolution or uprising in syria but i think the numbers have been inflated i think i saw an artsy piece about that about it about reporting entity and they've been exaggerated in western media and like i said the end game is iran you can read my friends book the transparent cabal dr steven seagal ski and that is what we're we're working towards they want to take down the neocon service and wrestle pros are a lot we want to take down the. main arab ally and that's syria and it all goes back to nine hundred sixty seven peter and israel's deliberate attack on the u.s.s. liberty of a good friend former republican congressman paul finley and he told me when israel got away with murdering american marines and sailors on the u.s.s. liberty on june eighth one hundred sixty seven he wrote the excellent book they

dare to speak out about the pro israel lobby influence in america he said once israel realize he got away with murdering american sailors and marines and people like john mccain and others in his admiral father covered it up for lyndon johnson they could get away with anything and that's what we're dealing with here you've got politicians in america the put the interests of israel first and they don't put the best interests of america first you have neoconservative think tanks like the heritage foundation american enterprise institute they're all pushing war for israel against iran and syria well and recently right as we go to jim jim is from the heritage foundation go right ahead would you like to defend yourself or a comment i mean are you supporting. you kid. well i mean you can go to heritage dot org we have a piece on our website it's we think the u.s. military intervention in syria is not a good idea so i think it speaks to jim let me stay with you here what you also know is that ok let me let me stay with him here jim what is the what is the future now you think of the humanitarian interventions right now because. russia and china particularly russia has been very much criticized in western governments and and

western media for its veto and the russians are standing by it was listen to what russia's ambassador to the u.n. but how he had to say about that. our effort was directed at ending the bloodshed those who are accusing us have been trying to fan civil war and conflict in syria so you know i don't want to want to make them using this kind of hysterical language but we should have. all the track record in dealing with the situation of syria supporting opposition sometimes with arms with their goals of change so. history will show i think. russia has been doing everything we can and continues to do everything we can. ok jim so what do you think about that i mean what my point is here is that you know these humanitarian interventions which i think is an oxymoron in a way because so much violence is used but i mean you know it was libya. being what

we're looking at libya as a president we can do it in other places and let's be fair and places where the west would like to target their co called enemies of the west and all that friends of the west they're never going to be targeted that way even though their human rights records could be deplorable or eccentric cetera i mean and i think you know the right to protect is a very good case russia did that with south to settle we can disagree on that but that's how russia looks at a valid form of the right protect the south were defenseless they were not fighting anyone and now we have a people that are in very dire straits i believe but the whole idea of an a humanitarian intervention has been short circuited because the some western countries took advantage of the libyan case. well i do believe that humanitarian operations are really no different than any other kind of foreign policy decision and it's never simple go to the rule book and it tells you exactly what to do you have to weigh the merits of all the situations your own capability what's the right

thing to do what can you actually bring a situation i actually think the right to protect is a pretty bad he was an empty dr and that can be used for going after your enemies and can be used actually to prevent people from doing legitimate humanitarian operations so i would just put it aside it's going to go to the ash heap of history we're going to take each one of these cases on their own merit i would say in the case of russia russia does have a longstanding relationship with syria and this regime they i think they they have special access and i do think they have special obligations to make every possible effort to do what they can and i think they are. well and it looks like they're going the extra mile in trying to get the sides to talk to each other each other in moscow another venue i mean the ambassador was very emphatic about all of that i mean the the the behave the reaction from western politicians and diplomats i think was hyperbole i mean the amount of violence that to the u.s. is committed against the people in the greater middle east in the last twenty years

particularly you know is that you know you get to the point of hypocrisy here make a fine go to you what do you think about the future of these humanitarian interventions i mean we had a dead end right now because or we do see western powers or a coalition of the willing as i keep saying they'll end up doing it because the u.n. security council is not going to back it up anymore. we'll see a coalition of the willing as you put it the best thing for the united states to do now is support the support the support saudi arabia in whatever they can do to help the opposition to go back to a point about this responsibility to protect doctrine i think that the situation in syria and all shows that strategic interest always trump humanitarian missions. diverse in the world may want to help the syrian people honestly but. it would be a huge mistake to antagonize china and russia now by crossing and intervening in

syria despite deceit oh i don't think that any human. in the west will be big enough to exclude prokofiev that's ok james james in l.a. i'm going to give you the last word how do you think this is all going to end you think we'll be doing a program on syria a month from now. you know i think it's going to end with us arming people like john mccain who has been a neo con neo conservative piece for years now putting israel's israel interests ahead of america i think you'll see him and joe lieberman and others pressure a bomb to arm the rebels in syria i think unless collate from there perhaps you'll see civil war and you'll see these are liberal he. run out of time thank you much for a very very interested question it looks like it's going to be a terrible ending no matter how you cut it many thanks to my guest today in washington amsterdam and in los angeles and thanks to our viewers for watching us here at you see you next time remember rostock rules.

split within the ranks of syria's opposition fighters at first they claimed they were behind twin blasts in the country's largest city of aleppo which killed at least twenty eight people but another spokesman denied responsibility just an hour later. to gas and far bombs on the streets of athens as protesters clashed with police angry at another set of looming cuts to please you credit it with six ministers already quitting over the deal. and observing political change russia's public figures come together to ensure a fair and free presidential vote while striving not to take sides.

international news in coming live from moscow this is r.t. with twenty four hours a day there are conflicting reports over whether the free syrian army and armed wing of the opposition was behind the attacks in the city of aleppo an hour after one f.s.a. spokesman confirmed this another blame the government that loss of killed at least twenty eight and injured more than one hundred seventy journalists down and reports now from syria. aleppo a northern city in syria has been relatively quiet since the anti-government protests took place and march the government claims it's fighting a foreign funded insurgency and as well as it blames terrorist groups for the several bombings that took place in damascus of last year the violence has escalated in syria for the past week opposition forces claiming assad's forces are

shelling on several areas including the city of homs activists are accusing the government of a massacre saying that hundreds of civilians here have been killed something that's hard to verify meanwhile the u.s. is setting an international coalition aimed at supporting rebels and their struggle these so-called group of friends of democratic syria will involve countries willing to prop up the opposition and pile more pressure on the regime although direct military action is has been ruled out some reports of just the british hearts are a special forces are already in the conflict zone there are now calls from washington to arm the opposition and as our teams merino portnoy i reports that the region has been flooded with weapons from the u.s. we're at the united nations security council america holds one permanent seat but when it comes to weapons the world's largest arms exporters is often seen as

sitting on two chairs they say there isn't an international embargo on arms preventing them from doing that that is a fact that doesn't change the immorality of supplying a dictatorial regime that is killing its people in massive numbers every day and we are deeply concerned about that as u.s. officials continue publicly schooled in countries over relations with syria critics say the accusations are being thrown from a tremendous glasshouse the us. hugely difficult in this regard because they've long been the largest arms dealer and most of those weapons the us sold the store a cli more than four hundred billion dollars worth of since the one nine hundred sixty s. have gone to the middle east and you can't argue. seriously that it's made the region any more stable in the past few years nearly fifty percent of u.s.

weapons exports have been flowing to the middle east many countries with the biggest appetite for american weapons have also made headlines for carrying out brutal crackdowns against dissidents and opposition groups if you are you're ok in france they are thugs you're not i mean this is for all of us who have been overseas the duplicity in a park or sea of american foreign policy is painfully. evident according to congressional figures america has sold one point four billion dollars worth of weapons to bahrain since two thousand and america struck its single biggest arms deal when saudi arabia ordered sixty billion dollars worth of arms the us has long subsidize the israeli military and recently supplied them with bunker buster bombs experts say this strategic arming of middle eastern countries is aimed at iran and extending u.s. dominance in the region with. that is going on the white house to be against your

own. you know human why. it's all about some geopolitical f.b.i. whistle blowers sibel edmonds has accused america of playing particularly dirty while leading a campaign for regime change in syria but it's not some kind of. simultaneously op rising situation where people are a ballet and then suddenly they are mysteriously arms and mysteriously arms are being smuggled into syria from. turkey well who who is providing this arms nobody is asking in the u.s. media well these are u.s. arms shipped to turkey this as the u.s. military complex flush with record revenue continues to lobby its interests on capitol hill arms manufacturers are some of the biggest companies in america there are some of the most powerful lockheed martin not only do they they make and so arms for the defense department around the world they're

a federal contractor in many other levels they're even involved in elections this statue outside the u.n. headquarters is a symbol of global peace and nonviolence but critics say the idea has been twisted by the u.s. which goes around advocating peace while arming countless conflicts all for the sake of profit arena what ny r.t. new york. activist an international human rights lawyer has told me to learn or not see that a syrian solution must come from within and that foreign interference would be a mistake in syria i think it is a matter of there are some very legitimate interest in the country of people who would like to be able to participate more in their government and i think the government has made some effort to respond they think it needs to make more of an effort but i don't think that comes through foreign intervention it comes through indigenous processes of the people in the country if you look at any foreign intervention over the last several years you see that after the foreign

intervention many more people died then could have possibly died through any type of indigenous process even one involving violence and i think that moscow and some of its allies on this matter are very wise in seen the pitfalls of foreign intervention and there is a u.n. charter makes it very clear the use of force should only be the last possible means of trying to deal with the conflict. activist an international human rights lawyer talking to a little earlier from geneva. greece's prime minister has promised an end to the country's recession next year if the deal on the next bailout is reached he also wants senior government members would be fired if they oppose the cuts the creditors are demanding six ministers of so far resigned over the deal while thousands of greeks have been venting their anger at the planned cuts on the streets of athens police clashed with protesters firing tear gas in response to

stones and farm bombs as of today union strike the country to a standstill after a tough multi-party deal the parliament is expected to vote on the austerity package on sunday but a junior coalition partner says it will not back the new plan euro zone finance ministers put the second bailout worth one hundred thirty billion euros on hold saying they want to see concrete action now it will get passed in march economists yanis varoufakis has told me that e.u. leaders are only looking to secure their own financial stability. this government was always expendable the point of putting it in place was to ensure that this deal goes through. it's my prediction that it will go through and there is govern with a lapse once it. is done these measures are part of a loan package the purpose of which is to delay. the steady this immigration of the euro zone and give more time to germany's politicians to find out what they're

going to do with their with the german and the french banks which are insolvent so greece is being sacrificed on the altar of the european procrastination what europe is doing it is creating a very severe medical issue by means of cortizone a bit of ice cream what is happening here is that greeks are being threatened that unless they keep borrowing money from germany from france from the i.m.f. from the e.c.b. we know that to keep repaying the northern european and greek banks then they're going to be thrown out over years of this is of course an empty threat here we have people six hundred euros a month who would have to live on four hundred fifty euros a month while at the same time inflation is increasing and taxation is going through the roof. and that was greek economist yanis varoufakis with his assessment of where his debt laden country is heading. people in russia are becoming more and more involved in the political structure in their country ahead of next month's presidential election a group of journalists bloggers and proactive figures have created

a league of voters in a bid to make the upcoming vote fair and transparent reports. it doesn't take long to find videos of alleged violations during the recent parliamentary vote in russia just a couple of clicks is enough and scores of these files have flooded the internet and even though most of the allegations are still to be proven in courts tens of thousands of people have been taking to the streets demanding fair elections but marches presidential vote is just around the corner events are unfolding quickly where. people want to vote responsibly and to know where their villages go what they want political competition independent courts and media forming the voters' league is not our achievement the idea was floating in the air the voters league was officially founded in january by a group of journalists and bloggers activists artists writers and other public figures and statements made tedious like t.v.

host and now activists. have already asked for the head of a charity fund and blogger who does any of the bianca also known as dr lisa. or other school martha ordinator of the blue buckets movement fighting for equal rights on roads for everyone. to our league is an opportunity to gather people who are not indifferent to what's happening the more people with a similar position there are the better the league's main goal is to ensure fair elections is published a list of initiatives on the web divided into groups that everyone can be a part of public discussions and online votes are the key instruments and letters have been sent to all presidential candidates asking them to cooperate with the league and even though the project is less than a month old everyone has so far agreed including pledging little to another candidate businessman mikhail prokhorov has already struck

a deal with the leak you have to go on willing to authorize one hundred fifty thousand league observers we've also arranged to. together unified database to keep track of the election through trickles according to its founders around ten thousand observers are needed to ensure a fair election in moscow alone. it's great that the civil society wants to be more active but it's really important not to cross the line and observers not only are a position it is serious so if the mutations are not to teach science in the political process. it is the league's founders say they'll shut the organisation down if it ever starts turning into a political movement they are keen to work with all candidates equally there is no doubt society has changed more people want to have more influence on russia's political life perhaps that's why it took less than one month for the league to establish ties with both the authorities and the opposition and with the help promised from candidates the league just may secure enough access to effectively

monitor the vote in march as long as it avoids taking sides and protects its neutrality is going off r t moscow. more news in brief from around the world this hour in a stunning pakistan eleven militants have been killed and over a dozen wounded after local security forces fired artillery shells at their suspected hideouts the crackdown took place in the tribal region where dozens of died in fighting between soldiers and insurgents over the last few weeks pakistan's military has been conducting anti terror operations in crime since the beginning of the year. and strike by police in rio de janeiro over low pay could jeopardize next week's annual carnival despite a new group a rise of thirty nine percent over the next two years or enforces a demonic double similar industrial action in the city of salvador saw the murder rate double with one hundred twenty people killed during a nine day police strike thousands of soldiers may be deployed in brazil's capital to provide security. for. germany has delayed signing the controversial act of

treaty after the justice ministry voiced concern. turns. stirred up mass protests across the world a backlash that for several countries to postpone its ratification legislation aims to slash the amount of pirated online content and protect intellectual property while critics say it would harm freedom of speech by censoring the internet. a police officer has been killed and another injured in special forces surrounded militants in a house in dagestan in russia's volatile north caucasus now that's according to russia's interfax news agency the operation is at the village of key with gunfire still being exchanged police say there are three to five militants inside believed to be members of a wanted terrorist group additional forces are being mobilized to the scene and doug stone has seen ongoing violent attacks in recent years. by the way plenty of news an eye catching videos twenty four seven at r.t. dot com that's our website here's what's on life you right now hungry for power in

the muslim brotherhood demand egypt's military rulers sacked the appointed prime minister and replace it with their own candidate. and a cia spy is jailed former engineer from the military cosmodrome gets thirteen years behind bars for selling secret data on russian intercontinental ballistic missiles to the united states and that story and all this for you plenty of other stories at r.t. dot com. well coming up just a few seconds from now artie's moscow team takes off to explore winter wonders on the outskirts of the russian capital.

well some people embrace the winter and all the frost filled days if it is that come with it others like to hide and do was staying in from the dark nights and zero temperatures. sleep and relaxation just like various animals that hibernate is an escape from many yes but still outside life carries on however cold the weather gets away from noisy traffic and the chaos of city center living reality checks can be a good thing. as fresh air. and exercise that we need

skate the city wrap up warm and venture outside. hello martin here but it seems every day that i get invited to various parties and event by different organizations and people i have to admit it just gets tiring after a while so i thought i want to travel outside the city center come face to face with nature and explore the true russian winter. lights lights landscapes the sights of snow just a domes and breathtaking nature for. in time just take a look at these beautiful sights. as the largest country in the world is seeped in magnificent scenery people flock to this country each year to enjoy winter activities hosted by fun loving and hospitable russian. ask.