i've decided that the united states should take military action against syrian regime targets. president obama says he wants to launch a military intervention against syria but the issue will be taken to congress for approval breaking news. international comments live from our studio center here in moscow has just turned ten pm this is. so president obama has announced he wants to carry out

a military strike against syria will be seeking congressional approval to the miniport is joining us live now with more on this statement so marina in effect this is a declaration of war on syria. it certainly is but it seems as though u.s. president barack obama is taking a few steps back up until the speech he just delivered many were assuming that the you that he would launch a military strike into syria within the next day or two what he said when he stepped up to the podium is that he will seek congressional approval he will seek a vote from congress he says although he believes that he has the authority the legal authority to launch a strike without going through congress he believes this is a matter should that should be debated he also says that he feels very comfortable launching a military strike against syria without approval from the united nations security council and that approval is needed according to international law according to the

u.n. charter but that is something that president obama feels that he is comfortable bypassing but when it comes to a strike against syria he has made it very clear that it will hop it it may happen in a week it may happen a month but it will happen. that decided that the united states should take military action against syrian regime targets and should not be an open ended intervention we would not put boots on the ground instead would be designed to be limited duration and scope. president obama said that the united states needs to send a message to the world that it stands by the words that it speaks now he's referring to his own words the words that he used a little over a year ago where he said that chemical weapon use in syria would be the red line so in an ass in essence what many experts say is that the president of united states

cannot be quite bluffing he said it was a red line he believes that the syrian government used chemical weapons and sooner or later the president united states will take military action as he just said against syria at this point he is now heating to the requests from the majority of americans that they want this to go the proper legal course to go through congress have there be a vote now if the vote does not turn out in president obama's favor it like it didn't turn out in the favor of the prime minister of britain maybe president obama will still act anyway because he did make it clear that a strike will happen sooner or later in addition to that we also did hear from the united nations spokesperson for the secretary general who just spoke after the team of u.n. experts returned from damascus with with all the evidence that they have compiled from the alleged chemical attack what the spokesperson for the secretary general said is that there is no pending deadline for there to be concluded for the

conclusions for this investigation to turn up so we may not know in a week or two what the u.n. experts found when it came to the alleged chemical attack we've previously reported the u.n. experts will not determine who used chemical weapons if a chemical attack took place they will only confirm if an attack took place or not and now a reporter did ask the u.n. spokesperson did the team of u.n. experts leave damascus on saturday to avoid any type of u.s. attack into syria he said it's for anyone to believe that these you an expert. to do such a thing they they left damascus so they could finally go back to their their labs and assess all the all the evidence they've compiled all the all the toxic material or allege a toxic material or the samples from the soil the testimony they've received and they will report back to the security council whenever they find their conclusion now the secretary general of the united nations is asking. international community

to not take any action in told the conclusion from the u.n. experts comes back to the international community that's also a request that russia has made and many other countries have made at this point according to u.s. president barack obama's most recent statements the actions taken military actions taken by the united states will not be imminent they will wait until these actions will take place after congress votes on any moves for the u.s. to take on syria so it seems as though there is a bit of a delay in president obama's plan to take action against syria militarily. he says it will happen thanks very much in the report now with immediate reaction there from new york well we can talk on the phone to ortiz she is in damascus right now so obama is saying that he definite want to take military action he doesn't

know when he's going to put it through congress what is the reaction there i know it's very early early hours that this announcement only just be made by a bomb a book what do you gauging there in damascus at the moment. could have been great you know i have to say we've been hearing obama. a group here and. at the beginning. seemed a little bit nervous and of course. what i know at the end of teaching people kind of relieved because. basically was a bomb i would say seek authorization from congress for taking military action against syria although he does. he think. a right thing to do a military response to what is going on in syria but anyway that means a delay in any trial and attack again here and this is why people. here

in moscow. understood that at least it was not going to happen tonight and this is how they lead here they are waiting they've been waiting for several days already and they got used to this way to have to fight and of course tonight they realize that they can go back home to their friends their families and dinners and. with no threat of an attack but in general i have to say that the public opinion here in damascus so it's divided because there are people who are really afraid of the attack and they are some of them are trying to leave the country that hakim that bag that the family and they're ready to go and at any moment the reason not the group another part of the syrian people they say that they don't care about tribes or about to

try because they've been given a role for more than two years already and they got used to the situation and people and they found safety creation and they didn't leave last they didn't leave two years ago and they will not leave now so they will stay here in the. native country and grill weight and will accept whatever happens and they say they're out of prey they will just continue to leave their lives i mean some of them are preparing basements are sold some announcements and some houses. i think municipal . actually driving people to. get ready. and i know people are doing the really preparing that they say to the general motors to market that little bit. feeling actually but what i what i know traveling across that market today that there are many many checks on the cross

that he and many road. situation it is really not normal but people behave in an absolutely. only because. it creates ok thanks very much maria. live from damascus on edge well obama has made it clear that he does want an attack on syria to take place but he doesn't know when that will happen and he does want to put it through congress for approval let's discuss this now with cheese and he's certain only and he said so the officials earlier indicated the bomber really won't announce a military strike on syria tonight although there was a lot of speculation that was going to happen but in effect he's done the opposite he has said yes he's going to go ahead with military intervention i think really for many people around the world everyone's been actively watching this over the last couple of days develop it was very clear that this was going to happen one way

or another the question was is it going to be legal and it looks like now that he is going to try to go through the legal steps to get congress's approval what if they say no what if they don't improve it's sort of a win win situation for him as i see it because if they say no it's their fault then that he had to step back from his red line you know his approval around the world is obama stepping back giving him not standing up to what he said to hold just say well this congress it's illegal for me to go in or get the approval and to go in and help be a good president because he fall of the. odds but international law is still under big debate whether or not that is going to be broken because still at the core of this and it's not the biggest debate out there surprisingly is that the u.n. like marina said is not going to tell us who was behind this chemical weapons attack they're only going to verify that it indeed indeed did happen and in order to not break the geneva convention international law you need to have irrefutable

proof. of who was behind the attack like there is a bit of breathing space that could come tonight because congress doesn't come back from its break until september the ninth so that does give him a bit of wiggle room as it were for others to decide what happened but nevertheless a strike is imminent isn't it i do agree with marina that this was basically announcement the u.s. is going in one way or another whether it's legal or not according to the constitution in the states or international law is going to be debated for many years to come let's not forget that kosovo wasn't approved by congress the korean war was it improved by congress in fact and i just read this recently the last war that was approved by congress it was declared by congress was world war two lisa thanks very much indeed for the immediate reaction to announcement. joining me live here in the studio well to talk more on tonight's developments we'll now go live to a political activist william. of course even as president putin quite rightly

pointed out is a nobel peace prize winner is it surprising then that he is opting for military action. so when did you hear me there can hear me a lot now that just joined us at the last second when i'm going to. write a bill here in the studio in moscow as i was just saying that present recently pointed out of course the bomber is a nobel peace prize winner so is it surprising that he is opting for military action. all right well i can't believe that for the moment i thought that you did hear me but you're hearing two voices and clearly you're not hearing the right one you're not hearing me sorry about that that's a shame because we were hoping to get immediate reaction from william engel there in the meantime as we heard earlier president obama says he does have every intention to attack syria and he does have the authority to act without

congress authorizing it well let's take a look at what the u.s. public actually thinks about carrying out an attack on syria because we've just had the results of a recent poll there from the states and over half of those americans who took part in a reuters poll don't want intervention there in syria only twenty percent are in favor of it asked whether assad should be attacked if he's implicated in chemical weapons use well we can see them but just under thirty percent of americans said yes and of course the british parliament wasn't convinced that a strike on syria should happen after it certainly voted in majority against any intervention labor m.p. khalid mahmood has told us why he voted against the move there in british parliament. i don't think america or anybody else has that intelligence to say exactly who it was we know that the syrian government does have stockpiles of chemical weapons but unless we have a clear. direct intelligence to relate to who's done it we can't just just be

pointing fingers we have this before when there was the weapon of mass destruction destruction debate and the presentation in the united nations by colin powell and we knew that didn't come to be true so we have to be very very skeptical of any form of this sort of intelligence that comes out unless it is the that is substance of proof on military action is not going to be a resolution in syria it hasn't been anywhere else so let's let's change the script let's change what's been going on before because we're talking about bloodshed now if this is allowed to take its course there will be far greater bloodshed well the top more on two nights developments we can now go back to the political activist william and william sort of out of the communication there can you hear me now it's bill here nigerians are great series is it surprising then that. is going ahead with military action bearing in mind of course he is a nobel peace prize winner. well i think the problem is

a year ago obama painted himself into a corner he made this speech about the red line being chemical weapons and the israelis called his bluff essentially by providing so-called x. but instead it was the assad government that did these chemical warfare weapons strikes in syria several days ago and the obama is now what's kind of coming clear zavada has not strategy he has no plan b. on this thing so he's pondered the question to the congress while at the same time trying to look tough trying to look presidential and i think brzezinski was quite correct several weeks ago when he said on a national t.v. interview that the now the obama administration has no clear strategy for syria and the words we're seeing the effects of that this is really well cast a feat in every direction but better i mentioned earlier congress doesn't get back to the ninth of september do you think though despite all this rhetoric there is a chance that action will be averted that he won't actually go ahead with that as

he really forced himself into that position that well i think the british parliament decision to say no to a war in syria was a major positive development in the situation trying to avert a catastrophe in the middle east really. the more time that this is delayed i think the better for the reasonable heads to intervene when donald rumsfeld bush's secretary of defense in the iraq and afghanistan wars comes out as he did two days ago and said america has no national interest in going to war over syria i think that's a that's a pretty sobering statement from someone who hasn't or has it and the launching of wars based on fake evidence so. you know there's no win in this for obama looking tough to watch and be presidential but then this is a fight but despite the fact he has said he's going to go ahead with intervention what's a reaction to expect from from russia and indeed the rest of the international community to this right now let's see what the congress said. so let's see what the

congress says first because if the congress votes no as they did in the u.k. and obama then has painted himself into a second quarter. you know israel and saudi arabia have driven this chemical or chemical weapons thing from the get go if people have died from centering gas or if they died from a nuclear attack as they did in hiroshima in one nine hundred forty five they're dead in either way if they die from a conventional bomb they're dead so what is the incredible drama over chemical weapons i'm against all forms of warfare to solve international problems but the you know there's really something hyper emotional about the way this is being pressed up and obama's being pushed into a psychological corner and he's behaving very stupidly in that situation so because many people say there is a moral obligation isn't there from around the world not just the us to still innocent lives being lost particularly to tell it away from such basic humanitarian issue isn't a no no no no this responsibility to protect doctrine is absolute rubbish from the

standpoint of international law and who decides the moral question who's the arbiter here we have a united nations charter we have a united states constitution here obama has yielded to the us constitution in terms of half way appealing appearing to support the war powers the provisions of the constitution by congress but. the international obligations under the un charter it quite clear the security council has to give approval so obama saying we have the right to do anything by force for humanitarian reasons that's that's rubbish that's kabul or whatever what are the regional implications if there is a military strike then the reaction from iran for example what could the fallout be i think it is utterly unpredictable the number one. to selectively target sites where there is critical weapon. depos believed to be secured. and it runs the risk

of unleashing sarin and other chemical weapons on the civilian population so this humanitarian intervention as you have this so-called humanitarian intervention in kosovo which proved to be earth for a fake flag. this humanitarian intervention really has no guarantee of not taking even more lives then you're going to have the spilling of this war in all directions in the middle east so this is really. not a very clearly thought through thing it's not something that a united states government as a humanitarian democratically interested. it has any business doing thanks not what i'm going to live here with his reaction to the latest announcement from obama that he will go ahead with minix intervention in syria doesn't know when he's going to go through could see thank you what he meant all that well earlier the russian president putin he hit out of the claims that assad's government carried out the attack warning that the u.s. should not go ahead with military intervention he also added that washington's

claims the full intelligence report providing firm evidence cannot be published disrespectful to its international partners or to shore thomas has more on russia's reaction to the u.s. drums of war. president vladimir putin was addressing the press in vladivostok and he did have some strong words to say on the subject of syria he said that russia is of course against the use of chemical weapons and weapons of mass destruction but in this particularly we need to wait and see for the u.n. to do their job for the investigation to come forward and as that russia's position has always been then act in a lawful matter as a global community now one of the things he says is that it is ridiculous that the assad regime used weapons chemical weapons against his own people saying that under these circumstances it just doesn't call for it let's listen to what he had to say on that subject. syrian government forces are advancing in some areas they have

surrounded the rebels to think that in such a time they would give a trump card for those calling for intervention. now as the u.n. chemical weapons inspection team has just left syria we haven't heard anything back yet and he says that if the proof of chemical weapons has not yet been presented it means that there isn't any now the other thing is he spoke about his surprise about the british government who met over this past week to debate the idea of intervention in syria he said you're surprised that they voted down the idea but that it proves that there are sane rational people who are out there who are using common sense in this situation he also appealed to president obama not just as a president but as a peace nobel laureate basically saying look if weapons are used look at what it will do to the peace process let's listen to his words on that. let's not forget

that barack obama is nobel peace prize laureates of the cost decade the u.s. has started several conflicts and various parts of the world but did that really solve any problems afghanistan or iraq libya there's no democracy then now which is what the u.s. claimed it tried. to bring this new civil peace all balance all of these has to be taken into account before making the decision to stop bombing syria which will lead to civilian casualties so as the world expects a u.s. airstrike at any time a prudent urging restraint at this moment in time. or to sean thomas there well before obama made it certain that he wants a limited attack on syria washington's already had a lot of naval power on standby in the mediterranean he says he wants to talk to congress about it but the healths will only be back from its break on september ninth something i mentioned a little earlier well five american destroyers are ready to attack whenever the order is given and the u.s.s. san antonio now that's a warship with several hundred marines on board also joined them late on friday

obama said that there will be no boots on the ground in syria echoing earlier u.s. claims that these troops on board will not see any action the ship is there as a precaution so they say the other five vessels though pack some major firepower each of them can carry up to ninety tomahawk guided missiles they can strike syria from a distance keeping the destroyers themselves safe from the countries and teach ship missiles of all let's nail some up the latest developments on syria for you know president obama has said that he does not want that he does want a limited military strike against syria despite having the ability to go ahead with that action by himself he has decided to seek congressional approval for it he hasn't said exactly when this attack could take place now we're closely following the developments here at r.t. so do stay with us now in the meantime let's have a look at some other developments around the world in addition to what we're seeing

in syria and the u.s. to afghanistan where a suicide blast has claimed eighteen lives in the southern city of kandahar attackers stormed a security checkpoint as people queued to enter a nearby bank both police and civilians are among the victims one according to military officials insurgents in the east killed the nato soldier countries played by almost daily insurgent attacks. on a neighboring pakistan a u.s. drone strike has killed at least four people according to officials the missile strike devastated the compound and norton was it a stand now this is part of the tribal belt in the tourist taliban and al qaeda stronghold recently leaked reports show these deeply unpopular drone strikes have substantially increased under obama's rule. bus drivers and a woman of stage crucifixion in protest of being fired from their jobs in paraguay their anger came in response to years of unpaid benefits for over fifty employees of a bus company in a sense i'm so ready their third week of protests it was planned to last another

twenty two days. and waves of discontent over the upcoming football world cup continue to cause ripples in brazil hundreds of demonstrators flooded the streets of rio de janeiro protesting against corruption and income inequality the demonstrators mocked the president dilma rousseff who is under pressure to boost spending in brazil's largest cities are part of marchers turned violent as protesters attacked a major bank and national media giant the anger was sparked in june over public transport fare hikes and pouring money into high profile sporting events while social services remains of barely under funded. so that brings up to date for the moment to stay with us here for the latest developments on the situation around syria just to recap for you president obama says he does want to launch a limited military intervention but he will take the issue to congress for approval i'll be back with a news team with more on that in just over half an hour from now in the meantime it is abby martin with breaking the sets after a short pause. sometimes

it seems like in the face of giant corporations people are just sort of helpless i could be pretty pessimistic myself about what a few individuals with no real money or power can really do against the system but you never dull in fact if you remember tour discussion about ammonia doused pink slime being used across america and frozen fast foods well shift jamie oliver has actually managed to shame mcdonald's enough on t.v. to get them to back down and stop using this ultra processed form of quote meat at their establishments also we recently discussed gamer rage at the rather racist portrayal of russians in the game company of heroes two well well the range actually worked and thanks to the seventeen thousand signatures on the change dot org petition that game has been pulled from russian shelves by the developer the

thing is that massive corporations do a lot of bad things because they have no morals and are obsessed with profit but because they have no morals and are only obsessed with profit the second you even slightly threaten their cash flow they will instantly start cowering at your feet sometimes but that's just my opinion. to live on one hundred thirty three bucks a month for food i should try it because you know how fabulous i'm glad i got so. i mean. i know you guys really miss. it we're all very closely. worst for the. white house soup of a. radio guy and four minutes from a click. away quote you're about to get yourself to see this thing like this i'm

cold. what's going on everyone i'm having martin and this is a break in the set so we have a packed show for you guys today i'll be speaking to governor howard dean and economist richard wolffe about everything from health care to drones to reg anomic stick around and let's break with that. you've never seen anything like. today i had the chance to speak to former governor of vermont howard dean on the very few politicians who actually opposed the iraq war in two thousand and three is opposition became a defining factor for his presidential run the following year and although this may have helped him become the initial front runner he didn't ultimately receive the nomination instead he went on to chair the democratic national committee and all of

these been on the political sidelines for the last few years his views have not been governor dean has been vocal on everything from the healthcare debate to the use of drones that's exactly what we talked about earlier in an exclusive interview take a look. so who could forget and i'm sure you've heard this a million times you probably don't hear it again but who could forget the signifying moment of the two thousand and four presidential campaign with the infamous and dean scream i wanted to play it and play the media's reaction to it. i don't. even know if you still tied with john kerry with the train suggest you will soon fall behind only fifty seven percent of new hampshire democrats had a favorable impression of dean only nineteen percent in on favorable impression but the day after iowa dean's favorable number here dropped to thirty nine percent these unfavorable number rose to thirty percent so there is the media has an airplane numbers drop significantly but it was only out.