hello and welcome to crossfire where all things are considered i'm peter lavelle are you a confused by washington syria policy rest assured you're not alone trump says one thing while his generals do otherwise also brinkmanship with north korea isn't working and why moving the u.s. embassy to jerusalem is still a bad idea. crosschecking

some real news i'm joined by my guest mark sloboda he's an international affairs and security analyst we also have alex chris so far he's the director and writer for the duran dot com and we have he's a political analyst with sputnik international rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want and i always appreciate it mark let's first go to this authorization for the use of military force the pentagon says. it doesn't need any kind of authorization because the authorization that the u.s. government gave to the military to intervene in iraq still holds though isis didn't exist in two thousand and three. under international law this is just a blatant violation there is no there is no united nations security council resolution the country involved syria has not requested for help and on top of it you you have. a military presence in a country where you possibly could go into a military conflict with another mate a nato country turkey and of course it's a face down with russia is this authorization issue in the. or not of course it's

important first of all or of course there is no u.n. security council authorization for the u.s. to be in syria there is there there in defiance of the syrian un recognized syrian government that wants them to leave that there is obvious there partitioning the country but what has the us ever cared about international law so that doesn't even appear in the us media you never hear about it right but we get to the issue that is also still barely covered which is is the u.s. legality of the war in syria of the war on syria and it's done under the two thousand and one two thousand and three authorization of the use of military force for iraq against al qaeda which is still being used by the united states to justify its presence in military conflicts all of course always themselves and this is a justification for endless wars thinking they say that they have the authorization

you just move the goalpost as it were and say this is what covers it ok i suppose it'll fly to yemen in somalia and only those that make part of it know that it is ok so i mean you know it. it's already a justification and it doesn't matter the circumstances that was done once and it applies the entire region to how this never get that obama is the person that ramped up the u.s. presence in syria and so the justification was to fight al-qaeda then obama comes and he supports an al-qaeda isis springs up out of out of al qaeda and now trump in his generals and i would even say trump i would say the generals are going to show their you know you know where i'm going there now using it as an excuse to have u.s. troops permanently based in syria and alexander occurs with a very good piece in the round about this explaining that this is really the united states is playing a c. option and know what's talking about the u.s. plan c. which is actually derived from macmasters that many people think is the per. and

that's pushing the u.s. permanent presence in syria more out of spite than anything else so this is the situation you have a country that's not why did not invade like mark said no one no when there's no international security council resolution nothing for the u.s. to be there but there they are and they're not going to leave easily you know we had trump when he was speaking publicly the press conference a quote get isis and go home ok let me have the whole thing there were there for one reason to get rid of isis and get rid of isis and go home but his generals i think as we've been saying for weeks if not months on this program say something very different but look what it will spread from two thousand and one it was their attack against the united states you know the point that was when this authority was given it was going. anyway so two thousand and one let me remind you of out of nineteen terrorists who participated in that terrorist attacks fifteen were

saudis there was not a single syrian not a single iraqi not a single bit but because of this event the united states intervened in the bit into iraq in syria no they say that if the government troops get too close to them in syria they're going to self defense soon to attack them and that's good that's a second the next level of. i legal regime change it depends because several buildings were destroyed in the united states back in two thousand and one by the people who were not citizens or syria but who somehow lived in the same region who actually were citizens of a country that is our ally and we just sold them one hundred billion dollars worth of weapons but that's not important what is important is that it happened in two thousand one and now we can kill anyone who gets close to us in syria you know if you syrians get close to the u.s. soldiers in syria defense that's like russia moving troops or. in its own border

and it's called a provocation you know more one of the interesting from a media point of view is it any time trump says something he quote unquote lies is that the liberal media like to say this is a perfect example of saying something that has nothing to do with policy but nobody says a word a word it's remarkable how the mainstream liberal media they won't jump on this they'll jump on just about anything else is long as the neo-con agenda is moved forward he can quote unquote law all he wants because there is no opposition in either the u.s. you know political elite or within the media only they are all cheerleading us regime change efforts now transitioning to partition efforts in syria they're all back at there's there's no objection even if trump is doing it in fact that's the few minutes that he actually gets some temporary plaudits when he does take over military action there i thought it was

a little funny this week to see tim kaine the democratic senator question. the trumpet ministrations legal authority to be there well there is using the exact same authority that obama used to be there quit unsupported use or be there so tim kaine's objections come off as more learn a little bit artisan my first question to you why is it important alex is really really important because. what we had. as a backdrop of the pentagon papers in one nine hundred seventy one about u.s. behavior in indochina and i rank everyone here by age but i remember the talk of the imperial presidency where the president has the right to do on a whim like we saw the missile strikes i think in april the trump conducted against syria this is what i find really quite disturbing because we don't we yeah exactly but you know you have congress you know when it's trying to used to hang cling on.

the hits it's authorities when it came to foreign policy now they're just giving it away and for. democrats and liberals. this is very strange of the ones that want to accountability from the imperial presidency but they're only adding fuel to this and the congress has essentially walked away from its obligations when it comes to foreign policy as mark said there is no debate about any of these issues and the issues of war and peace could not be more important than what look let's not forget going back to when trump did send missiles on to the airbase in syria the first mainstream media or she would have. missiles brian williams c.n.n. said he finally became president this is the day when trump became president starting to think or i have said there are you so you have this presidential when it comes to war there is this is not a partisan issue is that important distinction first of all congress has completely abrogated its authority its constitutional authority to declare war the president the executive offices by the constitution does not have that power congress for

decades now has refused to take that power back why because it's in pursuit of us germany their own support of it but congress has tried to take foreign policy powers that they don't have and this was a russia comes to knowing it was the sanctions against us enemies russia iran and others where they tried to force so the trump administration to their vision of foreign policy which is economic war against iran let's not forget that obama wanted to invade syria and he went to congress to try to and congress would have conned for it but the american people did not have a nap it was like an invasion just like it happened in britain and they still went in and obama still bomb syria to the point where they would go more slowly really troops into where they are today where and i've said before mark you know once you get boots on the ground it's harder they'd like to stay here you know the game and all of this. i mean in the military now is being given probably more money than it

can possibly spend and again a bipartisan for such a contentious political environment give the military more money ok this is a recipe for absolute disaster it's true because you ask military budget now is over seven hundred billion dollars and let's go that is not included war it doesn't go to and i'd like to point out to our viewers here is that there was in a regional budget and then there was an increase that increase is much is what russia spends on defense in here because every year that to russia spends between sixty and seventy billion in its best years which are satellites and saudi arabia we're serious which is the way to seventy percent or what nato is european l.-y. spend on their defense my use of it u.s. so russia which spends four times less there than you would be an hour or so on they don't defense is so dangerous it's moving its troops inside its own borders

it's created and you were thrown out of war in europe that's the object that we get from the newspapers not only in the united states about also you don't see too many russian warships in the great lakes to you correct me if i'm wrong there but they go they do go to the black sea now they're black sand the baltic sea right next to st petersburg i think alex put up a really good point before this is about the nature of al-qaeda in syria. i wouldn't say that isis came from al-qaeda it had kind of its own roots in the u.s. occupation of iraq and then spread into syria the number of passes and others who were imprisoned by the by u.s. authorities torture there and the ends and so on not that that's any kind of justification for what isis became but it then spread into syria and at times they were allied with both the u.s. backed free syrian army and with al-qaeda such as when east aleppo was taken but

all through this this conflict while the u.s. government was maintaining their fiction pruning isis where they wanted to and letting it go when it came up against government areas they have never fought al-qaeda in syria and fact hold they have hold out that we're going to go to a short break and after that short print will continue our discussion on some real news stay with us. apply to many clubs over the years so i know the guy even saw you guys. football isn't only about what happens on the pitch for the final school it's about the passion from the fans it's the age of the super manager billionaire owner spend spend each religion twenty million on one player. it's an experience like nothing

else i want to because i want to share what i think what i know about the beautiful game but great so one more chance with. the base it's going to take. what's going on is only producing. bumble delusional kids it doesn't have any meaning unless it leads to real kids which can be. you know guaranteed only by also christina presidential. everybody i'm stephen both. test hollywood guy you know suspects every proud american first of all i'm just george bush and intervene to say this is my buddy max famous financial guru where she's a little bit different i'm not. going to. go with those up with all the drama

happening in our country i'm shooting the brood have some fun every day americans. and hopefully start to bridge the gap this is the great american to. welcome back across like we're all things considered i'm peter lavelle to mind you were discussing some real news. ok mike let's go back you went before the break you were finishing up a point so the u.s. has never really fought ok to in syria despite two u.n. security council resolutions demanding that isis and al qaeda and anyone who associates it with it and this is the problem is that the u.s.

and western media has as painfully admitted to it. though they didn't immediately disregard it that the u.s. has illegally armed trained and salaried sectarian militants that are literally allied and embedded within a much larger al qaeda for years so this was done primary. only under obama trump are supposedly stop this policy but they're using an authorization of use of military force against al qaeda for their presence in the forty's in syria when the u.s. has literally been aiding al qaeda in syria or syria had nothing to do is ok go ahead and just let me remind you of all the highs today that we had last week about the bombardment over used you know civilians die in there while pool more of the route you swim is to defend in the southwestern part of it but let me remind you that in two thousand and nine in the beginning of two thousand and nine israel started a parisian cost let in

a totally similar situation four people killed by hamas missiles from gaza four people were killed in damascus the day before the start of the bombardment by the musa was coming from his group well israel during that operation killed at least one hundred so one thousand one hundred sixty six civilians two hundred fifty out of them children and that's normal russian press reported that the guardian citing sources in the international humanitarian organizations and israel was trying to decimate the military structural hamas well hamas compared to the islamists it in is didn't go to is a company of sunday school boys you know hamas is a palestinian branch of most of them brotherhood basically the organization that was supposed to oust mr mr with american aid in the beginning of all of this yes then a lot more radical organizations took over as it could be expected in syria and no

one is saying you know israel should be punished for want to deal in two thousand and nine eleven though the syrian government is doing exactly the same thing only it's only territory you know the interesting thing i've said this before you know in everything we've said right here in with the media's coverage when it does coverage cover it. these things which is very little serious not even treated as a sovereign country it's like a doormat that everybody walks on ok and i think the again the way i started out this program about. the use military force is you know the caller is solvent and this is what really has to be recognized by our viewers i mean russia is there by invitation by the legitimate syrian government and. in in the in the end this is the crux of the whole thing we have a president that appears to be appears to me at least asleep at the wheel he doesn't know what his generals are doing he doesn't understand the policy he makes himself feel good by giving them all the money that they want but you know syria is

ignored as a sovereign state it's really reported on and what is reported out exactly as you say it seems as if the u.s. has a right to be there and that the u.s. should be governing in damascus you know what is assad doing there when the americans should be there running the country and that's the position that's presented or israel or is it on whether it's sent b. c. or fox or saudi arabia or a turkey immediately if you want a topic that both of these networks agree on it's how the u.s. has the right to be in syria but going back to the point of money given to trouble i think it's extremely whole areas that you have the one part of the u.s. it's demonizing trump and saying he's crazy mad but then they give a seven hundred billion exactly i'm going to fight so yes madman which is huge military budget a huge fire you've got paradis. and you know that really gives them every screen have to ration for their warlike ideology that is rooted in the u.s. right now because if you draw a real mess that if there is

a real war you know what they want to say the russians put human poet he's crazy that's why you're there because you know actually it's a little bit one of the chorus if. there is no reason why they wouldn't say to me you have so cope with all of this deal. to use the word hysterical and this is actually the word that the western press this use this week they described hysterical violence rather than the hysterical propaganda they were putting out we saw in the washington post. louisa lovelock and liz sly put out a piece saying we have never seen violence like this except for a few months ago when the us was bombing muscle and people who were doing i don't want anybody to think that over the louisiana police most lames where two hundred also two hundred civilians were supposedly killed in one day but we're not worried about it when the us does it robert fisk writing pointed out very well that we have

such a lopsided view of what's going on in places like east ghouta because on one hand the journalist refused to acknowledge who is down there and he's good at is controlled by by for rebel groups as they continue which is. which is an al-qaeda jihad a splinter group jai you show islam the army of islam which are saudi backed jihadi and. which are a previously u.s. army. free syrian army group given to weapons that are allied with al-qaeda and robert fisk points out that the reason why we have such lopsided view everything comes from the these jihadists on propaganda because if any western journalist dared show those heads their heads while in the area controlled by what would happen just like any still up they would lose their heads it could be that it is it's talk about another very dangerous story let's go to north korea and the games are moving along. and we had some kind of thaw in saber approach

between the two koreas but certainly lowering of tensions but the president the united states warns about stage two which would be you know when he put it to try involves large a. ever north korea's sanctions threatens ominous phase two bluster bluff well it's the art of the deal this is the great of course i don't know how to answer those who don't or i haven't read the book because it passes the contents of the press press conference with the australian prime minister i believe and i decided in the middle of this press conference he throws out this ominous warning that it's going to move into some you know second stage if if the more brutal sanctions that they've imposed once again north korea and any ships are vessels operating with care and trade well any kind of what's happened to the sanctions now essentially going to be directed against china ok that's because they've already gone down the path of the sanctions here it seems to me that again trump ate some self into

a corner it gives the north koreans more tools in their tool box. and it really what it does is it you know if trump wants to show that he's a man of his word then we'll have world war three that's not a very good thought to think about well i wouldn't look at it in perspective in two thousand eight u.s. backed georgian president saakashvili stopped at the war in georgia on the first day of their lympics in south of setia in south a state that they can sell to safety in two thousand and fourteen during the olympic games in sochi and the u.s. backed nationalists in kiev basically it staged a violent cooling you this time they moved it to the end of the games right in the end of the games we hear about new sanctions so it looks like for the now big games is not want a time for peace it's a time for a sustained attack when no one is paying attention they did it in the beginning they did it in the middle now they do it in the end of the games but it's also

a time for action and shouldn't the south be more worried now mark i mean because that's the obvious conclusion i mean like i said i wouldn't use reproach moment there's a still a lot of issues right there but the fact that they're talking that's the beginning of something. and if that's what we have right now we should continue that if the koreans north and south want to talk to each other and they want to talk peace let them i think that this is is a sign of bluster and it's also a sign of desperation yeah this is the neo cons in the us peeking through trumpets as a finger puppet furious the north koreans and south koreans are talking to each other and have a joint olympic team it in seoul for this winter olympics and they are expressing their outrage with this bluff and bluster i least we hope it's all bluff him bluster because there's a there was actually a very good piece in foreign policy a few weeks ago. saying that the

a war us war on north korea is it wouldn't be as bad as you think it would be much much much worse and if they want to see the horrors the millions of south korean casualties that would ensue when it's completely unnecessary and south korea is doing exactly what they need to do which is brush that us to the side get these warmongers out of the way and seeking peace on their own terms and no matter what the us screams everything north korea is not going to denuclearize until the us military threat to them is real we could come into a situation. invented situation alex where there's a security crisis in south korea and go until it can be exactly but if something like that is invoked then the entire south korean military is under the command of an american four star general this is you know south korea is

a country of limited sovereignty when it comes to its defense and security it's like shipping just like japan here and it's as i think was already mentioned here you know the united states is acting as a spoiler in syria they act as a spoiler in their alliances in the pacific much of the narrative is that you know north korea is trying to drive a wedge between the. u.s. and south korea that's the narrative you hear on the mainstream media in the u.s. you assert that you want to do you north korean. civilizations that have been together for the libyan for millennia and i sort of see what he says about one one one one issue and the worst part about the bad optics about this trip is making the statement during the olympics in south korea and it just looks so petty and so poor especially when you have mike pence was in standing for the for the team that's that's you know the joint team he didn't bother to stand for it and show some respect that you have trouble coming out with this comment during the games all this is happening at a time when we should we should look forward to the two teams working together that there is dialogue between the two countries and we have an olympic games in south

korea they should move the ball forward not move it back if there is if there is a lesson that they send him to games have told us and that is that it doesn't walk with the united states and with the european union because north korea agreed to have a joint team with south korea did anyone know what just that it was for them actually right after the civil war in one thousand fifty three are awful of a century or very bad confrontation right but still when they did it and what do they get in return you know the u.s. officials. will end on this one because they have so much to lose that's why they're doing not the united states it's all the time we have gentlemen many thanks my guest here in moscow this is the end of our broadcast segment stay with us for the extended version on our you tube channel see you next time and remember.

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but not on no. one for the world to hear nor the war. across europe. legal battles demanding at least some compensation in two ways first will the physical damage itself as well that the concert mind of the people who actually perpetrated this crime has never been able to justice and there's been a couple. of .

precious prepared humanitarian corridors to let civilians out of the syrian enclave of eastern goods but it's not clear whether rebel and terrorist groups occupying the area will actually allow anybody to leave. as affiliate heads towards this weekend's general election protesters across the country seem happy to unleash violence to stop a center right coalition from coming to power also to come. to libya games in south korea come to an end russian athletes are being greeted back home jubilant fans the fam.