well all this is charity and now the this very poor i'm talking about the last majority who are. now. yeah the likelihood of the u.s. leaving serious look less likely than study needs to be honest we have to leave it there but anthony webb a political commentator appreciate your thoughts on the staff today or if you are just to remind you in the early hours of saturday morning the u.s. the u.k. and france carried out joint strikes against the syrian government the three allies say the operation was launched in response to an alleged chemical attack in the city of doom a week earlier although many western governments blamed assad's military for that suspected assault they've not put forward any clear evidence to support their claim .

one of the targets of the u.s. led attack was a research facility near damascus the syrian government says it was a civilian object we spoke to a technician who worked there who said that the international chemical weapons watchdog had checked the center several times and found no signs of any violation. so you can see that nothing has happened here but i've been here myself since five am there are no signs of chemical warfare agents but this is a civilian facility drugs and chemicals production technology was developed here for peaceful economic purposes p.c. w. visited this facility several times carrying out several thorough inspection of the organization received a lot of help in its work and so did the members of its teams there was even a special place on the site allocated for the o.p.c. a-w. so they could collect and package samples taken from places that had to be inspected. all of team from the o.p.c. w.

is currently in syria to investigate the alleged chemical attack but even before any conclusions have been drawn the u.s. envoy to the u.n. says russia might have tampered with the attack site that's according to a statement obtained by the reuters news agency russia's foreign minister denies the allegations more on that now from correspondent jacqueline booga. well he flat out denied those accusations coming from the u.s. envoy saying that he guarantees that russia did not in any way tamper or manipulate the site of the alleged attack the u.s. envoy is referring to the fact that just a few days after this alleged attack took place russian military did send specialists to the site and searched the area and they said that they could find no traces of chemical weapons there and since then of course russia has been calling for an international independent investigation to take place on the ground especially given that the initial reports of this alleged attack were coming from groups like the white helmet which has a very questionable reputation now the o.p.c.

w. the organization for the prohibition of chemical weapons did arrive to syria already on saturday but it seems that they have yet to begin their investigation now sergey lavrov also called out the reliability of the evidence that the u.s. the u.k. and france from are gone before carrying out the strikes in syria. to leave the results from this in the u.k. and the united states and through the speech and all the leaders of the quote it was based on the media reports in the social network he also added that the firing of more than one hundred missiles into syria by those powers will not go on answered. then went on to say that russia is really losing what little trust remains between russia and the west saying that relations between the two really are worse than they were during the cold war which is a phrase that we've been hearing all too often as of late donald trump strikes have drawn anger at home too with thousands across america rallying against the move but

i think explains the president why don't the public approval but a distraction instead. big in the public eye as a world leader is no easy task especially when things aren't going your way one day you'll know is home is being raided by the f.b.i. the next you are trying to hide books tools which could threaten your reputation but in times of means that always to divert attention then sometimes the best ideas are right in front of you on t.v. if the president and france and the u.k. decide to strike syria don't you think that story would be a bigger story than khomeini's book gets released on tuesday. a short time ago are you ordered to launch precision strikes or targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of syrian dictator for sure. it can be so effective few people will actually see through it but i want to say this raid is meant to distract from his other problems but it's called operation

desert storm e. president trump ailed the missile strike in syria is perfectly executed but it could be argued this was instead perfectly timed and it's worked for him before the media branded trump as russia's puppet shaking off the reputation calls for trusting measures and fifty nine tomahawk cruise missiles launched at a syrian air force base did just that in no time he gave his popularity boost but also a big pat on the back from the media we see these beautiful pictures at night i am tempted to quote the great letter cohen i'm guided by the beauty of our weapons what changed last night i think. became president of the united states i think this was actually a big moment president trump isn't the fess to employ such tactics in one thousand nine hundred eighty eight bill clinton's decision to bomb iraq coincided with him facing impeachment at the time this was the shadow of him lying and oath in

relation to the morning. if. i did not have sexual relations with that woman miss lewinsky to strike military and security targets in iraq they are joined by british forces their mission is to attack iraq's nuclear chemical and biological weapons programs saddam hussein must not be allowed to threaten this neighbors are the world with nuclear arms poison gas or biological weapons now any aircraft fired everywhere i know. he can forget the actual operation desert storm north by president george h.w. bush when the economy in recession the gulf war based as his approval ratings i have therefore directed to reject the iraqi army from kuwait. which. is president i can report to the nation aggression is defeated the war is over.

you don't have to do that to fall back in history to see world leaders employing distraction tactics so i ask us how this question what would dominate an international media narrative the possibility of a global war or the domestic troubles of a western country you want me to produce your war not a war it's a pageant we need to think. some visuals we need to know it's a pageant well to ask how the media affects trump's decisions as to how water affects of fish truck lives and breathes by media ratings approval there is a long tradition of the president's domestic political trouble using international crises to distract the public and certainly the minimum you have to be the b. side effect of military action so in terms of the attack on the syria that we

saw over the weekend it does seem it's a distraction to give the president something to talk about other than stormy daniels and the other issues that he's contending with after the the rifling of his personal lawyers offices. even veteran rock musicians away again the strikes against syria have been condemned by the former lead singer of pink floyd roger waters during a concert in barcelona we were this is a property under the point in others we would be encouraged to encourage or a couple of months to go install something oh this is a serious. mistake mark you. order waters have to the white house made group calling it a fake organization he added that it exists only to create propaganda for jihadists and terrorists white helmets were the first to report on the alleged chemical attack in eastern guta now although it's been widely praised in the west for its

rescue work its members have repeatedly been accused of having links to extremist groups. to other news now italian journalist power baron met who says he fears for his life after receiving death threats from a number of mafia clans last week italian investigators say they obtained a phone conversation between two crime bosses in it one of them allegedly tells the other to murder the reporter although. this is. all. you'll hear the. poor mattie is now under around the clock police protection from military police known as the cabin airy the journalist says the crime bosses want him dead because he runs a website dealing with their activities he's been telling us what it's like to be on the head list.

back to our top story now we're going to go live to westminster a packed house of commons where british prime minister to resign may telling employees why she didn't get their approval before joining the attack on syria children were killed in a horrific attack in duma with as many as five hundred further casualties all indications are that this was a chemical weapons attack u.k. medical and scientific experts have analyzed open source reports images and video footage from the incident and concluded that the victims were exposed to a toxic chemical this is corroborated by first hand accounts from n.g.o.s and aid workers while the world health organization received reports that hundreds of patients arrived at syrian health facilities on saturday night with signs and symptoms consistent with exposure to toxic chemicals. and based on our assessment we do not think that these reports could be falsified on this scale. furthermore mr

speaker the syrian regime has reportedly been attempting to conceal the evidence by searching evacuees from. to ensure samples are not being smuggled from this area and a wider operation to conceal the facts of the attack is underway supported by the russians mr speaker the images of this suffering are actually pointing innocent families seeking shelter in underground bunkers found dead with foam in their mouths burns to their eyes and their bodies surrounded by a coreen like. children gasping for life as chemicals choked their lungs the fact that such an atrocity can take place in our world today is a stain on our humanity. and we are clear about who is responsible a significant body of information including intelligence indicates the syrian regime is responsible for this latest attack. open source accounts state that

barrel bombs were used to deliver the chemicals barrel bombs are usually delivered by helicopters multiple open source reports and intelligence indicates that regime helicopters operated over duma on the evening of the seventh of april shortly before reports emerged in social media of a chemical attack and the syrian military officials coordinated what appears to be the use of chlorine weapons mr speaker no other group could have carried out this attack the opposition does not operate helicopters or used barrel bombs dyess does not even have a presence in duma and the reports of this attack are consistent with previous regime attacks these include the attack on the twenty first of august twenty thirty where over eight hundred people were killed and thousands more injured in a chemical attack also in ghouta fourteen further smaller scale chemical attacks reported prior to that summer three further chlorine attacks in twenty fourteen and

twenty fifteen which the independent un s e mandated investigation attributed to the regime and the attack which can shake him on the fourth of april last year where the syrian regime use sarin against its people killing around one hundred with a further five hundred casualties. based on the regime's persistent pattern of behavior and the cumulative analysis of specific incidence we just it's highly likely that the syrian regime had continued to use chemical weapons on at least four occasions since the attack in can't shake and we judge that they would have continued to try to do so so we needed to intervene rapidly to alleviate further indiscriminate humanitarian suffering. mr speaker we've explored every possible diplomatic channel to do so but our efforts have been repeatedly thwarted. following the sarin attack in eastern damascus back in august two thousand and thirteen the syrian regime committed to dismantle its. chemical weapon program and russia promised to ensure

that syria did this overseen by the organization for the prohibit of chemical weapons at the weekend the leader of the opposition cited this diplomatic agreement as a precedent that this process can work but this process did not work it did not eradicate the chemical weapons capability of the syrian regime with only last month the o.p.c. w finding that syria's declaration of its former chemical weapons program is incomplete and as i've already set out it did not stop the syrian regime from carrying out the most apparent atrocities using these weapons furthermore on each occasion when we have seen every sign of chemical weapons being used russia has blocked any attempt to hold the perpetrators to account at the u.n. security council with six such veto since the start of twenty seventeen and just last week russia blocked a u.n. resolution that would have established an independent investigation able to determine responsibility for this latest attack so regrettably we have no choice

but to conclude that diplomatic action on its own is not going to work. the leader of the opposition has said that he can only countenance involvement in syria if there is un authority behind it the house should be clear that would mean a russian veto on our foreign policy. when the cabinet met on thursday we considered the advice of the attorney general based on this advice we agreed that it was not just morally right but also legally right to take military action together with our closest allies to alleviate further humanitarian suffering this was not about intervening in a civil war and it was not about regime change it was about a limited targeted and effective strike that sought to alleviate the humanitarian suffering of the syrian people by degrading the syrian regime's chemical weapons capability and deterring their use and we have published the legal basis for this action it required three conditions to be met. first the must be convincing

evidence generally accepted by the international community as a whole of extreme humanitarian distress on a large scale requiring immediate and urgent relief second it must be objectively clear that there is no practical alternative to the use of force if lives are to be saved and for the pope proposed use of force must be necessary and proportionate to the aim of relief of humanitarian suffering and must be strictly limited in time and in scope to this saying these are the same three criteria used as the legal justification for the u.k.'s role in the nato intervention in kosovo our intervention in one nine hundred ninety one with the us and france and in one thousand nine to with the us to create safe havens and enforce the no fly zones in iraq following the gulf war also justified on the basis of humanitarian intervention so governments of all colors have long considered that military action on an exceptional basis where necessary and proportionate and as

a last resort to avert an overwhelming humanitarian catastrophe is permissible under international law. mr speaker i set out why we are convinced by the evidence and why there was no practicable alternative let me set out how this military response was also proportionate this was a limited targeted and effective strike that would significantly degrade syrian chemical weapons capabilities and deter their future use and with clear boundaries that expressly sought to avoid escalation and did everything possible to prevent civilian casualties as a result of the coordinated actions of the u.s. u.k. and france were successfully and specifically targeted at three sites contrary to what the leader of the opposition said at the weekend these were not empty buildings the first was the bars a branch of the scientific studies and research center in northern damascus this was a center for the research and development of syria's chemical and biological program it was hit by fifty seven american t. lands and nineteen american j s s that's the second site. it was the him missions

are chemical weapons bunkers fifty miles west of the city of homs which contained both a chemical weapons equipment and storage facility and an important command post these were successfully hit by seven french sculp cruise missiles. and the third site was the hymn shin's our chemical weapons storage site and form a missile base which is now a military facility this was assessed to be a location of syrian sarin and the cursor production equipment whose destruction would degrade syria's ability to deliver sarin in the future this was hit by nine u.s. t. lams five naval into sculp missile cruise missiles from france and eight storm shadow missiles launched by asked for r e f two tornado g r falls. very careful scientific analysis was used to determine where best to target these missiles to maximize the destruction of stockpiled chemicals and to minimize any risk to the rat surrounding area and the facility that we targeted is located some distance

from any known population centers reducing it further any such risk of civilian casualties. mr speaker were targeted and limited these strikes by the u.s. u.k. and france were significantly larger than the us action a year ago after the attack it can shake who and specifically designed to have a greater impact on the regime's capability and willingness to use chemical weapons we also minimize the chances of wider escalation through a carefully targeted approach and the house will note that russia has not reported any losses of personnel or equipment as a result of these strikes i'm sure the whole house will want to join me in paying tribute to all the british servicemen and women. and their american and french allies who successfully carried out this mission with such courage and professionalism this is because let me deal specifically with three important questions first why did we not wait for the investigation from the a p c w u n s c

mandated inspectors in. gaited previous attacks and on four occasions decided that the regime was indeed responsible we are confident in our own assessment that the syrian regime was highly likely responsible for this attack and that its persistent pattern of behavior meant it was highly likely to continue using chemical weapons furthermore there were clearly attempts to block any proper investigation as we saw with the russian veto at the u.n. earlier in the week and let me set this out in detail we support strongly the work of the o.p.c. w fact finding mission that is currently in damascus but that mission is only able to make an assessment of whether chemical weapons were used even if the o.p.c. w team is able to visit duma to gather information to make that assessment and they are currently being prevented from doing so by the regime and the russians it cannot attribute responsibility this is because russia vetoed in november twenty seventh an extension of the joint investigator a mechanism set up to do this and last week in the wake of the duma attack it again

vetoed a new un s.c. resolution to reestablish such a mechanism and even if we had o.p.c. w.'s findings and a mechanism to attribute for as long as russia continues to veto the u.n. security council still would not be able to act so mr speaker we cannot wait to alleviate further humanitarian suffering caused by chemical weapons attacks second will we not just following orders from america let me be absolutely clear we have acted because it is in our national interest. it is in our national interest to prevent the further use of chemical weapons in syria and to uphold and defend the global consensus that these weapons should not be used so we cannot allow the use of chemical weapons to become normalized either within syria on the streets of the u.k. or elsewhere so we have not done this because president trump asked us. to do so we

have done it because we believed it was the right thing to do and we are not alone . there is broad based international support for the action we've taken nato has issued a statement setting out its support as have the gulf cooperation council and a number of countries in the region and over the weekend i have spoken to a range of world leaders including chancellor merkel prime minister gentle olney prime minister trudeau prime minister turnbull and european council union council president donald tusk all have expressed their support for the actions that britain france and america to take a. third why did we not recall parliament mr speaker the speed with which we acted was essential in cooperating with our partners to alleviate further humanitarian suffering and to maintain the vital security of our operations. this was a limited targeted strike on a legal basis which has been used before and it was a decision which required the evaluation of intelligence and information much of

which was of a nature that could not be shared with parliament and we have always been clear that the government has the right to act quickly in the national interest. i am absolutely clear mr speaker that it is parliament's responsibility to hold me to account for such decisions and parliament will do so but it is my responsibility as prime minister to make these decisions and i. this is because i have been clear this military action was not about intervening in the civil war in syria or about regime change but we are determined to do our utmost to help resolve the conflict in syria that means concluding the fight against diana which still holds pockets of territory in syria it means working to enable humanitarian access and continuing our efforts at the forefront of global response where the u.k. has already committed almost two point five billion pounds a largest ever response to

a single humanitarian crisis. and next week we will attend the second brussels conference on supporting the future of syria and the region which will focus on humanitarian support bolstering the un led political process in geneva and ensuring continued international support to refugees and host countries driving forward the legacy of our own london conference held in twenty sixty and it means supporting international efforts to reinvigorate the process to deliver a political solution to this is the best long term hope for the syrian people the u.k. will do all of these things but as i've also being clear that is not what these military strikes were about mr speaker as i've set out the military action that we have taken this weekend was specifically focused on degrading the syrian regime's chemical weapons capability and deterring their future use in order to achieve this they must also be a wider diplomatic effort including the full range of political and economic leavers to strengthen the global norms prohibiting the use of chemical weapons

which have stood for nearly a century so we will continue to work with our international partners on tough economic action against those involved with the production or dissemination of chemical weapons and i welcome the conclusion of today's european foreign affairs council attended by my right honorable friend the foreign secretary the confirms the council is willing to consider further restrictive measures on those involved in the development and use of chemical weapons in syria we will continue to push for the reestablishment of an international investigative mechanism which can attribute responsibility for capital chemical weapon use in syria we will advance with our french allies the new international partnership against impunity for the use of chemical weapons which will meet in the coming weeks and we will continue to strengthen the international coalition we have built since the attack on sorcery mr speaker last thursday's report from the o.p.c. w. has confirmed our findings that it was indeed a not a chalk installs free and i've placed

a copy of that reports executive summary. in the library of the house one of the much lower order of magnitude the use of a nerve agent on the streets of salt spray is part of a pattern of disregard for the global norms. so while the action was taken to alleviate humanitarian suffering in syria by degrading the regime's chemical weapons capability and deterring its use of these weapons it would also send a clear message to anyone who believes they can use chemical weapons with impunity we cannot go back to a world where the use of chemical weapons becomes normalized. this is speaker i'm deeply conscious of the gravity of these decisions they affect all members of this house and me personally and i understand the questions that rightly will be asked about british military action particularly in such a complex region but i am clear that the way we protect our national interest is to stand up to the global rules and standards that keep us safe that is what we have to and what we will continue to do and i commend this statement. for.

thank you mr speaker i want to start by thanking the prime minister for our phone conversation in advance of the bombing raids on friday nights and for advance copy of her statement today i also join her in paying tribute to sergeant match on row the sniper from manchester was killed on the twenty eighth of march with u.s. forces in northern syria master sergeant jonathan dunbar from texas who was killed in the same attack i welcome the fact that all british military personnel involved have returned home safely from this mission the attack in duma was and it reflects attack on civilians using chemical weapons part of a civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people mr speaker this statement serves as a reminder that the prime minister is accountable to this parliament not to the

whims of the u. . president i we clearly. we clearly need we clearly need a war powers act in this country to transform a now broken convention into a legal obligation her previous message came to this house to say call storage for military action in libya and in syria in two thousand and fifteen and the house had a vote over iraq in two thousand and three there is no more serious issue than the life and death matters of military action it is right that parliament has the power to support all stop the government from taking planned military action i. am mr speaker the b.b.c. reports that the prime minister argued for the bombing to be brought forward to avoid parliamentary scrutiny will she today confirm or deny those reports

i believe mr speaker the action was legally questionable. and on saturday. i just members to calm down because in my experience some of the members who shout from a sedentary position then say entertain the fence full idea that i might be called to ask a question and i wish to disabuse them of that idea the prime minister was hurt in an atmosphere of respectful quiet. at work. and that will happen for the leader of the opposition as well no ifs no buts no sneers no exceptions that is the position jeremy corbett thank you mr speaker i believe that the action was legally questionable and on saturday the united nations secretary general and turning to terry said as much reiterating that

. all countries must act in line with the united nations charter which states action must be in self-defense all be authorized by the united nations security council. the prime minister has assured us that the attorney general had given clear legal advice approving the action i hope the prime minister will now publish this advice in full today the summary notes references the disputed humanitarian intervention doctrine but even against this the government fails its own tests the overwhelming humanitarian catastrophe due to the civil war in syria is absolutely indisputable. but the foreign secretary said yesterday these strikes would have no bearing on the civil war and the prime minister has reiterated that today by saying this is not.