that. was. the pentagon's days it's impossible to know how many civilians died in last year's liberation of the syrian city of brad as long as that amnesty international slams the u.s. led coalition in a new report alleging possible war crimes during the battle for the city. is fuel really in germany after the new u.s. ambassador is accused of lending support to far rights groups in europe maybe he needs to be a little bit more careful this just in. the e.u. is crossing swords with the u.s. over a new imposed trade tariffs on the same countermeasures for the next month and calling

the move by washington illegal. and the u.s. senators consider a bill which would greatly expand the president's war powers even as constitutional experts testify about the dangers of the new legislation. a warm welcome you're watching r.t. international with me becky aaron our top story this hour it's been a year since the start of the operation to liberate the syrian city of rocker from myself but the human cost of the operation still remains unclear according to the u.s. led coalition the number of civilians killed in the battle for rocker will never be no. as far as how do we know how many civilians were killed i'm just being honest no one will ever know anyone who claims they all know is lying it comes as amnesty

international releases a report accusing the u.s. led coalition of relentless and artillery strikes during the battle for iraq or the report even suggests the coalition may have committed war crimes as r.t.f. or trying to explains. getting to the bottom of what was really happening in iraq as the americans and allies were freeing it who will be bothered to do that or it will take ages the prose of war behind these walls may have thought but scrutiny was inevitable coalition claims that its precision and campaigns allowed it to bomb islamic states house of rocca while causing very few civilian casualties do not stand up to scrutiny based on information from amnesty international's field investigation and public reporting coalition air and artillery strikes killed hundreds of civilians

and injured many more open amnesty's report and you'll find words like this proportionate and discriminate bombing the use of white phosphorus claims which could turn into a reputational disaster if proven things that amount to war crimes the u.s. led coalition mission to free rocka went on for more than four months from june sixth to a tobar twelfth last year and the pentagon proudly told the world they'd fired thirty five thousand artillery rounds while they were at it that fired more rounds and rockets syria than any other marine that tillery battalion any marine battalion since the vietnam war yet we kept hearing from those whose orders matter how cautious they war there has been no military in the world's history that is paid more attention to the limited. and we should let go of minister from the

battlefield and the coalition military were not the perfect guys we can make a mistake and in this kind of warfare will happen but we are the good guys and munitions people on a battlefield know the difference you can't help wondering how. many innocent locals general mattis has actually met i'm sure you can find many of those who are genuinely grateful to the coalition for kicking myself out but just compare his words to some of the witness accounts our team heard while in iraq that was the second version of the we were directly targeted by the coalition after their recognizance craft filmed us it was a low altitude it was very clear there were no terrorists in the area but there were kids playing in the streets and we were collecting water and i knew that all that i knew that if the aircraft bomb using phosphorus targets everyone it is not hidden i still the coalition is boman randomly if you're sitting at home a bomb may come down on you there are houses that collapsed on their residence and

they could not get out all this happened because of the aircraft it will plane comes in strikes for instance a five story building i said would be on the second floor while civilians on the third and fourth floors how comes the plane still strikes then more civilians died the terrorists and we weren't alone in hearing those worrying calls from that devastated syrian city humanitarian groups on high alert had to many more whores to share with us and the rest of the world there are worries about how this operation will affect civilians we're concerned about the safety and protection of more than four hundred thousand people in iraq as these operations commence we've investigated it was. not a year in coalition already so you actually believe that the actual number really important because i wonder if you thought any of that led to

a change of tactics by the coalition or at least an apology i have to tell you they sealed it themselves from scrutiny with monthly casualty reports we've been largely focusing on the fate of rock of civilians in our coverage. nationals now weighed in with some serious work it could be high time we hear something new from the u.s. pros of war. we have requested comment from a number of humanitarian organizations the international committee for the red cross replied it is saying it was paid to the expressed concern for the safety of rack of civilians during the city's liberation while the u.n. agency for children said it has no information on the matter we spoke to joshua landis director at the center of middle east studies at the university of oklahoma who believes the u.s. was in a hurry and therefore we're fused to enter into negotiations i don't doubt that the united states has used efforts great efforts not to kill people but in the end

there and they were at the u.n. asked him multiple times to give a break to the civilians got to get out they didn't want to negotiate with us they said we're going to kill them on the battlefield they didn't want them as prisoners in another guantanamo since the gulf war. one nine hundred ninety the first gulf war the united states constantly insists that it didn't care about the enemy it didn't know how many killed and it wasn't going to try to find out later on there were some investigations but by and large that has been the protocol of the u.s. which is not to count the enemy and to and to try to keep it secret really. under pressure amid calls to expel the u.s. ambassador to germany it comes after richard grinnell who's been in the job for just a month said he's working to strengthen right wing movements across europe artie's peter all of it looks deeper into the story. at the beginning of the last century

then american president theodore roosevelt said the u.s. diplomat should speak softly and carry a big stick while the current u.s. ambassador to germany he's opted more for shouting loudly and using that stick to smash diplomatic norms have a look at what he had to say to the right wing news site breitbart the right lot of conservatives throughout europe who have contacted me to say they're feeling there is a resurgence going on i absolutely want to empower other conservative throughout europe other leaders while i'm but for the good now is announced himself as the all right cheerleader in chief in europe some people in berlin on top be that such a senior diplomatic figure is involving himself in the day to day running of european politics hiring king officials from me from me united states and maybe needs to be a little bit more careful i cannot imagine that i never never ever and i'm fifty years now and never ever had heard something similar over the last decade is

still is gusting this person should be sent out of our country and we don't do this in the us and they did do we shouldn't do that. this is horrible and the u.s. government this is a shame sorry for that but that's my opinion. he should have been more diplomatic and i believe that the right wing is not the right way to be pushing. that's i wouldn't call this incident in german affairs but as a diplomat who should be more neutral politicians on the left say the ambassador who's only been in the job for a month should but he's bags and go home and bassett is a representative of the stays and not her political movements u.s. ambassador no however does not behave like a diplomat but more like a far right colonial officer we won't tolerate such behavior. here it is not only a breach of etiquette it is also

a violation of the vienna convention on diplomatic relations there is an article forty one in which it is very clearly stated that embassadors shall not interfere in internal affairs he has to go because he has broken too much porcelain in germany he has become a real hate figure and that is not a good platform for a us ambassador this isn't the first scandal that mr goodell's been involved in just a few days into his tenure the opes german businesses with these comments after washington pulled out of the iran nuclear deal as little trump said u.s. sanctions will target critical sectors of iran's economy german companies doing business in iran should wind down the peroration some mediately ambassador grinnell's brush shoot from the hip style certainly seems to be from the same playbook as president donald trump but he may well find out the hard way that envoys are expected to act and behave in a certain way whether they're at home in d.c.

or here in the german capital peter all of a. former u.k. ambassador to syria and bahrain peace of fort hills ambassador grinnell's comments crossed the line. it's very forthright going to go with the man who rang true. advocate one by political we're going to get there and that's the no no we don't have to protocol i called. it not because we both ended up in practice or in back to the important european countries it is really quite exceptional for an american ambassador in germany germany which you would believe a lie of the united states. but there were no. this new york by ambassador he's only been an ambassador for one month obviously doesn't

learn the rules of the game. he use about to embark on a trade war with the you west with the block and now saying plans to retaliate and i thought the washington slapped tariffs on steel and on alimony and imports early this month new duties start applying in july it isn't measured. proportionate response to the unilateral and the legal decision taken by the united states to impose status on the european steel and i will mean the exports which we recollect he used measures will effect such american fables as harley davidson motorcycles in jeans and paint out but they will also target still underway in just agricultural products artie's daniel bushell has more. e.u. solidarity and nothing but a house of cards after europe giants from energy behemoths to the makers of persia and c toy in

a bit this scrapping billion euro iran projects to brute the european investment bank owned by yes the twenty eight members of the of. supports the e.u. but ignoring sanctions is incompatible with its status of course and it gets worse brussels is painful new u.s. tariffs on europe's metal however some see all this as a calming plan business these days especially european union in american business is whether their bangs automobile companies i t. companies any other business they are so interconnected that america will continue to use that leverage to try to penalize some of their european companies who may be doing business with iran charmer tehran again breaking up the transatlantic marriage e.u. ministers write an angry open letter demanding america exempts them from iran's

sanctions as close allies we expect that the extraterritorial effects of u.s. secondary sanctions will not be enforced on a u. entities and individuals and the united states will thus respect our political decision and the good faith of our economic operators within the e.u. legal territory. and while we await washington's reaction there's the small matter of friday's g seven or is that g.'s six plus one it will be a g.'s six plus one the united states have decided to raise to a response to. that decision is unjustified this is very unfortunate it is unfortunate because it will. cause a lot of damage to our steel and aluminum industry it is unfortunate because this is further weakening the transatlantic relations the european union wanted to avoid this situation you wouldn't want to be your accra right now dissent in the ranks of

your top firms be true the party line or the world dodging bullets from the trump administration. a group of constitutional experts have appeared in front of the u.s. senate to give their view on whether the president should have additional powers to wage war so near a car has the details. the mass for the authorization for use of military force has always been a subject of controversy given that the constitution requires congress to declare war but the new a u m f would officially transfer those powers to the president but with all this talk about limiting presidential war powers senator rand paul who chaired the subcommittee hearing said that the new proposal would actually expand the presidential authority to wage war for still at war seventeen years from now it came corker passes and there are no limits on war let it be known that there were least some of us who warned thank you considering that it authorizes war against at

least eight groups that operate in over twenty different countries and then one of the panelists said that the new version would allow the president to declare war on any group or country including the u.s. but present at the subcommittee hearing were both democrats and republicans and even one independent senator who were all unified in bashing the proposal arguing that it wouldn't limit trump's authority to wage war but expand it let's check out what else the panelists had to say or do i want my sixteen year old going to war against al shabaab in somalia my son probably can't find somalia on a map and probably very few people even in this room know who all shabaab is it's going to be very hard to get a veto proof majority to take the name of an accused terrorist group or nation off their list and so it's going to be virtually impossible to do that that we're having this kind of a conversation about whether the president could kill americans in america or

whether the president can engage in perpetual war in a matter how noble he believes the cause is speaks volumes about how low we have sunk and believe it or not there wasn't really any of blind partisanship at this hearing bayh criticized both democratic and republican administrations for abusing presidential war powers. but senator sanders made a special appearance at the hearing and he made a very convincing argument bringing up three different instances when the u.s. intervened without congressional authorization to emphasize the need to limit presidential authority number one thousand nine hundred fifty three overthrow iran's a democratically elected leader a number two vietnam and three of course iraq sander said that these travesties happened because the american people and the u.s. congress was misled by those administration saying that congress should be asking tougher questions about the wars the us is involved with not just debating the legality of the wars but the proposal was authored by senator corker

who's been braided by his own party for criticizing trump and it was also authored by senator tim kaine a hillary clinton's running mate during the twenty sixteen election so these are two of trump's fiercest critics on foreign policy but senator kaine has for years pushed to limit presidential authority to wage war so it's a little bit confusing as to why he authored one to expand presidential war powers and some have mockingly asked of senator kaine had even read his own bill but both corker and cain have never stopped short of criticizing trump so it's difficult to determine if their intention was to actually prevent war or if it was just another way to resist but the underlying question is this while the legality of these war should be discussed will the premise of these wars also be discussed like senator rand paul recommended. we're talking about condoms the executive director of the wrong poll institute says the new law would effectively put colgrove vigil. this is

much much worse than the president's current authority grants what judge andrew napolitano of called unconstitutional mishmash to allow the president to declare war forever wars without congress' involvement whatsoever is a huge disconnect in washington congress loves the wars war is what washington is made of war is washington's number one export congress officially throwing up its arms and going you know what we give up it's all over we're just going to sit. there in front of a camera collect our peers and do nothing. of course clergyman has revealed he's been subject to an almost two year long counter-terrorism investigation by scotland yard after claims he paid islamic state to release sex slaves can andrew white says he's experienced several police raids on his home

since two thousand and sixteen but claims he only recently found out why when scotland yard sent him notification on the investigation that had been dropped why it has denied the allegations regarding payments to eisele take claims he managed to secure the release of several women using connections he made while serving as a church vicar in the iraqi capital the clergyman also started the foundation for relief and reconciliation in the middle east which helps those in need earlier we spoke to white who said police refused to believe he could have freed the women without paying cash. out job is to ensure that terrorism finishes right and by giving the terrorists money you're actually perpetrate. not stopping it even though i had never said i had been paying to get say x. days back but they presume that presume any way to recover them the problem was

they didn't realize that all i knew some of the people who they come on do as of the kidnapping groups and i had donned things all the many years before so i went to them and. i have helped when you had nothing i want you to it nice give me back some of the people you've taken. earlier we spoke to the chief executive of the ramadan foundation mahomet's effect and political commentator david laws and to get their views on the case. was it a fair was it a justified investigation. i think it was slightly unfair because canon was based in iraq and he would have built relationships where the number of people and we used those relationships to use that influence to get civil thaws slaves who

were captured and held by isis to be released you know would be remiss of scotland yard if they had possession of some information that led them to suggest that monies had been paid to islamic state in this incident didn't have to be looked into it would have been remiss to have ignored by the see him talk and i think the men need to move on and focus to closer to home priorities i'm just a bit concerned it took him two years to reach a conclusion on this plot and you know kind of wonder white would have caused immense pain for him and his family it was a very brave man even to back that i don't time when you know it because the christians in the middle east terrorist want to want to do how the guards under. the can and concerned the church of england who i mean i have a good record my admiration for what he has gone through and there are invited down . you know you guys bravery is beyond beyond guard what else can somebody do what

other action can the government take to release slaves of islamic state in terms of isis it's very difficult as there were very barbaric it was nil room for negotiation there was no opportunities to have a dialogue we as a people would struggle to comprehend if we pay terrorists and then that same money was coming back. was being used in attacks here in the united kingdom or elsewhere in europe i struggle with that you just bury you don't negotiate with them you don't appease them and you sure as heck don't pay them or who have created but it's the lesson of syria. it's one that many of us would not wish to be the case. on friday vladimir putin visits china for the shanghai cooperation organization summit ahead of the trip journalists saw as the russian president whether he would be giving any gifts to his chinese counterpart.

not someone who is why don't you will you bring make you peace here it won't be a surprise if i say in advance what exactly i'm bringing. you know. i told you before how the chinese businessman told me how to chinese love russian ice cream i promised it might bring some over myself and so i brought you an entire box of ice cream is if you. let it be a secret between me and you i will whisper it to you later. interview touched on

various topics from regional security to birthdays and football his initial sethi. no doubts that president casey will be bringing a gift along with head during his state visit to china on gene that day to meet president and see him take the tail of very good friends that president putin looks at and think they with him as well. as the chairman cieszyn ping is the only world leader with whom i have spent one of my birthdays i just have not had that kind of relationship with anyone else and my schedule did not allow spending my birthday with any of my other foreign counterparts but i was able to do so with decision ping. now during this three day state visit the president face in the attend the shanghai cooperation organization seventh also known as the as c.e.o. and together these countries make up the fourth largest production of world g.d.p. and they also make up forty three percent of the world's population now it's also

a security organization as well so the topic of north korea will no doubt simply come up but when talking about the korean peninsula in the instigate president putin said that they want to go down the path that will defeat tensions between north korea and. i was struck by the north korean leadership has taken unprecedented steps towards deescalation of tensions and frankly i did not expect that. i can understand the north korean leadership when they say that for the full denuclearization of the peninsula they need absolute guarantees of their security and how else could it be it is not possible to imagine it any other way especially after the tragic events that happened in libya and iraq the north koreans remember them very well. i still hope that this meeting a very brave and mature decision u.s. president donald trump has made to have direct contacts with north korean leader kim jong un will take place and we all expect

a positive outcome during this interview and some stuff a chance to ask president putin and some questions and they were obviously helpful related thing is their football world cup which kicks off on the fourteenth. that's a difficult one there are many title contenders there are latin american teams like argentina and brazil we also know that the german team showed great game at previous tournaments and a high quality of football was also demonstrated by the spanish team i am sure there are going to be other title contenders but the strongest will win. i have a couple of footballers whom i consider extraordinary. who can obviously lay claim to the title among russian and soviet players it is live yeah among foreign footballers it's paling well i also like mario doner the people move. in just seven days to go before the fee for world cup kicks off here in washington

as the excitement builds we've been found out perhaps the most famous football manager out there there is a marine on how he thinks the tournament will unfold. says mr moreno let's go through the group step by step whenever you're ready. i'm not ready because it's a very difficult i don't want to be emotional look i have to be i will go to contradictions because i want my players to wean but i also want my place to go on holiday so this is going to be tough but i would say you know why is weights and when they go. they have experienced players they have the right mentality and i think russia has to finish second and. then the crucial match

will be russia against egypt and it's fine to be in the house for testing pressure to finish second in the group well. to win the group b. . and i will show relate to that i am totally portuguese because i want to finish second in the world maybe down the home team russia is going to play against their best teams speak up see us in front will draw a line to finish first. the fight to finish second. before the surprise come along australia let's finish cycles. and in group d. a single fellow will finish first. this one is going to be hard to play well for an african team. so will be brazil in the name of teach to go on holiday so switzerland who finished second i'm sort in the money and what you need to hold on to. and in the group germany has to win. i

think mexico to finish seconds. oh. gee. belgian. finally group. runs for the balances on the goal to win the group. and fall into a second. so much expertise from james i believe you don't miss it. if you feel like putting your wits against the might of joe's a marina you can head to facebook or twitter and use the hash tag much merino to make your own predictions so for now we'll be back at the top of the hour with the latest see that.