will begin the military direct military engagement wide to take out the assad government not because of human rights not because of chemical weapons they don't want independent nationalist governments in this oil rich region of the of the world was how can we be sure that this won't be another iraq or afghanistan no first of all i would agree on the first point the american public does not want to take part in any military intervention for whatever reason you're in were included more in syria i'm agreeing with you so i'm agreeing with him but a good thing that is you are asleep i think ok and i. think you so again i agree with him i thought he was and i thought he would like to let you do that on these issues they don't want another war they don't want one in syria they don't want intervention anywhere else they don't want to petition of iraq or afghanistan i was so the syria people been very vocal opponents of the invasion of iraq and the mishandling of going to stand i think that is something important to note but iraq was not a. indigenous populist a religion that went on for eight

and france blame president bashar al assad's government for using the chemical weapons and assad government insists that the it's half was carried out by the opposition but this report is coming out at a very particular time a time when russia the u.s. just brokered a deal that has syria agreeing to disclose its for its full chemical arsenal within a week and eliminate the entire chemical arsenal by mid two thousand and fourteen but in the meantime the u.n. security council is expected to draft a resolution for the syrian deal in the coming days and according to reports france and britain and the u.s. are streaking or seeking what they call a strong resolution under chapter seven that would allow for military intervention if syria fails to hand over its chemical weapons so it appears as though the u.s. and its western allies have not completely stepped away from using military strikes against syria as an option. foreign minister sergei lavrov said that he thinks that the syrian opposition should be forced to come to the negotiating table in order to proceed in order to proceed with the gene

for the crimes against humanity that they committed but all these admittedly the assad government's record on human rights has never been particularly strong where certain countries like the united states for example that is considered a champion of democracy and human rights has committed torture on record and yet has never been brought to account for that well as you know amen day the commission inquiry covers what happens in syria so i'm not in the position to make comparisons with situations elsewhere. in that perspective of course. torture is a universal crime it's an international crime and in the context of what we're dealing with torture is also a war crime and a crime against humanity if it's particularly practiced systematically or in widespread man against the civilian population so all these possibilities in terms of. responsibility in terms of criminal responsibility and account accountability what is interesting with the situation concerning syria is that. syria is not a member not a party to the statute of the international criminal court so united states that by the

for the crimes against humanity that they committed but all these admittedly the assad government's record on human rights has never been particularly strong where certain countries like the united states for example that is considered a champion of democracy and human rights has committed torture on record and yet has never been brought to account for that well as you know on mandate the commission inquiry covers what happens in syria so i'm not in a position to make comparisons with situations elsewhere and in that perspective of course. torture is a universal crime it's an international crime and in the context of what we're dealing with torture is also a war crime and a crime against humanity if it's particularly practiced systematically or in a widespread man against the civilian population so all these possibilities in terms of responsibility in terms of criminal responsibility and account accountability what is interesting with the situation concerning syria is that. syria is not a member not a party to the statute of the international criminal court so united states that by

that the assad government actually carried out three chemical attacks against its own people of course the u.k. prime minister cameron he had a resoundingly defeat in parliament just several days ago today saying you are not going to war in syria and even last night the secretary of state the u.s. secretary of state john kerry getting a grilling on capitol hill he tried to clear the way for some sort of military strike against syria any movements on done today i know we're supposed to be talking g. twenty economic for anything more on syria and he said. it's really beginning to look like the u.s. might have to go it alone yes they virtually have had support from france so far we'll know more after president obama sits down with french president francois hollande on what exactly the french support could mean whether or not it's just verbal but basically the european union. has come out and said we don't think military intervention is the way to go herman van rompuy saying that he believes it in fact is is not the way to go very straight forward. the president of the e.u. commission sayi

security council the classified evidence that washington says it has against the assad government but it looks like the future of this resolution of this proposal will be about who the judgment on whether or not the proposal is working will belong to is it going to be the u.s. which has a track record of jumping two bombs as a first option or the international community which has a really interesting resolving the crisis in syria and making sure that the weapons are not used again. nature kind of right there and that president obama's seemingly reluctant yes to the diplomatic option could be an optimistic sign that according to russia this can only work out if washington scraps its plans for war in the same way reports. syria has agreed to give up its chemical weapons this is a game changer it's a way out for the u.s. and also a chance for diplomacy in the syrian crisis something that seemed almost impossible just a week ago but according to russia in order for it to work the threat of force needs to be taken off the table. in with lou surely appreciate even with that i mean we've hea

president says that the syrian government of bashar al assad will pay consequences for allegedly using chemical weapons after careful deliberation i have 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 our action would be designed to be limited duration and scope the white house released assessment of the use of chemical weapons on august twenty first and a countless amount of experts were not convinced by the intelligence that's been presented no where in the report to the us confirmed that assad that the assad government used chemical weapons instead the four page report used wording such as we assess with high confidence or multiple streams of intelligence indicate that this week also saw america's major ally britain opting out of military intervention in syria and nato also said it would not be participating in a potential military strike in the meantime the u.n. investigation team that recently returned from damascus has announced that atta lising the

they are a political and media campaign against the assad government. let's bring in omar who is in the turkish city near the syrian border. as you can see there wildly defensive comments, this in the face of possible military action. what is the reaction then? how is the assad government bracing itself from the possibility of intervention? >> reporter: well, it's one of defiance because we held several syrian officials coming out on their official state television sayinging that syria is ready for any external aggression led by the united states or any other country. they also said that if a third world war were about to start syria will not change its position and the deputy foreign minister did mention that syria would retaliate against other country including turkey. so, you see the no change in the syrian position despite the talk of military intervention. we are also there in the former position sources that the syrian government is already moving some of it troops, some of its military bases. they are evacweight them and sending them to disbursei

confirm that assad that the assad government used chemical weapons instead the four page report used wording such as we assess with high confidence or multiple streams of intelligence indicate now this week also saw america's major ally britain opting out of military intervention in syria and nato also said it would not be participating in a potential military strike in the meantime the u.n. investigation team that recently returned from damascus has announced that atta lising the samples from the site of the alleged syria come syrian chemical attack will take up to three weeks and many countries as well as the u.n. secretary general ban ki-moon have asked that no military action be taken before u.n. experts present their conclusion bolstering washington's case for intervention secretary of state kerry claims the u.s. has samples of blood and hair that tested positive for signatures of the nerve agent sarin raise questions about the speed of you know this is after the un's own inspectors so it will take up to three weeks to reach a definitive conclusion about the alleged attack u.n.

started to behave like a government and became more restrained so for israel if one had to put it on the scales it would prefer not very happily but people preferred the assad regime. the way joins europe lurch to the right of the countries governing coalition is said to include an anti immigration policy which extremist message and as brave it was once a member of we've got more on that and other stories after the break. wealthy british style. market why not. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike's cancer a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune in to the report on our. but i will only react to situations as i have read the reports and let you know please no i will leave them to the state department to comment on your latter point of the month to say that it is secure yet a car is on the docket. they get no more weasel words when you have a direct question be prepared for a change when you have to punch be ready for a battle freedom of speech and down to freedom to cost. he's continued her naughty a populist immigration policy and once boasted mass murder and as breivik is a member looks set to play a key rol

dominica and i have a moral duty to say that it's not the brush on assad government that you sorry nor any other gas in the damascus suburb of ghouta we're certain in fact conversation we have the hood even though it cost me to say so because i've supported the free syrian army passionately and it's fair fight for democracy. now in this belgian national says he has this information because he overheard a conversation between his captors in which they said as much and that is that they were responsible for this attack but of course we'll stay on top of the situation waiting to see if there's any kind of news radio official reaction to these reports all of a potential strike against this country. the way joined europe's lurch to the right the country's governing coalition is so good an anti immigration policy which extremist mass murder and those brave it was once a member of more on bats and all the stories after the break. led. led. led. live. live live live. cross talk rules in effect that means you can jump in anytime you want to. live. claim. he continues here on r t a populist anti

to scrap any strike plans before the assad government gives up its weapons but a u.n. agreement would still be the best possible outcome to the syrian crisis during an appearance in front of the house armed services committee earlier today secretary of state john kerry said that the russian plan and syria's apparent willingness to go along with it are the direct result of the administration's tough talk about strikes over the past few weeks. lot of people say that nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of a hanging. well it's the credible threat of force that has been on the table for these last weeks that has for the first time brought this regime to even acknowledge that they have a chemical weapons arsenal. and it is the threat of this force and our determination to hold us accountable that is motivated others to even talk about a real and credible international action that might have an impact kerry's colorful paraphrase of bena franklin aside the back story at all the diplomatic wheeling and dealing is pretty interesting russian foreign minister sergey lavrov

bashar al-assad's government has taken a first step towards giving up its chemical weapons arsenal. the u.n. has confirmed that syria has applied to join an international pact that bans the production and use of such arms. >> he stressed that a russian initiative on securing the weapons could only work if the u.s. stops its military threats. john kerry met with his counterpart from russia in geneva. the u.s. remains skeptical about any commitments made by the syrian regime. >> john kerry said that he and his russian counterpart counterpart for serious but he rejected a deadline for damascus to layout the details of its chemical weapons. he had four key proposals. first, that serious should join the chemical weapons convention. it must disclose the location of the chemical stockpiles and allow international inspectors in to examine the weapons. and hand over the weapons for destruction. the u.n. says that it has received an application from syria to join the chemical weapons convention which bans the production and use of those arms. the syrian president said the proposal for securin

and it gave them a good reason to use force against the assad government did the syrian government lost its mind but i don't believe that or the authors of the attack or the opposition and it is clear that the rebels are the ones who wanted to benefit from the situation and let us remind you that the rebels already tried to simulate a gas attack a year ago and gnomes they made a video showing people on the ground acting as if they had been. and representing half of the world's population the shanghai cooperation organization will be looking at how it can lend its weight to peace in syria and for that to happen though it's thought iran will have to play a major role coming up here on a report on the organization's summit starting today in kyrgyzstan. and politicians draping themselves in red white and blue as they call in the french compact to buy local and to keep their money inside the country. for the meantime here on the director of intelligence in the united states has said the wide ranging leaks on the n.s.a. spy program have fueled an important debate on the tradeoff between priva

occasions they appeared to back off. >> rose: so why is the russian government saying today they don't think these weapons were used by the assad regime? >> i frankly think they have to. but i'm not sure they really believe it. they know very well what will the syrian government is capable of and as i say they have mean? the past how serious the threat was because they've joined us in warning assad. but in terms of protecting the assad government, i don't think the russians can afford to publicly accuse him of carrying out a warm crime. >> rose: david, what would you too old that? >> i think the u.n. report itself is quite a comprehensive piece of work and when grow back into the appendix of the report you discover that the weapon that was used in these august 21 attacks was significantly larger than any of the weapons that have been used in those smaller attacks that took place back in the spring and it involves very complex technology and preparation and all of that would, as gary suggested, make it very difficult to believe that the rebel groups were responsible for it, especially because of the trajectory of these rockets a

> it is a precarious situation we are moving into, trying to walk that line of punishing the assad government for using this and not getting involved in the civil war and toppling the government. we are out of time. thank you. one word we have used by the president when discussing lee terry options is the word proportional. there needs to be a proportional response to bashar al-assad's use of chemical weapons. what does a proportional response mean when syria has not attacked the u.s.? >> over 100,000 dead in the bloodiest of award. a chemical attack blamed on the assad government appears to be a red line. >> the military plan that has been developed by our joint chiefs that i believe is appropriate is proportional, limited. >> in this case they see proportional as limited intervention. no boots on the ground with the goal of deterring assad from using chemical weapons. regime change is not the goal. >> if assad is arrogant enough, and foolish enough to retaliate to the consequences of his own criminal activity, the united states and our allies have ample ways to make him regret that decision

has said that russia's position is not to support the assad government, per se. ntext thatt the the russian government has had with the syrian opposition -- contact that the russian government has had with the syrian opposition, russia is hedging its bets. 's interviewto putin from the other day, he said that under certain circumstances, russia might be persuaded to support military intervention. it is clear that the russians are hedging their bets. concrete these interests with the assad government. about trying to support a certain conception of international law, which is that you can only use force against another state with the approval of the security council. not thatm that, it's they have any special reference inconcern for assad as such that, whatever the syrian people decide for themselves, russia is willing to support. i do not think the russians are going to take big risks for themselves or their own personnel for their international reputation to support the assad government. host: a caller on our line for republicans. i really don't buy it. all this

and the russian president saying no it wasn't the assad government it was the rebels and it was a setup and a provocation here's what the russian president had to say. use of chemical weapons in syria was a frame up staged by the insurgents who hope to provoke a foreign military operation the second day i would like to remind you that. using military force against a separate nation is only allowed if it is self-defense which it is not for the united states secondly in case. of the u.n. security council as one of the participants or discussions said yesterday those who act differently would at different. themselves. and one of the journalists in the audience there for the g. twenty in this q. and a session with the russian president one of the journalists asking why is it that you are just so frosty with the american president. do you guys just not get along at all which point the russian president vladimir putin smiled and said look we had a nice meeting today me and barack obama was a constructive and warm conversation he said that we kept our positions we continue to disagree with eac

>> german intelligence reportedly concludes the assad government was behind last month's alleged chemical attack, this as obama is struggling to convince congress to support a military strike on syria. meanwhile in the u.k. -- >> allegations that a british company was granted a license to explore potential nerve gas agents to syria has left the government facing tough questions as to how that was allowed to happen. >> 1,000 days in confinement. house arrest. time spent in a london prison, and now limbo in the ecuadorian embassy. the battle for transparency. and radiation at japan's fukushima plant has spiked to lethal levels, reportedly enough to kill in just four hours of exposure. >> live from our studios here in moscow, where it's just turned 1:00 a.m. on a tuesday morning, this is "r.t." german intelligence has reportedly laid the blame on the attack in syria on the assad government. the news website has just broken the story, so let's get all the details now from r.t.'s pete oliver in berlin. peter, what does this german intelligence report actually tell us? tell us more about it. >>

and counterclaims that are emerging from the syrian civil war to use it as a stick to beat the assad government with and implicate assad in all sorts of atrocities but it's interesting now that he's posted a video on this blog that suggests that actually it could be the syrian opposition that have been using these chemical weapons it represents a slight shift in focus for what's the narrative that the blog has been taking in recent weeks. so there's a broader. blog that we've just seen where we're talking about what our expert saying about a way that rebels could have potentially acquired these chemical weapons well although the authenticity of the video that has appeared on this blog has yet to be as yet to be verified this ingestion being that if the rebels have indeed got their hands on chemical weapons than it has come from from neighboring countries in and around syria now of course you remember in may in turkey there were claims in the turkish press that. extremists linked with the al nusra front of course connected with al qaida had their homes raided and. some sarin gas was was found to

kerry's remarks in fact russia has blocked only those resolutions that attributed blame to the assad government alone without a credible u.n. investigation what john kerry did not mention is that the u.s. has done everything possible so that the u.n. investigative team would not have the mandate to determine who is to blame for the attacks in syria so now we're left with the intelligence assessment of the u.s. government and that of some of its allies u.s. officials say the public will not see the classified evidence upon which they've built their case many members of congress even those who have not seen the classified evidence have indicated that they are ready to authorize the attack on syria. and as the u.s. crashes out bombing options a new movement is becoming stronger among the syrian people activists are gathering outside key strategic facilities expected to be targeted by american strikes they're calling on washington to halt its march to war and insist they're ready to die if it doesn't artist or if a national sent this report from damascus. this is the syrian public response to the p

secretary kerry announced they have reached a deal giving the assad government one week to provide astock piles, u.n. inspectors must be on the ground folater than november. kimberly dozier, associated reporter with the associated press. you showed me this deal proposal. >> good morning. it's really interesting. there are some firm deadlines which i don't know we expected to see, not so quickly. within a week, syria has to explain everything it has to cough up its secrets and by november, have inspectors on the ground. so that's actually fairly quick. there are some teeth in this thing. there is some surprisingly strong language of next steps with syria doesn't comply. >> how about you, kimberly. >> for russia, they can say it doesn't include armed force. it includes economic sanctions as i'm reading the initial drafts out of geneva. the hard part is going to be to verify, if you talk to u.s. military folks, they want people on the ground as well or at least trusted agents to make sure that russia is making syria show them where all the weapons are. >> in fact, you wrote this week th

assad one of the tools that he has been using against the opposition, against the people of his country to subrogate, oppress their aspirations for freedom and opportunity and a role in the governancef the country and taken away and will make the opposition safer. but nothing in what we have done is meant to offer any notion to assad there is some legitimacy to his process, that he has some extended period as a leader, so called. we make it clear that assad has lost all legitimacy to be possible to govern this country. and we remain committed to the opposition and committed to the geneva process which calls for a transition government with full executive authority by mutual consent of the parties that will layout the structure for the new syria. that's our end strategic goal here and all of us remain committed to that goal and committed to ending the violence as soon as possible. we understand that removing the chemical weapons still leafs him with artillery and airplanes and he uses them indiscriminantly against his people and we will do everything in our power to continue to push towards the political resolution that is so critical to ending that violence. we will all be in new y

german intelligence reportedly concludes the assad government was behind last month's alleged chemical attack this is a bomber struggling to convince congress to support a military strike on syria meanwhile in the u.k. . revelations that a british company with quantity a license to export potential nerve gas agents to syria is that the government here they think tough questions over how that was allowed to happen. also this hour of files and in confinement house arrest time spent in a london prison and now limbo in the ecuadoran embassy it's the price we keep leaks founder julian assange has paid in his battle for transparency. radiation at japan's fukushima nuclear plant has spiked to lethal levels thought to be enough to kill him just four hours of exposure. from a studio center here in moscow was just turned midnight this is. german intelligence has reportedly laid the blame of the alleged recent chemical attack in syria on the assad government but failed to provide any concrete evidence the news website spiegel online has just broken this story well let's get all the details right

the assad government has tolerated them. there has been a certain level of freedom. what we heard when we were there was right now the assad government is so worried about the war, so worried about the rebels, they really don't have time to worry about the churches and to worry about persecuting the christians. >> reporter: what can we do? we get that question a lot here. >> the first thing we can do is pray. that is one of the things that all of the syrian christians we talked to wanted to emphasize, how desperately syria needs our prayers during these days and during these times. there is a need for help, but the first step is we desperately need to be in prayer for the country of syria and especially for those of the household of faith, those of our christian brothers and sisters who are there. >> reporter: todd nettleton, we appreciate the work you're doing for the persecuted church. thanks for joining us. >> you're welcome. thanks for having me. >> wendy: egyptian security forces have retaken a town that has been ruled by radical islamists since early july. the

and france blame president bashar al assad's government for using the chemical weapons in the first assad government insists that the attack was carried out by the syrian opposition this report comes at a very interesting time at a time when we're russia and the united states just brokered a deal that has syria agreeing to disclose its full chemical arms arsenal within a week and eliminate that entire arsenal by made twenty fourteen russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov said that he believes that the syrian opposition should be forced to come to the negotiating table in order to proceed with the geneva two peace talks mr lavrov said that the assad. overman has already agreed to diplomatic efforts without any preconditions but the same has not been heard or seen from the syrian opposition now russia the united states all the big powers involved have all said is that the syrian crisis cannot be resolved militarily it could only be resolved diplomatically and that's why russia is coming forward and say that the west should be putting more effort in convincing the syrian rebels to commit to

president says that the syrian government of bashar al assad will pay consequences for allegedly using chemical weapons after careful deliberation i have 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 it would be designed to be limited duration and scope the white house released assessment of this use of chemical weapons on august twenty first and a countless amount of experts were not convinced by the intelligence that's been presented nowhere in the report to the us confirmed that assad that the assad government used chemical weapons instead the four page report used were being such as we assess with high confidence or multiple streams of intelligence indicate that this week also saw america's major ally britain opting out of military intervention in syria and nato also said it would not be participating in a potential military strike in the meantime the u.n. investigation team that recently returned from damascus has announced that adam lies ng the sam

we think the assad government will be easier to make peace with than the syrians. why? i would not spend a whole lot of time listening to what the saudis or the israelis have to say. their advice has been taken in the past and has not been very good. our new friend, the general of egypt, says do not do it. stay out. you put your all in this, you will create a hornets' nest. i would not take his advice either. there is no reason to believe he will be better in predicting the future of the middle east than his predecessors. i do not think our allies' advice should be the determining factor in what we do here. our interests, as you have rightly said, we need to hear from the president before the congress votes on national television, in a national speech, defining what our national interests are and what is our strategy to get us there. not a bunch of stuff about a red line. the strategy for the accomplishment of our national interests in syria. the reason why we have had a hard problem here articulating all that is we have not heard yet from the man who the american peopl

and france blame president bashar al assad's government for the chemical attack and the assad regime insists that the attack was carried out by the syrian opposition and this will sort of course of course is coming at a very crucial time a time when russia and the united states just brokered a deal that has syria agreeing to disclose its full chemical arms arsenal within one week and eliminate it by made twenty fourteen but in the meantime the u.n. security council is expected to draft a resolution for the syrians. in the coming days and according to reports france britain and the u.s. are seeking what they call our strong u.n. resolution under chapter seven that would allow for military intervention if syria fails to hand over its chemical weapons. the u.s. government has come out and said that it believes that the u.n. report actually does back up its own claims that the syrian government was responsible for this chemical attack which russia's position was the russian foreign minister saying understand that he wants steps to be taken in order for the peace process to move forward.

planning to launch a chemical attack on israel designed to look like it was carried out by a assad government for about one. hundred norway and anti immigration party is set to join the new coalition government two years after a four member unders break killed dozens in a crusade against multiculturalism look at europe's shift to the right. international news and comment line from moscow this is r.t. with me thanks for joining us and breaking news story syria has formally agreed to hand over its chemical weapons stockpiles to the wire and it could force u.s. president obama further away from his plans to launch military strikes the idea was put forward by russia after an offhand remark by the u.s. secretary of state other nations are getting behind that idea true with silence wanting a resolution on it at the u.n. . this may be a face saving moment for the obama administration because its arguments for a military action against syria have been falling apart both in the international community and in the u.s. congress congress jumped on this russian proposal because they're being bombarded eve

dominica and i have a moral duty to say that it's not the bash al assad government that you sorry nor any of the gas in the damascus suburb of ghouta we're certain of that after a conversation we had the hood even though it cost me to say he said because i've supported the free syrian army passionately and it's fair fight for democracy. now in this folder national says it has this information because he overheard a conversation between his captors in which they said as much and that is that they were responsible for this attack but of course we'll stay on top of the situation waiting to see if there's any kind of his radio official reaction to these reports of a potential whipple's strike against this country. and with america firmly putting the blame for any use of weapons of mass destruction on the syrian regime the u.s. national security adviser susan rice has also warned of a direct chemical threat to israel by terrorizing civilians creating even greater refugee flows and raising the risk the deadly chemicals would spill across borders into neighboring turkey jordan lebanon and ir

the assad government was responsible for their use. obviously this is disputed by president putin but. if you polled the leaders. last night i'm confident but you get a majority who said it is most likely we are pretty confident that the assad regime used. where there is a division as you do with the united nations. you know there are a number of countries that. just as a matter of principle believe that if military action is to be taken to it needs to go through the u.n. security council. there are others and i put myself in this camp as somebody who is a strong supporter of the united nations who very much appreciates the courage of the investigators who gone in and looks forward to seeing the u.n. . court because i think we should try to get more information not less in this situation. it is my view and a view that was shared by a number of people in the room that given security council paralysis on this issue if we are serious about upholding a ban on chemical weapons use then an international response is required and that will not