. >> how is president bashar al-assad holding on to power? >> the iranians are gaining influence in syria now by the day. >> and what will happen if asd falls? >> there is definitely increasing worry in the united states administration about in whose hands these weapons are falling. >> these two stories on this special edition frontline. >> frontline is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. and by the corporation for public broadcasting. major funding is provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. and by reva and david logan, committed to investigative journalism as the guardian of the public interest. additional funding is provided by the park foundation, dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues. and by tfrontline journalism fund, supporting investigative reporting and enterprise journalism. >> narrator: guardian reporter ghaith abdul-ahad's journey into syria began five weeks ago on a supply ro

>> guest: , no, there is not an election certainly send bashar al-assad came to power. hey have referendums every seven years, which are called elections in area. it usually is only one running, bashar al-assad or in this case can and it is a yes no, even the polling places. and the intrepid voter with security in these polling places with out how for the reelection. so that is why they usually garner 97 to 1999% of the vote. so it is not a democracy. and this is overall kind of the result -- i hate to go back to world are one way and everything on and french, but the artificial creation in this country is really haven't developed a sense of identity or national identity yet over the years because of stitching together vastly different areas. syria was in many ways stitched together another race broke away from it. so without this lack of national identity and cohesiveness over the years, it seems the only thing keeping these countries together has been military dictatorship are outside military intervention such as the british in iraq and eventually americans in iraq. >

president barack obama setting the mood by reiterating his commitment to force bashar al assad to go into one of the states believed to be supplying the syrian rebels with weapons called an arab nations to intervene in syria bypassing the world body. has been following the whole issue being addressed and right now. every world leader or high figure that took to the podium at the united nations general assembly on tuesday did address the crisis in syria the secretary general ban ki-moon described the war in syria as a regional calamity with global ramifications he urged the international community to act quickly with consensus before he says the crisis spirals out of control somewhat strong leaders took a more aggressive approach with their rhetoric french president francois hollande said that the syrian government of bashar assad has no future among the international community and crawls on the u.n. to immediately cried protections for the syrian opposition groups that are currently occupying the northern part of the country u.s. president barack obama also released some criticism ad

is standing firm in its position on syria and that position is that bashar al assad must go. president obama's speech was also in dissipated in connection to a growing and american sentiment in the muslim world what do you have to say on that. his speech was very much based around the anti-american sentiments that are blazing around the muslim world and beyond as a matter of fact when he addressed the matter of this muslim video that was made in the us and posted on you tube he calls it a crude and disgusting video that sparked outrage of the muslim world and said the u.s. government had nothing to do with that video and does not endorse that video in any way as a matter of factness officials have condemned it nonetheless there's no video and you know words that can justify. on u.s. embassies or consulates or the killing of an american ambassador and three other american officials in the view of u.s. president barack obama he believes that it's. extremists that are co-opting the anger that is the frustrations that is being shown towards the u.s. and that is what's inciting mo

the international community was never united and russia was not going to really put pressure on bashar al-assad, your mission, in a sense, was set up to fail. and that gave bashar al-assad an excuse to carry on killing his citizens. >> guest: i'm not sure that you are entirely right. i know the idea that people say. that you had many people, even today who are not interested in any negotiations and any diplomatic effort. they see the only solution is a military one. they are waiting for intervention and war arms to be able to get rid of bashar al-assad. that is one option. but we need to be careful not just of one individual, a sod unturned. my approach, which i talked about the annan plan, security council endorsed it through a resolution, which all five permanent members signed on to. and they should have gone in to put pressure on the parties. for example, on the 12th of april, when the cease-fire went into force, that morning from the whole country was quiet. both sides stop fighting. for a wild, violence went down. 80% and then it escalated again. what do the countries do to try to help co

with allies, the arab world ought to be much more actively supporting the opposition to bashar al-assad for humanitarian reasons and for reasons of our values. we believe in freedom for people, not the tyranny of bashar al-assad. i think that would be popular thing to do. in the arab world, as they watch what is happening in syria, they wonder why the rest of the world why we are standing by. there is a horrible crisis going on through the muslim world. the government in libya has been very clear against the attacks, apologizing to the u.s. for the libyans who participated in the killing of the americans. why? and they know we were on their side in the uprising against gaddafi. the people rising up against al-assad do not know that. the moderate islamist government was elected in tunisia and has been outspoken in support of the u.s. that is one way to break through this perplexing anti- american feeling in the muslim world. >> i'd like to turn to a major national security threat that could overtake terrorism. that is the cyber threat. lately there have been increased reports of cyber ac

. >> reporter: you told us in july that you would be willing to speak with bashar al-assad. does that offer still stand? >> if he will step down i will meet him anywhere outside of syria. >> reporter: what would you say? >> i don't know, i-- i have no idea. i've never met him. but i-- you know, i would hope that it would not be too late to end this. but i see no indication that he's willing to. >> with assad unwilling to step down the syrian opposition is fighting not just on the battleground, it's also fighting from outside syria. and information war. charlie d'agata got a rare look behind the scenes. >> reporter: from a secret location in jordan-- a handful of journalists are risking everything to make sure the world doesn't turn its back on syria. the opposition channel syria alshaab meaning syria of the people broadcast powerful and graphic amateur video and live reports from inside the war zone. this is where we have it. >> they left a comfortable life in virginia and moved thousands of lives away. >> everyone in syria that has a cell phone or camera, they want to show

government at the moment the supreme syrian flag also bearing signs with the face of president bashar al assad they've been shouting their slogans in favor of the president and his ba'ath party however there is a small number of and see assad's. protests is just over there now there were some heated clashes earlier on between the two groups the police have now moved in to separate them but the vast majority of people as i say just around a thousand it is growing throughout the day as this protest continues here they are against foreign military intervention they are in favor of bashar al assad may have come out here today transferred to start opinion about you know. do you know i'm flooded we're here to expose the lies about syria that the being shown to the rest of the world the dead that are being shown were killed by terrorists getting blamed on the sun you know if you could they sponsored by nato the u.s. . went with us as a condition now you can stay up to date with of the details and peter's a twitter stream head there he reports how it's not only a syrian ex-pats demanding an end to int

it is called the coalition for peaceful change and it is opposed both to two to bashar al assad's regime and to the rebels that are fighting the president of the country so what's your view out do you see the solution of the problem in the country if you oppose both i think there is a kurd or some part of the. position politics parties. what we call it here. and there is also on the part which we are as a for with inside it call it a collection more after what are you assuming i think if russia might to speak. with there was a syrian regime that it was very aborted to begin a negation between. the side of interior. dabs. we ask that the syrian diplomatic. minister to go on this way as i was in the wrong before about one man's there is organization coated centrifugal so she asked him about it in of was in there was from syria to go total i think this war so this. diplomatic minister can go on some ways more and more useful than what has us organizations. one specially inside syria but so must ask the regime to do some steps like give this. part of operas and there's. an illusion let's sho

bashar al-assad has decide it was not possible, no. it's the way it must go. >> rose: iran, and the nuclear issue. what do you believe iran wants? and to you believe they have made a decision on that? that? >> i hope not. first, so as nuclear energy is concerned, iran has a right to develop nuclear energy but for military use, no way, because it is too dangerous. not because it is iran but because-- if it goes that way, it means the region can be a terrible menace. therefore, no way. the question is how do you convince iran to evolve? we have-- when i saw "we" it's the big 5-- france, u.s., british, china, and russia. we're united on this issue. >> rose: the 5 plus 1 germany. >> yes, and we were stussing with iran and trying to convince them to change and we are applying sanctions. the fact is, up to now, iran has not changed. >> rose: it's not changed its behavior because of the sanctions. we have a report of the international agency they go that enfortunately, they're disrupting their program. and my own belief that what they are doi

government at the moment the thirteen syrian flag also bearing signs with the face of president bashar al assad they've been shouting that slogans in favor of the president on his behalf policy however there is a small number of the assad's. protest is just over there now there was some heated cautious as earlier on between the two groups police have now moved in to separate them but the vast majority of people as they say around a thousand it is growing throughout the day as this protest continues here they are against foreign military intervention they are in favor of bashar al assad they've come out here today to frankfurt to start opinion. so we're here to expose the lies about syria that the being showing to the rest. of the dead that are being sued by terrorists gotten blame on you know if you could these points of my name to the u.s. i phone and. also i think the stamp today with all the details of peter all of us a twitter stream here right now it's not only syrian ex-pats who are demanding an end to interference in their homeland but also the people of neighboring states as well go to

this protest continues here they are against foreign military intervention they are in favor of bashar al assad may have come out here today to run for it to start opinion. so we're here to expose the lies about syria that the being showing to the rest of the. of the dead that are being sued by terrorists. when you know if you could these points of my name to the u.s. i phone and. also i think and you can stand today with all of the details appear all over twitter stream peter writes how it's not only syrian ex-pats who are demanding an end to interference in their homeland but also the people of neighboring states as well go to his twitter feed for the latest developments. the choice of sponsors for the london paralympic games is being called into question it has emerged of that the u.k. government employs one of them to assess disabled people's rights to benefits the french company is accused of wrecking the lives of thousands of disabled people by unfairly forcing them off welfare and as artie's laura smith reports many of them think the firm is trying to polish its image by attaching itself

leader said the regime of bashar al assad must come to an end when referencing syria president obama said that the international community must be engaged to assure that what began as citizens demanding their rights does not end in a cycle of sectarian violence now as we've been reporting over the past year and a half the u.s. and its western allies have been fiercely pushing and campaigning for for regime change for bashar al assad to step down and the u.s. and europeans have been supporting the opposition but the reality of the ground on the ground in syria is just getting worse as a matter of fact joint special envoy lakhdar brahimi just briefed the security council a day ago on the circumstance against syria he said it is going from bad to worse right now there's no new plans in place on how to scale down the violence and how to lead both sides to a peaceful path in addition to syria president obama spoke very heavily about the anti-american demonstrations that are blazing through the muslim world demonstrations that were sparked on september eleventh when he addressed the matter

syrian government at the moment the syrian flag also bearing signs with the face of president bashar al assad they've been shouting their slogans in favor of the president and his baath party however there is a small number of. protesters just over there now there were some heated clashes earlier on between the two groups the police have now moved in to separate them but the vast majority of people as they say around a thousand it is growing throughout the day as this protests continue they are against foreign military intervention they are in favor of bashar al assad may have come out here today to frankfurt to opinion. we're here to expose the lies about syria that they be ensuring that the rest of. the dead that are being sued by terrorists. the u.s. . you can stay up to date with all of the details on twitter steve. writes how it's not only. to interfere. but also the people of neighboring states as well go to his twitter feed for the latest developments. the choice of sponsors for the london paralympic games is being called into question it has emerged that the u.k. government employs on

because it's in those neighborhoods where the feeling to overthrow bashar al assad was stronger. that's where people rose up. you have this cycle now of rebellion, then repression, then reprisa reprisals. we went into a neighborhood where the government had just been bombing it for about two weeks, bombing, shelling it for about two weeks. we went back through government checkpoints. as soon as we got in, we found the free syrian army were still there. there's no decisive battle being fought. that's the picture that emerges. the bombing and shelling from the center of damascus. b this is going to be a very, very long and slow war. >> how strong did the syrian leader, bashar al assad, seem to be based on the limited access that you had in damascus? >> reporter: we really have to stress the limited access, wolf, because we were really given very, very limited permission for shooting and filming. and we weren't able to talk to any soldiers. you don't really get inside the people that are fighting for the regime to know their sort of inner feelings and thoughts. but we did talk to th

. >>> earlier this week bashar al-assad gave a rare interview to journalists addressing accusations by are assad's two best friends from growing up. [ cheers and applause ] >> hey, hello. >> hi. so now, president assad's forces have openly attacked thousands of protesters all over syria, and is considered to be one of the most dangerous leaders alive. you say you're his friends. do you guys actually like him? >> oh yeah. >> oh yeah, definitely. >> absolutely. >> i mean, he's our buddy, and he's like, always there for us. >> yeah, yeah, we hang out all the time. we just get along. you know, he's a good guy. i mean, i feel like sometimes he thinks a lot more about himself than other people. >> yeah, yeah, like -- okay, we were at my friend's baby shower, and everyone was like, "oh look at those cute little boots, that cute jumper --" >> and bash comes back and he's like, "oh you think all this stuff is cool? you should see my army." i'm like, "nobody cares." [ laughter ] >> nobody cares. and also, like, we're here for our friend's baby shower. like, be nice. >> yeah, i'm sorry, i cannot

government at the moment the thirteenth syrian flag also bearing signs with the face of president bashar al assad they've been shouting their slogans in favor of the president and his boss policy however there is a small number of assad's. protesters just over there now there were some heated clashes earlier on between the two groups police have now moved in to separate them but the vast majority of people as i say just around a thousand it is growing throughout the day as this protest continues here they are against foreign military intervention they are in favor of bashar al assad they've come out here today to frankfurt to voice our opinion. we are here to expose the lies about syria that the being shown to the rest of the wood the dead that are being shown were killed by terrorists and blamed. sponsored by needs of the us. now you can stay up to date with the details and peter's twitter stream they hear reports coming syrian x. pads are demanding an end to interference in their homeland but also citizens in neighboring states follow peter twitter is a faint a formal. there appears to be a wol

government at the moment the surfeit syrian flag also bearing signs with the face of president bashar al assad they've been shouting their slogans in favor of the president and his ba'ath party however there is a small number of m t a sides. and the assad protest is just over there now there were some heated cautious as early on between the two groups police have now moved in to separate them but the vast majority of people as i say just around a thousand it is growing throughout the day as this protest continues here they are against foreign military intervention they are in favor of bashar al assad may have come out here today to frankfurt to voice that opinion but. your own flag we hear it to expose the lies about syria that the being shown to the rest of the wound the dead that are being shown were killed by terrorists and blamed on the son sponsored by need to the u.s. . and you can stay up to date with how the story is developing by following peter's twitter stream. there appears to be a wolf in sheep's clothing among those who finance london's paralympics activists are angry that a firm

as these protests continue they are against foreign military intervention they are in favor of bashar al assad may have come out here today to frankfurt to voice that opinion. we're here to expose the lies about syria that the being shown to the rest of. the dead that are being shown one killed by terrorists. responsible i need to know the u.s. consul. and step to date with all of the latest details. that are straight peter right now it's not only syrian ex-pats who are demanding an end to interference in their homeland but also the people of neighboring states as well go to twitter feed for the latest developments. the choice of sponsors or for the london paralympic games is being called into question it has emerged that the u.k. government employs one of them to assess disabled people's right to benefits the french company is accused of wrecking the lives of thousands of disabled people by unfairly forcing them off welfare and as artie's laura smith reports many think the firm is trying to polish its image by attaching itself to the london games. the paralympics are the ultimate display of t

president barack obama also released some criticism additional criticism of bashar al assad saying that time has come for his government to go and the u.s. president also said that the international community should support the vision that the syrians have for the future of their country now we do know that the u.s. and its western allies have been pushing for regime change in syria have been pushing for sanctions against syria russia is among the countries that believes diplomatic approach taken to the crisis in syria where i dialogue between the government and the opposition house to be created the united nations is still divided over how to resolve the problem in syria of course one of more important well russia reaffirmed his commitment to peace efforts in syria so the foreign minister started off with u.n. special envoy lakhdar brahimi on the sidelines of the gathering and promised full support for the mission and commenting on the western proposals on syria voice to the un dr howland and from foreign policy in focus said it's the persistent call for regime change that ultimately b