believe the fight has been forgotten, and as edin dzcko reports -- stephanie dekker reports bashar al-assad's army is taking advantage >>> the u.s.-led firepower focus on kobane, there has been an increase in air strikes by president bashar al-assad's air force on rebel decisions. >> he is busy and his priority is to instill military success. first is damascus, and the road between damascus and further. he has taken advantage, and this time to intensify his military provisions. >> the syrian observatory for human rights reports since monday there has been 450 government air strikes across the government. many inside syria feel no one is paying attention now the narrative is all about i.s.i.l. we spoke to an activist in the damascus countryside. >> they are ignoring the actions, concentrating on i.s.i.l. we should mention an important point that a few hundred people are besieged. 800,000 civilians under government siege were left without food or medicine. >> there has been reports that multiple brigades want to join the fight. >> this woman in aleppo is asking why is no one protecting us. we'l

bashar al assad is right, we have two enemies, isis and, excuse me, he is right. we have two enemies, bashar al assad and isis. we cannot do it sequentially. we have to do it together. if we are going to help the free syrian army, let's help them and not play this game where 14 air strikes is supposed to have some kind of impact on what -- look, i was in the vietnam war, a place called kasan surrounded by north vietnamese. there was round the clock bombing day and night by b-52s. >> vice president biden seemed to step up the pressure on turkey and had to apologize. i'm trying to figure out where turkey is in this. with vice president biden, was he right to speak out about this? >> i don't think so. i think it could be done in other ways. what he did was alienate both the uae saudi arabia and the turks. he had a trifecta there. we have been unhappy with a lot of things that the turks have been doing and there's been rich saudis, not the government of saudi arabia that funneled money into isis and al qaeda and others. the same thing with uae and qatar. we can't affor

. >> some of bashar al-assad's soldiers and m.e.r.s.an air yeas have been killed and others arrested. we are chasing them in areas where they are holed up. >> the fragmented nature of the opposition fighting on various fronts is pushed further away by government forces. the coalition air strikes against i.s.i.l. strengthened the government's assault. bashar al-assad's forces know they can't win outright, so they are trying to push boundaries, as they have in aleppo. >>> a spokesman from the royal institute services says i.s.i.l. is engaged in two different battles and will have to plan strategies accordingly. >> the strategy, i believe, is in a state of flux. they had an expansionist strategy three months ago, they were making rapid claims, boasting that they'd be in baghdad. they had to roll back, they have lost territory and occasionally they'll make gains, and much of those through propaganda. that is important for them. what is going to have to do, in the next few weeks and months is to accept that it is going to have to retreat, and will have to adopt a different strategy. in syr

he also demanded that bashar al-assad leave power.said turkey can't afford complacency while the crisis unfolds. >> translator: one of turkey's priorities is to have a strong and just government in damascus. we cannot be indecisive about the situation in the gulf and larger middle east. how can we remain uninterested given the crisis on two fronts on our borders. >>> there are reports of gunfire and shelling in the frontier town that lies a few kilometers from the turkish border. fighters have been advancing on the city forcing thousands of mostly kurds to flee to kobani. the kurdish fighters who remain say they booby trapped the town in case isil attacks. bernard smith has more on the turkey, syria border. >> reporter: all day long there has begun fire in kobani, you can see smoke rising just behind me. fighters in the town say they have managed to hold off isil forces so far. they also believe there have been a couple of u.s. air strikes to also try to hold back isil forces. isil say they are very close to one edge of the city, but

you have militants allied with bashar al-assad, there is territorial continuity between kurds in syria and kurds in iraq. the light green buffer going all the way down into iraq. it is very important for i.s. to put pressure here on that territorial continuity. one other thing i want to show you, the syrian regime controlling these parts in red. that whole part of western syria. you can see from this, for bashar al-assad, the important thing is to keep control of the areas it can hold onto. that means the regime can survive. more important than trying to regain these areas in the north. the fact that the syrian regime has made a fairly realistic population further south of what it can do and where it can hold on, that opens up the space up here in the north for the islamic state group. that is why the fighting is continuing across a broad front between islamic state group and kurdish militants. >> thank you for walking us through the ongoing spread of violence between iraq and syria. staying in syria. the government is believed to have draft barrel bombs on a camp for displaced people

news about its own citizens joining and funding pro-islamic forces battling the brutal regime bashar al-assad. one of those groups funded by the saudis was al nusra, the syrian branch of al-qaeda. using social media one al-qaeda affiliated saudi cleric based in syria even posted a campaign called "wage jihad with your money." donors interested in supporting anti-assad sunni militants could earn silver status by donating $175 for 50 sniper bullets. $350 buys eight more rather rounds and gold status. officially the kingdom of saudi arabia said, quote, government officials and religious scholars have repeatedly condemned terrorist acts and the mindset that supports terrorism, end quote, but many experts agree that private saudi money was used to fund the now notorious islamic state of iraq and the levant, or isil. >> there is support to some extent for isil among saudi citizens, it's very likely that saudi citizens have funded isil in the past, and it's probably that they'll continue to try to send money. >> earlier this year isil made light-fast gains in iraq. iraq borders saudi arabia bringing

. >> syrian activists believe a fight against bashar al-assad is forgotten. so much attention is focussed on the fight against i.s.i.l. in the north, and as stephanie dekker reports, bashar al-assad's army is taking advantage. >> reporter: the syrian regime controlled the air here. as the eyes of the world and the u.s.-led coalition firepower focuses on kobane. there has been a significant increase in air strikes on rebel positions by bashar al-assad's air force. >> he is busy. he has priority to achieve military success and priority. the first is damascus. second is syrian cause. and then their own. he is now taking advantage, and this time his intensive military observations. >> the syrian observatory for human rights reports since monday there has been 450 government air strikes across the country. many inside syria feels no one is paying attention now that the narrative is all about i.s.i.l. we spoke to an activist in the countryside. >> the world is ignoring the regime actions. we should mention an important point in kobane, a few hundred people are besie

we can't live with bashar al assad. he slaughtered hundreds of thousands of people, including with chlorine gas, and, of course, we can't support isis. and you look at the kurdish situation, the turks are furious that we are in this essence backing a kurdish enclave in northern syria because they don't want to see a kurdish state. there are no easy options. and i think what hagel has come down and said listen, if this isn't working, we have to come up with a coherent policy. the problem for hagel, i understand, he's been cut out of a lot of the decision making. it's top down. the president, the vice president, susan rice, who are making the policy and they only bring him in at the end and he's unhappy about that. >> we'll see what he says about this at the bottom of the hour. colonel reese, there are a lot of u.s. allies in that part of the world who hate bashar al assad's regime. they would like to see the u.s. launch air strikes against these syrian positions that are associated with the regime there, but that hasn't

. -- bashar al-assad. there is a tense fight. the army has positions a kilometre further up. this is a stand off, but many will tell you that the only way to end it is at the negotiating table. there has been calls for a ceasefire to allow civilians to leave the area. there is anger at the army. >> before the issue of i.s.i.l. we have been in gaol for even years, there was nothing called i.s.i.l. we are paying the price. we are against hezbollah and lebanon. regional tied to lebanon means what happens next door has an impact here. the message from the military after three days of fighting is that it will continue the security operation until it finishes >>> director of global policy advisors, an adjunct professor at the university of maryland. >> northern maryland and tripoli has been fertile ground for recruitment. it has been forgot own and abandoned. in 2000 there were a number of battles between the leb nice army and militants. it's a recurring fep some na. we have an overlay of facts playing into it, what is happening in syria, and the regional competition between saudi

he talked about how bashar al-assad may be benefitting from u.s. attacks in i.s.i.l. and added that u.s. policies was removed from power. >> you've reported on the show about the problems dealing with syria. now the secretary of defense doing it in what's come out to be a public way. there were leaks about his private physician. for governments to work properly, they have to make points, including criticisms of policy. be that as it is, there are great questions about major aspects of our campaign. are we using the right materials, resources, and what do we do with bashar al-assad. he may not be our biggest problem but is the biggest problems of most of our allies. these are good questions. >> is it evidence split between the defense department and the white house. we saw an issue with messaging coming out from the white house on the one side, two secretaries and another of occasions. there's no problem between difference of opinion between the white house and one or other agency. what is concerning us is not just disagreements over basic policy. i think we should use

they are concerned that combat operations could strengthen bashar al-assad.nother priority, keeping a check on kurdish fighters in turkey. the country has battled with kurdish separatists for three decades. authorization was requested to conduct cross-border operations abroad and to allow the deployment of foreign troops into turkish territories. they are seeking cross-party support, arguing turkey must be a playmaker not a bystander. also, a major priority -- the return of 1.5 million refugees to syria. >> last look at the other stories we have for you this hour on "france 24." seven soldiers were killed and 50 wounded in a clash in benghazi. libya is been wracked by violence as the armed groups that helped to topple mama gaddafi -- mom got -- gaddafi in 2007 have turned against each other. a blast in bulgaria -- greek landmines were being taken apart and officials say a factory has been reduced to ashes. boko haram's leader has dismissed the nigerian military claims of his death. he spoke in a new video. in the video he said elephants are laying down strict

it's immoral to send free syrian army people into the barrel bombing of bashar al assad. by the way, as we bomb isis, bashar al assad moves in and he has intensified his strikes against the free syrian army. >> right. >> so there has to be, candy, a re-evaluation and a reengineering of what we're doing, because it's not working. >> there are u.s. advisers, as you know, some of them with iraqi troops, at least in the protection of baghdad around baghdad. you know that there is not public support for any kind of battalions of u.s. soldiers going back to iraq. there does not seem to be any other country willing to put people inside iraq to fight isis. so where does this go? if the administration -- i'm sure every day they're looking at it and saying, okay, do we need to refigure this. how do you refigure it given all of the restraints there are in taking this fight to isis? >> first of all, i'm not advocating sending battalions back in but we can do a lot more down at the operating level. we have to understand there's no boundary between syria and iraq. why should we differen

millions of dollars, tens - thousands of tonnes of weapons into anyone that would fight against bashar al-assad. extent the people who were being supplied were al nusra, al qaeda, and the extremist elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world. >> for more, i'm joined from paris by christopher dicky who wrote about the controversy in a post entitled vp biden apologises. chris, good to see you. turkey, president recep tayyip erdogan, was enna quotic after hearing biden's rocks, saying: in response the state department released a statement saying that: you, however, believe that biden was telling the truth, however undiplomatic the truth may be. >> well, yes. i think he is telling the truth about the countries and the supplies to all sorts of organizations that wound up funnelling those arms and funny to i.s.i.s. it is self-supporting, it doesn't need that. in 2012, 2013, there was an effort to build up the opposition. the turks, the emirates, the saudis were indes criminate about how to do it. it's something that worried the administration, a reason they were reluctant to get involved

during an address to parliament, he also demanded that the syrian president bashar al-assad leave power>> translator: one of turkey's priorities is to have a strong and just government in damascus. we cannot be indecisive about the situation. how can we remain uninterested, given the crisis on two fronts on our borders. we will not sit idle. >> let's get more now from bernard smith who joins live. he says we can't be indecisive about the situation in the gulf, and the larger region, but it is clear what turkey's role is going to be precisely in the fight against isis? >> it's not clear at the moment, know. the parliament will vote tomorrow, thursday, on two motions. those motions will allow the turkish military to be involved in international operations outside of turkey's boundaries in syria and iraq, and also included in those motions will be the mission given to foreign forces to use turkish bases to launch their military operations. one aspect of that could mean one of the bases opened up that is already being used for humanitarian fights, but the u.s. has been wanting to use that b

down with bashar al-assad. >> o'hara hill is important. it's situated between two syrian provinces. the opposition wants to build a corridor to the country side, which is already under its control. >> translation: god willing we will march towards bashar al-assad's presidential ball as. >> the position is taking control of the town alhara, home to a syrian army infantry brigade. the town was a supply route for forces based in the nearby hills. the opposition says it killed more than 1500 soldiers. it seized a large quantity of arms and ammunition. opposition forces say the next goal is to control the route leading to damascus. that could be difficult. the syrian air force controls the skies, a weapon that is fatal for the position. and on the ground opposition fighters continue to fight government troops and islamic state of iraq and levant. >>> hundreds of al qaeda-linked fighters reportedly launched an offensive in the north-east of lebanon, near the border of syria. hezbollah's forces confronted the group. 16 fighters said to be affiliated with al nusra front were reportedly kill

it's believed bashar al-assad's regime in syria is part of the problem. united states with its focus on i.s.i.l., found little enthusiasm to join recep tayyip erdogan's campaign. it looks like all the syrian fighters in kobani can expect are u.s. air instruments in a bid to stop i.s.i.l. advancing on their town. >>> let's hear from our turkey analyst and research director of the nonprofit center foundation, believing that turkey will not engage the military until certain conditions are met. >> turkey would like the u.s. strategy to be broadened, and no-fly zone to be created and take the fight to bashar al-assad, the source of instability and the reason why these terrorist groups emerged in the first place. when left alone, if there's no broad strategy, you'll have continuous vacuum, political vacuum that will be filled by very different groups who will be only concerned about holding on to their little area, and it will effectively mean sort of disunity of syria. so to keep the country together, and make sure that there's a lit call transition in damascu

president bashar al-assad remains in power. the islamic state of iraq and levant grew in this environment. thousands of foreign fighters have been drawn to their ranks. tunisia has gone along the path to democracy than any other country, it is believed to export more extremists to syria and iraq, to fight with i.s.i.l. for any other country in the wor world >>> to discuss more, we'll bring in a specialist lecturer at the university for middle eastern studies, and a former middle east analyst for the state department, joining us from washington d.c. great to have you with us, gentlemen. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> i'll start with you mr abdul. i wish we could start with a lot of hope and progress. there's a growing wage of discontent. is the arab spring over? >> i don't think it's over. it is going through a difficult transition, and that is normal. every revolution go through a transition. it took many years. there are a lot of difficulties facing the arab younger men and women. when they went to the street in early, late 20

and bashar al-assad. . >> that is right, we are seeing it embraced by the moderates the search for the rebels. do the moderate rebels exist, that's what i was looking at. who are moderates, and by moderate, which is a relative term, i mean how you and i may define it, people in the audience may define if, a lot of those guys are those that you imagine. the ideologists, activists, humanitarians, doctors that gave up the practice and mooed to syria. what we -- and moved to syria. what we have seen is these peopleville fled the country, they've been silenced and are not there as much as they used to be. >> when i.s.i.l. takes obvious, they kill the guys, including the doctors, who technically they need. >> a certain amount were pushed out by the regime. over the next year or so, some people fell off, some you may call mad rates, some -- moderates, some said that's enough for me, but a whole group of dedicated activists that risked their lives, lying in idlib and aleppo. they were holding out and doing their best to advance the revolution. i.s.i.s. comes along and attacks them and forced t

bashar al-assad continues to attack the free syrian army while we attack isis and there is some kind nfriendly arrangement there between bashar al-assad and isis it is really, it is really, really terrible and immoral. jon: just wanted to get your take on some new information that's just out about taxpayer dollars hard at work, senator. the annual "wastebook" on government spending is out. it showed that the fed shelled out big bucks with massages for rabbits and teaching sea monkeys synchronized swimming. in this era, when we were still under the sequester, when our military is being shrunk to such very low levels, what do you say about some of the spending that has been uncovered? >> well, say, i'm so grateful to dr. tom coburn who is leaving the senate and some of us should try to step up to do many of the things he has done. he is really marvelous in bringing our attention to it. yes, it is ludicrous and we kind of laugh but meanwhile because of sequestration, army officers, fighting in afghanistan, are receiving notices that they're being involuntary separated from the united sta

there has been a significant increase in air strikes on rebel positions by syrian president bashar al-assad'se is busy, you know, and he has priorities to achieve military success and treat this as priority for him. first priority is damascus, second. [ inaudible ] then the road between damascus and that base. he is no now taking advantage in this time to intensify his military. >> reporter: since monday there have been at least 450 government air strikes across the country. many inside syria feel that no one is paying attention. and that the narrative is all about isil. we spoke an activist in the damascus countryside. >> translator: the world is ignoring regime actions and only concentrating on isil. we should mention an important point in kobane a few hundred people are besieged while in eastern country sides, 800,000 civilians under government siege left without food or medicine. >> reporter: multiple b brigades of the free syrian army want to joint the fight against isil in kobane. this woman is asking why is no one protecting us, we will have to take up arms ourselves. the battle is int

we're going to show you what is inspiring them to join the fight for bashar al assad. that's coming up. >>> and control of the united states senate here in washington coming down to a few very few races. the midterm elections are only four days away. we're going to highlight some of the high-stake contests. 3rd and 3. 58 seconds on the clock, what am i thinking about? foreign markets. asian debt that recognizes the shift in the global economy. you know, the kind that capitalizes on diversity across the credit spectrum and gets exposure to frontier and emerging markets. if you convert 4-quarter p/e of the s&p 500, its yield is doing a lot better... if you've had to become your own investment expert, maybe it's time for bny mellon, a different kind of wealth manager ...and black swans are unpredictable. i can... order safety goggles. play music for seedlings. post science fair projects. schedule guinea pig feedings. video chemical reactions. take pics of mr. bones. time the next launch. calm down principal jones. i can do all that with my android from tracfone. 90-day pl

. >> translation: some of bashar al-assad soldiers and mercenaries had been killed and others arrested. we are chasing them in areas where they are holed up. >> reporter: the fragmented nature of the opposition, fighting on various fronts is pushed further away for government forces. coalition air strikes have strengthened the government assault. but bashar al-assad's forces know they can't wip outright, so they are trying to push boundaries in aleppo. >>> a mass grave has been discovered in southern mexico, close to where 43 students went missing last week. the students were seen forced into police vans during a protest. 22 police officers have been arrested in connection with the disappearances. adam raney has followed this story. we are here in the state capital of guerrero. it is a poor state in south-west mexico. the governor, and the leading prosecutor, held a press conference where they said they are sending the remains from bodies to see if they can do d.n.a. and other studies to see if they were the 43 students missing more than a week. we don't have official confirmation, tha

historically, morally, bashar al-assad should step down. what today, he is controlling about 35% of syria. it is another reflection of the fragmentation in syria. interfere.do not we do not take any side. border,ation across the army militias are operating. watch carefully as the other elements -- as long as the deal not deal with us, we do not deal with them. we are not going to decide about the future of syria, but we will keep our interests. the situation along the border because of that. >> because of your success with covert action when you need to use it, is it possible for the u.s. special forces or some other combination of forces to take out the leader of isis? >> yes, why not? if you are enjoying their superiority -- air superiority, it should, you know, be done and it -- and he should be targeted. that kind ofhat mission is underway, they does have not been able to put it all together. wouldn't you venture? >> yes. >> thank you for your honesty. want to do? israel does it want to participate? does it think it can make a differenc

spill over the syrian war, one of those neighborhoods, a pro revolution and the other one pro bashar al-assad been relatively quiet over the last few months, this flare up really started to put this in to context, dawn a thursday when the army raided an apartment just north of triply in the area where they arrested a man that they say is believed to be a major recruiter for isil. that's the group the islamic state in iraq and the levant. that's a concern of course for the i'm of course we sat with a military commander yesterday, he received a statement from one of the sheiks in triply calling for a revolution for attacks on the army in response to that rate. armed men across triply it's the first time it's reach areas around the city. it's certainly a concern the message from the army to us is that they are prepared and ready to clamp down and also interestingly a country incredibly divide ahead long seconsectarian lines but all the politicians saying they stand behind the army. >> the army has its own cause they are having civilians to notify them of spus spur us men through triply. how will

and that's a second to which bashar al-assad belongs. >>> benjamin netanyahu has met with president barackma at the white house he should took the opportunity to applaud strikes targeting the islamic state. and urged them to take a tougher effort against iran. >> we fully support your effort to defeat isis. we think everybody should support this. and even more critical is our shared goal of preventing iran from becoming a military mike nuclear power. >> the meeting was the first between the two leaders since the conflict in gaza. obama encouraged netanyahu to find sustainable peace between palestinians and israelis. >> i think we also recognize that before we have to find ways to change the status quo so that both israeli citizens are safe in their own homes, and school children in their schools from the possibility of rocket fire, but also that we don't have the tragedy of palestinian children being killed as well. >>> and the u.s. has also called riisrael's decision to build hos in the occupied jerusalem troubling of the white house says it will poises unthe air with the arab countries a

yes, if bashar al assad is under pressure as a result of our strategy to do so, isn't that good? isn't that what president obama told us needs to happen, that he should go? >> we asked you for questions for the panel and we got several like these on facebook. david mansfield writes, is every decision the president makes on how to best deal with isis based on political considerations rather than what is best for the security of our country? and ellen asking, after the elections will obama's strategy change? amy, how do you answer them? is this -- this fight against isis, this war against isis, is it all politics? >> well, there's politics going to in both countries when we talk about turk y that's internal turkish politics going on. what the prime minister is not necessarily best for americans. it's best for him and his hold on power. and the american public, too, is really ambivalent about this. they can't figure out what they want to see. on the one hand they don't want to see troops going on the ground in syria. it's not by a big percentage, about 44% who favor troops going in.

really only the symptom and the root cause of the conflict in the region is the government of bashar al assadthey're saying if turkey is to move against isis decisively, there should also be a push to bring down bashar al assad, because if you don't, then the sunnis who are being liberated from isis will face an equally bad enemy moving into those territories, which is the government of bashar al assad. >> the state department and other factions of the u.s. government seem to be pretty opaque about exactly what they're asking of the turks. >> obviously horrific to watch what's going on on the ground. but it's important for the united states, for us, to also step back and remember our strategic objectives as it relates to our efforts and engagement in syria. nobody wants to see kobani fall, but our primary objective is to prevent isil from gaining a safe haven. >> what appears to be a careful no to whether kobani is a priority, do you think the u.s. needs to evaluate that? >> i think so. it's become symbolically so important. and it would mean as you said before, 600 miles of border are fallin

bashar al-assad was received. member of his government were in attendance. part of the sermon criticized the international community for backing an uprising against the bashar al-assad regime. >>> coming up on the newshour. swedish duration help a childless couple. the world's first baby is born after his mother gets a uterus transport. >> translation: i don't know how old i am. my children say i'm the oldest woman in the world. >> is the secret to her long live a walk in the andes every morning. >>> and formula 1 - jo here to tell us about a surprise decision and where to next. >>> north and south korea agreed to resume high level talks. the announcement was made as three top north korean officials were in the south for the closing ceremony of the asian games. gerald tan reports. >> there's a lot of excitement whenever any north korean politician visits south korea. it's more exciting when at the highest level delegation that arrives in five years. it's lead by the man regarded as the number two in the pyongyang hierarchy. he made the trip to attend the clos

and their determination to take down bashar al assad. >> what did they do, they poured hundreds of millions of dollars into anyone who would fight against assad, except the people who were being supplied, al qaeda andú[u the extremist elems from jihad coming from other parts of the world. >> so the saudi and u.n. funneled cash to the area. but wait he's not done. >> the turks said you're right, we let too many people through, now they are trying to seal the border. >> his old friend demanded an apology or else he will be history for me. as for the coalition, the administration set as a center piece of its anti isis mission, at the white house, forced to do damage control. >> the vice president has enough charkts character to admit he made a mistake. >> what he didn't say, was that the vice president was wrong. joining me now is bbc's correspondent, kim, perhaps josh didn't say the vice president was wrong because in fact he was right. sfrz zbl well be . >> well indeed, i think what mr. biden is at fault hereç!u for being undiplomatic but factually he's not actually wrong because there has b

they are members of the same sect of bashar al-assad. it was not the first attack of its kind but it was the deadliest in months. the government managed to regain role of th recontrol of the city of homs in may. we know's bombings were undoubtedly a mention to the government and it's supporters. the opposition has not given up its fight. >> reporter: and neither has the government. it has stepped up an aerial campaign focusing on the city of aleppo. but the government has not been able to recapture lost territory mis. instead dozens of civilians have been killed in recent weeks. helicopters are dropping barrel bombs hazard human rights groups describe as indiscriminate. they are destroying homes. children and women in cars. >> reporter: there is no prospect of a cease-fire. there is no political solution. as u.s. airstrikes against the islamic state of the iraq and levant it is helping them in damascus win the war. >> in iraq 20 people have been killed in two bomb attacks in the capitol of baghdad. a parked car bomb targeting civilians i

is launching air strikes against isis in syria but not against the syrian military, bashar al assad. >> no. and frankly they are still massacring against assad a year ago when the president chose not to in response to the chemical weapons. >> millions of syrian refugees displaced. >> and every day more. >> thank you, jim sciutto, for that report. >>> let's discuss what is going on with congressman peter king of new york. he's president of the house intelligence committee. thank you for joining us. you know, the sunni awakening, the u.s. goes in there with its friends into iraq. they tell these iraqi sunnis, rise up, go after isis who are also sunni. they don't get enough support and these sunnis who the u.s. is trying to support, these sunnis are slaughtered by isis. what's going on here? >> wolf, i think this shows a basic flaw in the obama policy in that by ruling out ground troops, by saying that out front, that has allowed isis to go forward knowing that we're not going to have troops on the ground. the fact that we have been reluctant to give weapons who are willing to fight weap

what john allen was saying about the bigger picture - training them up so they can take on the bashar al-assad regime. training them up so they can take on i.s.i.l. that will be a heck of a job to be getting a group at that level, won't it? >> in my opinion it will prolong the war, instead of finding a way to recon sil the different parties, the united states arming and training more people. this will prolong the war, more than, and it will be more heavy than it is now. >> can this be done to train these people to defeat i.s.i.l.? >> well they are training them to defeat not i.s.i.l. i think i.s.i.l. cannot be defeated. the only way they can defeat i.s.i.l. is regional cooperation, including the syrian army. this way the war will go on and on and on. >> let's talk about what is happening in and around kobane. the top story that we have reported on in this move hour. by arming the peshawar, the iraqi kurdish forces, that mud yes the water. it is, because they took the armament. it is less than what i.s.i.s. has in their hands after defeating the iraqi army, and seizing armaments from the syrian

tripoli has been divided twine supporters of syrian president bashar al-assad. stephanie dekker has more from beirut. >> it's been tense in the northern city of tripoli, with the army fighting armed men. for the first time we have seen the battles, the center of a city, that is no different to the spillover in lebanon. there's two neighbourhoods supporting the revolution and another supporting bashar al-assad. they have fought together, but it's been quiet. the recent flare-up. the army raided on apartment north of tripoli. they arrested a man, a main recruiter for i.s.i.l. we sat with a commander on friday, and he received a statement. it called for attacks from the army in retaliation for the arrest. the army is ready. there's a concern that this will go on. lebanon no strange are to the spillover of the war. it's sectarian and divided, a concern to the people here. politicians, divided, giving the message that they stand behind the army. >> sobering figures on the ebola outbreak in west africa. the world health organisation released data. the number of people

while the world has been focused on the battle for kobani, the government of bashar al-assad has claimed to make significant military advances. omar sally reports. ing. >> prime minister and his cabinet and an upbeat seam of the future. >> as we enter the fourth year of the crisis, aing challenge that we face on the security political and economic levels are increasing. but our government is confident in our people, that we'll lead to develop and build the future of syria and bypass his tear ya. >> reporter: and optimism backed by military gains on battle fronts at least according ting syrian state television. aleppo, in news bulletins, here is a story how the armed forces managed to restore security and stability in ten villages in aleppo's southern country side. fighters said they withdrew from those areas after sustaining a heavy aerial bombing campaigning and facing syrian reenforcements. second city remains outside the government's control. the syrian military says its troops are progressing around the country side. >> thank you very much. i wanted to ask about the situation in dall

to fight abanes syrian -- against syrian president bashar al-assad, and i.s.i.l. kurd protested along the border, there has been similar protests elsewhere in turkey. the president believes the bashar al-assad regime in syria is part of the problem. the united states showed littlen thuse yax. for now, it looks -- little enthusiasm. it looks for now that all the kurdish fighters in kobani can expect is u.s. air strikes to help stop i.s.i.l. being in the town. >> criticism about the white house strategy is coming from the former secretary of defense, and c.i.a. director. leon panetta told the n.b.c. "today" show that the u.s. should have kept a preps in iraq, that could have ensured something like i.s.i.l. may not have developed. and warned air strikes will not be enough. >> you need boots on the ground to imbed and train forces. in syria, what we'd like to do is have the opposition forces be the boots on the ground. if that is not enough, if the military says we have to do more, the president ought to be open to that. >> in his book panetta criticizes the president

to go against bashar al-assad, who turkey has opposed since day one, the u.s. has little to no interest in expanding the war inside of syria. turkey nose that, that no matter what he says, the u.s. is not going to do this. >> nick schifrin in turkey, thank you. for more on the efforts to lift i.s.i.l.'s siege, we are joined by douglas oliphant, he served two tours as an army officer in iraq and led a planning team. he is a security fellow. good to see you. 161 iraqi peshawar fighters doesn't sound like a significant enough force to cleaning the course of this battle. and the peshmerga are qualifying how much support. that they won't engage in direct combat. is this a symbolic gesture. it's symbolic, an attempt to thread the needle. the kurdish politics are complicated. syrian kurd are affiliated with the p.k.k. so it appears that the compromise that the turks worked out is to let iraqi kurds, certainly affiliated with the kdp, the barzonti family, a faction closest to the turks, and bring them in and let the kurds who are friendly to the kurds rescue kobane. >>

but turkey's being effort is in ousting bashar al-assad. in iraq the u.s. led coalition targeted i.s.i.l. positions near mosul, being and southern iraq. bernard smith reports. >> turkey's military is just a few hundred meters away from i.s.i.l. fighters. in some places all that separates them is washington, be marking the border. the islamic state of iraq and the levant advance across syria. as refugees continue the arrive turkey has been accused of its nato allies as looking the other way. but speaking to the opening of the turkey's parliament,ing its president says they are committed to attacking the syrian government. >> turkey is not a country that will allow itself to be credit used for temporary transition. -- to be used for temporary transition. >> hesitation about joining the u.s. led campaign against the armed group was partly because 46 turkz were being held hospital taj in iraq. -d hostage in iraq. might be in turkey it is also worried about arming the kurds to fight in syria. turkey fought its own armed conflict with the kurds. then there's the

. >> the regime of syrian president bashar al-assad is just as big a threat. it wants washington to add assad to its target list, it won't. so u.s. to make use of military bases here, bases that the u.s. believes would significantly help its campaign against i.s.i.l. bernard smith a al jazeera on te turkey-yrtsyria border. >>> attacked by chlorine gas, i.s.i.l. has been accused of outing chlorine gas before in syria. u.s. believes i.s.i.l. stole the cache. bomb disposal units have a crucial job, clearing the way for soldiers to fight. imran khan has more from baghdad. >> reporter: a controlled explosion is still quite a thing to witness. booby traps and unexplode bombs kill too many in iraq. as the iraqi defense from the islamic state of iraq and the levant continues. with bomb disposal units stretched their commanders have taken matters into their own hands and are coming up with ever more creative solutions. one of the tactics is to shell empty villages in order to explode any hidden devices. >> translator: the process of clearing the main highway from these