on one side, a young rebel soldier fighting to the death to bring down the regime of president bashar al-assad. >> (translated): my greatest joy will be to become a martyr, and for syria to be liberated. >> narrator: facing him, a career soldier, determined to preserve the assad regime. >> (translated): we are all martyrs in the marking, to keep our country safe. >> narrator: two countrymen, now enemies, in a conflict increasingly driven by hatred. (explosion) >> narrator: with unprecedented access to both sides, frontline journeys deep inside syria to reveal a war that is reshaping the middle east, in "syria behind the lines." frontline is made possible by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. and by the corporation for public broadcasting. major support ffrontline is provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information is available at macfound.org. additional funding is provided by the park foundation, dedicated to heightening public awareness of critical issues. and by tfrontline jou

assad. while the opposition are united in their desire to overthrow president bashar al assad that seems to be where their similarity ends the syrian national coalition is the umbrella group recognized internationally as the legitimate representative of the syrian people but they don't represent all factions opposed to a sad one group operating out of their control for example is the al qaeda linked al nusra front the coalition say they've hijacked the revolution or they've been classed by many in the west as a terrorist organization elsewhere a separate syrian group affiliated to al qaida helped facilitate a jailbreak in iraq over the weekend freeing high ranking al qaeda operatives infiltrated by foreign fighters and this was agenda seems separate from lot of the coalition and it's even led to infighting one f.s.a. commander was killed by a rival group and the f.s.a. feel they could soon be fighting on two fronts but we use the phrase opposition exactly who are we talking about well the coalition alone is made up of at least eleven different groups including the muslim brotherhood who hav

while the opposition are united in their desire to overthrow president bashar al assad that seems to be where their similarity ends the syrian national coalition is the umbrella group recognized internationally as the legitimate representative of the syrian people but they don't represent all factions opposed to a sad one group operating out of their control for example is the al qaeda linked al nusra front the coalition say they've hijacked the revolution or they've been classed by many in the west as a terrorist organization elsewhere a separate syrian group to be eighty two al qaida helped facilitate a jailbreak in iraq over the weekend freeing high ranking al qaeda operatives infiltrated by foreign fighters on the issues agenda seem separate from out of the coalition and it's even led to infighting on f.s.a. commander was killed by a rival group and the f.s.a. feel they could soon be fighting on two fronts what we used plea who are we talking about where the coalition alone is made up of at least eleven different groups including the muslim brotherhood who have recently called on

arrive at this geneva two meeting it seems as though they want to make sure that syrian president bashar assad has no authority following the geneva two meeting and another precondition possibly that we could that was spoken about by the by the french envoy was the fact that once the transitional government is established that that transitional government would have full authority over the security of the military in syria as russian ambassador to the u.n. really underscored here is that all this talk of prevent the geneva two meeting from actually moving forward and taking place understand that having various gone tax with the national committee with the supreme council of the kurds of syria but there is. an understanding has not yet been achieved among them to be jointly represented to be presented to. the syrian opposition would like to receive the weapons in arms in military aid that the obama administration recently promised to provide to the rebels fighting against syrian president bashar al assad many ask why would washington be shipping more weapons and. getting the civil war because n

but in syria, president bashar al assad praised the action saying it meant the end of political islamanwhile the obama administration is treading carefully in its response to the developments in egypt. in a written statement, the president acknowledged the grievances of the egyptian people but said he was deeply concerned about the military's removal of morsi and the future of democracy in egypt. at the white house, president obama met on this holiday with members of his national security team to discuss the situation in egypt. his staff has contacted officials in cairo today. for more on what egypt's leadership change means for the country and the region, i'm joined by shibley telhami, the anwar sadat professor of peace and development at the university of maryland. his latest book is "the world through arab eyes: arab public opinion and the reshaping of the middle east." and hussein ibish, a commentator and blogger who writes a weekly column on the middle east for "foreign policy" and the daily beast. welcome to you both to the program. >> hussein ibish, first of all what do you mak

you still have bashar al assad still in syria.comes right at that time where we're he clearly dealing with iran. if egypt can get itself together and make this transition peacefully, could this provide us even better leverage if we have a stronger more democratically supported government in the area? >> i think every one of us would love to see a strong democratic institutionally well established government run in egypt. the fact of the matter is, joy, is that fortunately for egypt, it doesn't face the same type of sunni secular divide that is tearing apart the fabric of societies in syria as well as in iraq as well as in bahrain. what we're seeing here is really more a multitiered disapproval of the government that has an islamist versus secular aspect to it. an economically deprived versus an economically mismanaged government aspect to it. so what is driving egypt is will esto do, believe it or the no, with strong sectarian religious islamist fault lines and much more to do with enormous dissatisfaction with the islamist govern

the syrian coalition has called on the united states to urge bashar al-assad to release the civilians. but thanh us government won the tiny country off the second ever elementary election. the people's democratic party gained hurt he to out of 47 assembly seats. it based its campaign on strengthening the economy. some ofi recently cut its aid to bhutan. soldiers and police officers have tossed ballots out of the elections and are voting early because they will be voting early when the polls are held on the final day of this month. the movement for democratic change will challenge the ballot in court. it says the police numbers have been inflated and officers are being pressured to vote for the the former south african president says he expects his predecessor, nelson mandela, to return home soon. prayer services are being held for the anti-apartheid hero who has been in the hospital for five weeks. mandela was admitted after suffering a lung infection and is said to be in critical but stable condition. the ugandan army is on the lookout for rebel fighters who could be among the thousa

the first two years of the obama administration -- we engaged the regime of bashar al-assad. not because we like him or his behavior was particularly good. it was based on the idea that syria is very important. not only in signing a peace treaty with israel, but also because of the geographic location. people are very friendly but by and large, we didn't have a lot of u.s. interests there. but we have a lot of interest in the countries that surround of syria. in lebanon where the u.s. doesn't have necessarily direct interest a lot of historical interest in remaining military interest there. i try to think a little bit about this and i hear about this every time. those that said we shouldn't get more involved in syria, they said, look at what happened in syria. so those of you that are from there know exactly what i'm talking about. and in the end it didn't destroy the region were threatened things. so i think that the analogy that immediately came to mind was that for all of the horrific things that happen, will lebanon is a small roadhouse on the end of the law can do for so

washington there are sure that the assad regime is essentially behind this attack why is russia saying otherwise. well like you said washington seems very convinced that bashar al assad was behind this attack that it was allegedly a chemical attack they say they had evidence no one seen it hasn't been published or given to it to the press in any way so a lot of people still wondering what exact evidence that is but russia has conducted an investigation a long sight so actually on the ground and embassador to the u.n. to tell you turkey and now can explain what exactly they found and why they believe that it wasn't assad who was behind that attack but the results of the analysis clearly indicate that the ordinance used in kannada so was not industrially manufactured and was filled with sudden the sudden technical specifications prove that it was not invested in the manufacture of either the projectile involved is not as standard one for chemical use therefore there is evidence you seem to believe that it was the armed opposition fighters who used the chemical weapons so . now we know that the target turkey and went on to pass these results the actual the actu

that has not given them any assurances of promises as to a division of syria off to president bashar assad and israeli military intelligence says that syria is turning into a center for global jihad is which will influence the entire region earlier we talked to terrorism expert your time schweitzer from the israeli think tank the institute for national security studies and he says if push comes to shove is road can take up the challenge against the jihadists in syria. it seems time passes by buses by the the. salafi jihadists growing in numbers and effective in the conflict and considered to be the most violent and the most professional among to be a position to fight them i think israel is not interfering in the same syrian conflict some elements fold their own reasons trying to accuse israel of this kind of involvement the second i don't think that these are the should interfere in these conflicts. and. unless the ease they wrecked attacks by the global jihadist against israel and the syrian army would not be able to contain them then in these cases and we have to deal with the program b

guess in many of the western decision makers were very optimistic that syria after getting rid of bashar assad will become. a burgeoning democracy in the next day but two years down the line they have slowed are still continuing but unfortunately this is all we have time for thank you very much for your time and please join us again same place same time here on the. wealthy british soil. from time to. market. why no one should really be happening to the global economy with much stronger a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune in to conjure reports . toxic discovery syria's military allegedly finds a rebel laboratory meant to produce and store chemical substances the reports coming from syrian state television. reports that u.s. police are firing rubber bullets at crowds protesting over the controversial acquittal of george zimmerman who shot dead an african-american teenager. a criminal probe for an ex-president egypt's former leader investigated for allegedly spying killing and wrecking the economy even as his orders continue to protest for his return. and fugitive n.s.a

necessarily favorable to it however like to know how they're going to have to take syrian president bashar assad for instance very tough relationship with israel over the years but as you kind of knew what he would do knew how he would react now in syria there's complete chaos in egypt also now catechize ways and it's tough it's tough for israeli policymakers to look at this and define what to do at the nonsense of breaking the sat is next after a break. as a person who lives in russia i get asked very often why automatic console fat well are americans actually fat or is this just a myth from some hater countries the centers for disease control have declared obesity to be a disease that's a twenty point nine percent of adult americans are obese and that is an all time high people blame the sedentary lifestyle as the cause yes if you were out all day at work and then all evening after driving home sure doesn't help your waistline but problems can have multiple causes and the authors of the book rich food poor food believe it could be tied to eight foods that are allowed in america but are banned

obama administration recently promised to provide to the rebels fighting against syrian president bashar al assad it is clearly assumed that the delegation represent. in the syrian opposition this year new york discussed that issue with u.s. secretary of state john kerry now before they began their bilateral meeting on thursday secretary kerry said that there could be no military solution to the syrian crisis only a political solution but if that is the case many ask why would washington be shipping more weapons and arms to a country that is in the midst of a civil war that is now reaching two and a half years so we have this meeting taking place and a lot of talk but it seems as though the positions still remain and there has been no date yet set for this geneva two meeting that is co organized co-sponsored by russia and the us anti-war campaigner you told us that western backed attempts to topple the assad regime only stir up a hornet's nest in syria rendering peace efforts useless. the united states and the united kingdom france other western nations have really made clear that they will only

guess in many of the western decision makers were very optimistic that syria after getting rid of bashar assad will become the burgeoning democracy of the next day but two years down the line they have slowed are still continuing but unfortunately this is all we have time for thank you very much for your time and please you join us again same place same time here on one of the part . of. some of these traditional chili lines they've been bred and developed and down from generation. this is a told destruction of the culture of mexico and i tell him what i mean this is not going to impact us well in mexico whatever happens here it's about the whole world now we're eating out about it in the in the open in the skin all the organs that work for. the engineers why do you think this country is full of obese and sick people because we have a crappy food system. we speak your language i mean some of the will not advance. these programs and documentaries in spanish more matches to you. a little too much of angles to the story. i'll teach spanish. visit i to. tito it's comb. secret lumber tour to mccurr

credibility this is regarding the use of chemical weapons in syria and western powers it claimed bashar assad's regime used nerve gas on civilians back in march but russia revealed it had conducted its own investigation into the incident and discovered it was the syrian opposition in fact sponsible for the atrocity which killed twenty six of russia's u.n. envoy added that western claims to the contrary appear to be aimed at hampering an independent investigation into the chemical attack here's how fatah substantiated russia's findings. the results of the analysis clearly indicate that the ordinance used in commerce so was not industrially manufactured and was filled with sudden. the site in technical specifications proved that it was not invested in manufactured either the project al involved is not as standard one forget nickel use therefore there is evident use them to believe that it was the armed opposition fighters who used the chemical weapons in khan. israel carried out an attack on the key syrian port of latakia on friday that's according to statements made by three anonymous u.s. offic

prime minister has been quite a vocal supporter of the syrian rebels and he's called for president bashar assad to step down on a number of occasions repeatedly in fact but behind the scenes it's been reported that turkey is one of the main corn jewett for rebel weaponry flowing into syria turkey is an open door policy toward syria which means that from two thousand and eleven there's been some four hundred thousand refugees flooding over the turkish syrian border into southern turkey and it's not just refugees actually we've got opposition figures rebels. getting medical treatment in southern turkey planning operations from turkey even fund raising in turkey so that part of turkey is somewhat of a safe haven a so-called buffer zone for the syrian opposition now we know that the syrian turkish border as a result of that has had some tensions there's been some exchanges of artillery and mortar fire in the past that have also been a number of terrorist explosions in the region which has blamed on damascus and damascus in turn has pointed the finger is a missed militants. border that turkey is all

necessarily favorable to what it however like to know how they're going to act to take syrian president bashar assad for instance very tough relationship with israel over the years but as you kind of knew what he would do knew how we would react now in syria there's complete chaos in egypt also now academy it's tough it's tough for israeli policymakers to look at this and define what to do. when other digits gone full circle back to the el set of the revolution two years ago we're asking how you think it will all end this time we're going to r.t. online voting section to have your say let's see how the opinions divided so far this is the result so far on our online poll most voters believe that the army will do its best to administer the country and till we do see fresh elections just over a quarter say that a consensus is unlikely an egypt will be dragged into further chaos bearing in mind it is a divided nation and some of you think that the army will now keep hold of power now they've got it and the rest claim morsi and the muslim brotherhood are battered but not broken it may not be the end that

israel turkish prime minister has been a vocal supporter of the syrian rebels he's called for bashar assad to step down publicly behind the scenes it's been widely reported that he is a major coin jewett rebel weaponry flowing into syria we know that there are rebels and syrian opposition figures that receive medical assistance that receive training and that fund raiser plan. from southern turkey that side of turkey that part is known as a so-called buffer zone somewhat of a safe haven for syrian opposition figures that have been a number of exchanges of artillery and mortar fire from the syrian turkish border there have been a number of explosions. has pointed the finger at damascus for launching so-called terrorist attacks on the border while damascus has blamed syrian opposition figures and islamic militants for causing this trouble overall turkish officials have made it clear that they want to avoid any direct military involvement in syria. relations between turkey and israel have been at a lows since the two thousand and ten commando raid on a turkish humanitarian aid flotilla which s

now the dictator bashar al-assad is gaining the upper hand with help from hezbollah, a militant group from lebanon which the united states says is a terrorist group. we wondered how hezbollah is moving troops into syria and whether lebanon could be dragged into the war. clarissa ward went in to find out. >> reporter: it has become a familiar sight: funerals for lebanon's hezbollah fighters killed in syria's bloody civil war. in recent months, the militant shiite muslim group has thrown its support behind syria's president, bashar al-assad, fighting alongside the syrian army, hezbollah has helped them to win key victories against the syrian rebels. a secretive group, hezbollah gave us rare permission to travel to its stronghold of hermel on the syrian border. we were escorted by a hezbollah guide who did not want to show his face. he told us that the group only joined syria's civil war after syrian rebels fired more than 100 rockets across the border. "the rebels are the ones who transgressed against this land" he told us. "hezbollah is just defending its own people." here the border b

guess in many of the western decision makers were very optimistic that syria after getting rid of bashar assad will become the burgeoning democracy of the next day but two years down the line they have slowed are still continuing but unfortunately this is all we have time for thank you very much for your time and please you join us again same place same time here on one of them are . some of these traditional chili lines they've been bred into bill passed down from generation. this is a total struction of the culture of mexico by telling them i mean this this is not going to impact us well in mexico whatever happens here it's about the whole world now we're. in the in the you know in the you know all the ordinance that works for . genetically engineered crops why do you think this country is full of obese and sick people because we have a crappy food system. i would rather i asked questions for people in positions of power instead of speaking on their behalf and that's why you can find my show larry king now right here on our t.v. question more. first . and i think that you're. on our reporter

against another muslim country now it's no secret that turkey has spoken out against the regime of bashar assad in syria but this certainly is not a sufficient enough as to why turkey would work with israel to launch an attack against syria. on the israeli syrian border. let's take a look at the previous israeli air raids on syrian territory which only confirmed by anonymous sources in israel a military combat outside damascus bombarded twice in january and may rockets also striking a warehouse of the capital's international airport allegedly containing surface to air missiles there on all occasions the attacks were explained as operations to wipe out iranian missiles to be bound for hezbollah in lebanon on this story to middle east expert mark things israel's motives may go beyond blocking weapons from reaching the group. israel has an interest in preventing hezbollah getting the weapons but the broader context is not just syria but also iran and i think that's what turkey is cotton mill could place because turkey is a historical military ally of israel with a lot of cooperation between the tu

against another muslim country now it's no secret that turkey has spoken out against the regime of bashar assad in syria but this certainly is not a sufficient enough onset as to why turkey would work with israel to launch an attack against syria policy r.t. on the israeli syrian border. let's take a look at previous israeli air raids on syrian territory which were only confirmed by anonymous sources in the country a military compound outside damascus bombarded twice in january and may rockets also hit a warehouse in the capital's international airport that allegedly held surface to surface missiles on all occasions attacks explain is operations to wipe out iranian weapons thought to be bound for hezbollah in lebanon journalist manuel oxen a writer whose extensively covered the civil war in syria so israel took a side in the conflict long before the strikes i don't think that this is a huge change for all the general situation because. what's supporting in the past the so-called rebels in this what the media claim it is the civil war but isn't the reality since a long time a proxy war we have r

opposition that has not given them any assurances of promises as to a division of syria after president bashar assad. just reminder you can check out the stories we're not covering in our news updates but still keeping an eye on it all t. dot com mostly for member of the scandalous to see rather than. a russian court once again denied parole for maria alyokhina it's lined up there for you at the moment and also. drowning in drones the u.s. expands as much debated program by developing a brand new technology which will see unmanned craft launched under the sea. a number of leading companies in german industry have accused the chancellor of following policies towards russia that are damaging the nation's business interests giants like love tanser siemens and votes five and were among one hundred eighty companies and unions lobbying for their interests in eastern europe the group believes that merkel's government is not paying enough attention to its relations with russia and wants to see a new strategy to prevent relations cooling any further key to that or closer ties between the markets of russia an

global headline syrian opposition figures meeting in turkey to elect a new leadership as president bashar assad claims his opponents have failed to overthrow his regime the main goal of the opposition to reassure anti-government backers that they can be trusted with weapons in syria more than ninety three thousand people killed since the crisis started in march two thousand and eleven the conflict started as peaceful protests against assad's rule and then turned to civil war after opposition supporters took up arms to fight a brutal government crackdown on dissent. a top female police officer has been killed in afghanistan's southern helmand province two armed men riding a motorcycle shot dead thirty seven year old islam bibi who is known as a role model for other women in the conservative province her death comes as four girls have also been killed by a roadside blast in helmand according to authorities girls between ages between seven and twelve four at a wedding and had gone home to fetch some water from a stream when the blast happened at least one hundred eighty civilians have been killed

obviously i guess many of the decision makers were very optimistic that syria after getting rid of bashar assad will become the burgeoning democracy of the next day by two years down the line we have a lot are still continuing but unfortunately this is only have time for thank you very much for your time and join us again same place same time here in the world. some of these traditional. generation. this is a total struction of the culture. this is. in mexico. we're not in the in the world. of so. why do you think this country is full of obese and sick people because we have a crappy food system. looks. more news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of canada. operations or the day. some of these traditional chili lines. down from generation. this is the culture of mexico i tell you what i mean this is not going to impact on any mexico whatever happens here. in the in the. you know. why do you think this country is full of obese and sick people because we have a crappy food. today's news on the week's top stories right here on.

against another muslim country now it's no secret that turkey has spoken out against the regime of bashar assad in syria but this certainly is not a sufficient enough onset as to why turkey would work with israel to launch an attack against syria policy r.t. on the israeli syrian border. now let's track her previous israeli air raids on syrian territory which have not been confirmed by officials in israel a military compound a just outside of damascus was bombarded twice in january and in may and rockets also struck a warehouse at the capital's international airport allegedly containing surface to surface missiles on all occasions the attacks were explained as operations to wipe out iranian missiles thought to be bound for hezbollah in lebanon historian and middle east expert mark all meant believes israel's motives go beyond preventing weapons from reaching the target group it sort of has an interest in preventing hasbro getting the weapons but the broader context is not just syria but also we are wrong and i think that's what turkey is cotton or could place because turkey is a historical mili

credibility this regarding the use of chemical weapons in syria and western powers that clain bashar assad's regime used the gas on civilians in march but russia revealed it had conducted its own investigation into the incident and discovered the syrian opposition was in fact responsible for the atrocities that killed twenty six russians a u.n. envoy added the western claims of a contrary appeared to be aimed at hampering an independent investigation into the chemical attack fears of a tally churkin substantiate of russia's findings. the results of the analysis clearly indicate that the ordinance used in common assault was not industrially manufactured and was filled with saddam. the sudden technical specification is proof that it was not industrially manufactured either the project allen volt is not is standard one for chemical use therefore there is evident you want to believe that it was the armed opposition fighters who used the chemical weapons in. israel was a behind the recent explosions at the key syrian port of the takia this according to statements made by three anonymous u.s. offi

guess many of the western decision makers were very optimistic that syria after getting rid of bashar assad will become. a burgeoning democracy in the next day but two years down the line they have slowed are still continuing but unfortunately this is only have time for more thank you very much for your time and join us again same place same time here in the world are. some of these traditional chili lines they've been bred into bill passed down from generation. this is a total struction of the culture of new mexico by telling them i mean this this is not going to impact only mexico whatever happens here. we're. in the in the world you know or in the works. why do you think this country is full of obese and sick people because we have a crappy food system. the official. language stream. favorites. if you're away from. the. speak your language. news programs. use. stories. safe. today. if you think these are the images. from the streets of canada. today. sorry it's technology innovation. is developments from russia. good luck for a tour to mccurry was able to build the needs most sophisticat