other from from syria you will know i believe there is number one enemy or united states in syria and i wouldn't be surprised if they managed to topple very demon syria which is that they will go after al qaeda. that we tried to do in. two thousand and six and. didn't succeed as well my question is this flirting with violence thinking that you can make violence work in your favor but only then realizing that the present here after pay and you know that america's war on terror was worth trillions of dollars these prizes much higher than any gains what do you think would be prize for americans and the west in general to realize that this voting with violence is actually extremely counterproductive to all national interests well actually the american. making a lot of mistakes in the middle east and it's not the first time it's not surprising i believe that america. american miscalculated in iraq and they miscalculated believe we're definitely miscalculating in syria because you know whenever they're all there are laws intervene in any of the middle eastern countries the created or the cr

i mean this is insanity. well they've they've been wrong from the very beginning. syria i mean we withdrew our ambassadors early on kind of saying to syria that we don't want to engage with you we're going to demonize you we're going to vilify you we're going to isolate you which makes it much easier for assad or any leader to essentially go crazy on his own people let's be clear i mean the deaths that happened last week doctors without borders saying it's three hundred fifty five that's deplorable any death is deplorable whether it's u.s. air strikes in iraq or afghanistan to kill hundreds of people or chemical weapons in syria used by someone maybe the government killing hundreds of people death is deplorable but on syria we have not exhausted all means available certainly on the diplomatic front we only gauged russia primarily that's like well engaging a little bit just a little bit ok because you're a good point you know ed did they still had the peace process quote unquote but the americans never they dropped the ball every single time yeah i mean i think i think th

syria. ok stephen if i go back to you in new york the united states and the u.k. say they can attack syria without a united nations security council mandate how is that possible it's beyond international law they say they can do it under humanitarian grounds so what are they to meet i understand that they've come up with various rationales for the attack humanitarian grounds is one of them active defense is another because under . fifty one of the un charter states are allowed to defend themselves against attacks but it's stretchy and in both cases it's stretching these terms in a way that well yeah but i mean i sort of i suppose syria and syria could invoke that one. anybody could invoke those things and the point is it's not just the u.n. is not supporting this you don't have the arab league their belief has refused to endorse any kind of military action nato for that exam for that for that purpose it has not issued any statement in support of this you don't even have the in the american polling data there's very little support among the american citizenry for an

two days ago the president of syria when he gave an interview to the russian television he search syria i will never be a colony of anybody in syria i will resist and will be a southern country. to another country now that has witnessed u.s. military intervention iraq is still suffering from a spiral of violence and terrorist attacks that continues to claim thousands of lives every year on wednesday a series of coordinated bomb attacks in the country's capital killed more than sixty people and left dozens injured restaurants markets and car parks in predominantly shiite areas were targeted by the attackers violence in the country has been on the rise since the start of the year with a sunni minority protesting against the shiite led government let's take a look at the tragic figures of sectarian strife well twenty ten saw over a four thousand people killed while the elections came was no clear winner leaving the country with no leadership the same figures in twenty eleven where the u.s. troops pulling out of iraq by the end of the year then comes a spike in deaths over the next twelve mon

of paratime syria let's go to steven steven jump in go ahead. i mean you know one of the many consequences of a missile attack on by the u.s. on on syria may be an attack by the syrians and iranians on israel i mean speaking of you know an unintended consequence of going to happen and frankly that's something that i don't feel that this administration has really figured out the other thing i might mention is that a republican who i don't necessarily ever agree with on most issues the speaker of the house john boehner has actually sent a letter to obama asking him fourteen questions about exactly what his strategy is if we we bomb syria i mean including the question of what happens if a missile attack occurs and it doesn't change anything and you know assad continues to do what he wants to do you're going to then have people in this country demanding well if that didn't work we're going to you know increase our price we're going to put troops in there we've got to do all sorts of other things which would be absolutely a disaster would be another ir

, and when i went back from syria, i was giving testimony from a senate foreign relations committee onimproving u.s.-syria relations. mr. president, after that incident, what if something worse happens, and i say, nuke syria, forget, you know, u.s. syria relations, just nuke the place, and i said, mr. president, i said, you know, politely as i could, mr. president, you have to get vol of the security forces or otherwise it will haunt you, and that's exactly what's happened. they acted as they usually do, writing on the walls in the southern syria city, roughed them up, and in the new circumstances, that was the lighting of the fire for the uprising in syria, and it was that hubris of the security services that he allowed, you know, and he knows that. i mean, he admitted they have excess, but, you know, he indicated it was a necessary evil and dangerous neighborhood, and, you know, that's somewhat true, but it's also an excuse to maintain the existence of the security state and maintain the regime in power to it's a combination of those two things. he, in his supporters, they -- three t

i know i'm going to make it fast as. he went to syria i started this cover every day pictures and videos of syria and one day i recognize my all son in the video with other belgian guys so i moved to syria i was in the way i've seen so many cruel things even the one in the fighting group and got the word that you got me that put the gun on me i was almost dead and at least i came back to the question with empty hands because these radical people these leaders this a show you know they don't give me the opportunity to see our son if you experience the horrors of war do you think he would want to come back but they may not let him in effect has he been kidnapped. because they. were standing above all these children from the west not only from the west but many of the young guys from all over the walls they are using this young children and they're all months that they see they see their family are they go back to europe is a very traumatic time for him what do you say to other parents who could well experience the same thing what you say o

wants and it's not what israel wants we have treated different agendas virgine in syria the fact bunda are at these rallies i was writing for you know who the obama administration to fight a war for them ok there are right now not even a national of the united states capitol paratime syria let's go to steven steven jump in go ahead. i mean you know one of the many consequences of a missile attack on by the u.s. on on syria may be an attack by the syrians and iranians on israel i mean speaking of a you know an unintended consequence of going to happen and frankly that's something that i don't feel that this administration has really figured out the other thing i might mention is that a republican who i don't necessarily ever agree with on most issues the speaker of the house john boehner has actually sent a letter to obama asking him fourteen questions about exactly what his strategy is if we we bomb syria i mean including the question of what happens if a missile attack occurs and it doesn't change anything and you know assad continues to do what he wants to do you're going to then have people in this countr

force,say beyond any strategy is needed on syria. i want to get your reactions this morning again to the situation in syria and what the secretary of state said yesterday in what the u.s. should do and whether congress may or may not be involved as well as the international community. here are the lines on the screen. here is the front page of "the washington post" this morning. obama weighing limiting strike on syria. they say the president is wearing a strike syria that would be a limited scope and duration, designed to serve as punishment for serious use of chemical weapons and as a deterrent while keeping the u.s. out of deeper involvement in that country possible war. this according to senior administration officials. the timing of such an attack which would probably last no more than two days and involve -- lawrence cruise missiles and involve see launch cruise is dependent on three factors. completion of an intelligence report assessing syrian government culpability in last week's chemical attack, ongoing consultation with allie

but i look at today's reaction in the markets could have a lot to do with syria. but really the bigger thing out there for me is the taper situation and whether or not we're going to see tapering coming now. and i think the economic data you're getting is telling you you're not going to see it or you're going to see a reduced version. maybe only $10 billion. i look at a sector like financials if i was on air talking about what i own two weeks ago, three weeks ago saying you can own citi at 54, bank of america. now there's nothing out there that tells me fine. yields had a huge spike, almost 100% off the lows to where they topped out around 2.9%. that we know. now they're sitting here at 2.75% on the ten-year, that doesn't tell me i want to be out of financials. i like citi at $55. i like it at $48. >> there's a lot we don't know from the fundamental standpoint. we don't know what the jobs report looks like and we have no idea what the fed ends up doing on september 18th. all we can look at is price and behavior. when you look at this quiet crash in emerging markets

the words, i get it from david cameron suggests he will have to admit defeat and if others want to take military action against syria, although they may have the vocal support of david cameron, they won't have the official british participation. >> thank you very much. the latest fascinating stuff coming out of london. just before that i spoke with a former state department official, now the president on the council of foreign relations. seem that there is something of a pause in the rush strike syria. is this the right thing to be doing? >> i actually agree with you that there is something of a pause. i think this is a healthy thing. all of this talking about what we are likely to do seems to dilute the impact, certainly on the receiving side. because the u.s. government has to spend so much time reassuring those who fear that this is going to become some kind of a quagmire. so every time the obama administration works to reassure that we are not doing too much they remove some of the menace of what this would mean for syrians. >> if this is a strike -- there better be a strike that is effective. >> it will have to

the words, i get it from david cameron suggests he will have to admit defeat and if others want to take military action against syria, although they may have the vocal support of david cameron, they won't have the official british participation. >> thank you very much. the latest fascinating stuff coming out of london. just before that i spoke with a former state department official, now the president on the council of foreign relations. seem that there is something of a pause in the rush strike syria. is this the right thing to be doing? >> i actually agree with you that there is something of a pause. i think this is a healthy thing. all of this talking about what we are likely to do seems to dilute the impact, certainly on the receiving side. because the u.s. government has to spend so much time reassuring those who fear that this is going to become some kind of a quagmire. so every time the obama administration works to reassure that we are not doing too much they remove some of the menace of what this would mean for syrians. >> if this is a strike -- there better be a strike that is effective. >> it will have to

syria. that's the bottom line here. ieel bad that this attack happened, but it wasn't an attack against americans. it's not an attack against anything that resembles an american interest. we can't be the policemen for the world. we have to pick our fights. the country is incredibly war weary at this point and understandably so. we should tend to our own garden first. >> is there any doubt in your mind at this point now that the assad regime was behind the attack, or are you still convinced that the evidence itself is a bit murky? >> well, it's murky in one important respect, which is respect that is underlined by the report just released. the administration says it has evidence that syrian officials, not assad, but syrian officials were witting of the attacks. honestly, that's the first time i've ever heard that phase used in my entire life. witting of the attacks. one could reasonably ask the question, what did assad know and when did he know it? if you ask that question, you'll be met with a stoney silence. >> but the r

i think that the. both sides in syria are carrying out what under any normal definition would be atrocities unspeakable acts and therefore i think it is irresponsible to say these guys are slightly better than those and let's try and help them to when i think the policy should be to try and get to a situation where they stop fighting and where i mean imagine what it must be like trying to bring up a family in that country if you were not particularly politicized having all this going on around you i remember traveling in syria in the days of the father and being touched by countless small acts of kindness from people because they had compensated for living in a dictatorship by being exceptionally generous and hospitable people and i think of them when i see what's happening now. i think it's slightly chilling the you talk in terms of we have a legitimate national interest and you get the impact that these policies are having. in the region well i think the. point mr hanna because russia hold other countries has more ties

i have a big family in syria that is suffering right now along with millions of syrians i am here my heart goes to all the syrians including my family including that refugees i have seen on the borders of jordan and of lebanon. my heart goes out to the government's response a bit about such horrendous. genocide and i really mean genocides i've been there i've seen what is happening over there children are useful to the streets and they're crossing the borders what do you mean under government i mean all the governments of the word whoever it is has that it has at its sponsibility about this thing about the opposition or the government both of them and the games themselves and i think both of them if they have listen to reason before it broke loose we wouldn't be seeing ten million refugees on the borders it's being. gamed by both parties the opposition and the government and i think we should just sit down and get a bit and think about. who is. benefiting from all this i'm sure the syrian people are not benefiting because i've been ther

syria has a very negative effect on that. thank you paula that was artie's middle east bureau chief paula sawyer in beirut lebanon i was joined earlier by gareth porter investigative journalist and historian along with richard murphy the former u.s. ambassador to syria to help shed some additional light on the latest developments out of syria i start off by asking gareth what is the purpose of these military strikes. but that's the question i think that everyone is asking around the world really. it is so so difficult to figure out what the administration really thinks

station available i recognised my also on the side me to move up to syria so i moved to c.d.r. i've been taught the six days in syria the search mission to look for miles which are. not not easy believe me i was in the way i have seen some. one of the fighting groups not me that put the cuffs on me i was almost there it's this is partly that i was a spy working for the cia so it was amazing a mission. because these radical people the leaders this show you know don't give me the opportunity to see my own some i don't know what what are your thoughts now as to see some what about your son's safety is his life in danger no we don't we don't know anything and he's not only we but all the other belgian parents are in the same situation as me until today no contact no. nothing we don't know anything about our children we don't know anything about our sons and daughters do you think if you experience the horrors of war do you think you would want to come back but they may not let him in effect has he been kidnapped. because. we're standing above all these children from the west not onl

i think the catalysts we have, of course, syria. we saw last week from the fed, this market clear lay not priced in the taper yet. i think they're holding out hope maybe the taper doesn't happen until september and a softening economy. i agree with david, not been a disorderly sell-off. i don't think there's panic out there on the street and believe from the people i've talked to the in markets, this is setting up for something better down the line. too bad if you weren't raising cash when the market was going up as i was telling you to. as it goes down a good opportunity. be patient. i do think this is not just a garden variety pullback, a little steeper. >> david, since people are piling back into bonds here, some attraction at these levels? >> you know, we say buy a limited partnerships, a nice yield and growing yield. look, johnson and johnson yields 2.9%. above the ten-year treasury. i wish everybody a happy labor day and a [ speaking in foreign language ] happy new year for the members of the jewish faith watching today. >> the

syria is very complicated. and you should be left with the issues i mean that's where we say syria and israel comes to our mind immediately dispatched to are so into related. i mean you have to look into syria in a historical context of course you have said it before that it is the right of every nation to enjoy freedom. and justice. i mean we've got to advocate for everybody. should have the riot. free choice they should be able to shoot. in lex's routers themselves this is that you look at the most basic principle and that's the real harm in syria the same thing should happen. to are two things to method sure now change or suit one is militarism or the method the more. innocent want to come to power minutes early i think that is wrong we have to think that is wrong but during the good anybody who comes to power should be militarily jangle good tech means that he approves of the world of armed conflicts especially in the. military if it were two countries english there are different ethnic groups or different clans to get at the various other methods that national. reconciliation and everybody should all there

i think it's uncertainty driving the pullback. when we saw british lawmakers say, look, we're not going to join the strike against syria. knew it was going to retreat this morning. we've seen it come down 8 bucks, 9 bucks, volatility in oil. we don't have the strike on syria, i would expect to see it go down. >> you're saying they're not sure this is going to go ahead? >> yes. it's based on immediate impact, it's not going to happen until today, tuesday or so. i would expect we open on tuesday with higher oil prices. >> we're showing a three-month chart of oil. we've had incredible gains for the last three months in oil, both in london and the united states. is that a valid gain right now based on supply and demand? is there a premium put in there based on syria, which is not an oil exporter, or just an excuse to buy oil right now? >> i think it's a combination of things. we did not discount the fact we have issues in libya. major pullback of production in libya, the lowest it's been since the overthrow of gadhafi. we have libya being mixed into the price. i would expect oil down below 101, 102 if we don't have anything

i saw it's not really a. good reason to intervene in syria and also what i wanted to point that bomb being using bombs will not solve the problem in syria we will add more that more injuries and it's not correct in my need to intervene and to solve the syrian problem ok there your thoughts that we see it coming from brussels or the very heart of the e.u. what is the general picture you know your friends your family people you are speaking to about your view is it generally shared. for example if. we read the newspaper here in belgium you see that more than seventy five percent of the people is against this intervention and we can see that in other countries in europe and also in united states are against. this intervention in syria and i think we can point to. two explanations to that the first one is that. people in western europe doesn't. give more credit to the some allies that we receive from u.s. government with colin powell when we want to have really does evidence is that the pointing to intervene in syria we know that also calling for will manipulate the truth for intervening in iraq in two thousand an

syria and nothing was done. the president's credibility is on the line and that's why i think he's trying to act. esponds to our attack by having their friends in hezbollah or the other terrorist groups launch a terrorist attack against the united states, the strike will become a war. >> let's not forget. what you're referring to is the fact that the syria, saying that syria is simply a approximaty state for iran with a nuclear weapon program. >> if you're going to respond to this chemical attack you don't have to do it immediately. you should line up support and consult with congress. candidate obama said he should do that. >> candidate obama is completely different than president obama in this case. >> there's a special congress that we're dealing with right now that has the lowest popularity rating. >> a special congress? >> and republicans who overwhelmly would oppose taking any action. the president of the united states can't be handcuffed by the same republicans that holding the rest of the country hostage on every other law. >> when the president went to congress over iraq intervention, dem

syria is very complicated. and you see the illiteracy if you see. i mean that's where we say syria and israel comes to our mind immediately dispatched to are so into related. i mean you have to look into syria in a historical context of course you have said it before that it is a right of every nation to enjoy freedom and see justice. limited to the good of the show that everybody should have the riot. free choice they should be able to shoot. in lex's routers themselves this is that you look at the most basic principle and that's the real harm in syria the same thing should happen . to are two things the two methods you should now change or suit one is militarism or the method of war. and want to come to power militarily i think that is wrong we have reached i think that is wrong but jang the good anybody who comes to power should be militarily jangle good tech means that he approves of the wars of armed conflicts especially in the. military if we were trying to trees and wish to our different ethnic groups or different clans to get at that there is

i think it is going to take sometime. the inspectors had a mandate that allowed them to be in syria for 14 days. inspectors in many ways are going to be a problem for the obama administration, because after months of being delayed, just as they started work, the obama administration i think has decided to go down a different route. it has decided the red line has been crossed, and with some partners is going to launch military action. that's why the inspectors might be a small problem, because i don't think they will want those inspectors there in the country if the bombing is to start in matter of days. i think there will be fears that there could be re percussions because of the inspectors. if you hear the inspectors are going to leave, that is probably because the u.s. has phoned the un and said get your people out. >> has there been any sort of general reaction to what appears to be this line that has been crossed. it's not a question of if, but rather when some kind of military action will take place inside syria? >> i think that's what everyone is saying here. it's now just matter of time.

syria. ben wedeman is standing by in jordan. nick, i want to start with you right now because you spent a good deal of time reporting from russia. vladimir putin has been dead set against any u.s. intervention in syria. fringely, the russians have been quite supportive of the syrian regime here. how big of an obstacle has the russian leader been to u.s. intention there's? >> well, he's completely stymied all resolutions of the u.n. security council. their veto has been moved to make sure his moves never really get passed the u.n. security council. he's been militarily providing support. the russians say they're just fulfilling old arms contracts rather than bringing new ones in even today he says that claims assad could use chemical weapons was utter nonsense. he's very vocal about this. two real reasons. hostility still in his mind from the united states and the old cold war and kgb. but also there's the fact that syria's been in the arab world russia's stalwart ally and they see this as the erosion of their influence, their ability to

>> john, i think she talking to a much broader audience than -- and an audience that might specifically be concerned with events in syriai think he is now talking to kim jong-un he is talking to leadership in iran. he is talking to anyone who thinks that the u.s. might bluff and not follow through when we've said we're going to do something. so from my view as a professional military man, this has ramifications beyond syria and it impacts our ability to do the things we need to do in the rest of the world. >> bob, you worked for years in the intelligence community and you heard the president there talk about the intelligence, the strength of the intelligence. he says the syrians used chemical weapons against their own people. based on what you've seen and your vast experience in this field, is it convincing evidence? i'm not hearing bob here right now. dana, let me ask you this, congress, are they at all swayed by the horrific nature of what the president says went on in syria? >> oh, absolutely. i mean, there's no question about it. and that really at the end of the day is going to -- if you sort of look ahead of what

so i so i think, broadly, this is still a trip that the ? syria notwithstanding, that the president looks forward to as an opportunity to engage on this set of issues. i?ll stop there and turn it to andy. mr. schwartz: dr. kuchins is our ? the director of our russia and eurasia program, and he will put forth what?s going on with the russians. thanks, andrew. and my apologies for being late. unlike mr. putin last year in deciding not to come to the g-8, and unlike mr. obama deciding not to meet mr. putin in moscow, i did decide to come to the press briefing today. it's kind of an odd role. you know, in russian literature, there is a tradition of the "lishniy chelovek," the superfluous man. and in some ways, you ? i feel a bit like a superfluous man talking about a meeting that is not going to happen, but ? and in a relationship which, frankly, is not in a good place ? how?s that for an exciting quote? some might call it a train wreck. it?s been like watching a slow- moving train wreck for nearly two years right now. what?s the good news? well, the

syria why what is this end goal here that the u.s. has been you know certainly well you know you're is geostrategic i mean what we basically see in syria and we have to take the long view i mean. targeted iraq iran which they have not overthrown and now syria and so clearly the united states is trying to target any sort of independent nationalistic regime that isn't totally pliant and compliant with the united states and the western nations in this crucial region of the world which obviously contains a significant amount of oil it's the world's crossroads a very important area the united states doesn't want any government in there that they basically can control or at least at key moments pressure to do the things they want them to do so starting with the war in iraq the united states has been marching on in the middle east attempting to eliminate these independent nationalist regimes and they were hoping to do so in syria just by fomenting a civil war and that strategy has been unsuccessful raid and of course that using the chemical weapons even as a justification is a bizarre considering how we use chemical weapons frequently why is