long will allow syria to heal its. grasp of the peace building i think that's a very important question and that's a very huge challenge for whoever becomes president of syria and if we think that president assad will continue to be syria for another purpose for another ten years of seven years then most probably he will find it a little bit difficult to. deal with its immediate surroundings of the arab states let alone the western countries who have combined spent a lot of resources to try and topple him but that is although this is an issue what is in the minds of syrians is to you know little the international community learn the lesson that no matter how much they try nothing is going to happen unless syrians in their majority approve of it but i think that lesson to be taught to the western community and to your immediate neighbors would be very costly for syrians themselves because you have to keep in mind that once the war is over and it's still not over but if we were to imagine that base and military active mi

involvement in the conflict in syria legitimizes us involvement in the conflict in syria that because we got involved in the first place that somehow we should escalate our involvement this is a completely circular i don't want to say because the kind of rise in this i mean i said the russians and the iranians and hezbollah and we can a point let our. everyone let you talk please. go ahead they're all right but wait a second wait a second the notion the notion that hezbollah and iran are involved ok i would like somebody who is using that white house talking point to provide me with documented evidence of hezbollah's involvement anywhere in syria aside from the town of qusayr so far looking at the documented record there is no evidence of hezbollah involvement anywhere beyond the region that's nearest to the lebanese syrian border so that is once again a united states and israeli talking point to legitimize and to justify continued so-called intervention which is not intervention the conflict in syria is an aggression against syria they may have used a civil uprising they may have use

the alawites have the right to live in syria. no one should be excluded from society. >> narrator: the next morning, just as the united nations truce begins, ahmad and his comrades prepare for battle. >> (translated): we always try and pray before battle. it makes us stronger. we've realized that only god will help us. so we ask god for the strength to attack more checkpoints. >> narrator: ahmad is going to attack a large government base at wadi daif. it's a major launching point for artillery attacks in the region. it also protects the regime's main supply route from the capital, damascus, to syria's embattled second city, aleppo. >> narrator: for weeks, they've been besieging the base at wadi daif. the fighting has been intense. the brother of rebel leader jamal marouf was killed here only weeks ago. today they plan to storm the base and overrun it. the fog allows them to move unseen to within striking distance. the base lies less than a mile down this road, and is manned by up to 500 regime soldiers. >> narrator: jamal used to

delivering over to syria. in the civil war in syria i mean russia is giving arms to assad to key is helping others to get weapons from from from other sources as well so we should not be on this there is well i don't want to i'm not the supply of arms of arms by the russian government but i think you know that this is in accordance with international law and legal quite contrary whereas in turkey and in syria be the groups that turkey supported. well hardly legitimate i mean i'm sure you yourself have probably have some. concerns about their tactics and their altima goals and i don't need to mention the names like i don't know the other groups as well yeah but i'm not i'm not talking i'm not talking about the nuestra is not supporting i'm not supporting all nusra. no but it might be easier in a position if you're in the league is purely legal to stick me you know what's happening with the russian weapons it's a fake argument to say this is a legal way of providing to a dictator which kills his own people but i

position on syria. its policies toward syria have been largely focused on diplomatic isolation of the regime, economic sanctions, assistance to the opposition in terms of both trying to help bridge some of these gaps that i mentioned, as well as training and technical assistance to those elements of the opposition or those on the ground who are already involved in some level of government on levels beyond the regime control. the u.s. has been a huge provider of humanitarian assistance. the united states is the largest provider of humanitarian assistance to syrian refugees. but as many in the room probably know, the united states is also approached syria with a great degree of caution when it comes to the question of any sort of military intervention. whether it is arming the rebels or the question of establishing a no-fly zone or targeting military strikes. all of these military options, i think my colleague will be talk about, the u.s. has opted at this point not to pursue those. i think it's in large

is anyone in syria actually listening?as the leaders flow away from yet another summit, the question remained unanswered. will words be turned into actions? there is the rub. as the fighting in syria fears grow that lebanon will become another background. sunni rebels are fighting against president aside. the work could easily spill over that border. our middle east editor has been to the valley to investigate. saide lebanese army reinforces -- reinforcements. it is already stretched thin trying to keep the peace. loyal side where gunmen to an extremist sunni clan -- cleric has been stirring up intention. the other set belong to a group that supports the shia militia. through thene runs middle east. right now it is rumbling because of some -- sectarian killing and exporting hatred and fear. the army managed to calm things inside. ordering the gunmen off the streets. the city remains tense. every time there is an incident like this in lebanon, there are more fears that the nightmare could return to this entry. as ever, the

look, syria is not libya. in libya most of the targets were on a flat slightly populated littoral strip. operations in c. would involve flying over and through mountains and inhabited areas. this terrain is much better for the use of surface-to-air weapons than it was libya and the cancellations involving conducting aerial military operations over syria are much, much, much more complicated. my fifth point, and i haven't heard any other commentators do this, perhaps it's my background special operations, is that modern u.s. practice not to deploy a pot into an egg we can't retreat ensured his planes be shot down. an amazing amount of air force special operations forces are devoted to airmen recovery. this means that any man in activities with it the potential for ground combat, albeit of a very limited nature. we should understand the implications of what is being proposed. don't let the salesman for you. airplanes get shot down and airplanes with violence resulting president. my final point is my most importa

we begin today's show in syria. pro-government forces have seized control of the key border town of qusair, which have been controlled by rebel fighters for the past year. qusair, which lies on a cross border supply route with neighboring lebanon, had been the site of a fierce battle over the past two weeks as fighters from the lebanese militant group hezbollah joined forces aligned with then-president bashar al- assad. since fighting broke out over two years ago in syria, more than 80,000 people have been killed and another 1.6 million syrian refugees have fled. earlier this week, the united nations accused both sides of the syrian conflict of reaching "new levels of brutality." the u.n. panel chair paulo pinheiro accused government forces of murder, torture, rape, forcible displacement and other acts, many of them carried out systematically against civilians. but he said anti assad rebels were guilty of similar atrocities. >> armored groups have also committed war crimes including murder, execution without due pro

ground troops in syria.nt also not anxious, not really looking at putting a no fly zone into place, though senator john mccain wants that. the most likely option, potentially arming the rebels. let's remember that this is something that mccain himself has been pushing for for quite a bit. listen to what he had to say a short time ago. >> i applaud the president's decision. i applaud the fact that he has now acknowledged what the french and others and the rest of us knew, that bashar al assad is using chemical weapons. >> mccain wants to see the next step of arming the rebels. what could that mean? the u.s. either supplying directly or going to some third-party supplier in eastern europe, desperately needed, mortars, rockets, machine guns. it gets into very dicey territory very quickly. are you going to give the rebels shoulder fire anti-tank weapons, anti-air weapons? because the concern always remains with syria, so unsettled. could that kind of weaponry get into the hands of al qaeda there or into the hand

arms into syria jordan with patriot air defense batteries and f.sixteen jets already deployed there author and historian gerald horne thinks washington's allegations of chemical weapons use only serve to escalate the conflict. it seems to me this is a very dangerous and ominous moment particularly since sunni clerics have just met in cairo egypt in a call for a holy war against the regime in damascus and instead of trying to calm things down it seems to me the obama administration is about the throw gasoline on the flames keep in mind also that just a few weeks ago the turkish authorities found that some of the rebels housed in turkey had syrian weapons. weapons in their possession keep in mind as well that it's difficult to say if these weapons were used if they were used to use them for example what was the chain of custody that allowed the obama administration to conclude that it was damascus and not the rebels how did those samples get from the battlefield to washington how do we know that some really good soldier in the syrian military used th

will provide military aid to syria's rebels claiming it is evidence the assad regime used chemical weapons moscow calling washington's reasoning flawed. plans to develop a part in it is the end goal that caused weeks of protests across turkey have been frozen but no clear agreement on how to prevent anti-government demonstrations from continuing. as iranians elect a new leader we take a look at the controversial legacy left behind by the nation's outgoing president mahmoud ahmadinejad. seven pm in moscow i'm matt trezise good to have you with us here on our t.v. our top story washington will put lethal weapons in the hands of syrian rebels it's concluded that the assad regime has used chemical weapons albi it quote on a small scale and so offer more help to those fighting in artie's marina porton i has more from new york. this is quite a game changer being announced by the obama administration what we know is that the u.s. has decided that it will provide military support to syrian rebels but u.s. officials would not specify what that support will involve the national security council that

position on syria. its policies toward syria have been largely focused on diplomatic isolation of the regime, economic sanctions, assistance to the opposition in terms of both trying to help bridge some of these gaps that i mentioned, as well as training and technical assistance to those elements of the opposition or those on the ground who are already involved in some level of government on levels beyond the regime control. the u.s. has been a huge provider of humanitarian assistance. the united states is the largest provider of humanitarian assistance to syrian refugees. but as many in the room probably know, the united states is also approached syria with a great degree of caution when it comes to the question of any sort of military intervention. whether it is arming the rebels or the question of establishing a no-fly zone or targeting military strikes. all of these military options, i think my colleague will be talk about, the u.s. has opted at this point not to pursue those. i think it's in large

is syria we have to think about the country of syria twenty five percent and they're displaced or refugees the humanitarian problem is really really catastrophic it has strategic implications for the region iran syria is a different thing the u.s. certainly didn't start this didn't support the rebels in order to get rid of assad it all happened by itself in the end outside powers can meddle but they can't really do very much internally which is why the u.s. but when russia forty. eight continues to support. how do you know that you've got assad retains the support of about half of syrian society what about them. judith go ahead that's what you think that's what you think but that's not what you what we know we don't know a lot of people worked for the bureaucracy a lot of people are in the intelligence the army is totally practically of the verge of collapse the brothers fourth division of course they have to be loyal to the regime because their paychecks their lives and the future of their families depend on it i don't think there's any way now to manage here who is real lay in support of

policy towards syria. an audience like this and audience watching on c-span knows very well the issues that are at stake, the humanitarian issues that are at stake of course, the political and motels -- military and strategic issues that are at stake and there is a broad national, broad consensus about the urgency of the situation in syria but yet considerable debate about what the united states should do and what the united states should be leading in order to affect the situation on the ground. we at the institute, the washington institute, have been actively engaged in trying to present a broad range of information to the policymaking community in addition to our speakers today from the institute, andrew i want to draw attention to everyone here into our viewing audience at the washington institute's web site which includes data from first-hand visits to the region by institute staff exhibiting all bordering countries around syria, detailed reports based on these investigations and policy prescriptions.

they are at odds over syria. we've got a key voice in the debate over what the next steps should be in the area, senator lindsey graham in south carolina. here in the studio andrea mitchell. and columnist for the "washington post" david ignatius. good morning to all of you. senator graham, let me start with you. the key step has been taken by this administration, the president saying he is now willing to arm the syrian rebels. >> right. >> so what is the goal, and how much closer to the goal does this step take us? >> i really don't know. it seems to be not being bush as our foreign policy. the goal should be to basically make sure assad leaves. last year assad was isolated. he had very few friends. he was hanging by a thread. this year he's entrenched with hezbollah, iran, and russian, stronger behind him than ever. i think our goal should be in the short term to balance the military power, and provide small arms won't do it. we need to create a no-fly zone to neutralize the assad air power. >> you're saying thi

use reacted to washington's allegations and for more on that i'm joined live by our t's tessera syria live for us in brussels so teso what is the world body there the european body rather had to say. well the statement that came out today from the spokesman of catherine ashton has offices that the e.u. would like to have you when mission to have to have independent investigation whether or not the use of chemical weapons really did take place they want independent verification of the facts presented by the united states that is happening in syria now that they are in constant contact with washington and also they said that while this u.n. mission has been authorized they are still waiting to be granted access on the ground they did point out indicate the importance of getting an independent verification on the ground with facts on the ground for them to be able to make a decision now this is generally reflective of the opinion of most of the e.u. countries if we remember is made or was this is that they made on whether or not to extend the arms embargo to syria five out of twenty seve

all providing military aid to syria's rebels or claiming it has added as the as assad regime used chemical weapons moscow called washington's reasoning floored. plans to develop a balkan istomin both led calls to weeks of protests across turkey have been frozen but there's no clear agreement on how to prevent anti-government demos continuing. and as iranians they elected a new leader we examine the controversial legacy left behind by the nation's outgoing president mahmoud ahmadinejad. is a pm here in the russian capital you live with us on our t.v. with me to bomb would say it's good to have your company with us let's take a look at what we have for you five washington will put lethal weapons in the hands of syria's rebels it's concluded that bashar assad's regime has a use chemical weapons be it on a small scale and so will also more help to those fighting him artie's marina has the details. this is quite a game changer being announced by the obama administration what we know is that the u.s. has decided that it will provide military support to syrian rebels but u.s. officials would not

the case of syria, syria is the row house in the middle of the block. and the problem with what we see inside of syria is that what happens there doesn't stay there. it's not like vegas where whatever happens there stays there. it's actually the potential for spillover is so great, and has accelerated over the last few months, whether it's the refugees or the involvement of hezbollah. if you would have told me a couple of years ago -- i have many friend inside the audience, that andrew in a short period of time you're going to watch hezbollah rocket fire another arab country for at hour from lebanese territory. i would say, you've got to be crazy. the equivalent of hell freezing over, and yet i've seen it in the last two months and those who have been tracking the involvement of hezbollah. i don't think what's happening in syria will just stay in syrian i think it's less and less containable and i think that in and of itself threatens not only syria's neighbors but the security architecture as well in the region. right now, refugees in cross-border fire

plan for a limited no fly zone over syria has been drawn up although u.s. officials admit it will be costly up to fifty million dollars a day and make not a huge difference on the ground it's also it has not been ruled out though it could stretch up to forty kilometers into syria and be enforced using aircraft flown from bases in jordan without such his own to hold syrian aircraft back the white house sees it as too risky to arm the rebels therefore the restricted area could end up just being less than one hundred kilometers from syria's capital damascus u.s. officials say washington could also authorize sending arms and training to rebels in jordan even without giving a green light to a no fly zone the pentagon's already moved patriot air defense batteries an f. sixteen fighter jets into jordan author and historian gerald horan believes that washington's allegations merely serve to escalate the conflict. it seems to me this is a very dangerous and ominous moment particularly since sunni clerics have just met in cairo egypt in a call for a holy war against

>>> this sunday, are we ramping up for war in syria? how far will president obama go to stop the bloodshed? a red line crossed by the assad regime. confirmation this week that chemical weapons were used as the president agrees to start arming the syrian rebels. but as the war reaches staggering heights, more than 90,000 killed so far, what is the strategy and the limit of u.s. involvement? joining me, the senior senator from south carolina, republican lindsey graham. also, the surveillance debate. what's next for edward snowden and what's the future of the government's sweeping counterterror program? with us, two key voices from the senate intelligence committee, the republican vice chair, saxby chambliss of georgia, a supporter of the government's dragnet, and a prominent skeptic, colorado democrat mark udall. then, our "roundtable" on the broader questions raised by the leaks. is snowden a hero or a traitor? how much political damage has been done? and is this the dawn of a new age of big brother? >>> and good sunday morning. as the p

us all provide military aid to syria's rebels are claiming it has evidence of the assad regime to use chemical weapons moscow called washington's reasoning flawed. plans to develop a balkan istanbul that calls weeks of protests turkey has been frozen but there's no clear agreement on how to prevent anti-government demos continuing. and with polls now close in iran's election we examine the controversial legacy left behind by the nation is all going president ahmadinejad. watching live from moscow with me to mom would say let's take a look at the news. washington will put lethal weapons there in the hands of syria's rebels it's concluded that bashar. has used chemical weapons albeit on a small scale and so will offer more help to those fighting him or his murder to put my has the details this is quite a game changer being announced by the obama administration what we know is that the u.s. has decided that it will provide military support to syrian rebels but u.s. officials would not specify what that support will involve national security council get the prize or ben rhodes says that t

the conflict in syria and what it means for the president of the united states and the world former ambassador to morocco marc ginsberg weighs in plus our politicking panel tackles the ladies news you need to know that's next on politics with larry king. i've. i politicking i'm larry king the obama administration's decision to start arming some syrian opposition group says provoked sharply mixed reactions here to discuss that now a lot of other international issues is ambassador marc ginsberg he served as u.s. ambassador to morocco in the clinton administration also served as jimmy with the recorder is deputy senior advisor to the president for mideast policy we thank mark for joining us he's a good friend mark you wrote for the huffington post that even though legendary houdini can't get the united states out of its syrian straight jacket or even. well larry the problem is is that ever since the civil war began in syria the administration has had a default position which is we do not want to get involved and yet the president called for assad to go early on and then he declared that there wou

live in syria that the legitimate. rights groups of syria. are protected. we are concerned about questions such as how the future. state of syria is going to be organized and how the rights of its citizens are going to be protected and only after that we are prepared to start some kind of action not going the other way around by starting from eliminating one of the powers and then trying to introduce some kind of. western kind of parts of. the armed opposition. headed by this organization. certain organizations that are fighting in syria right now and they are those very same organizations those very same those very same people in mali it's exactly the same kind of guys whom the west is fighting in mali but cross the border into syria these are getting western support the logic in that and where is it all taking. specific into that but i hope very much that the initiatives that recently introduced by the president of egypt.

let's start with syria. david, i guess the big question is why are we now going in apparently with some kind of military support to the rebels in syria? >> syria is the problem from hell as one analyst has described it. the reason that we're finally two years into this war deciding to provide military aid is basically what the president said. when you have clear evidence that chemical weapons have been used against a civilian population, when missiles are being fired into civilian population centers, when you have 93,000 people dead, it's -- i think almost impossible for an american president to stand on the sidelines and watch that. so obama is going into syria. he's got to explain to the country where he wants to go. he's decided to back a moderate syrian rebel general who i've talked to on the phone and a very sensible guy. does he have military power now to beat assad? no. he doesn't. so somehow the u.s. is going to help him build a real opposition army. get some real command and control. and begin to ma

stay with the topic of syria one more time. why didn't president obama authorize our military to help the rebels in syria before the conflict got more complicated? for instance, iran's 4,000 soldiers certainly won't make it easier. a former senior adviser to the state department will join us to talk about the one really important part of the president's plan we haven't heard. that's coming up inside the fox report. >>> well, we have seen this in the past, just as one conflict like the one in syria gets the world's attention, nuclear armed north korea makes a move. this time, though, they say they want to talk to the united states. we're told the white house is pushing for, quote, credible negotiations north korea in response to the surprising about face. president kim jong-un proposing discussion after months of threatening to wage nuclear war. but his invitation as it is being called comes with conditions. kim jong-un says north korea will talk only if there are no demands that it must give up nuclear assets. the obama adminis

why they go wrong on syria. well i mean the president has tried to take as cautious and as measured of an approach as he can on syria some folks as we've just heard don't believe that the project the president to has been aggressive enough that he has not addressed this you know clearly there's this horrible civil war not at least ninety thousand people have been killed the president thinks he's doing the right thing we see bloodshed on television and we see bloodshed in the headlines and and you know there's a whole range of voices here saying the president hasn't tackle this issue well enough and that he's not leading with the force that he should and and that's a debate that's ongoing read some time ago he said assad must go what what went wrong you know first i want to back up i think in a situation like syria when you're doing. sure interviews and media a lot of times you hear people frame things as right i don't think there's any right and wrong decision here i think every day president obama is having to

he has not taken his message to syria's state tv.so far his plan has brought mothers here to damascus. , evensociety activists from a country with no diplomatic relations here, but what about the west? most of their diplomats left the capital along time ago. will this kind of initiative ever work? will the other side even listen? all sides talk about ending a brutal conflict, but some in the west are now focused on army what they call a moderate opposition. , iran, andom lebanon iraq are backing damascus. with every month that passes, this is not just syria's more. war.ria's >> that special report from syria. that issue dominating the agenda at the g-8 summit. another one is a tax issue. alice is here. specifically transparency, trying to get tax avoidance. >> the uk prime minister david cameron who is hosting the summit has promised to put evasion and aggressive avoidance at the very heart of the summit. it comes after the weekend meeting, places like the virgin islands, places many viewed as tax havens, labels they strongly dispute

let's get more on syria. who writes extensively about the middle east in his blog cole it looks like a deal has now been sewn up with the backers of the syrian opposition agreeing to supply arms so will lists no change the conflict. i don't think so i mean if there is a change a bit then a change towards more escalation and transforming the syrian uprising further into voting it down into a civil war and increasing obviously a donation of conflict dynamics and probably beyond down the international conflict dynamics because we see you know different sides the west and russia are taking different sides in syria so i think it was it really undermines move and there have been enough. policy within policy circles within both britain and the us warning of such moves and but i think the group collectively didn't pay attention to these kind of warnings about the possibility of going to the conflict further and obviously more loss of life and extending the conflict isn't something that syria needs now after two and a