policy in syria. the current team under ambassador jeffrey has tried to open up a runway with russia to achieve unscr. how do you bring syria back under one government. >>> or you know what, at the end of the day, we cannot stabilize syria or prevent it from being a source of dee tablization unless bashar al assad goes. it's about time we leaned into that. like president trump seemed to want to do this past april. -- referring to the regime. how do you approach the assad dilemma? >> well, first of all, this is a very difficult question. i liked the report. for those who didn't read the report, you did a good job of laying out the six possible policy options. yu your second policy option is what they're focusing on, investing in stabilizing areas under our sort of -- our orbit. i think that's relatively i think it's one of the most feasible things that we can continue doing. i know the current administration is slowly working towards. but hasn't fully i think gotten there. i think that's an important t

, within syria in safe areas. and our goal is to continue that humanitarian assistance while pressing for a way to get them back home. mr. deutch: no greater role for to us play here. mr. jeffrey: our greater role is to encourage the international community by our example to solve this conflict and to take care of the refugees and i.d.p.'s until it's off -- until it's solved. russell wilson thank you, mr. chairman -- mr. wilson: thank you, mr. chairman. ambassador, thank you for being here today. can you describe iran's current entrenchment in syria, how much troops and proxies does it have on the ground, and are they articipating in the offensive? mr. jeffrey: thank you, congressman. iran has thousands of advisors. quds force elements under suleimani of the iranian revolutionary guard corps which this administration has recently put on the terrorist list, long overdue. and they provide in some respects the leadership of a much larger number. i don't have the specifics but it certainly would be in the 10,000-plus

into syria. that is the basis for the authorization congressman. >> the time of the gentleman is expired. i think the founding fathers would find it absurd to think an action by the united nations could shift powers from article 1 to article 2 of the u.s. constitution. i recognize the gentlewoman from pennsylvania. >> thank you, mr. chair. and thank you for coming today. my questions largely have to do with the displaced populations of -- in syria. countries throughout the region have shouldered the brunt of the syrian conflict and absorbed more than 5 million refugees and obviously puts enormous economic pressure and strain on these countries politically, as well. just wondering what is the u.s. doing to support those communities that are hosting all of these refugees? particularly to reduce tension and ensure that the refugees aren't pushed back into the country prematurely. >> thank you. this is a major, major effort on our part. i talked about the 9.5 or almost $10 billion we have provided le

in the last 24 hours, bombing raids in the northwest of syria by the government of syria and russian forces have caused death and destruction. i got in touch with our team on the ground this morning. they reported to me that today there have already been 50 air raids and attacks. we know yesterday there were at least 20 aerial attacks, and in addition, 22 using barrel bombs. our evidence is that 3,500 have been displaced since our hearing. i want to thank ben stiller and i also want to recognize the staff on the ground in syria, jordan and iraq. in 2018, in significant part in thanks to the aid that america was willing to provide, we were able to offer emergency aid and long-time services to 1 million uprooted syrians and their hosts in neighboring states. my written testimony focuses on four humanitarian priorities. first, the war that is continuing in two large chunks of syrian territory, in the northwest and the northeast. you know well that the politics and the military balance in both areas is complex. but over 4 million people live in those areas. cross-border aid keeps them al

does winning in syria formerly known as. nusra front they fielded a lot of manpower a lot of equipment for this particular offensive we're talking about for example 500 yards in one specific offensive 7 tanks 30 pickup trucks a quip with various gardens a.p.c.'s as well as to jihad move beals as they've come to call vehicles packed with explosives driven by suicide bombers all of this in an effort to take comfort in the. town held by the syrian military apparently the syrians held off against 3. 3 such attacks killing more than $150.00 terrorists jihad ists but eventually according to some sources kaffir. fell. the terrorist also launched a number of a number of missiles at the russian airbase in may mean in syria not all of them reach the vicinity of the airbase but those that pose the threat were apparently destroyed by air defenses interestingly enough the united states comments injuring the u.n. security council meeting called these attacks in significant in the grand scheme of things but the u.n. security council none t

newshour weekend special correst jane ferguson has our story from northeastern syria. >> reporter: syria's kurdish families gather in fields, where they sing and dance, ringing in the new year, known here as nowruz. also called the persian new year, it embraces practices from the ancient religion zoroastriasm, like lighting fires through the countryside. the fire represents cleansing, a fresh start. this year really is a fresh start for the kurdish people.er is much to celebrate. their militias are about to announce victory over isis. m after h loss and suffering, people here are honoring both their dead andvi those who've sd the fight. >> ( translated ): this nowruz has more joy because of our martyrs and fighters on the front line. this nowruz, we are very happy, especially the female fighters and comrades. >> reporter: many, like shilan hassake, a kurdish fighter whoug isis, can now look to a future without the islamic state controllg land nearby. >> ( translated ): my thoughts are to develop this area and to avenge the blood of the martyrs. >> reporter: the next day, isis' defeat was a

strategy in syria. mister jeffries is a special on faith for the global coalition against isys. this hearing is just over two and half hours. . >> [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] . >> the committee will come to o. . . . . welcome to the members of the public and press as well. i recognized myself for an opening statement and view the crisis is one of the greatest tragedies of time. i've dealt with the syrian issue for the entire time in congress, even when very few people were talking about this. now in the past few years it is just impossible. it really makes you cry, hundreds of thousands of innocent murdered at the hands of bishara lessard. bombs and chemical weapons used against civilians have seen the images of his cruelty and shocking display here right in this room when we hosted the photographer who defected to show the world the barbarity of the regime. billions upon billions, massive humanitarian crisis and from the outside a collective global leadership to put a stop to th

iran is using syria. what if anything can be done in terms of political reconciliation and what could be done in terms of solution and before i close, mr. chairman i want to ask unanimous consent that the representative and original cosponsor caesar of protection act be recognized to participate. stack without objection, so ordered. thank you for your testimony. this isn't a partisan issue that needs to be handled. ambassador jeffrey serves four engagement and special envoy for the coalition to defeat isis. he's held several senior national security position including the deputy national security adviser and the ambassador to iraq, turkey and of course one of my favorite. i now recognize you for five minutes. >> thank you for the opportunity to brief you on the policy today. the policy we have laid out in the written testimony that you just entered into the record space upon the report entitled the strategy submitted in classified form to the congress by the president at the end of february inconsistent w

let's start with syria. it is the case where we have the most brutal example in the middle east of a detention system that played a pivotal role in the current conflict. maybe you can give us an overview about the numbers involved in this system, the process detainees go through and you can address people following syria may have an impression the war is winding down paired why is this torture and detention system relevant and why should the world care? >> i want to thank the council for having me. it is an honor to be on such a distinguished panel. everyone should read this work about the detention in syria. it has always been, for syrian people, something that was not a the uprising, it was a tool to go after poll --tle opposition, activists a tool to go after political opposition, activists. as the uprising happened, thousands and thousands of civilians were arrested. as the checkpoints popped up around the country during the war, as the war became more violent and complex, it became easy for anyone stop

third of all is to limit the iranian presence in syria. those are our overarching policy objectives with respect to syria in particular and reconfirmed in statements from the white house to our congress that is where we are even with the decision that allowed us to have a residual force in syria. i would highlight with respect to the middle east broadly and something i tried to make clear in my remarks was what becca said as well, is that great power competition or strategy focus on russia and china means we have to stay focused in the middle east as well. we tried to impart to all our partners at a bilateral basis but at a multilateral basis as well that the united states is committed to the region and we remain committed to our partners there. part of our strategy in overtime altering our force posture is to build up and integrate better our partners' capability and capacity in the region to ensure their defense over time more fully. again, that is something that takes time and something that takes our continued commitment which we try t

so how and foremost successfully they say what does russia have to do with syria. well it's a substantial help for the country. so we can return to the well what's it called. peace. we have to show children weapons of war so they know war is bad. the families of some of the victims from private armies are fighting for some form of compensation among them all go michael over and her daughter they get nothing from the russian state even though the mitri was fighting alongside regular russian troops against the same enemy in syria that i think it would of course russians fighting international terrorism but why isn't there anything for the survivors. our government sends humanitarian aid to syria why aren't we getting any humanitarian aid we've lost our breadwinner. for two months the syria train traveled across russia from west to east the russian military parade as a symbol of success in its war on terrorism but this battle has left many questions unanswered. now it lies a deliberately waged between switzerland and austria with beautiful landscapes we're talking abo

syria secret service systematically tortured just for speaking up for human rights demanding syria become a democratic country and for urging assad to step down. now eight years after a yobs death his mother wants justice. i want the culprits to be brought to justice from the accomplices all the way up to president assad these people are responsible for spilling our children's blood. there are more than twenty six thousand pictures of syrian torture victims smuggled out of the war torn country by a courageous former police were target for they could help convict syrian torturers and murderers in the coming years their victims and their relatives demand justice like syrian human rights lawyer mohsen darvish who was tortured before being able to flee the syrian capital damascus is a few months secluded to settle for us the branches to become like this. many of his friends and political allies in the fight against the regime were abused like this no one knows how many people lost their lives. so there's some there's some. i'd also look for. people in this. school to bunches. of stability amo

upwards of 10000 isis fighters support elements within syria and iraq.they are completely unrepentant. that is something we intend or are expected to do it for many years to come. this is transition to the entering the defeat of isis but i would say that in a way that does not minimize how important that is because it's not going away. italy is essentially the largest collection in the world right now. a minute inside into what is going on and it is to your question that we worry about a great deal. specifically to iraq a lot of dod in my former organizations spend time in iraq building up their security forces and i think they can be proud of the effort to win that. especially the counterterrorism services highlights one in particular in its proven that effort was worth it and i spent considerable amount of time ridding their country with support but they did it of isis. long-term stability i think it's important that we are there. i think our presence in iraq is hugely significant in one of the biggest factors when it comes to u.s. influence in the mid

this is the border town of mafraq, a place haunted by the violence of syria's civil war. night. death is moments away. mafraq has been on the front—line of the refugee crisis since the start of the war. wave after wave of refugees have poured over here across the border, which means there are actually more refugees here than there are locals so the atmosphere can be a bit charged. these are the kinds of images we have grown used to. lines of refugees, desperate for help. but i have come to mafraq to visit a place which has defied those stereotypes. these are the outskirts of mafraq. just over there is a reception centre for refugees. but where i'm heading is this modest little building. now, this is originally the home of the international medical corps but now it is a trading centre, and there is something rather remarkable happening here. for ten months, these 45 students, drawn here by word of mouth, have been taught heritage stone masonry from scratch. this has to be one of the most extraordinary of fine craft courses. most of these students are dispossessed refugees

is it syria, iraq? american presence in iraq and syria? maybe you can walk us through the latest as to what dod and the administration are considering. mr. mulroy: i would agree with your paper that the model we used in syria is a good model for future activities. essentially, a relatively small contingent of u.s. forces paired with a capable and willing partner, in this case the syrian defense forces, supported and enabled by our air support, our combat advisers and our combat logistics, which is sometimes the most important part of the partnership as far as our support. paired with a diplomatic effort , which was brett mcgurk and bill roebuck, and now it's jim jeffrey and joe raburn. so paired with them. then followed eventually by stabilization. we have a whole section on that and i would love to get into it. but i would highlight that is a good model and that's not the , only time we've used that. the northern alliance, small groups of special forces and ci officers and then in iraq, essentially the same model with the kurdish peshmerg

syria's slow death follows a pattern.through the ruins of al-quds hospital in east aleppo, the rebel enclave that had just fallen to the regime and its russian and iranian allies. thousands of casualties were treated here during the siege. the medics had left in a hurry after shells hit the building. this whole area is damaged. hospitals, civilian buildings a re protected under international humanitarian law, so there are major questions to be answered about whether war crimes were committed. wars are less chaotic than they appear. pain and death are inflicted on someone‘s orders. and wars have laws. some are supposed to protect civilians. in syria, they've mostly been ignored. hamza al khataeb, one of the doctors, says he witnessed war crimes every day that killed and maimed civilians. two years on, in london, he'd like to see the perpetrators in court. the syrian regime and the russians. no—one else has the aeroplanes to make the sky rain cluster bombs, explosive barrels and chlorine gas. no—one else can do that. what w

there should be more of syria whether there are turkey or. elsewhere middle east. whose son was murdered by the syrian secret service hopes that not only the killers of her son will be caught but all perpetrators that have gone into hiding will meet justice for her the hunt has just begun. fascinating story was done by my colleague here at the table with me frank hoff it's good to see you frank let's talk a little bit about this there have been many stories about suspected terrorists in or in europe disguised as refugees most people i would say have no idea though that assad's torturers executioners his henchmen were also in the mix of migrants interesting lay the prosecutors and conveys in europe like in germany or in the netherlands or in so even for example in friends they were looking for these people in the same time way that why they were looking for terrorists from isis is gaping from syria for example what i found interesting doing the research earlier on isis terrorism in syria and the tortures torture camps of isis i found out that they that they used the

last summer i had the opportunity to travel to northeast syria. senator graham and i spent a day there and when refugees come back but then to make a huge difference to provide reassurance and the people in the not to see a resurgence or other forces that we see the president tweet and the situation change how important isn't and that part of syria especially given the deteriorating multilateral negotiations where talks have not moved forward with the presence of iran and russia and what happens next? how important it is to give iae leverage that you talk about? . >> as a humanitarian organization we are careful about thee boundaries. what i can report to you is in our judgment there is no question that the us presence is a force of stability in that part. and with an opinion it is a precarious situation the turks from the north and the danger evof a resurgence and russians to encroach over the last year and our plea is that every single political political and military decision has that component built in and the danger is any change that precari

later that because in syria turkey is at odds with its nato allies who are supporting the y.p. g. which turkey is actually fighting against in syria do you think this can set nato allies on a collision course. well i hope it won't because turkey has the just image reasons to be against why. is an extension of p j k b k k is on the list of terrorist organizations of all the major countries in the world including nato including e.u. including us and therefore they should not be cooperated with an extension of their terrorists because they are self declared terrorist organization i mean when all i'd actually is using i know i know but we and we know all of that we know that if the history behind but you know that none of that really matters if america wants to back someone i mean none of that explanation really matter so the facts aren't there cooperating with them. but you are fighting well then we will also do whatever it takes to protect our borders that's why we're working with all of the partners in the region including russia and iran and we go into these our stomach talks a

syria's slow death follows a pattern.ospital in east aleppo, the rebel enclave that had just fallen to the regime and its russian and iranian allies. thousands of casualties were treated here during the siege. the medics had left in a hurry after shells hit the building. this whole area is damaged. hospitals, civilian buildings a re protected under international humanitarian law, so there are major questions to be answered about whether war crimes were committed. wars are less chaotic than they appear. pain and death are inflicted on someone's orders. and wars have laws. some are supposed to protect civilians. in syria, they've mostly been ignored. hamza al khataeb, one of the doctors, says he witnessed war crimes every day that killed and maimed civilians. two years on, in london, he'd like to see the perpetrators in court. the syrian regime and the russians. no—one else has the aeroplanes to make the sky rain cluster bombs, explosive barrels and chlorine gas. no—one else can do that. what would you like to have happen t

here in jordan or syria, here injordan or syria, maybe the first time in arabian countries, that a lady a stone, carving a stone. when you build something you start from a tiny little bit and this is the tiny little bit. like so many i watched the destruction of homes, lives in heritage and the warzones in the middle east with horror and sorrow. these lands i love. boasting unique ancient sites like this, umm el—jimal. just four miles from the syrian border and jordan. about 2000 yea rs syrian border and jordan. about 2000 years ago, out of basil stone, the centuries it has been a crossroad of cultures from all points of the globe. i enjoy the remarkable relics from the most amazing cultures. the greeks, the romans, the prison times, the ottomans, to name a few. these people were often at war. the stash byzantines. these people were often at war. the stash byza ntines. but these people were often at war. the stash byzantines. but they had a shed delight for the region. it was also the desire for the creation to uplift them, to stand the test of time. but i am notjust here to investigate

syria secret service systematically tortured just for speaking up for human rights demanding syria become a democratic country and for urging assad to step down. now 8 years after a youngster his mother wants justice. i want the culprits to be brought to justice from the accomplices all the way up to president assad these people are responsible for spilling our children's blood. there are more than 26000 pictures of syrian torture victims smuggled out of the war torn country by a courageous former police were target for they could help convict syrian torturers and murderers in the coming years their victims and their relatives demand justice like syrian human rights lawyer mohsen darvish who was tortured before being able to flee the syrian capital damascus after a few months of school to settle for us the branches you become like this. many of his friends and political allies in the fight against the assad regime were abused like this no one knows how many people lost their lives. so this is. it was a look. people this. last clue to bunch is. still living on. the lawyer shared all of his

this is the al—hol camp in north—eastern syria.n from the islamic state. they were rounded up when coalition forces defeated jihadist fighters. conditions are dire and many of the inhabitants still cling to isis's hate—filled ideology. yet it is thought that many yazidis are also among its residents, hiding the children they bore to islamic state fighters. dr ghaufouri is a kurdish activist who searches the camp, looking for yazidi women and children, to persuade them to go home. how many women with is children are we talking about and how many children? those who are coming back now, eight of ten. and how many each? most of them, they have one, up to three or four kids. you know, the feeling of a mother, you know — you will not believe how they are holding their babies because a mother is a mother. the feeling, the love of mother comes above all kind of religion or belief or anything. dr ghaufouri helps the yazidi women and children who go home, even if that means leaving is—born children behind. she has a team of yazidi women who

this is d w news live from thousands of civilians fleeing renewed fighting in syria as it lip service a scores of people have been killed in a surge of violence as government forces target rebel held town in villages despite a cease fire. also on the program because opposition says it will win the controversial rerun of istanbul's merril election for president otoh one says he strengthening democracy after successfully overturning the original results. teaching morality to eight machine. people. this is a bad thing. yes why not meet a group of german scientists trying to teach artificial intelligence systems rights from wrong. welcome to the program. syrian government forces have intensified their shelling of rebel held town of the villages in italy province the air is supposed to be demilitarized following the truce struck in september which when militias and russia backed syrian forces but reports say fresh shelling has destroyed schools and medical clinics and killed scores of civilians united nations as one hundred fifty thousand civilians are trying to escape the fighting. this w

france has brought back five orphan children from syria. 74 children have returned to kosovo from syriaeign fighters jailed in iraq have returned to germany. meanwhile, the uk government says if a british child who has been in syria is able to seek consular assistance outside of syria then they would work with local and uk authorities to facilitate their return if requested. my grandson's innocent and he's not a criminal, and it's my duty as a grandparent to get him back. the families of children born to is members understand there's little public sympathy for them, but they say these children should not be punished for the actions of their parents. let's speak now to nikita malik, director of the centre on radicalisation and terrorism at the henry jackson society, think tank. and to cris mccurley, an international family lawyer who has worked on many of these cases and is aware of the khurshid family's case. starting with you, cris mccurley, what difference would it make to make salmaan a ward of court if it is not clear where exactly he is? well, the principle of wardship is a really