people like abu salah talk to the free syrian army, but he is not free syrian army. so you mentioned in your statement, as did senator lugar about the divisions within the syrian opposition. and there are different organizations. it makes it a little more complex. so they talk to each coordinate they're not organically linked. >> senator lugar? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i just want the take up point that you made, secretary feltman, about the oil exports and the success apparently in bottling up a high percentage of the income of the government. likewise, other sanctions against the country have caused what seemed to be in normal terms an economic depression in the country by most standards. this is likely to grow further. what isn't clear to me and i'd like some thoughts if you have about what food supplies are available to the people of the country, how much is produced in syria now. we understand a drought has occurred this year. this was a critical factor clearly in egypt, even while things were going on in tahrir square. people were not eating very well and th

the syrian people can be contained. some opposition voices are attempting to emerge. but at present the syrian opposition lax cohesion and a sufficiently defined political agenda. as a practical matter, it also lacks the physical space and technical means to mature, to over come its internal differences, and to develop a plan for democratic transition. deep sectarian divisions outside influences from iran and elsewhere and the lack of a democratic political culture weigh heavily against the short-term emergence of unified opposition on which to base a tolerant democracy. this presents the united states with very limited options. clearly we must oppose the assad's aggressions against his own people and support international human efforts. we should work to limit any spillover effect generated by violence in syria. we should not over estimate our influence to shape events in the country at this point. further attempts by the united states or the west to closely manage the opposition could backfire in an environment where

regime the syrian government needs to feel the pressure of the pressure of the u.n. security council so right now the russian government. has said the regime is a speechwriter now i did tweet as recently. as we speak now a resolution is being discussed it towards that end here jake i'm going to give you the last word on the program here is the what's your prognosis it's going to get far far worse before it gets better i don't know i think it's always impossible to predict these sorts of things hopefully it will get better but again i just don't see an end game for this one of these things we just watch it play out and hope for the best but in the meantime i just reiterate that keep the u.s. out of this because all they do is just make things worse all right gentlemen we've run out of time very spirited debate many thanks to my guest today in washington and in new york and thanks to our viewers for watching us here to see you next time and remember rostock rules. can. still. you know how sometimes you see a story and it seems so for like you think you understand it an

in medicine with moscow adding its voice for a daily ceasefire human rights watch has accused the syrian opposition of abuses including kidnapping contention and torture of security forces members. human rights groups trying to us kept sending afghan detainees to prisons where evidence of torture had been uncovered this despite a ban on such transfers last july claims of new abuse have already surface. u.k. construction workers demand justice as they find out they landed on an illegal blacklist after campaigning for safer jobs and investigation found some of the information used to identify so-called troublemakers came from the police. violence in syria raging on r.t. speaks with dr bashar ger fahri the country's ambassador to the un to ask whether any solution is near and the crisis. joining our teeth for an exclusive sit down interview is syrian ambassador to the united nations dr bashar to fahri ambassador thank you very much for speaking with our key to that thank you for having me with your family thank you the united nations estimates that more than eight thousand people have been

with the syrian violence raging on r.t. sits down with dr bashar jaafari the country's ambassador to the u.n. to ask whether any solution is near in the crisis. joining our team for an exclusive sit down interview is syrian ambassador to the united nations dr bashar fahri ambassador thank you very much for speaking with our kids today thank you for having me with your public thank you for the united nations estimates that more than eight thousand people have been killed since the anti-government uprising began in syria year ago my question for you how long can the violence and bloodshed continue whether it is a one victim thousands this is too much for the syrian people and for the syrian government there has been a huge exaggeration of the figures of the victims the government is not responsible for this trip because as you know there are. because you know an international elements should be taken into consideration of assisting and to be assessing what's going on in syria on the groups in syria maybe even to resist an arm

the syrian national council said it basically wants to organize, unify and arm the free syrian army. the problem is it doesn't seem like the free syrian army knows because just hours later the head of the movement was on al jazeera and he said this decision to set up a military bureau to oversee the free syrian army wasn't coordinated with his group and that they wouldn't be participating in this military advisory bureau. so, you know, while the people of syria are suffering, it would seem to be quite a... quite dire humanitarian circumstances the political opposition as well as the military opposition in exile continues to bicker. and that's a source of much frustration for many of the syrians because while the world is looking for somebody, they're looking for a partner and, you know, the united states has said this repeatedly as well as other western states, they need the syrian opposition to unify and to step up so that any money, for example, any funds, any weapons that are going to be funneled into the country need to go through a unified body. >> suarez: quickly before we go,

national council and free syrian army. they share the goal of getting rid of assad and they've done -- they have traveled some distance in the course of the last year. but they have not yet unified in the way that the libyan transitional national council did. so i believe it's time for us to redouble our efforts to engage with syria's political opposition to try to shape their thinking, to understand it more fully, to identify more fully the leadership, to strongly encourage them to coalesce into a coherent political force. with the creation of the friends of syria group, there is now a multi-lateral mechanism for supporting the syrian national council and other political groups with technical assistance. but it is true that many syrians themselves remain on the fence, especially members of the alawite christian and other minority groups. they are horrified by the regime's atrocities, but also terrified by the potential for broad scale sectarian strife. thus it is absolutely vital that the snc do everything it can to unify

let me correct here there is an artist that is committed by the syrian national council or the free syrian army this is a human rights violations and we addressed and we did receive the letter and i just back arrested last week from geneva we are actually we met with the commission of inquiry under commissioner for human rights and we are fully called betty with all those who more eyes of a nation's committed why they're fifty or other or. even died so we don't feel their house responsibility so they don't go on fraud but this for me let me clarify bill sinks in this disproportion by the ground saying it's you who many tea where i actually systematically ground rice but i commuted by there are so good reason for almost a year and the international community did nothing for us and there are so delusional you ask why don't you show you why should they why your traditional really not seeing why should the international community do something for you why make things better this is of course because it will make things better two thousand and five. according to the five thousand and five united

lawmakers say that it's time to arm syrian rebels but not everyone is ready to pull the trigger on president bashar al assad's regime we're going to show you how a few lawmakers are trying to strong arm their way into syria. finally. did this new syria. angry bold promises from the syrian government after a referendum vote and the approval of a new constitution official say there is light at the end of the tunnel despite continuing bloodshed question is that the syrian people agree. plus from religious freedom to foreign policy the economy to national security americans trust the media and the governments to direct the political discourse to topics that really matter but whose agenda are they really serving. good evening it's wednesday march seventh four pm here in washington d.c. on this the captain of the watching our team. but we begin in syria where an end to the violence is seemingly nowhere in sight after almost a year of bloody offensives the government of president bashar al assad seems an able to regain control of the country meanwhile the opposition rebels are too weak and too frag

to the country but moscow warns it will continue to oppose any of the forces and ultimatum on the syrian government. dozens are killed and over one hundred injured in the latest spate of violence across iraq just one day after the night of first day of the start of the u.s. led invasion comes ahead of a key arab league summit to be held in baghdad the country's first since the american troop withdrawal in december. and thousands of construction workers in the u.k. struggling for employment demand justice off the learning they were placed on a secret blacklist supported by the police they believe they were singled out for whistle blowing about safety issues on building sites. but with violence in syria only escalating talks with bashar jeffrey is the country's ambassador to the u.n. to us whether the solution is any nearer in the crisis that interview next. joining our team for an exclusive sit down interview is syrian ambassador to the united nations dr bashar to fahri ambassador thank you very much for speaking with r.t. today thank you for having me with you to that thank you the unite

cultures that so much of it is a huge music issue on the market as the syrian civil war grinds on calls for an outside military intervention growing louder and louder while at the same time there is. take. the. low end welcome to crossfire computor all about syria and the law of unintended consequences as the syrian civil war grinds on calls for an outside military intervention grows louder and louder while at the same time there is ample evidence that foreign countries in groups are already waging a clandestine war in the country it is hard to see a peaceful end to this conflict particularly for the people on the ground. still. to cross the civil war in syria i'm joined by rod one day a day in washington he's a visiting scholar at the institute for middle east studies at the elliott school of international affairs at george washington university also in washington we go to jacob hornberger he is founder and president of the future of freedom foundation and in new york we have the lead looking on he is the united nations director at human rights watch all right gentlemen crosstalk rules

dart with the syrian people. that's one priority. the other is a commitment to a number of priorities but commitment certainly to humanitarian and medical assistance. if we're going to say, as i think it is the consensus position that, this should not be a military engagement on our part, if we say that, we better get the other part right. and the other parts are humanitarian and medical assistance. my first question is for mr. feltman. i know the friends of syria meeting took place and that was very positive and i know we have a commitment of $10 million to the refugees and idps but i want to get a better sense of what was agreed to at ten tunis, specifically as it relates to humanitarian assistance and what the united states can can do to address it horror. if you can identify what's definite and what will lead to action. >> thanks. first, how do we hope those countries around syria and that's an easier topic. the families in those countries have been generous. there aren't large- -- for the most part large-scale refugee camps. for

i mean civilians are tired of syrians want peace and be loved. but the syrian soldiers who protect us are being killed every day we've heard that mercenaries from france tunisia. we don't go any. just. freed of. people like. shortly after the rebels there's draw one of the syrian main opposition groups formed military council to organize. resistance and provide rebels with more weapons the fact that just shows and troops how to play militarized the conflict in syria has become recently as the country is very close to a civil war. the russian foreign ministry has called on the un to look at the calls to arm rebels in syria coming from several arab league states a spokesman suggested that may go against the un's goal of fighting terrorism actually burn the project coordinator for the conference for believes atrocities committed by opposition fighters are being ignored i think there is growing recognition that some of the very fundamentalist islamist groups probably make up about thirty percent of the armed insurgents that they've been guilty of as

at the request of the syrian national council, the free syrian army and local coordinating committees inside the country, the united states should help to lead such an effort in syria. but as i have repeatedly said, this does not mean we should go it alone. we should not. we should seek the active involvement of key arab partners such as saudi arabia, uae, jordan and qatar and allies in the e u and nato, the most important of which in this case is turkey. rather than closing off the prospects for negotiated transition that is acceptable to syria's opposition, military intervention is now needed to strengthen this option. assad needs to know that he will not win. and unfortunately, that is not the case now. to the contrary, assad seems convinced that he can wipe out the opposition through violence and is fully committed to doing so. the ideal political outcome of military intervention would be to change this dynamic, to prevent a long, bloody fight to the finish by compelling assad and his top lieutenants to give up power without further bloodshed, thereby creating the opportunity for

by saying that the syrian government is not telling the truth and that there are no armed groups and underground and that everything they got the syrian government saying is about lies then out of a sudden after the eight months and when the un office should start to talking about the scores of victims they acknowledged that in syria the government is dealing with armed groups i'm not saying that all the opposition. in syria but these are the opposition in syria is about winx we are dealing with peaceful demonstrators on one hand but we are dealing also with our groups on the other hand otherwise how would you explain that so far the syrian government has lost two thousand five hundred officers security officers army officers army soldiers and people belonging stuff we don't need for the unfortunate of the law this i mentioned should be taken into consideration when i. assessing what's going on in syria you've said that there are there is as long as some mercenaries that are part of the opposition. is a possible that there's regular civilians that are fighting for it to sort of trust

the violence being inflicted on the syrian people. and not any of it stopped, not one moment stopped while annan and assad were talking. dozens more were killed over the weekend all acrosyria. the regime is reportedly doing what it did in baba amr. and even though the free syrian army is fighting back as you can see in this new video in an attack on a tank, they they're no match for the syrian army. is it even a war? would it be accurate to call it that? >> no, this isn't a war. this is a siege and slaughter. >> you say it's a slaughter? now syrian forces are free to go house to house, apartment to apartment and seek whatever revenge they want. and there's really no one there anymore to document it. no international correspondents or locals with access to youtube cameras and up loading things on youtube. >> caller: absolutely. unfortunately now, that was a line of defense, the fact that this could be documented and maybe, maybe hopefully the presence of photographers and journalists hold them -- this will continue in the dark, undocum

humanitarian aid to the syrian. government forces pushed from the stronghold but local reports suggest the rebels are still in the area still killing. the presidential hopeful vladimir putin says and. helps the government respond to the public mood but he does reject calls for an early parliamentary election. the majority of nations sign a deal to make economic discipline compulsory but critics fear the realistic expectations will hit the struggling nations. this is with me the syrian government forces have allowed an aid convoy to enter the city of homs after capturing the rebel stronghold. this follows a call from the un security council to allow immediate humanitarian assistance to the worst affected areas supported by russia china. spoke to a resident of the perceived city who gave an eyewitness account of what she described as atrocities committed while the rebels were in charge. international red cross and syrian red crescent has reached hosts it's brought food water and medical supplies to the city that suffe

therefore, at the request of the syrian national council, the free syrian army .ree syrian army . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . centers in syria, especially in the north through air strikes on assad's forces. to be clear, this will require the united states to suppress enemy air defenses in at least part of the country. the ultimate goal of air strikes should be to establish and defend safe havens in syria, especially in the north, in which opposition forces can organize and plan their political and military activities against assad. these safe havens could serve as platforms for the delivery of humanitarian and military assistance, including weapons and ammunition, body armor and other personal protective equipment, tactical intelligence, secure communications equipment, food and water and medical supplies. these safe havens could also help the free syrian army and other armed groups in syria to train and organize themselves into more cohesive and effective military forces, likely with the assistance of foreign partners. the benefit for the united st

i mean civilians are tired of syrians and want peace and the last question i think but the syrian soldiers who protect us are being killed every day we've heard that mercenaries from france tunisia love and. we don't go anywhere. just. people like. shortly after the rebels was draw want to remain opposition groups formed a military council to organize. resistance and provide rebels was more weapons faster just shows and proves how diplomats rise the conflict in syria has become recently as the country is fearing close to a civil war. for national reporting. project coordinator for the bay reproduced conflicts for the mainstream media is still failing to balance the reports of atrocities still being committed inside syria i think there is growing recognition that some of the very fundamentalist islamist groups who probably make up about thirty percent of the armed insurgents they've been guilty of as much sort of brutality terrible action some of the accusations against the syrian army these have been documented in various reports we need to be careful of some of the mainstream media covera

especially the immediate and to the bloodshed and the protection of the syrian people. >> the syrian president now says he is behind the mission, but there has been no letup in the fighting. the united nations secretary general use his speech at the summit to keep the pressure on the syrian leader. >> the world is waiting for commitments to get translated into action. the key here is implementation. there is no time to waste. >> arab league members are divided on what their next move should be. saudi arabia and qatar want to supply arms to rebel forces. algeria and iraq are pushing for a political solution, fearing the possibility of a proxy war fought by outside powers. that a german political foundation that promotes democracy abroad has been ordered to close its office in of without a in the united arab emirates. >> the german chancellor says she regrets the move. foundation is close to merkel's conservative party. the reason being given for the closure -- earlier this month, authorities in egypt or the organization to shut down its office in cairo. here in berlin, shoring up the

as the syrian conflict stretches out in time it has also spread geographically i case of the uprising belt far from the country's borders but what's happening in syria is hard work. and what you've seen is the international community mobilize against the assad regime strategic analyst says one thing is clear though it's certainly gun far beyond the words of sympathy and the cotton to those on the ground in syria that mobilisation has many more force than officially stated. during the operation in baba amr the syrian army arrested fighters from gulf countries in afghanistan iraq libya and some european states their work was coordinated by kotori and saudi intelligence officers as well as cia mossad and blackwater agents but it's also seized as really weapons especially in taking missiles and israeli drones the us defense contractor formerly known as blackwater and now called academy was notorious for its heavy handed tactics during operations in iraq and pakistan while the us and many other countries have admitted al qaeda linked extremists groups fighting alongside the armed oppositio

over and chalky the un so you see us through the syrian national council so that the regime. there we can any grounds for those claims. absolutely no grounds and this is what they've been saying time and time again and you know even the americans who would be happy to believe such claims continually come up with out in other groups armed groups being encouraged by neighboring countries are committing such acts and so really it's getting very tired to hear these same all claims and i think it just shows that if this is going to go forward and in a reasonable way the syrian people have to be engaged with not these groups that pretend to speak on their behalf and you know this is what the west should be doing right now it should be encouraging those people in syria to negotiate with kofi annan to try to arbitrate this crisis before it goes out into a full blown civil war and also takes eleven and jordan and iraq into where it's really a crisis needs to be defused understood of the sort of massive regional implications are do apologize we absolutely run out of time here. from syr

i mean civilians are tired of syrians want peace and they love. the syrian soldiers who protect us are being killed every day we've heard mercenaries from france tunisia. we don't go anywhere. israel freed of snipers people like. shortly after the rebels was drole one of the syrian main opposition groups formed a military council to organize the nobs resistance and provide rebels with more weapons the fact that just shows and proves how diplomats rise the conflict in syria has become recently as the country is very close to a civil war that is more a financial reporting verbal and meantime look at a recruiter over just came back from homs so she witnessed a scene of chaos and carnage in the water on city. i spent nine days in homs with the syrian red crescent and saw killing and bloodshed i saw with my own eyes blood in corpses especially at a place called rust on there i saw a lot of lebanese mercenaries a city of homs itself is divided into with regime supporters are known side and the islamist opposition on the other i talk to members of the sy

the syrian opposition, and we're working with that. but i think that your question actually hints at something even beyond that. and i think for more aggressive action we would need to have a larger international consensus than currently exists. one thing that we are definitely working on going back to senator menendez' question what role is the security council play? it's high time, past time for the security council to be playing a role, and that, too, was a consensus that came out of tunis, is that people in countries and institutions represented there want to see an end to the blocking of russia and china to the security council taking action. >> you're right. i was trying to probe as to what more we could do. i agree with you. you need international unity. security council is where we normally start that. it's nots the exclusive area. it's not the determinative area, but it's certainly one in which would give us a stronger footing having the arab league is clearly important. so i would hope that we would work together exploring op

people like him talk to the free syrian army, but he is not free syrian army.tioned in your statement about the divisions between the syrian opposition. there are different organizations that makes it a little more complex. so they talk to each other. sometimes the coordinate, but they not organically linked. >> thank you, mr. chairman. i want to pick up the point you made, secretary feldman, about the oil exports and the success apparently been bottling up a high percentage of the government. likewise, other sanctions against the country have caused what seemed to be normal terms and economic depression by normal standards. this is likely to go further. what is not clear to me and i would like some thoughts that you have about what food supplies are available to the people of the country. how much is produced in syria now? i've understand that a drought has occurred this year. it was a critical factor in egypt, even while things were going on in tahrir square. food subsidies had ceased and that was the cause of considerable unrest. even if there were these pro

>> the losers here are the syrian people and the long run it will be the assad regime and the syrian government. how to be tipped the balance in favor of the people? the assad regime will be short- lived. >> we are talking about garmin people, the russians continue to arm the syrian government. why is it more pressure put on russia to stop this from happening? >> people are starting to talk about this and we should watch russia very carefully and see how they might shift their positions because there might be some interesting changes. >> the british prime minister as we sought in that report talking about the day of reckoning for the syrian regime, it is only a matter of time, the problem is how much time? >> nobody knows. how many individuals are defecting from the armed forces? it is a strong armed forces, not like libya. there are estimates that up to 20,000 have already defected. if we can put a program in place to organize them, then we might have some success. >> now to iran where people voted in parliamentary elections, there are nearly three and a half thousand candidates com

deaths jim announces the air raids in libya last year and expresses outrage at the training camps the syrian revolution is discovered in libya. and iran warns the resumption of nuclear talks which are recently been agreed upon might prove futile well imposing pressure and sanctions. mixed in an interview with us he runs a deputy foreign minister has in his assessment of the likelihood of military confrontation over his country's nuclear program. to get where we can seem increased tension between us and he's really gassed around us your assessment of the recent statements by president obama and he's really prime minister netanyahu. and us israeli threats against iran a not new it's a repeating scenario involving the us and the zionist country what's important is that we understand the terms and conditions to which the us president is in an election cycle these threats are for domestic consumption and are intended to influence election results some of these threats relate to changes taking place in the middle east and north africa as well as the arab revolutions which will lead rather peaceful

russia and the arab league are finally in the same bush about how to stop the syrian crisis but there are still those trying to put sticks in the spokes of diplomacy. three days of fire more deaths are reported in israeli airstrikes on gaza after the assassination of a palestinian resistance leader sends rockets flying over the border. plan salvation to some collapse to others greece thomas all the biggest debt reduction deal in history but while it's praised to the hilt by brussels ratings agencies slam it has to fold by another name. now with tensions between tehran and israel intensifying we talk to iran's deputy foreign minister on whether israel's threats water and into action and what the implications could ultimately. we're witnessing increased tension between the u.s. and he's really cast around us your assessment of the recent statements by president obama and he's really prime minister netanyahu all of us israeli threats against iran a not new it's a repeating scenario involving the u.s. and the zionist country what's important is that we understand the terms and conditions

civilian deaths to eleven says eriksson did it last year expresses outrage over training camps for syrian victims discovered in libya. and iran that warms the resumption of nuclear talks which. you tell world powers continue to pressure and sanctions. are next in an interview without see iran's or deputy foreign minister give his assessment of the likelihood of mitchell confrontation over his country's nuclear program. we're witnessing increased tension between us and he's really against around us your assessment of the recent statements by president obama and he's really part minister netanyahu all of us israeli threats against iran and not new it's a repeating scenario involving the u.s. and the zionist country what's important is that we understand the terms and conditions to which the u.s. president is in an election cycle these threats are for domestic consumption and are intended to influence election results some of these threats relate to changes taking place in the middle east north africa as well as the arab revolutions which were led rather peacefully and quietly by the muslim

with weapons have crossed syria's borders bringing more danger to syria fortunately syria and the syrian people have been able to face all foreign intervention over the past few months the result was the public referendum on the syrian constitution which was held peacefully we deny charges of sending weapons to syria which does not meet our weapons in our opinion of what syria needs above everything else is political support in facing a one sided american sanctions and it also needs the reforms executed there to be taken into due consideration these are called points in iran's policy towards syria . or the other for you how do you think the situation in syria will end up and worst. syria heading up at one moment at a think of over the past three months we believe syria has gone through three basic phases first did manage to overcome the security chaos phase into which america the zionist regime western states and unfortunately some arab states invested their knowledge intelligence and mass media in an attempt to pursue their interest but syria managed to overcome this almost two months a

lawmakers are willing to do what ever it takes to aid syrian rebels whether it's arms or airstrikes or another form of intervention so is america really ready for another war. and cyber gatton or cyber hype the threat of cyber warfare has spawned some disconcerting legislation on capitol hill critics say it could lead to the militarization of the internet in the name of security we'll break it all down. plus from religious freedom to foreign policy to the economy to national security americans trust the media and the government to direct political discourse but whose interests are those really serving. good evening it's wednesday march seventh seven pm here in washington d.c. i'm lucy catherine open you're watching our t.v. . well we begin today in syria where an end to the violence is seemingly nowhere in sight after almost a year of bloody offensives by the government of president bashar al assad that country seems unable to control take control of the escalating unrest meanwhile the opposition groups are too weak and too fragmented to overthrow the regime their stated goal and amid

the violence is being done to the syrian people as syrian sunnis afflicted on the syrian people. not one bit of it stopped while kofi annan and assad were talking. the videos we showed you, dozens more were killed over the weekend and dozens more across syria. in homs where the bodies were buried and the neighborhood pointing antiaircraft artillery. the syrian army is fighting back as you can see in this video, an attack on a tank, they are no match for assad's army. it's focused on civilians. is it even a war? is it accurate to call it that? >> no, it is blown to a war. this is, i think, they have a medieval siege and slaughter. i hesitate the use the word war. >> slaughter? you say it's a slaughter? >> absolutely. it's a slaughter house in there. >> they are free to go house-to-house, apartment-to-apartment and seek whatever revenge they want. there's really no one there anymore to document it. no international correspondents or locals with access to youtube cameras and up loading things on youtube. >> caller: absolutely. unfortunately now, that was a line of defense, the fact

people like him talk to the free syrian army, but he is not free syrian army. so you mentioned in your statement, as did senator lugar about, the syrian opposition, and there are different organizations. it makes it a little more complex. so they talk to each other. sometimes they coordinate, but they are not organically linked. >> senator lugar? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i have just want to take up a point that you made, secretary feltman, about the oil exports and the success, apparently, in bottling up a high percentage of the income of the government that way. likewise other sanctions across the country have caused what seems to be in normal terms an economic depression in the country by most standards. and this is likely to grow further. what isn't clear to me, and i'd like some thoughts, if you have them, what about food supplies are available to the people of the country, how much is produced in syria now. we understand a drought has occurred this year. this was a critical factor clearly in egypt, even people were not eating very well and food subsidie