the russians and assad and in the rain ians to assert. xtend do not want preconditions and coming to the talks america wants preconditions the west wants preconditions so right there you have the ultimate stalemate in the meantime you have the u.s. saying it's going to start providing arms we know they've already been providing arms to the rebel groups which provides another. cause to a stalemate at that diplomatic level so yes talks would be fantastic that would avert more and more deaths adding to the ninety thousand plus now but can we get there we don't know yet inside in washington aren't there enough arms already floating around awash in syria now why do they need more arms looking at it from the very his perspective i mean the idea that usually would be were just clearly described park but i think your great great in saying that. the u.s. . you know there were preconditions but there are directions there are sorts. here's the problem that you have. in the syrian fighters would like to see gone through russia and iran on the other h

yes i think i think the problem is not that assad time has run out for assad as you know these prophecies about assad's imminent departure his imminent collapse have been going on for two years has been in power i met a pakistani shere in syria pilgrim who'd been living in syria for sixteen years and he told me if everyone in syria wanted to go he would be gone this is not to say that a substantial number of syrians don't want him to go they do want him to go but there is a constituency in syria that supports a sub the problem is that we don't have the west doesn't have anyone to bring to the negotiating table the syrian opposition is completely fractured who represents the syrian opposition could could give me five names that represent the syrian opposition who can go to the negotiation table and talk to assad you know i can argue for him it was because of the point in the poorest a week in the middle east the great powers are you know they have lost their influence wherever so that's the that is one of the delimiters you know the people the countries who can bring about some sort of mea

yes i think i think the problem is not that time is running out for assad as you know these prophecies about assad's imminent departure is imminent collapse have been going on for two years has been in power i met a pakistani shere in syria a pilgrim who'd been living in syria for sixteen years and he told me if everyone in syria wanted to go he would be gone this is not to say that a substantial number of syrians don't want him to go they do want him to go but there is a constituency in syria that supports a sub the problem is that we don't have the west doesn't have anyone to bring to the negotiating table the syrian opposition is completely fractured who represents the syrian opposition could could give me five names that represent the syrian opposition who can go to the negotiation table and talk to assad no i cannot give you for it would be the point in the poorest are we giving middle east great powers or you know they have lost their influence wherever so that's the that is one of the delimiters you know the people the countries who can bring about some sort of meaningful peace

yes i think i think the problem is not that assad time has run out for assad as you know these prophecies about assad's imminent departure his imminent collapse have been going on for two years has been in power i met a pakistani shere in syria pilgrim who'd been living in syria for sixteen years and he told me if everyone in syria wanted to go he would be gone this is not to say that a substantial number of syrians don't want him to go they do want him to go but there is a constituency in syria that supports a sub the problem is that we don't have the west doesn't have anyone to bring to the negotiating table the syrian opposition is completely fractured who represents the syrian opposition could could give me five names that represent the syrian opposition who can go to the negotiation table and talk to assad no i cannot give you for him it was beside the point in that the the poorest are weak in the middle east great powers that are you know they have lost their influence wherever so that's the that is one of the dilemmas you know the people the countries who can bring about some sort

it was liberated from assad's army more than three months ago. >> narrator: the army of the assad regime has been pushed back across the valley to the other side of the orontes river. ahmad's village is well within range of their artillery. shells and mortars are routinely fired into this village. >> (translated): god willing, bashar al-assad's army can't get in here. we run things here now. >> narrator: doctors and nurses are ordered to report immediately to the local hospital. ahmad is already there, using his phone to film casualties. >> (translated): i ran to the area to see who was injured, to see how i could help. these people's lives are over. this is what god had written for them. i just despaired, and thought it was time that arab countries felt our suffering. >> narrator: ahmad and the people of his village have witnessed these scenes many times, fearing they will be next. today, it's mohammed mattar who has lost members of his family. >> narrator: mohammed is surrounded by the bodies of three of his nephews. they were killed 20 minutes ago by a government shell. inside the hos

people have been tempered straining and they're resisting assad and have being slaughtered by assad for well over a year the biggest risk. to keep on slaughtering these people you've got a dictator who is brutalizing his people using chemical weapons against innocent. surge on a dictator who is slaughtering his own people is that an accurate description of what is actually happening in syria or what is actually happening is a very brutal civil war between the government supporters and the rebels and their supporters and both sides are clearly guilty of. regarding civilians as an incidental collateral damage if you like i think it's probably true to say that most of the casualties we're talking about around one hundred thousand most of the casualties have been civilians and very many of them it's very hard to say how many have been killed by the the government tactics of fighting the war by shelling and bombing civilian towns because that's where they believe the rebels are i think what's crucial in the western narrative on the syrian conflict is that the line between combatants and civi

of syrian citizens by their own government people have been tempered straining and they're resisting assad in their being slaughtered by the sad for well over a year the biggest risk would be allowing bashar al assad to keep on slaughtering his people you've got a dictator who is brutalizing his people using chemical weapons against innocent people search on a dictator who is slaughtering his own people is that an accurate description of what is actually happening in syria or what is actually happening is a very brutal civil war now between the government supporters and the rebels and their supporters and now both sides are clearly guilty of. regarding civilians as an incidental collateral damage if you like i think it's probably true to say that most of the casualties we're talking about around one hundred thousand most of the casualties have been civilians and very many of them it's very hard to say how many have been killed by the the government tactics of fighting the war by shelling and bombing civilian towns because that's where they believe the rebels are i think what's crucial in t

this matter of providing syrian rebels with with more arms is of course to turn the tide because assad army has been making strategic advances and the idea here is really try to tear our. turning the tables around now correct me if i'm wrong but i'm working on a presumption that most civilians from rebel held areas would already have to either drawdown or turkey if western governments succeed in the objective of turning the tide that i would suppose would create an enormous challenge an enormous refugee challenge because you would have millions of people from government held areas fleeing to neighboring countries what i would say is the there are no good there are no good options now in syria if the fighting intensifies there will be more people fleeing it will be more humanitarian need the rebels take over some more cities there will be people who will flee but of course the opposite is also true the government just took back the city of elko syria there were no civilians left or virtue no civilians left you know consider they have already fled but again my point was that if civilians

try to see if you get russia to back off supporting assad? because it seems threats of having new state sponsors on the side of the rebels, while we have threatened to do that, we haven't done that. >> well, i don't think it's realistic to assume right now, 2 1/2 years into this revolution, that russia's simply going to cease supporting the assad government. russia has a foot hold there. its last military base outside of russia is in syria. it sees an opportunity to limit and block the united states and the europeans. and it is taking that opportunity. and it's coallessed with hezbollah and iran. i don't see that as a real it'sic straigit's realistic strategy. what would be realistic is to step up u.s. support to the moderate rebel groups and perhaps, over type, with turkey and the other arab countries, that would take away assad's major advantage. he's shelling civilians and killing civilians by the thousands because he has no opposition in the air. we've got to make a basic decision. are we in this or not in it? i don't mean troops on the g

where civilians are clearly defenseless in this regard so again when we have all those leaders accusing assad of slaughtering his civilians i think it's really missing the point that the. vaculik syrian army is there trying to deal with the. security challenge that it has you can dispute rather on the means out properly but they are not out there just to kill civilians just to slaughter them for the sake of you know just bloodletting i think i think you're also missing the point i think the no one would suggest that the government trying to to kill rebels who have guns and are trying to attack them that's part of the conflict i mean it's not you can argue about who's right or wrong in the conflict but that's a legitimate thing to do in the conflict what it is not legitimate to do is to attack areas with weapons like shells an aerial bombing where you don't you have no idea where the rebels are relative the civilians so you just bomb the whole city and the point is that the majority of the victims of our own not rebels carrying guns they are civilians let me take up this point according to the

the syrian national council agrees to take part in a peace conference but first demands that assad step down and ask the u.s. to ship arms to the opposition this has divisions within the rebel camp highlights the possibility of internal strife. thanks for tuning in this hour you're watching the weekly right here on r t m d c cough and well we begin in egypt where the confrontation between the military on the muslim brotherhood has intensified clashes between the supporters of the deposed president mohamed morsy and the security forces on saturday have resulted in the deadliest violence since the military took over official figures but the number of those killed more than seventy the muslim brotherhood says another sixty people are on life support artie's bill true has been following the events in cairo for us. i went to the city where the clashes took place which is in a place called nasr city if you kilometers from here where i'm standing in to her square there were burned cars rocks and pools of blood to leading up towards this city where supporters of mohamed morsy will be reeling af

allowing bashar al assad to keep on slaughtering his people you've got a dictator who is brutalizing his people who's using chemical weapons against innocent people surge on a dictator who is slaughtering his own people is that an accurate description of what is actually happening in syria because they know what is actually happening is a very brutal civil war now between the government and versus porters and the rebels and their supporters and now both sides are clearly guilty of. regarding civilians as an incidental collateral damage if you like i think it's probably true to say that most of the casualties we're talking about around one hundred thousand most of the casualties have been civilians and very many of them it's very hard to say how many have been killed by the the government tactics of fighting the war by shelling and bombing civilian towns because that's where they believe the rebels are i think what's crucial in the western narrative on the syrian conflict is that the line between combatants and civilians is really really blurred and i think i would argue that it is do

cooperation between some of the syrian government's toughest rivals in the region mean now for the assad regime well i don't think that this is a huge change for the general situation because. what's supporting in the past the so-called rebels in this what the media claim it is a civil war but isn't the reality since a long time approx ebor we have right now militants from more than twenty five nations fighting in syria against the syrian government and of course east road was supporting the rebels they were they were they found arms and weaponry from. the revenue side and turkey also is supporting in a strong way the rebels on syrian soil in the meantime has family denied israel used one of the as a basis to launch a raid against syria and as i was his point to point. in interview to the turkish media the turkish foreign minister has denied any involvement in the alleged israeli attack against the weapons depo in syria however you have sent requests to the administration over the turkish prime minister the administration of the turkish president to the turkish foreign ministry and they

the syrian national council agreed to take part in a peace conference but first demands that assad step down asked us to ship foreigners to the opposition now this comes as divisions within the rebel camp highlights the possibility of internal strife. and joining in this hour you're watching the weekly right here on our t.v. with me catherine of where we begin in egypt where the confrontation between the military and the muslim brotherhood has intensified clashes between the supporters of the deposed president morsy and security forces on saturday have resulted in the deadliest violence since the military took power official figures but the number of those killed more than seventy the muslim brotherhood says another sixty people are out on life support r.t.l. true is reporting from cairo. i went back to the city in. the violence to end it and spoke to many of the eyewitnesses and also the medics running these very makeshift hospitals inside the city and speaking to eyewitnesses they told me that about a few hundred of them had decided to extend their sittin down the main road toward seq

that if weeve decided president assad had to go and president assad going is part of the solution, we need to be able to work with the opposition in order to achieve that militarily and politically. the reason why i want president assad to go is not just because he is a bad guy. reason why resident aside in my opinion has to go is that he lost his chance to reform his country and to deal with the waveratic -- demographic that is overcoming the regime. the assad regime has proven very rigid over time it has been unable to reform, other than a couple of banks and insurance companies. and that which is patently not reform. and unable to deal with the big elephant in the room here, and that is -- if you notice, all of the armed fighters, i have black beard and black hair and very, very little gray. that is because what you are seeing in syria is authoritarian, -- following the homs massacre in 1982, there was a massive crackdown inside of syria. hard currency dried up. the economy contracted. for that 10 years, even arab nationalists and communists were arrested. what happened was, everyo

people like yourself who at least at some point for in support of armed rebellion argued that since assad is a dictator syria would be a better place without him and therefore all the mashers to get rid of him are somehow justified even if it is a war and to me that's the very asons of the bush's case to launch a war in iraq there are some stark differences to start off with between iraq and between syria and iraq there was no revolution in iraq there was a war that was instigated by the push of interest strategic financial. whatever it may be at the time the lead tony blair and george w. bush to launch a war which i felt the time was one of the leaders of the end to a movement ok what's the difference. well syria was. was a revolution in the in the in the same way that egypt saw its revolution which toppled hosni mubarak in the same way that tunisia so revolution that toppled the and in the same way that the people of libya rose the people of syria as well as yemen other countries also rose at the very same time the context can't be ignored the syrian revolution for six months after it s

and the syrian national council agreed to take part in a peace conference but first demands that assad steps down asking the u.s. to ship arms to the opposition this comes as divisions within the rebel camp highlights the possibility of internal strife. thanks tuning in this hour you're watching the weekly right here on our t.v. i'm lucy confident of well rampant violence in iraq this week has claimed at least forty two lives with bombings and shootings having put the number of those killed in july at over eight hundred making it one of the deadliest months this year but more than a decade after u.s. led forces invaded iraq there is also a legacy of horrific birth defects taking a toll on those who were born in the years after the war now we visited iraq earlier basically a month ago and here is a report on what we discovered in the city of najaf. one hundred sixty kilometers south of baghdad the sacred shiite city is known for its holy shrines and is surrounded by one of the largest cemeteries in the world some of the heaviest fighting of the iraq war took place amid these graves its

>> i do. -- is assad winning? >> currently, the tide seems to have shifted in his favor. >> do you agree? >> i would say the tide has shifted to his favor in the central and western part of the country. it is fragile in the north. >> is he winning overall? >> if i had to pick who is winning, it would be the regime, but not my much. >> the regime is winning but not much. could they be winning without russia's help? >> i think the most important help they are getting is iranian and hezbollah. i don't know whether russians -- whether russia's opus vital, but it is certainly helping. >> general dempsey, how would you evaluating significance of russia's help to assad? --they are arming >> let's put it this way if the russians said we want you gone tomorrow, would it matter to assad? >> it would be a game changer, wouldn't it? >> assad is going to fight to the death. >> do you agree with me that if russia said to assad we no longer support you, it would be the ultimate game changer? >> it would be a very important game

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

because you know a significant proportion still supports president assad whether you like it or not so when you are common to syria and start telling those people who should be their legitimate leader and who should be not i think this is the very same argument that president bush that because president bush based it on a humanitarian basis he said the american capital rights and responsibilities to protect the oppressed people of iraq now what you're saying is that because you're an arab because you are a muslim you for some reason have the same right or more in title meant to protecting the syrian people but to me it sounds just as you know condescending has the bushes claim or he is not a supposedly higher responsibility or not i'm not imposing no no no no no and i just say respectfully you're trying to draw parallels where there are none and therefore you're bringing us back to the issue of iraq which i but by the way once again i repeat i was one of the most. vocal oppositions to the war in iraq and i've made that clear what i'm saying is if there was a resolution today in some

ever to see peace in syria in the future with president assad. you know, even if it was possible, and as i've said earlier, this is not what's happening at the moment but even if it was possible for him by force to reconquer syria, there would never be an acceptance of such a regime. now that 100,000 people or a number of that order have been killed, many of them brutally, tens of thousands tortured and abused. i don't think it would ever be possible for this to be a legitimate and respected government again. in the eyes of millions of syria's own people, never mind the eyes of the world. so any settlement in syria, i think, involves, in my view, volves a departure of president assad. we are not saying, in order to get a geneva conference 2 together, he has to depart in advance. but if a transitional government is to be formed by mutual consent and a political settlement arrived at in syria, i think it's ve hard for any dispassionate obber to see him continuing as president of syria. >> if there is a geneva two and if there is a settlement, it is

security council and agreed to take part in a long awaited peace conference but only if assad agrees to a transitional government the rebel group also met with the u.s. secretary of state to urge the white house to speed up arms shipments to the anti assad forces there with a promise that the weapons would not fall into the wrong hands but the pledges come as divisions within the opposition deepen and as artie's paul scott reports the former allies may soon become sworn enemies. while the opposition are united in their desire to overthrow president bashar al assad that seems to be where their similarity ends the syrian national coalition is the umbrella group recognized internationally as the legitimate representative of the syrian people but they don't represent all factions opposed to a saddle one group operating out of their control for example is the al qaeda linked al nusra front the coalition say they've hijacked the revolution or they've been classed by many in the west as a terrorist organization elsewhere a separate syrian group affiliated to al qaida helped facilitate a jai

that it is morsi who called for assad to leave months ago being ousted and assad is still in power. >> i want to go to joel rubin on that. we now have seen tunanesia, libya, egypt twice. shouldn't bashar al assad get the message perhaps the arab spring has bled into an arab summer that could lap into his country, as well? >> the situation in his country is deplorable as mark points out. it's horrific to watch. what we will see clearly as well as a contrast a stark one at that where the egyptian people are cheering the egyptian army for doing what they believe is in their best interests supposed to in syria where the army is massacring its people. it's testament to a lot of different factors. just reading tea leaves here but seeing secretary of defense hagel going into the white house or hearing of that, his communications with the military have been robust. certainly that's a long relationship that the u.s. has had with the egyptian military and it's likely paying dividends in terms of understanding what's happening on the ground. the syrian situation where assad believes that he woul

so there's no reason we couldn't live with the assad regime for another 4 years. the idea that it's a strategic threat to the united states, i do not believe it's a serious argument. >> woodruff: all right. we will leave it there. john mearsheimer, jeffrey white, we thank you both. >> brown: we have more on syria later in the program, with a look at the continuing humanitarian crisis. also ahead, the first pictures of the royal baby; the push to enroll young people in health plans; a program to confiscate legally purchased guns; plus, dementia and sexual consent. but first, the other news of the day. here's kwame holman. >> holman: in washington, house tea party conservatives and liberal democrats pushed to bar funding for any arms for syria's rebels unless congress approves. it's one of several proposed amendments to a defense spending bill now under debate. the same coalition also wants to rescind the national security agency's power for blanket collection of data and restrict the agency's phone surveillance program. a final vote on the legislation is expected l

anti-war campaign are huge and very air told us that western backed attempts to topple the assad regime only stir up a hornet's nest in syria rendering peace efforts useless the united states and the united kingdom france other western nations have really made clear that they will only accept the fall of assad and despite the fact that they continually try to say that they're for peace negotiations it seems at every turn whether it's sending arms to the rebels whether it's in the quote unquote non-lethal aid money in general supporting the gulf countries that are also supporting them that really all of the talk about peace is disingenuous and unlike russia and other countries they seem very. determined to push forward the syrian rebels as the new leadership of the country regardless of the situation on the ground when the russian in the united states were originally trying to promote the geneva two conference we saw that the syrian rebels essentially said that they had no intention of negotiating until the situation on the ground changed that is until they gained the military upper hand

security council and the anti assad leadership. here gas clashes with police thousands of protesters converging on capital and rage by the assassination of a prominent opposition party leader. hello good morning it's nice to have your company you're watching r.t. coming to you live from moscow with me and very far. now whigs are edward snowden's revelations of the united states mass snooping operation against infuriated e.u. citizens germany is taking steps to address threats to previous see it wants to update u.n. data protection regulations with some top officials also calling for a suspension of the data exchange treaty between washington and the skeptics though suspect it's little more than general election campaigning as peter all of the reports from berlin. so two of germany's most senior cabinet members have written to the e.u. counterparts to try and get them to push the united nations to change their current privacy legislation all seems well and good especially when he comes said that the current privacy legislation was w

he is funneling assistance to assad. they thumb our nose no matter what the issue is. we should deal realistically, not a return to the cold war but realistically with vladimir putin. that means missile convicts in europe, expansion of the magnitski bill and recognizing that vladimir putin is, if we could push the reset back down to 1955. we have to deal realistically with an autocratic ruler of russia that continues to oppress people in russia and behaves in a manner that is not the cause of world peace and good relations between russia and united states. >> john: you sewed pointed things about president putin a week ago. seven days have gone by, nothing has happened. what is your thinking and do you agree with senator mccain to up the pressure? >> i do completely. i'm not sure it should be done publicly with snowden in russian hands. they should pay a price, diplomatic or geopolitical for doing what they did. they are putting their finger in our eye. we ought to be clear with ecuador they are going to pay a price if they take snowden. we should cut off aid of $10 mil

people like yourself who at least at some point for in support of armed rebellion argued that since assad is a dictator syria would be a better place without him and therefore all the measures to get rid of him are somehow justified even if it is a war and to me that's the very asons of the bush's case to launch a war in iraq there are some stark differences to start off with between iraq and between syria and iraq there was no revolution in iraq there was a war that was instigated by the push of interests strategic financial. whatever it may be at the time the lead tony blair and george w. bush to launch a war which i felt the time was one of the leaders of the end to a movement ok what's the difference. well syria was. was a revolution in the in the in the same way that egypt saw its revolution which toppled hosni mubarak in the same way that tunisia so revolution that toppled the and in the same way that the people of libya rose the people of syria as well as yemen other countries also rose at the very same time the context can't be ignored the syrian revolution for six months after it

russia says it was the syrian rebels not president assad's forces behind a cameco attack in aleppo that left two dozen dead earlier this year the incident was used by washington to justify sending arms to the opposition but those weapons are now in limbo with congress refusing to green light to the earth shipment that he tails are now from. washington seems very convinced that bashar al assad was behind this attack that it was allegedly a chemical attack they say they had evidence no one seen it hasn't been published or given to it to the press in any way so a lot of people still wondering what exact evidence that is that russia has conducted an investigation alongside so actually on the ground and ambassador to the u.n. at the telly turkey and now can explain what exactly they found and why they believe that it wasn't assad who was behind that attack the results of the analysis clearly indicate that the ordinance used in common law so was not industrially munna fractured and was filled with saddam. the study and technical specifications prove that it was not investigated manufactured e

no one favors the assad government. and aiding the opposition could end up with the weapons in the hands of al-qaeda and perpetuate the war. the russians and iranians have been supporting assad from the outset and as of now, they are holding their own and may be making progress. >> what should the u.s. do? >> focus on what is our main interest. it is insures that assad's chemical weapons don't get outside of syria and in the hands of terrorist. it is a tragedy, we don't have the power to stop it without a kind of intervention that no body is advocating. >> powers, the president's nominee said it is unlikely that the un will not take action. it is disheartening. >> i don't think you should be disheartened. the unighted nations is the sum of countries. and russia is determined to cope assad in power. russia has had that view for two and half years. >> were you surpriseed to hear that exchange between senator graham and general dempsey. and he said assad is wenning and today it is. >> and it is notes inially likely to cont

at the tele turk and now can explain what exactly they found and why they believe that it wasn't assad who was behind that attack the results of the analysis clearly indicate that the ordinance used in kannada so was not industrially manufactured and was filled with sudden but the sudden technical specifications proved that it was not in the us to really monitor actually either the projectile involved is not a standard one for chemical use therefore there is evidence you seem to believe that it was the armed opposition fighters who used the chemical weapons so now we know that turkey and went on to pass these results the actual the actual results of this investigation on to bomb ki-moon and there has been some reaction from the u.k. from the u.s. and the u.k. they say they highly doubt that in fact these results will prove that it wasn't behind the attack and it goes as far to show that the u.s. in fact the white house spokesperson when asked if he had read the report he replied no but they're already saying that they believe it's highly unlikely that this will really prove anything wh

because you know a significant proportion still supports president assad whether you like it or not so when you are common to syria and start telling those people who should be their legitimate later and who should be not i think this is the very same argument that president bush sad because president bush based it on a humanitarian basis he said there were americans have your rights and responsibilities to protect the oppressed people of iraq now what you're saying is that because you're an arab because you are muslim you for some reason have the same rights or more in title meant to protecting the syrian people but to me it sounds just as you know condescendingly has the bushes claim or he is not supposedly higher responsibility or not i'm not imposing no no no no no and i just say respectfully you're trying to draw parallels where there are none and therefore you're bringing us back to the issue of iraq which i but by the way once again i repeat i was one of the most. vocal oppositions to the war in iraq and i made that clear what i'm saying is if there was a resolution today in

cooperation between some of the syrian government's toughest rivals in the region mean now for the assad regime well i don't think that this is a huge change for all the general situation because. what's supporting in the past the so-called rebels in this what the media claim it is a civil war but isn't the reality since a long time approx evil order we have right now militants from more than twenty five nations fighting in syria against the syrian government and of course east river was supporting the rebels they fall and arms and weaponry from. the revenue side and turkey also is supporting in a strong way the rebels on syrian soil. and interview with turkish media the country's foreign minister denied claims israel used the turkish military base to launch an attack against syria to find out more we're now joined live from istanbul by our correspondent. paula any reaction so far to this breaking news we've been covering for the past several hours here on. not. a single turkish government body rory r.t. have sent requests to the administration of the turkish prime minister of the turkis

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

because you know a significant proportion still supports president assad whether you like it or not so when you are coming to syria and start telling those people who should be their legitimate leader and who should be not i think this is the very same argument that president bush said because president bush based it on a humanitarian basis he said the american capital rights and responsibilities to protect the oppressed people of iraq now what you're saying is that because you're an arab because you're a muslim you for some reason have the same right or. more in title meant to protecting the syrian people but to me it sounds just as you know condescendingly has the bush's claim or he is that you know that's a supposedly higher responsibility or not i'm not imposing no no no no no can i just say respectfully you're trying to draw parallels where there are none and therefore you're bringing us back to the issue of iraq which i but by the way once again i repeat i was one of the most. vocal oppositions to the war in iraq and i made that clear what i'm saying is if there was a revoluti

because you know a significant proportion still supports president assad whether you like it or not so when you are common to syria and start telling those people who should be their legitimate leader and who should be not i think this is the very same argument that president bush that because president bush based on a humanitarian basis he said the american capital rights and responsibilities to protect the oppressed people of iraq now what you're saying is that because you're an arab because you are a muslim you for some reason have the same right or more in title meant to protecting the syrian people but to me it sounds just as you know condescendingly has the bushes claim or he is not supposedly higher responsibility or not i'm not imposing no no no no no i just say respectfully you're trying to draw parallels where there are none and therefore you're bringing us back to the issue of iraq which i but by the way once again i repeat i was one of the most. vocal oppositions to the war in iraq and i've made that clear what i'm saying is if there was a resolution today in some you kn

the syrian national council agrees to take part in a peace conference but first demands that assad steps down and asks the u.s. to ship arms to the opposition this as the divisions within the rebel camp highlights the possibility of internal strife. thanks for tuning in this hour you're watching the weekly right here on our team with me to see cough and of well we begin in egypt where the confrontation between the military on the muslim brotherhood has intensified clashes between the supporters of the deposed president mohamed morsy and security forces on saturday have resulted in the deadliest violence since the military took power official pick up figures put the number of those killed at more than seventy the muslim brotherhood says another sixty people are on life support true is following the events in cairo and joins me live well any evidence at the moment to suggest who it was that incited inside of this violence. well there are conflicting reports on how this very bloody clash started on saturday morning outside the city and for the ousted leader mohamed morsi i went back to the

military leaders told congress and washington the assad regime is now winning. syrian refugees were asking secretary of state john kerry on a visit to jordan where is the help? our report on all of it tonight from our chief foreign affairs correspondent, andrea mitchell, in our d.c. bureau. >> reporter: touring a sprawling refugee camp eight miles from the syrian border, john kerry got an earful. more than a month after president obama promised to arm the opposition, no weapons have been sent. refugees pleaded with kerry, what are you waiting for, demanding a no-fly zone to stop assad's fighter jets and scud missiles. >> i think they are frustrated and angry at the world for not stepping in and helping. >> reporter: why the delay? as rebel factions fight each other and al qaeda gains influence, congress is afraid the weapons will get into the wrong hands. >> if you're going to put the good name of the united states at risk, you better do it right. again, i was arguing for something earlier to prevent what we now know is a rising al qaeda membership, some 6,000 i

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

security council and the anti assad leadership. and turmoil returns to the birthplace of the arab spring protesters clashed with police into museums capital enraged by the assassination of a prominent opposition party leader. hello welcome watching r.t. with me. now weeks after edward snowden's revelations of the united states mass snooping operation against infuriated citizens germany is taking steps to address threats to previous see it wants to update u.n. data protection regulations with some top officials also calling for a suspension of the data exchange treaty between washington and the e.u. skeptics suspect it's little more than general election campaigning is peter all over now reports from. so two of germany's most senior cabinet members have written to the e.u. counterparts to try and get them to push the united nations to change their current privacy legislation all seems well and good especially when you consider that the current privacy legislation was written way back in one thousand nine hundred sixty six long befor

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

regime which was clearly an anti assad mission even the arab league observer mission noted the fact that there was a quote unquote a third force a third element inside of syria that was not the protest movement nor the government of damascus and it was some other element and that element was driving the violence and of course as we see now two years later it was incredibly successful and fomenting civil war there why wouldn't forces within the country do this it doesn't seem to make sense that either side would really have benefited from this kind of chaos we need to understand this in this broad narrative of those elements internationally used violence as a pretext for destabilization this is no longer the nineteenth century imperialism that we learn about it history books you can't just go around in fading countries and you know imposing your will by force and by violence rather it has to be done in a more overt way and one of the ways that you do that is by creating the necessary humanitarian over humanitarian culture is now official u.s. policy revealed in the leaked your us on

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

hurry up in sending arms to the rebels the head of talks between the un security council and the anti assad leadership. and turmoil returns to the birthplace of the arab spring is thousands of protesters clashed with police in two museums capital enraged by the assassination of a prominent opposition party leader. and i welcome you watching r.t. with me andrey far. now weeks after edward snowden's revelations that the united states mass snooping operation against infuriated e.u. citizens germany is taking steps to address threats to previous see it wants to update u.n. data protection regulations with some top officials also calling for a suspension of the data exchange treaty between washington and the e.u. skeptics though suspect is little more than general election campaigning as peter all of the reports from berlin. so two of germany's most senior cabinet members have written to the e.u. counterparts to try and get them to push the united nations to chip. after all seems well and good especially when he comes said that the current privacy legislation was written way back in one thousand

israel has not made up its mind and may never do so whether it will be better off under syria under assad or under the rebels of course the rebels may take syria out of its relationship with iran israel is bitter enemy but at the same time they may be connected with al qaeda was well the global jihad which is another a sworn enemy of israel so israel does not take sides in the syrian civil war what israel is afraid of is that on the golan heights the very front where it confronts both the rebels and the syrian army units both of these forces may independently attack israel and therefore israel would love to keep out of the war in syria and would like the various forces there to keep fighting each other rather than attacking israel all right i mean oren a senior correspondent and columnist at the ha'aretz newspaper from all of us here at r.t. thank you for joining us on this sunday. well additional police are to be deployed to belfast shortly in the program to run out to bring you the latest from northern ireland's capital which has been engulfed in sectarian violence for the second night

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

and the tally turk in now can explain what exactly they found and why they believe that it wasn't assad who was behind that attack the results of the analysis clearly indicate that the ordinance used in qana last cell was not industrially manufactured and was filled with sudden. but the sudden technical specifications proved that it was not invested in manufacturing either the projectile involved is not a standard one for chemical use and therefore there is evident you seem to believe that it was the armed opposition fighters who used the chemical weapons and so now we know that they went on to pass these results actual the actual results of this investigation on to bonk a moon and there has been some reaction from the youth from the u.s. and the u.k. they say they highly doubt that in fact these results will prove that it wasn't behind the attack and it goes as far to show that to us in fact the white house spokesperson when asked if he had read the report he replied no but there are already saying that they believe it's highly unlikely that this will really prove anything what you hav