Page 2 - Assad Falls News Today

Jihad into russia. russia is close to syria and remember where the tsarnaev s come from, the chechen dagestan area. >> that concern who takes over if assad falls is also a shared concern of many law make, here in washington, here in the united states on capitol hill in their opposition to u.s. action in russia. what do you think are the main reasons for russias opposition to going into syria? >> well the first part that russian officials have told me often is they feel they got tricked in libya....

Radical, most violent elements are the ones that actually have some power. i mean there is no central authority to which the fighters on the land can actually turn to. theres no one that commends either respect or loyalty from all the groups inside. and most, i think, western countries in particular, and i suppose russia as well, fear that if assad falls, we will end up with a jihadist state, which will probably prompt the continuation of the war. therefore -- i mean, first of all, i agree with ...

Some power. i mean there is no central authority to which the fighters on the land can actually turn to. theres no one that commends either respect or loyalty from all the groups inside. and most, i think, western countries in particular, and i suppose russia as well, fear that if assad falls, we will end up with a jihadist state, which will probably prompt the continuation of the war. therefore -- i mean, first of all, i agree with fawaz that a pinprick war with no strategic orientation, no pol...

They are, now, openly on the streets. they are also worried that if there is a u.s. strike, there could be simultaneously strikes against the islamists. so islamist fighters have been leaving some of their headquarters, mingering with populations on the streets. theyre doing some armed patrols at night. and are asserting their security and their control in case there is a breakdown of law and order. in case there is just enough opportunity for them to make a run for damascus. so the situation is...

Not because they particularly like mr. assad but because they see him as the legitimate leader of syria. >> reporter: they predict if assad falls, what coming after him could be even worse. jill dougherty, cnn, washington. startling comments from the sister of a man accused of killing a family friend and son and kidnapping her daughter, laura dimaggio tells piers morgan in a cnn exclusive that her brother james was quiet and dependable and incapable of the crimes police says he committed, incl...

It started with natos 1999 air campaign against russias ally serbia. it got worse when the west launched air strikes against libyas moammar gadhafi in 2011. >> mr. putin basically came to the conclusion that never again. this will never happen again. they will stick by mr. assad and syria. not because they particularly like mr. assad. but because they see him as the legitimate president or legitimate leader of syria. >> and russia now claims theres little difference between president obama and p...

Ill give you the final thought, ralph. >> he can agonize all he wants. he needs to put america as interests first. this guy doesnt think strategically. he thinks politically. if you try to think politically on this one, youre going to end up, no matter all the protest station, killing americans, ruining our credibility and putting bad guys in charge. by the way, if assad falls, are we going to step in to protect the christian and jews and shia minorities? we have no plan, megyn. its impulsive ch...

Syria, just take one huge issue, for example, the chemical weapons. you know, so if we go in there, right now theyre presumably under the control of assad, presumably secured in some way. we go in there and assad falls. what happens to the chemical weapons? who gets them? do we secure them? ive seen an estimate it would take tens of thousands of u.s. troops, boots on the ground just to be sure to secure the chemical weapons. are we going to go there? >> yeah, thats a great question. hey, lets mo...

The others. if assad falls, as you point out, the guys the guns will ascend to power. >> right. frankly, our government doesnt have the sophistication to choose, arm, train, back the right factions in a situation thats grown so terribly complex. again, on one side we have assad backed now by hezbollah fighters in syria. on the other hand you have the various jihadi stripes including al-qaeda types, and my god, the average syrian is caught in between. decent people are dying every day, but then y...

Unit, in conjunction with our arab league. when do we have the arab league asking the united states to help them through a very difficult circumstance of which they are eager to get involved? and, by the way, already are getting involved. many argue they are getting involved in a way that is uncoordinated and probably at the end of the day, maybe even unhelpful to what happens after assad falls. fights between sunnis and shias and extremists versus secularists are brewing. with a little bit of u...