Page 8 - Fighting Assad News Today

>> there is a pretty shocking video by "the new york times" posted today. it is syrian rebels executing captured assad soldiers, gunshot to the back of the head, naked. if the u.s. attacks syria, do those men in those videos become, by definition, our ally? >> no, in fact, i believe those men in those videos are disadvantaged by an american response to the chemical weapons use, because it in fact empowers the moderate opposition. we all know there are about 11 really bad opposition groups, so-ca...

Response to the chemical weapons use because it, in fact, empowers the moderate opposition. we all know there are about 11 really bad opposition groups, so-called opposition. theyre not -- theyre fighting assad. theyre not part of the opposition that is being supported by our friends and ourselves. that is a moderate opposition. they condemn what has happened today. and they are -- and we are busy separating the support were giving from any possibility of that support going to these guys. >> how...

Us now. how does a limited strike prevent assad from using chemical weapons again? what would be the goal? >> reporter: it is really not clear, jenna. general dempsey said it would take 75,000 u.s. troops on the ground to secure the chemical weapons. there is no plan to do that now. there is no part of the limited strike using tomahawk to go after the chemical weapons stores which are stored underground by the way. here is defense secretary chuck hagel yesterday on the hill. >> if assad is prepa...

Mission that is similar to iraq. that is similar to afghanistan. what we were promise is that this would be a limited, targeted aerial strike to make sure that the future assad and the present assad and any thug in the world knows the use of chemical weapons against innocent civilians is prohibited. now that is quite different than changing the momentum on the battlefield. jenna: sure. >> that is getting involved. even though we wont have boots on the ground that is quite different and that is j...

Weapons on the ground in syria if the war continues to deteriorate and al qaeda continues to gain ground. jenna: is that concern enough for you to want a stronger response than what were hearing? >> what i really want is to help the people on the ground who are fighting assad. the free syrian army, not the al qaeda-related groups. is capable of doing a great deal against the assad regime. if we were working with them, if we were indeed as the president promised some months ago, arming them, then...

A change must take place in syria but not through violence. most of the syrians want to see change. the change to a true democratic election. democracy, jon, should not be always defined as the west sees it. democracy is a system which should emerge from the country itself. it shouldnt be imposed on the country. jon: president obama says he is convinced that assads forces launched that chemical weapons attack that killed a thousand, perhaps more people, innocent people, obviously, including wome...

Retaliate. >> but its been a little weird. if you go back to the present statements, all these predictions going back two years, president assad is on his way out, hes going back to may 19, 2011. we keep saying hes about to leave but he hasnt left. >> evidence suggests hes getting stronger and this weighs heavily on the administration. and not only that but the people who are fighting assad, many of them dont appear to be any better it and assad. so god forbid we start an act of war where we win...

Better armed. and with syria its right in the heart of everything. its a very volatile region. and when the factions that are fighting assad get finished fighting assad, i think theyre going to probably wind up turning on each other. what were looking at here is right now a revolution turned civil war. so this is going to go on for some time, and thats why some of the bigger curves that -- countries that i referred to earlier that he might make a deal with, russia, iran or north korea, for him t...

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In its responsibility to deliver on that commitment from 2013. so either russia has been complicit or simply incompetent, he said, our secretary of state, in its ability to deliver on that agreement, close quote. special emergency session of the united nations security council nikki haley called out their president bashir al assad. >> it could be that russia is knowingly allowing chemical weapons to remain in syria. it could be that russia has been incompetent in its efforts to remove the chemic...