Page 86 - Secular News Today

What we have seen in the past two years is that some of the more extreme opposition elements that include groups ideologically affiliated or those that support al qaeda and their extremist allies, they have gained momentum. theyre battle tested. they have fought in iraq. they are people who are coming to syria because of an ideological reason. because of that, there is growing concern that if president bashar assad and the opposition might begin to fight among itself between the ideological extr...

Respond to whats happening in syria is just not true. instead our response should have always been and should still be a multifaceted plan to help the syrian people get rid of assad and replace him with a secular and modern government they deserve. >> those are just the potential contenders who have to vote on syria. there are others like chris christie and scott walker who can sit on the sidelines for now and not have to vote. the new york times jonathan martin. i want to start in an unusual wa...

If you think youre going to secure those stockpiles youre talking little big horn scenario. boots on the ground are part of our future if we get into this. >> i tend to agree with you, the impact its going to have on israel, let me ask you this question. this is a tough one. general, is there not a likelihood here that this is going to put israel in a tough position, and that were going to be assisting the radical islamists potentially to come to power in all this. arent we better off as cold as...

Taking control of the country, giving us a rational, secular, stable government. thats a key question. >> here is what you said in february at the washington institute for middle east policy about syria and the rebels in particular. quote, the problem we have is that the best organized, best armed, best equipped elements in syria are the most radical ones, the most anti-democratic ones, most anti-american ones. theres the real risk that when assad falls, and he will fall, the largest most well k...

Around syria. she is heading back later this week. she publish ad article in the "wall street journal" that garnered a lot of attention. elizabeth, thanks for being on the program. >> thanks for having me. jenna: lets talk a little bit about your experience. what do you think every american needs to know what is actually happening on the ground in syria? >> i think the biggest thing americans should know this is not a fight between the syrian government, iran, russia, allies, against al qaeda or...

Hezbollah already dont have access to chemical weapons? any feel for that at all? >> i think we need to talk about that in our classified session. but let me just say you that in terms of the opposition numbers, you serangs up to 80, another thousand, 100,000 in total opposition. you see ranges from -- well i dont want to go into the neighbors -- but the tens of thousands in terms of operative, active, combatants, ive even some recent data on the numbers of the extremist. now, theyre actually lo...

Seems like initially the opposition was maybe more western leading, more moderate and democratic. as time has gone by, its become more infiltrated by al qaeda. is that basically true? >> no, that is actually basically not true. its basically incorrect. the opposition has increasingly become more defined by its moderation, more defined by the breadth of its membership and more defined by its adherence to a democratic process and to an all-inclusive minority protecting constitution which will be b...

They will already dont have access to chemical weapons? do we have any feel for that at all? >> i think we need to talk about that in our classified session, but let me just say to you that in terms of the opposition numbers, you see ranges up to 80,000, 90,000, 100,000 in total opposition. you see ranges from, well, i dont want to go into all the numbers but nut tens of thousands in terms of operative active combatants. the -- ive seen some recent data on the numbers of the extremists. theyre a...

That they already dont have access to chemical weapons? do we have any feel for that at all? >> i think we need to talk about that in our classified session. but let me just say to you that in terms of the opposition numbers, you see ranges up to 80, 90,000, 100,000 in total opposition. you see ranges from -- well, i dont want to go into all the number. but in the tens of thousands in the number of operative combatants. ive seen some recent data on the numbers of the extremists. theyre actually ...

Affiliate is best positioned to take advantage of that while the fsa is watching them blow by. >> barack, how would a u.s. strike help al qaeda? >> basically, the al qaeda local affiliate known as the islamic state in iraq is the strongest. in the northern provinces of alope alep aleppo, its the most disciplined fighters, most well equipped, it captures tanks and anti-aircraft missiles of bases and as it does the fsa, the secular led he believe alliance is very weak. most of the units are corrup...