The meeting will come to order. This hearing is entitled the Trump Administrations syria policy perspectives from the field mic. Thank you. Before i begin i would like to take a moment to remember my friend and our chairman, elijah cummings, though we lost almost one week ago. Like others on this committee i had the pleasure and privilege to call him my friend for almost 20 years as we worked work on n issues that have confronted congress and our country. Mr. Cummings has bequeathed a legacy of Compassionate Service to those families in our society who still struggle to receive the full promise of the american dream. While we had, he had an abiding faith in the goodness and kindness of humankind, he was firm and his commitment to use hisit many talents, and the powr of his position, to wait in our behalf of the disenfranchised and to reduce p the suffering tt he saw in this world. Elijah lived his life in a meaningful cause, the cause of justice, the cause of liberty, and the cause of
I like toisch welcome our guests. I hope they can get us uptodate, which is difficult, as fast as the situation is moving. The hearing is intended to examine turkeys crossborder attack on u. S. Interests in the middle east. State ofaluate the u. S. Turkey relations. Before we talk about the current state of affairs in syria, it is important to recall the path that brought us here. The Syrian Civil War is a complex, multisided conflict that has drawn in russia, iran, the u. S. , nato allies and other entities. Over the course of this eightyear conflict, the syrian dictator with the support of russia and iran has bombed towns and cities across syria, resulting in 500,000 deaths and leaving 10 Million People displaced. We are all aware of confirmed use of chemical weapons by the regime incked assad violation of international law. Syrian, russian and iranian regimes hope to tilde upon the successful defeat of the islamic northeast syria. These are circumstances we find ourselves in today.
Guests who i think will be enlightening after the discussions we had earlier today. The situation is quite fluid and im sure they can help us get uptodate. This hearing today is intended to assess the humanitarian impact of turkeys crossborder attack on u. S. Interests in the middle east, and evaluate the state of u. S. Turkey relations. Before we talk about the current state of affairs in syria, it is important to recall the path that brought us here. To begin, the Syrian Civil War is a complex, multisided conflict that has drawn in russia, iran, the u. S. , nato allies, and other entities. Ira, the u. S. , nato allies and other entities. Over the course of this eightyear conflict, the syrian dictator with the support of russia over the course of this eightyear conflict, the syrian dictator bashar alassad, with the support of russia and iran has bombed towns and cities across syria, resulting in 500,000 deaths and leaving 10 Million People displaced. We are all aware of confirmed use
Before i begin i like to take a moment to remember my friend and our chairman, Elijah Cummings who we lost one week ago. Like others on this committee at the pleasure privilege to call elijah at my friend for almost 20 years. We worked the many issues that confronted congress. Mr. Cummings has bequeathed the legacy of Compassionate Service to those families in our society who still struggle to receive the full promise of the american dream. While he had an abiding faith in the goodness and kindness of humankind he was firm in his commitment to use his many talents and his power of position to weighin in behalf of the disenfranchised and reduce the suffering that he saw in this world. Elijah lived his life in a meaningful cause, a cause for justice and liberty and equality for all. We in our nation would be well served to follow his example and spirit had presence here on this committee will be sorely missed. Today we will examine the trump and ministrations decision to draw u. S. Force
Officials in the Us Defence Department have confirmed that the remains of Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi, leader of the extremist group, the so called Islamic State, have been disposed of. But theyve refused to confirm he was buried at sea. Our International Correspondent orla guerin has been speaking to one syrian victim of Islamic State and sent this report, from the turkish syrian border. Just a warning it does contain testimony you may find upsetting. A scar on the landscape, scorched earth after the us raid. This is where the Islamic State leader met his end in a tunnel beneath the soil of syria, a country he terrorised. In chicago today, President Trump regaling Police Chiefs with his war stories. Hes dead. Hes dead as a doornail. Laughter they walked into my office, sir, we killed this leader at a low level, this leader. I said, i never heard of him. I said, i want al baghdadi, thats only one i know now. I want al baghdadi. Get him and they got him. The us operation to capture or kill al