not want to get involved with a very narrow vote and nato has said it will not take part. talk about how this changes the dynamic. >> it does not change the legal reality. whether it -- with or without the brits or nato or the french, a u.s. strike would be illegal under international law. international law which is big about all kinds of things is clear on one question. when is the use of force legal? it is legal only in an two in stances. the u.s. has not been attacke.d d. the other is if the security council endorses the use of force. russia and china have made clear they would veto. in this situation any other use of force would be illegal. we hear discussion of the so- called kosovo model of 1999. they could use that. they could reference that in say we will do what we did in kosovo. what they did in kosovo was illegal. they said we cannot get security council permission because we now that russia will veto so we will not ask the security council. we will ask nato high command. the nato high command is not authorized to make that decision. nato is a military institution. y

get involved with a very narrow float and also nato has said that it will not take part in the strikes so talk about how that changes the dynamic here this changes the political dynamic enormously it does not change the legal reality we should recognize that with or without the brits with or without nato with or without the french a u.s. strike would be illegal under international law because international law which is vague about all kinds of things is very clear on one question when is the use of force legal and it's you it's legal only in two very narrow instances one is immediate self-defense that's not an issue here the u.s. has not been attacked and even the obama administration is not claiming that the other is if the security council acknowledges and agrees and indorse is the use of military force that hasn't happened. no it's not going to happen russia and china have made clear they would veto so in this situation any other use of force would be illegal we hear discussion of the so-called kosovo model the kosovo precedent of one thousand nine hundred nine the problem is they c

u.n. mandate to do this yet at the same time the u.k. parliament be recalled for thursday nato is probably going to merge into the meeting tomorrow if the u.n. likely to give that mandate any time soon because the u.n. will never give the mandate the national security council of britain is meeting because david cameron the prime minister here. foreshortened is a holiday it's interesting that national security council was set up in twenty ten to talk about national security of this country britain and most of that was about al qaida that nebulous concept and britain and the united states are now validly supporting al-qaeda linked groups if anything one would see in a normal scenario that countries should come to the aid of the assad government against. al-qaeda linked brigades that certainly call it up on to the u.n. weapons inspector a few months ago said were responsible for chemical attacks well of course. the water coming as you would expect is still working to establish exactly what happened or didn't happen there they still haven't come forward and actually got there to do it

without being drawn into the conflict. >> any attack on syria is not going to have a nato stamp of approval. what separates this from libya, which was a nato mission? >> libya was a muslim operation and needed a lot of planning to tie the allies and non-nato members. this will be a very small coalition of three who will do something in a couple of days. it will need support in that regard. nato said today it was assad who use the chemical weapons. >> can it end in mission creep? >> it can at these states decide to counter attack targets like israel. >> please stay with us. >> angela merkel's government has backed the draft resolution from britain and appealed to russia to support it trade but its own people might take some convincing. >> a new poll shows the german public opinion is strongly against an attack on serious. if a strike does go ahead, germany's rule would likely be limited, one of logistical support rather than offense. still this is not the first exposure to the syrian conflict. some are already in the region. >> german soldiers are there to protect turkey against any

at nato as previous military ventures. the obama administration is looking for ways to intervene in syria without a mandate from the united nations the president's national security advisers bring up the nato bombings of former yugoslavia as a possible blueprint for an intervention in syria you may not remember at that time none of the nato states that participated in the bombing of former yugoslavia offered legal justifications for their actions it was labeled a humanitarian intervention and with the help of a very one sided media campaign it was engraved in the public memory especially in the west as a success story and little has been reported that the humanitarian intervention turned into a humanitarian catastrophe on the ground what some call a success was two months of bombings thousands of people dead as a result both serbs and kosovo albanians went after seventy eight days of nato bombing serb forces withdrew from kossovo there was an ethnic cleansing of nearly a quarter of a million serbs and other minorities from cos of all allied forces used cluster bombs attacked civilia

in their own country, but around the world. the baltics are among our most reliable allies in nato, and our commitment to their security is rock solid. our soldiers sacrificed together in afghanistan, and the baltic ports continue to support our troops as we transition the nato mission. today we will spend time talking about our shared commitments to the transatlantic trade and investment partnership negotiations, which will add jobs in the baltics and the united states. we are working on development assistance and projects, including building institutions and strengthening society in the emerging democracies in eastern europe and central asia. we will obviously have discussions about our nato discussions about our nato relationship and the security concerns that we share together. so again, i have had occasions to meet with all three presidents on a wide variety of settings. they have been outstanding friends of the united states. we are proud of them. i want to thank each of them for their leadership. we know how far estonia, latvia, and as a way to have come in the past decades,

the world police is the united states is it nato it should be the security council and often into their service could take place i don't exclude those two to happen what will they do will just have been a punch on the nose and then telling the beleaguered city of syria that they go back and continue to fight the war the mandate is to establish whether chemical weapons have been used to or not and the way they go about that is that they go to sites and they may take samples of dust and of water and they will have to analyze that ascended to independent lab orators to lab orders they cannot just accept the samples given to them from some rebels or from some site that will not take them tape tell them who committed the attack but at least it will be able to tell them that yes the chemicals were used we see it as in the main as a contest between rebels and the government in syria but of course the intervention is there it is in large measure a arresting match between saudi arabia and iran and on that wresting much the u.s. is on the side of saudi arabia because they would like to isol

like that there's no question chemicals were used. i think they're rallying support around our nato aallies and hopefully come to congress for an authorization when we get back. >> we cannot in the 21st century allow the idea that chemical weapons can be used with impunity, that people can be killed in this way and that there are no consequences for it. and so we believe it's very important that there is a strong response. >> and the 50th anniversary of the march on washington. . >> free at last, free at last, thank god almighty we are free at last. >> over the weekend thousands walked in the footsteps of those civil rights pioneers. heros from 50 years ago and all this week, we'll be bringing you special coverage right here looking back at the key moments of that week in august 1963 that fortified a movement and changed the course of history. today, the women who shaped civil rights with merrily williams. >> where are the women that need to be acknowledged in this movement for freedom and justice. we must not forget them. >>> and good day. i'm andrea mitchell in washington where pr

he's undecided on a military strike against syria after nato announces it won't support intervention . britain backs away parliament rejects a campaign against president assad after the prime minister failed to convince lawmakers. meanwhile the u.n. team has no completed its inspection of the alleged chemical attack near damascus saying they need time now in the lab to make a final assessment. hello it's kevin over here now to see this things he accompany our top story then president obama says there's no decision on syria yet but he is considering limited action as he put it when it comes to military intervention there earlier his secretary of state john kerry outlined america's case indicating it's almost certain to proceed with military intervention anyway live to washington d.c. our correspondent there going to church you can go on a little bit more detail for us what the president had to say and what his secretary of state have to say as well. well. the white house has released its four page on classified assessment of the syrian government's use of chemical weapons on august tw

top stories nato says no to military action against syria but the war drums beating louder in washington with secular state john kerry say america's citizens must make the final decision on the strike. britain but the way parliament rejects a campaign against president assad after a prime minister failed to convince lawmakers. the un completed its inspection of the alleged chemical attack near damascus saying the need time in the lab to make a final assessment. for a good meeting is just after ten pm here in moscow you're watching r.t. coming to you live my name is kevin i went first nato has become the latest to tell america it won't join its plan to attack syria the u.s. is struggling to drum up international support for action but secretary of state john kerry's been stating his case in the past hour or so indicating that washington is almost certain to proceed with military intervention anyway let's go live to d.c. our correspondent cans there how they got this news just having in the last hour or so how is he justifying it. well kevin those who expected to hear from john

bring in general wesley clark, the former nato supreme commander. he joins me from little rock, arkansas. >> good evening. >> you are no chanstranger to t types of attacks. you were in kosovo. it may be a blueprint to syria. given what's on the table -- and there are many occasions -- what would be the best option moving forward >> i think the most important thing is to make sure that whatever you do militarily has some political purpose to it and moves us toward a resolution of the situation. so, there is no point in just firing a weapon, dropping a bomb to drop a bomb. so i think you have to start by building a coalition of the willing around a regional organization. i think nato and the arab league should join together. i think there should be some strong resolutions in the u.n. security officials cannot act because of blocking by russia and china then these regional organizations together must act to restore stability in the region and to prevent the escalation of the conflict. with that in mind, then what we did in kosovo was kind of the opposite of shock and awe. we didn'

tomahawk across the missiles there's also nato task forces in the area consisting of four more ships all of that in addition to the vas a military presence of the u.s. and its allies on the territories of nearby countries such as were in the port there are reports on the ongoing developments. i have warned that president obama has not made of final decision but all signs are suggesting that a strike could occur as soon as united nations inspectors who are currently investigating last week's alleged chemical attack in syria leave the country they are scheduled to depart from damascus on saturday and that's when the u.n. experts are expected to brief the u.n. security council on their findings now the white house is expected to present its case for military action against syria to congressional leaders that may have already happened during a conference call thursday evening and ministration officials say that they have intelligence that shows the forces loyal to president bashar al assad carried out last week's alleged chemical weapons attack in the suburbs of damascus however critics

obama isolated with america's allies in nato rejecting support of the campaign against us but despite yet another destroyer has joined america's warships in the region. and u.n. inspectors arrive in the netherlands after completing their investigation of the sides of the alleged chemical attack near damascus with lots of lab work ahead of them all top stories this hour. international news and comments live from our studio center here in moscow was just turned eight pm this is. russian president vladimir putin has hit out of the allegations that assad's government carried out a chemical attack against its own people warning the u.s. against military intervention he also added washington's claims the from intelligence report providing evidence cannot be published disrespectful to its international partners well to sean thomas has more on russia's reaction to the u.s. drums of war. president vladimir putin was addressing the press in vladivostok and he did have some strong words to say on the subject of syria he said that russia is of course against the use of chemical weapons and weapon

in nato allies in europe. so there are some important questions embedded in the current process, but the advanced interceptor doesn't become available until late in the decade so there is time to work these questions. third topic, which i shorthand as is more nuclear tailoring required of the united states in northeast asia? now, let me set the context here a little bit for that. in that comprehensive strategy, strengthen regional deterrence architectures with all of those different elements, we, the administration, argued that they will always remain a nuclear component so long as there's a nuclear threat that we are trying to deter. but we will tailor the nuclear component to the particular requirements of the individual regions where we extended nuclear guarantees on behalf of allies. because what it might make sense and the european context isn't the same thing that might make sense somewhere else, so the approach needs to be tailored. and we, the administration, tailored both nuclear declaratory policy and nuclear posture capabilities following very close consultations with

have killed many and wounded more than 20 -- 200. >>> 3,000 people were killed in what nato called a surgical attack in retaliation for serbia's attack on kosovo. harry smith went to belgrade to talk to people who lived through those attacks. >> reporter: even in a city steeped in history, it stands today as del grade's most famous ruin, and the cities authorities have no plans to reconstruct it, preferring instead to leave it as a reminder of a terrifying chapter in its recent past. [ explosion ] >> the ministry of defense building was one of the first to be targeted by nato. the precision and fur rosty of the attack reminded the world of the power of the west. >> translator: in the days ahead of nato attack on my country, i felt helpless. i understood that in that battle we could only be losing. i would advise president assad to do everything to prevent nato and u.s. intervention. >> reporter: for generations war has been an all-too present reality. this museum in the heart of belgrade has relics of many past conflicts, including two world wars in the past century. it also has ma

was finally nato bombing campaign. that seems to have precipitated the peace talks. do you see any glimmer of hope, that military intervention could actually speed up geneva two and improve the chances? >> some people are saying that. i think a big fight in one of the newspapers says exactly that. that if this strike takes place, then we go straight into geneva ii. i'm -- i don't know. the russians and the americans are both telling me that they remain committed to geneva ii. but what will happen i think we will know only when -- if and when this military action takes place. >> . >> so that's a press conference being held right now by the u.t. arab league peace. and james is standing by and listening in as well to that conference. just a short time ago james, he was addressing the issue of the u.n. chemical weapons inspection team that is in syria right now. what do we know about their whereabouts and their mandate? and when they will find evidence? >> well, we know that the chemical weapons team are continuing their work. they are actually out and about right now in one of those p

strike, the u.s. is consulting with nato partners and key allies. >> if there is any action taken, it will be in concert with the international community and within the framework of legal justification. >> reporter: there's no shortage of models for military action. from the nato-led air strikes against libya two years ago to kosovo in the 1990s. but just last month martin dempsey warned a strike on syria could get messy saying "should the regime's institutions collapse, we could inadvertently empower extremists or unlear the very chemical weapons we seek to control. colin powell urged cause. >> i am less sure of the resistance. is it becoming even more radicalized with more al qaeda coming in? and what would it look like if they prevailed and assad went? we don't know. >> i think it is fair to say as difficult as the problem is, this is something that is going to require america's attention and hopefully the entire international community. >> arizona senator john mccain said it's time to act. >> if the united states stands by and doesn't take very serious action, not just launchi

. can you imagine building a new air force from scratch? that is the task facing afghanistan as nato combat troops withdraw. among the recruits is the first ever woman in the country to qualify as an airline pilot. she has streamed of this moment since childhood. of thiseady -- dreamed moment since childhood. she is ready to fly. afghanistan's first female pilot. reaching these heights has not been easy. >> it was difficult. the female situation or the rules for the woman here. to change the culture, the old mind that we can do it. i want to do it. >> she's joining a military operation which is at a crucial stage. with nato combat troops due to leave by the end of next year, the afghan armed services are now taking the lead role in fighting the insurgents. played a part in afghanistan's security forces for many years, but still make up less than 1% of the total. when she became her country's first helicopter pilot wendy five years ago, -- 25 years ago, she had to battle overwhelming prejudice. the future of this country is in your hands. we have to work shoulder to shoulder to bear t

believe that syria used chemical weapons. they also pointed out that nato worked in coast of oh without a u.n. mandate. >> u.s. president barack obama has shown a cautious hand, preferring to wait things out. the same has been true of intervention in syria. he is in a tough position. a year ago he drew a red line. >> we have been very clear to the assad regime, but also to other players on the ground that a red line for us is we start seeing all bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being used. >> amateur footage released last week appears to show rows of dead civilians outside damascus, alleged victims of a poison gas attack. some are demanding action. but what are the options for the u.s.? obama could arm the rebels. washington has already promised military aid for syrian rebels, but fears that weapons could fall into the wrong hands have held back deliveries. obama could issue a presidential order for those weapons transfers to go through. president obama could enforce a no-fly zone over syria. . and opposition forces can do little to stop government airstrikes. and nato and for

machine . preflight routines for frontline aviation in russia flee from common practice in many nato air forces take missions jeggo to the most critical of an aircraft between successive missions. that russian aviation technicians check absolutely every one of the aircraft systems before each and every flight if there's anything else about even one from the flight just cancelled. before any feel it's traditional for pilots to end the finishing touch by polishing the skylight which is what flight crews call the glass canopy over the cockpit. it's this find the bomber is affectionately known as russia as the because of its flat nose cone. concealed beneath the outer skin as a special radar antenna which help crew to take control of immediate and space and luck and. whether it's on land on the water or in the. u.s. he was thirty four has a comfortable cockpit designed for the long haul flights two people can stand up right behind the seats there's also a toilet and cooking facilities. this aircraft was originally designed for the naval pilot's training to teach them how to land on an ai

be with nato, with turkey, with the jordanians in some form but having them lead and us support. i think we should continue to support the people of syria. they're been terrorized, there's no doubt. i want to see secretary kerry lay out the road plan or the grievances of what we might do. he didn't do that. i'm a little disappointed in his comments in that regard. >> yeah, when you talk about any kind of multilateral action, there's a lot of pressure from within the congress to do something. perry, what do you make of this as an observer of congress when you have right now a bit of a co-mingling. i want to read one of the things we just heard secretary of state kerry say. this was a moral obscenity, and he wants the investigators here to gather the facts informed by conscience. obviously there's some fact finding to do. but this was, to my mind, the most explicit statement from the administration, meeting what some members of congress have been saying, which is this is not only a matter of humanitarianism but necessity. >> he said this international norm cannot be violated without

formal, formal votes from the nato allies or the arab league. the u.s. will not be deterred. that is what the secretary of state basically said. exactly when the u.s. might launch tomahawk cruise missiles or air strikes against various targets in syria designed to send a message to the bashar al assad regime that these kinds of chemical attacks will not be tolerated, that remains up in the air. although my own sense is based on what we heard from the secretary of state, it will be a lot sooner than it will be later. gloria borger has been watching all of this. fwl gloria, as we await the videotape of the president in the oval office, let's discuss what's going on. david lesh, professor of middle east history from trinity university is also standing by. gloria, first to you. these are critical hours right now. the president has to make a major decision. >> yeah. and i don't think the secretary of state john kerry could have been any more clear than he was. i mean, he said, wolf, that the u.n. investigators cannot tell us anything we don't already know about the use of chemical weapons

very volatile region. we've got allies bordering syr syria. turkey is a nato ally. jordan, a close friend that we work with a lot. israel is very close by. we've got bases throughout the region. we cannot see a breach of the nonproliferation norm that allows potentially chemical weapons to fall into the hands of all kinds of folks. so what i've said is that we have not yet made a decision, but the international norm against the use of chemical weapons needs to be kept in place, and nobody disputes-- or hardly anybody disputes -- that qems were used on a large scale in syria against civilian populations. we have looked at all the evidence, and we do not believe the opposition possessed chemical weapons of that sort. we do not believe, given the delivery system-- using rockets that the opposition could have carried out these attacks. we have concluded that the syrian government in fact carried it out, and if that's so, there need to be international consequence. so we are consulting with our allies. we are consulting with the international community, and, you know, i have no interest

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other nato partners are more locked in when it comes to tough action against us and as well as u.k. support now out of the question germany says it's not considering any military participation italy austria and spain say they won't back washington without a u.n. resolution but syria's neighbor turkey said they will join an international coalition against syria even if the security council doesn't give the go ahead reaction now from little brother on there he is from other bread peace movement and has just returned from the turkish syrian border would have thank you so much for joining us here on r.t. to discuss the situation in around syria so. bring us the mood at the turkish border at the moment. yeah of course the people are free. at a turkish border in the province of how to get large elevates minority. which it defies themselves very much with the regime in damascus of the same group and of course they're afraid. yes of a military action which could cause a set of the government takeover in damascus. yet they seem themselves. in a kind of position with. a government take this

president obama isolated with america's allies in nato rejecting support of the campaign against us but despite that he gets another destroyer has joined america's warships in the region. and sleeping rough in london the number a problem list is still rising and they were just capital despite them as promises kept the problem by the end of last year. you saw russia under around the world this is with me here thanks for joining us russian president vladimir putin has hit out at the allegations that assad's government carried out a chemical attack against its own people warning the u.s. against military intervention he also added washington's claims for intelligence report providing thought evidence can be published disrespectful to its international partners on his home thomas has more now on russia as a reaction to the yuasa drums a war. president vladimir putin was addressing the press in vladivostok and he did have some strong words to say on the subject of syria he said that russia is of course against the use of chemical weapons and weapons of mass destruction but in this particular

other nato allies have taken a more a lukewarm approach with british forces now out of the question germany italy austria and spain say they won't back washington without a u.n. resolution this as military experts across the globe warn against military intervention in syria british admiral allen west told r.t. that weakening the assad regime would provide a boost to extremist forces who could then turn against the west. all my experience of wars and i've been in them and in the lead up to them and i've been running them and things is to find that you have a more of unintended consequences you think you're just going to do one little thing but actually things then happen and expand the nations like the u.s. and the u.k. and france and turkey need to be very very careful about what action they take we need to be very clear what is it we actually want to achieve what is the end state we want we need to have in place mechanisms militarily to ensure that things don't go beyond a certain degree but i'm not at all convinced that attack would actually help the condition of the people within

between war and not war on the side of the u.s. and nato in syria so it's no surprise that the saudis who are quite abit backers of a regime change. slowly in this in their in their news media to try to create the impression i think of the. gas attack by the assad government. as a state of emergency in russia's far east as waters smaller ones for the russian region as flood levels in the area beat all time records there are fears if they rise just one reason more people cities will be destroyed as a major have the stories coming out. a hero to some a traitor the others private bradley manning we'll hear his fate on wednesday when a u.s. jurors decides what sentence he deserves for spilling hordes of secret documents data to weaken leaks there's no doubt he will be locks up but the key question is for how long the details now from his lays will those outside the court in maryland . well the judge is now deliberating bradley manning suntans the judge colonel to new zealand says she'll deliver the sentence wednesday morning manning faces a maximum of ninety years after he was found guilt