drafting and dem dell building. she has a lot of experience working inside syria and with syrian-run organizations and consulting with international actors and how to approach the way forward in syria. one of the dynamics is the question that we alluded to in the fireside chat, what is the enduring u.s. interests in syria. president trump has emerged as a thought leader. in january, he stated that syria was lost long ago. and while this represents sort of one of the current in the discussion, there does seem to be an active debate within the foreign-policy making community that isis has been defeated and assad has won on the grouped. i would like you to start us off, what is your perspective and interests in syria and what is the way forward? >> he looks very healthy despite reports over the past two years including from the people captured like isis, captured by the iraqis. nd wasn't how he appeared. i think he looks exactly like he did but grew a little bit older. more slowly than i did. and that is a significant video that he basically, national prop gappeda for the globe. again o

support britain stance on syria either voting with russia and china in indicating as strikes against president assad were illegal something our next guest agrees with although u.k. media appears more interested in the alleged isis brides in syria well joining me now from moscow is president bashar al assad's top media advisor talked about the initial bond with a thanks for coming on the program donald trump says he wants the troops back but i understand that there is evidence that u.s. soldiers have continued to fire at syrian soldiers they know that there is a theory out claiming that the fight. terrorism up in fact they cause many civilian casualties. hundred view of sudan casualties you know i would like to ask one logical question we all know that russian air forces help the syrian army in fighting the terrorists that is a fact and russia stands against terrorism in syria that they funded and their show has been calling on the us to quote than it did in fighting terrorism now my question is if the desha and the us are there to fight terrorism why doesn't the us accept to coordina

thomas. we'll have a whole panel that dives deeper on what happens next in syria. it looks at six options ultimately for american policy in syria, based on the level of commitment that the united states wants to make, and the level of investment the united states wants to make, as well as looking at the question of how we want to -- what kind of posture we want to take toward bashar al assad. >> the second report, improving u.s. arab cooperation. builds on a lot of research in the past on why efforts for the united states to work together with this arab partners have failed in this capacity, especially in dealing with challenges posed by jihadists and challenges o posed by iran as sort of this below high level conventional conflict. much more at the lower level asymmetric options. before we do any of them, we have an excellent keynote speaker here. we're going to have a chat, with mick mullroy. he runs osd policy middle east, which is an office i served in for a few years. we were talking about including everything from egypt to iran. looking at very challenging set of questions t

security to be in yemen syria and beyond with terrorist groups like hezbollah. to be committed working with our allies and partners throughout the world and third it is clear over the last eight years it cannot be resolved by military force. united states will continue to support those efforts throughout the region and will remain the largest single donor of humanitarian assistance to focus on protecting the rights of the most vulnerable ever to protect religious freedom in doing so i will touch on some examples for the q&a session. first hour approach rests on coalition building those threats that emerge from the region and to remain engaged to address these concerns and cannot lead alone. and then to demonstrate more responsibility of security the approach to coalition building is our regional partners have a capacity to have regional problems as the president said we are not here to lecture, we are not here to tell other people how to live how to worship or who to be. instead a partnership to pursue a better future for all. and our partners have stepped up with a global coal

britain stance on syria iran in the voting with russia and china are indicating as strikes against president assad were illegal something on next guest agrees with all the u.k. media appears more interested in alleged isis brides in syria well joining me now from moscow is president bashar al assad's top media adviser dr between the shabaab with a thanks for coming on the program will trump says he wants the troops back but i understand that there is evidence that u.s. soldiers have continued to fire at syrian soldiers they are not that. is in theory that claiming to be fighting terrorism up in thought they call money. hundred of sudan casualties and you know i would like to offer one logical question we all know that russian air force is. the third an army again the thera's and syria that they fought and there sure has been calling on the u.s. the core of the net then a fourth and fighting terrorism now my question is if the u.s. are there to fight terrorism. why doesn't the u.s. accept to coordinate its efforts with that russian federation and they will be much more effective in

president of syria's meet your advisor dr with about razor maze decision to resettle whites in the u.k. britain confirms there will be no postboxes trade deal with turkey or japan we speak to a foreign trade minister who did successfully sign a deal in time for the twenty ninth of march those simple coming up in today's going underground but first forget last night's also because as britain being that thing better than any hollywood star acting in a way. it will damage post directed trade deals acting like you know the land to rent to the usa for torture and mass killing diego garcia lives seven degrees south of the equator in the middle of the indian ocean with all of the surrounding oceans beneath the local m.-w. are has plenty of opportunities for sailors to enjoy the footprint of freedom well today the world court gives its view on an aspect of what amounts to a very british footprint of freedom performance there's a deep hidden bias in the farmall about the lines and ocracy this this is the way in which the armies were never told it was just action taken to remove secrecy surround

will focus on syria and the way forward for the united states. we have an all-star crew of analysts is today -- analysts today. to my left we have francis brown. she has decades of experience working in conflict zones and fragile states. she has worked with other u.s. and has a agencies love experience understanding how post-conflict stabilization and democracy building can be done in the greater middle east. to her left, the director of the nonstate actors in fragile environment at the center for global policy. she is the co-author of a new york times bestseller which has become the how-to manual on how to understand crisis -- isis. he is an expert on jihadist movements. his articles are some of the best i have ever read on how to understand how isis and other jihadi organizations function. we have aot least, doctoral student at georgetown university law, the next generation fellow here. she is an expert on constitutional drafting and democracy building in the middle east. she has a lot of experience working in syria and with syrian organizations and how to approach the way forward

way back home many are already here following i asked this collapse in syria and iraq to both men and women and among them are vicious killers and war criminals of those who have returned a number are already on trial what should germany do with them should they answer for their crimes and be sent to prison should social workers help them integrate back into society into neighborhoods schools workplaces. islamic state terror today just how dangerous are returning i-s. fighters i'm brian thomas and joining me here in berlin to talk about that is amir masowe he works for media outlets here in germany and in iraq he says some i asked attorneys are dangerous but more dangerous is the updated ideology they bring with them. allan posing as a commentator for the daily newspaper de velde he argues if we want other states to take back their citizens who we consider terrorists then we have to take back our citizens who have committed terrorist acts. and kristen helberg is a featured mideast analyst at a number of european publications she points out bias is militarily defeated but not ideologic

tripoli. still ahead on al-jazeera farmers in lebanon want syria to low and try terrorists that are putting a squeeze on their livelihoods. and it is still cold in northeast china and siberia knows caus it was but cold enough for a bit as snow and that's the thing that brings it with a cold front that it's not obvious on sunday except the six degrees in vladivostok and it's still warm in beijing at twenty four but bring about a cold down add to it they want in the motion and from the sas newton you get a combination of produce an area of low pressure spinning up here at the sea of japan a city of a whole card a significant rain wind for a time of a home she republique overnight you may just see the snow goes here north korea the high ground at least when you have a sixty degrees in pyongyang so it didn't last long as what we have been a lot of hostile to. now is that line of rain develops we've got the spring rains developing and being quite heavy in china has been flooding in grand dong as you probably know and it's going to be more because this system that i think tends to align i

position in for syria to museums position to syria. this seems to be a switch. is soft on syria. is soft on brain. is hard on syria and. is hard on. the brainy government. why is this. i mean the dictatorship that syria the syrian people is suffering from is exactly the say that in tunisia before before they were lucian and this is why we we feel very close to the syrian people we understand that they are what they are feeling because they are fighting against corruption and i could tell it is against . the state of fear and. we feel very very close to them because. sometimes we feel that we have also some responsibility you know because i can say that if we didn't have the revolution here in tunisia probably it wouldn't happen in syria or in egypt so we feel this kind of responsibility very close we understand them and that fight for democracy for human rights is our own and we have to support them. and we have to forget about you know. people like him you know think that syria is because he is you know against israel they can forgive to do this dictatorship everything but we hear when

international struggle with syria i want to know why is he called a freedom fighter by millions and at the same time a terrorist by millions of all of. this is his first interview in the which since the two thousand and six israel living on pool his party. is a member of the libyan government he is its leader saeed. are you ready. i'm ready to go. what is your vision for the future of israel and palestine bought board his book consider victory if you had said victory would you disarm. so easy that the state of israel does not say that it is an illegal state it's a state that was the stubbornness on the basis of occupying the land so there's a lot of usurping the lands of as i said i love you all are controlling by force tonight and some as much as they are committing massacres against about visiting me ask you who were expelled. based including muslims and christians to tell you that is so. yes just as happy as well no justice for all remains remains of their messiah when he has a policy of all the. progress of time does not send justice into not that's not the making of them all just

leader of islamic state says the suicide bombings in sri lanka were retaliation for syria it's the first time of . has been seen in five years experts say his speech is no longer clear but his message of hate is the same it's always been also coming up mozambique takes a battering from the second cycle destroyed can just six weeks there's severe flooding with more original pours in the forecast and a new voice for turkey international broadcasters including v.w. respond to the government's crackdown on independent media with the launch of a new view to. bring gulf it's good to have you with us they thought that he was dead but it seems the leader of so-called islamic state. might still be alive and still in command in propaganda footage released today by a man believed to be baghdadi phrases the easter sunday suicide bombings in sri lanka which killed hundreds of christians he says that the attacks were to avenge the loss of islamic states last stronghold in syria he was the. in this two thousand and fourteen video at the mosque in mosul he's been reported killed or wounded many ti

very much for your lies. well it's also had an al-jazeera including . farmers in lebanon want syria to lower trade towers which are putting a squeeze on my livelihoods. and i was been raining in it silly pricing for about two days now the slow circulation it's census somewhere around the adriatic in the central med and started rain to italy croatia across ukraine in the court a sharp relief through turkey and running into greece as well now these areas going to carry on seeing the rain the feeding wind the sort of enhancing some degrees not a very warm and giving only seven degrees in berlin and only eighteen london but the sun is out for the most part here the warmth resides in a rather quieter spain and portugal and you beat. now here's the circulation overnight which is cold enough and to give a bit more snow over the alps but we're seeing a slow rise in temperature not in london eleven in berlin but the rain is still there and still focusing on italy croatia greece and now it's more of turkey or mania and ukraine than most of this is over land there's some showers for the south

. also as we met today will show discuss the problems in syria and other regional issues weeks changed our opinions on the syrian settlement and the way also discussed the. situation with the us withdrawing troops from the region of course we discussed the. issue that problem by the way also talked about the situation in other areas of syria. so. talked about some additional steps that could provide for peace and stability in syria. and also together with the russian federation i would like to note that unless we. get rid of all terrorists in syria which is a threat to our national security there is not going to be any peace in the region so we will continue this fight also we talked about humanitarian tragedy in the lead we. emphasized that is important to peace and stability in a lab. also the. a threat to our national security that we see in the northern parts of syria we're not going to pretend that that's not happening we're not ignoring. other kurdish groups operating in those areas they're just as dangerous as i says state and we also agree that. a political solution is

, conflict in iraq, yemen, syria and beyond, and bankrolling terrorist groups act has a lot. united states is committed to working with our allies and partners to counter tehran said aggressive actions throughout the world. third, it is clear that the conflicts that of rap this region for more than a just cannot be resolved by military force. united states will continue to support peace efforts and will remain the world's largest single donor of humanitarian assistance. our traditional focus on protecting the rights of the most vulnerable includes a strong focus on protecting religious freedom. i'll touch on a few illustrative examples and leave the rest of the middle east many challenges for the q&a session. first, our approach to the region rests on the principle of coalition building. there are real threats to its special interest that emerge from the region. it is in our interest to remain engaged to address these concerns but we will not and, frankly, cannot lead alone. what does this mean in practice? we have long asked our partners in the region to demonstrate more leadership and respo

we're back in half an hour right now it's witness for the prosecution in syria. in new york the united nations had to be convinced to refer the keys to the international criminal court the i.c.c. previously investigated crimes against humanity war crimes committed in uganda the democratic republic of congo and darfur but there was one obstacle syria is not a member of the i.c.c. an investigation required the unanimous vote of the permanent members of the security council including russia an unwavering ally of damascus. when you. say this is your. mom you consider situated as a foreign visitor not devoting more not your life as you meant dunk city could put . it as something more damage could i just espouse. that complicated process that be to. i thought you know and it could be that he will face the. deception. the french diplomatic service was prepared i must warn you that this is a grim session. once again the photographs were shocking. on the twenty second of may the text was submitted for a vote for those collecting evidence it was crucial. it would mean that one day assad could ap

three soldiers have been injured in an airstrike on a military academy in central syria israel is being blamed several buildings were destroyed in the town of najaf in hama province local media say that syrian air defenses shot down some of the missiles israel has admitted hitting iranian targets in syria in recent months but it's yet to comment on this latest strike. ministers in lebanon are campaigning to persuade neighboring syria to reduce its trade tariffs lebanese farmers and business owners say that high transit taxes on imported goods a damaging their livelihoods al-jazeera say the harder reports now from baca in eastern lebanon. traffic border crossing between syria. cross border trade has not recovered to the level before syria's war began. by the syrian government are affecting businesses. we used to pay three hundred dollars per truck now syria is charging one thousand two hundred fifty dollars per truck to transit syria and that's only for one way thousands of people are suffering from this. syria only traditionally friendly neighbor syria vital trade instead of the h

now on their way back home many are already here following i *-*- collapse in syria and iraq. both men and women and among them are vicious killers and war criminals. of those who have returned a number are already on trial what's your germany do with the. today answer for their crimes to be sent to prison should social workers help them. integrate back into society into neighborhood schools workplaces. islamic state terror today just how dangerous are returning i. s. fighters i'm brian thomas and joining me here in berlin to talk about that. is on here miss our he works for media outlets here in germany and in iraq. he says some i. s. returnees are dangerous but more dangerous is the updated ideology they bring with them. alan posers a commentator for the daily newspaper develop he argues if we want other states to take back to their citizens who we consider terrorist. then we have to take back our citizens who have committed terrorist acts. and kristin helberg is a featured mideast analyst a number of european publications she points out. hi yes is militarily defeated but not ide

the neighborhood for a moment. on your other border, you have a very long border with syria. there have been recent exchanges between civilian and military leaders, baghdad, damascus, and we have a number of questions from the audience on syria. so the question is what is your assessment of the direction of events in syria, and what is your position towards the reintegration of syria in the arab league? what is the impact of this on raq? speaker al-halbousi: syria is a brethren arab country. with syria being subjected to attacks is not very different from iraq, but iraq is much longer term. it's very important that syria be back to the arab league than o go somewhere else. syria is part of the arab world. for the syrians they have a good position with iraq. before 2003 and after 2003. before 2003, they adopted -- me personally, they adopted the resistance before 2003. with me personally, when i was subject to terrorist attacks and targeting in anbar, i took refuge in syria. i found that the syrians welcomed the iraqis and welcomed me, and we have to return back that favor and we ve

syria. also had her former rebels need the opium being integrated back into society. will be competing with one strug something in the details with power in about fifteen twenty six. has a chance of yet more floods in iran has increased not in the same place but this cloud is certainly bearing rain and it's going to be there for the next day or two and a potential something like one hundred millimeters little bit east of the lower ground so wrapped up in the mountains here we have flash floods of far more likely and indeed landslides it's mostly iran that these things are focused on the rain moves on towards afghanistan and pakistan the time we get to monday and that's all the action to the west that is relatively far in the clouds increasing admittedly by the time we get to monday with warmish weather and probably dusty weather syria lebanon egypt and towards jordan as well and the picture the tailend rain of the middle east the moment by sunday it will have gone so so that a morning when the u.a.e. undermanned and down the coast as well towards yemen following it a bit of a breeze po

fight what he calls the remaining terrorist groups. the final battle against eiseley in syria last month there are thousands of people homeless but tom of a hole in the north east turned into a refugee camp a new arrivals have increased since the fighting ended putting a huge strain on the very few resources available the population of the whole spike from about ten thousand people to around seventy three thousand in the past four months forty three percent of those displaced syrian forty two percent are iraqi and fifteen percent come from other countries additionally you've got sixty five percent of them under the age of eighteen and twenty seven percent of them women. facing governments in many countries including britain france and germany what to do with the wives and children of foreign fighters who join deisel in syria and iraq where the red cross says they should be returned to their own countries that includes the seventy three thousand syrian refugees packed into all. those more. aid agencies weren't ready for what's being described as a humanitarian emergency in the past

>> she's the presidentntial ndidate and iraq war veteran who infamously met with syria's bashar al-assad, this week on "firing line." a soldier, a hindu, and a rfer. tulsi gabbd made waves when she arrived in congress. now the millennial from hawaii has her sights set on the white house. she says her campaign is focused on war and peace. o >> every ous is paying the price for these regime-change rs. >> her critics say she can sound more like president trump than a progressive democrat. >> i believe trump sai something similar when he was running. did he not? am i wrong about that? >> he may have, but the problem -- he has not carried through. >> and some want to know why she took that meetg with a brutal dictator. >> you got some heat for meeting with bashar al-assad.do ou not consider him a war criminal?wh did you meet with that man? >> in the pursuit of peace. >> what does tulsi gabbard say now? >> "firing line with margaret hoover" is made possible by... corporate funding is provided by... and by.. >> welcome to "firing line," tulsi gabbard, and aloha. you are an iraq war veran.

coming up ahead russia's celebrates its success in syria with a train traveling across the nation to show off the war trophies but does it tell the whole story of how the war is being fought. but first here in germany the right wing populist party the alternative f.t. once in german's to be proud of being chairman and that's because the party believes people spent too much time remembering the crimes of the nazi past jim lee has developed was scored a culture of remembrance to ensure that a doc chapter in its history is not defeated. not far from berlin sachsenhausen concentration camp was one of many sites where people were brutally annihilated on a huge scale german world war two school groups come here from across europe to learn about nazi atrocities. this is sort of this is really depressing. it makes me feel very sad little as if it's a horrible feeling to be here. until now there has been a consensus in german politics to ensure that the crimes of the nazi era are not forgotten especially among younger generations but the far right if de reject this they claim nazi history tak

gone to syria they've been radicalized they have fought with islamic state and they have come back would they be the most likely. and that it's for local suicide bombers. i guess yes or at least far. transmitting knowledge about i mean sri lanka has a long and sad history of suicide bombings even though it was originally predominantly the liberation tigers of tamil you know i'm the one party in the civil war that ended in two thousand and nine that carried them out and usually not in the same kind of scale and with the same kind of aims but. it is definitely possible that that such returning have acted as conduits for local groups whether these were exactly the people who committed these attacks as of course the investigation continues professor talk and we appreciate your insights tonight i'm going to leave you here at the table here whose story over here to the middle of the studio the easter sunday attacks we know killed at least three hundred twenty one people officials are saying at least thirty eight foreigners were among the dead but more than eighty percent of those killed

zealand is appealing for the whereabouts of a nurse kidnapped along with two drivers in syria nearly six years ago. he was working for the red cross delivering aid to it live when she was taken as believe she's being held captive by a long side to civilian drivers kidnapping was kept secret for fear her life might be at risk but recent sightings have led to a public opinion saying the holder has moved from beirut. the i.c.r.c. ending its silence appealing for any information on the whereabouts of its staff members two of the syrian nationals their fate is not known but the i.c.r.c. believes that the third staff member a nurse from new zealand is possibly alive and they have information that she was seen alive just a few weeks ago there is no doubt that the i.c.r.c. is gathering information from those who used to live under those rules was territorially defeated a few weeks ago its fighters wives and children are now thousands of them are now in a camp in northeast syria so it is trying to gather information. staff members are not the only ones who were kidnapped by remain missing you hav

with other countries if we take a look at iraq libya syria and most recently iran they all end with the u.s. abrogating these deals and in most of the cases unilaterally an alien legally attacking and trying to overthrow many of these governments so obviously the north korean government has good reason to be cautious and ask for a phased. approach with reciprocal ground permanent. agreements on both sides. looking at it from pipes in the north korean perspective is kim sending a message to the u.s. to donald trump by sitting with those whom today yeah i think you know that it is a message that north korea does have normal business relations with other countries other than just china russia as well and russia is and of course an important country in the region and a member of the security council i think president putin in his remarks were very careful not to step on donald trump's tolls as it were him having taken some type of singular interest in conducting negotiations with the north korean leader but you know north korea and russia have longstanding bilateral relations that go back d

actually died in the fight against the i still terrorist organization in syria so it's important to note at this point an organization that was very key in the fight against the ice still terrorist menace at this point that organization has been designated itself as terrorist by the u.s. state department. kenneth thanks for bringing us up to speed on the latest on the nazis caleb maupin speaking to us live from new york now let's bring in a gas and it's going on this side of the stuff the host chesham now welcome to the program great to have you with us now it does seem that this move has been planned for some time so what do you make of the timing of donald trump's declaration. hello and thanks for having me well you know the i.r.g.c. has been a main party income batting terrorist groups and i elating them in the region now any move against the i.r.g.c. would mean reinvigorating terrorist groups like al and i so or and now that the iraq upon the human is thinking of expelling a u.s. army troops from iraq it seems that the u.s. which has declared a withdrawal from syria as well is sendin

evidence that chemical weapons have been used inside of syria but we don't know. how they were used when they were used who used them we don't have a chain of. custody that establishes what exactly happened. and i back in the one night or so i feel that a bit just from a metal mean keefe. but they'd been in job either less in the. name and didn't. make you feel. in the short list for the surface or. brahim was determined to reconstruct the whole incident piece by piece he went to the house of many. the only victim killed during the attack. here is that all. this is the old roach story just this gate from the sky and many of us here and here duff there also was in the journal just around here so there is the burden it's really well known about muffin and. if the shift in looking over there will work in any order a new. model and follow up about that i don't have the money that sort of thing. for ibrahim this videophone during the attack was proof enough. you can make out a falling bomb. log but it was confirmed that only the syrian army and such helicopters. ibrahim was convinced tha

hole. syria remains another danger zone for journalists but reporters without borders says journalists worldwide are up against an intense climate of fear and danger to press freedom campaigners say bahrain egypt and saudi arabia stepped up repression of the media censorship has increased in the saudi kingdom since the murder of jamal khashoggi last october journalists in egypt can't do their job without fear of imprisonment al-jazeera journalist mahmud hussein has spent more than two years in jail without trial al-jazeera denies egyptian government accusations of broadcasting false news to spread chaos in the world's biggest chain of journalists turkey i called the fake jews the enemy of the people and they are they are the enemy of the us president donald trump has often had a rocky relationship with the media a b.b.c. cameraman was attached to the trump support rally in texas a couple of months ago and bomb threats have been sent to media outlets for the first year the united states slipped into the aren't which is the problematic category of countries it was also in two thousand an

of dollars of arms they're actively fighting in places like yemen and syria and other places so that and libya the french and libya and so the idea that the i.c.c. will actually hold accountable people all over the world at an equal level of justice is not a very realistic one i fortunately that's why it's been mostly hapless african tyrants who've been put on trial with a couple from former yugoslavia so this is the problem that we see a kind of a double standard and it's not easy to see how almost hassan bashir will be held accountable mr. cadman i do want to bring you end on this now because i know that you would you know you have a lot to do with i.c.c. but before i do mr shaunie what do you make of that you know the fact that the. the i.c.c. and who has power and the international criminal court make up the pennant members of the un security council who are also involved in different conflicts around the world including. conflicting policies. well as perhaps is that is known only three members of the of the security permanent members of the security council are members of their

of talks on syria is expected to take place in the catholic capital of russia turkey and iran they have played pivotal roles in the conflict and now want to know what's in it for them saying aha that tells us more from. russia is further cementing its foothold in syria government leaders in damascus granting russia access to the mediterranean port of tartus for the next forty nine years it's the latest deal between the two countries as russia eyes strategic and financial rewards in post-war syria. syria's other main ally iran seems to be doing the same after partnering to keep president bashar assad in power the iranians and russians are talking about dividing the spoils of war. you're sure. you know. there's a structure but it's our. current regime it's in parts. of russia and iran cooperate with turkey iran's foreign minister mohammad said if there's a turkey's capital ankara following a trip to damascus the iranians are trying to mend the relationship between syria and turkey hoping for an increased diplomatic role. while iran of course also is trying to get more leverage and re

military involvement in syria russian soldiers have been battling the so-called islamic state in syria since two thousand and fifteen they've also been backing the syrian regime making russia a key player in the conflict now moscow is celebrating its accomplishments a train is crossing russia with war trophies on display weapons and technology they say was captured from the so-called islamic state the defense ministry says the train will travel almost thirty thousand kilometers across russia our correspondent yury rachet who followed it for several stops and filed this report from the city of cousin in the southwest of the country. next stop the city of cars on arriving at ten in the morning the train is greeted with plenty of pomp the twenty cars carry armored tanks and other military tech seized by the russian army and its campaign to defeat the so-called islamic state in syria. even iowa slabs for the alleged production of chemical weapons are on display. it's a victory lap three sixty cities to inspire pride and patriotism at russia's achievements what's not to celebrate. russia mu

use of chemical weapons in syria at the time . his team worked on sixteen alleged attacks including the one inside a. car we were met a number of people among them was a prime. showed us an admired man to work in a moment to information in school for thinking he was smart very smart and had a skinful thinking how to secure he really aimed at securing the information that he gave us a key skin. which. sent all sudden. and. a lot of the fuselage. in a bra and opinion it was urgent for ten months similar attacks had taken place in rebel held areas ibrahim believed that the regime was testing barack obama that the bombing of their akiba could be a precursor to a larger attack. on august twenty first twenty thirteen his worst fears came true. last i can recall attack killed hundreds of people in a hotel in the suburbs of damascus the majority of casualties were civilians ibrahim's investigation hadn't stopped the massacre from happening but he had one last hope that sells times reports could point a finger towards those responsible the report was issued to the united nations six months l

want to join. >> so with both of them what was that process like to get to syria? because they both explained a little bit how they got there. isis as a foreign fighter or as a foreign member and to crack down to take route to go to mexico and from there isis gives you a phone number to call at the airport they drive you to the border then you are in a safe house. then a smuggler takes you across. it's pretty simple it's like a travel agency. >> do you have a sense of how much it cost them to do that moneywise? >> probably 100 or $200 more. but what she did she had her parents enroll her at the university of alabama for this semester that was coming up and then she told the registrar she put the money in her account and took off without her parents permission. >> i want to talk about detentions but what is it like to report not just for you but everybody else with the challenges of reporting in a war zone like that? as it seems dangerous as well but what is it like to report in an environment like this? how do you figure out who to trust and who not to? your editors at the times hav

the middle east. we had a number of announcements about leaving syria that now have been to a great extent walked back. there is still this desire to leave the region. we are hearing great power, great power, great power. it seems to me, unless we figure out how to get the middle east right, we're going to get continued -- we're going to continue to step back in these challenges. i may have went and little long. -- a little long. what are our interests? what is a sustainable long-term approach in the region? i will ask you to go first, especially since you wrote a foreign affairs piece about this a couple months ago. >> thank you for bringing us together. this is a terribly fun group and i am excited about it. the term i have used with ishaey co-author purgatory. that is the approach towards the middle east for recent decades. effectively, we are too involved to focus on other things but not involved in up in the middle east to shape the things we care about. it comes down to what are your priorities? as much as folks may say, gosh, the middle east is brimming with all sorts of prob

east. but it's a tense region with israel and syria lining its borders. the country is home to more than 6,000,000 people. at its heart, the capital, beirut. my mom, when she was alive, asked me never to come here. and i don't think it was because she didn't want me to learn. i think she always feared for my safety. before i was born, lebanon was thriving. beirut was known as the paris of the middle east, cosmopolitan and wealthy. the county has long been a melting pot of religions, christian, sunni, and shia -- 18 sects in all. but that mix became explosive the year after i was adopted. reporter: we have just about run out of words to describe the madness that is beirut. lemonis: lebanon's civil war started in april 1975. religious militias fought on the streets and mountain sides of the country. american peace keepers became a target. man: get down! [ siren blares ] lemonis: in october of 1983, 241 u.s. servicemen were killed when a truck bomb exploded at the marine barracks. man: so, i stopped and just stared at the horror that was in front of my eyes. lemonis: the strife didn't