them. thank you. obviously the events that have occurred in syria with the chemical weapons attack here in the past day i think have just horrified all of us and brought to the front pages and to our television screens as well the tragedy that is part of the syrian conflict. there is no doubt that syria, the syria regime under the leadership of bashar al assad are responsible for this attack and i think further it s very important that the russian government consider carefully their continued support for the assad regime. does assad have to go? assad s role in the future is uncertain and with the acts that he has taken, it would seem that
that was kassem eid. you know, hearing these words at the white house, maybe military action, how does that ring for syrians who are meeting there, ben? well, for the syrians, obviously they are desperate for some sort of help. that is, those syrians who do not support the regime of bashar and assad or don t support some of the more extremist factions within syria. what we re hearing from the turks, however, is quite a reaction to the possibility of intervention. in fact, the turkish president erdogan just today said if there is an intervention in syria, it should be more than just words. he went on to say that we will do whatever is needed if intervention is the case. now, of course, turkey has long
chemical attack early tuesday morning. it s important to keep in mind for the vast majority of syrians, they have lived in sort of a limbo for decades. they have lived under regimes in which they had very little say in what s going on and those who aren t living under the regime are living under the rule of rebel groups, jihadist groups that don t take much regard of what they say either. they are desperate for respite from this endless war in syria now into its seventh year with hundreds of thousands of people dead. now, would they welcome some sort of u.s. military intervention? that s questionable given what we ve seen the impact of intervention by the united states in iraq, for instance. therefore, i don t think you ll find too many enthusiastic people welcoming an american military intervention in syria.
there s been certain mistakes but because of the chemical strikes which is horrific, now suddenly that takes priority over five years of bombing hospitals and civilian populations with the same kind of barrel bombs where tens of thousands have been killed and suddenly i hear a lot of members of congress saying we need to strike right now. to what end? i m a military guy. you better give me a mission and tell me what to do and that is not coming clear. the passion of striking seems to have overwhelmed many in washington. what i d say is, we ve seen this movie before where you re talking about regime change. if there s not someone there to take over the regime, it s not good. if you re just doing retaliatory strikes, you look weak. it probably is not going to affect assad s potential given that he has both russian and iranian allies fighting alongside of him.
property up the syria regime and make sure the border is secure. israeli f 15 fighter jets maneuvering in the skies, giving the country a technology edge in the region. but now a new presence in the middle east, advanced russian flanker flighter jet in syria, according to the u.s. officials and other russian military arms threatening that edge. satellite pictures inside syria show a rapid buildup with russian military equipment moving in. analysts jonathan spier says these weapons put pressure on israel s aerial control of the region. if you have russia aircraft in the sky, if you have russian anti-aircraft systems there, the potential for friction and collision and vulnerability of aircraft becomes much, much greater. reporter: in northern israel, we ve seen israeli infantry but