:00:00. > :00:00.It's the conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands
:00:07. > :00:08.of ordinary Syrians, sent millions fleeing the country,
:00:09. > :00:11.and confounded Western foreign policy but is the fight for Aleppo
:00:12. > :00:19.The regime is using gas bombs and cluster bombs on civilians.
:00:20. > :00:26.Aleppo, Syria's biggest city is constantly under attack.
:00:27. > :00:29.Today there are reports that a barrel bomb killed
:00:30. > :00:32.18 civilians in the opposition-held area.
:00:33. > :00:35.This young doctor who went back to the city, tells
:00:36. > :00:57.We're devoting the whole programme tonight to analyse the latest news
:00:58. > :01:02.We'll be hearing live from an aid worker in Aleppo,
:01:03. > :01:05.a former advisor to President Obama, a spokeswoman for the Syrian
:01:06. > :01:19.opposition, and a doctor who's just returned from the Syrian border.
:01:20. > :01:23.Might the battle for Aleppo be the catalyst for the resolution
:01:24. > :01:30.It's where Assad, supported by the Russians, is trying
:01:31. > :01:34.to strangle the opposition fighters and bring the population
:01:35. > :01:37.The city has faced constant attack in the five years of the civil war,
:01:38. > :01:39.but the rebels, disparate and shifting groups,
:01:40. > :01:41.are now acting together, battling back against the month-long
:01:42. > :01:45.siege which has starved parts of the city of food, fuel
:01:46. > :01:50.electricity, water and medical supplies.
:01:51. > :01:53.President Obama this week criticised Russia's support of the regime's
:01:54. > :01:57.attacks against opposition forces and sieges of cities such as Aleppo
:01:58. > :02:00.and he accused Russia of failing to take steps
:02:01. > :02:07.But at the same time he has announced that the US administration
:02:08. > :02:09.is exploring expanded military cooperation with Russia
:02:10. > :02:14.to try to defeat IS - although he said he wasn't confident
:02:15. > :02:21.So when the scorecard on Obama's presidency is tallied up,
:02:22. > :02:24.as far as foreign policy is concerned will Syria stand out
:02:25. > :02:28.as the issue which will attract the most trenchant criticism?
:02:29. > :02:30.The question is, will this final throw of the dice
:02:31. > :02:33.redeem what is seen by some as a fainthearted response
:02:34. > :02:38.We'll be examining that tonight, but first here's our diplomatic
:02:39. > :02:56.As they prepare for battle, mujahedin anti-government fighters
:02:57. > :02:59.get stirred into action by their commander.
:03:00. > :03:02.He tells them about martyrdom and the dancing girls that
:03:03. > :03:18.After prayers, the fighters jump to their feet with
:03:19. > :03:26.They were thrown against Assad forces positions as part of a key
:03:27. > :03:33.struggle in the long, vicious Syrian war, one
:03:34. > :03:36.that the wider world watches with seeming powerlessness.
:03:37. > :03:39.People are just a new as to what is going on in Syria right now.
:03:40. > :03:42.Thousands of civilians are being killed every day,
:03:43. > :03:44.they are bombarded by Russian air force, bombarded
:03:45. > :03:58.The regime is using gas bombs and cluster bombs on civilians.
:03:59. > :04:01.It's a horrible catastrophe and I feel that we have been
:04:02. > :04:04.watching this for five or six years now, isn't the outcry that should be
:04:05. > :04:05.accompanying really, these disastrous attacks
:04:06. > :04:11.Government forces and militia have fought throughout June to close
:04:12. > :04:13.off the Costello Road, the last route in and out
:04:14. > :04:22.Faced with strangulation, rebel groups five days ago
:04:23. > :04:25.launched a counteroffensive, attempting to break the siege.
:04:26. > :04:32.They attacked in the south-west of the city where government lines
:04:33. > :04:36.are thin, starting with an assault on the Hikma military school.
:04:37. > :04:39.Covered by their own drones, the rebels launched suicide vehicle
:04:40. > :04:44.They followed up with a ground assault, using tanks
:04:45. > :04:49.Nearby, a reporter with one of the militant groups,
:04:50. > :05:00.TRANSLATION: The front of the conquest of the Levant has
:05:01. > :05:03.said two car bombs to the Al Hikma school where they successfully
:05:04. > :05:07.detonated them and destroyed the school.
:05:08. > :05:10.I swear to God, it will be just a few hours before we
:05:11. > :05:14.break the siege imposed on our sisters in Aleppo.
:05:15. > :05:17.But the Syrian army has been fighting back in this area
:05:18. > :05:20.with multiple Russian air strikes being launched to blunt
:05:21. > :05:26.Opposition groups insist their drive to reopen a corridor into the city
:05:27. > :05:39.is making progress, but all the time humanitarian worries grow.
:05:40. > :05:44.For the 300,000 people now trapped in the rebel
:05:45. > :05:46.held centre of the city, there's intense danger
:05:47. > :05:54.It's six medical facilities were all struck in the last week of July.
:05:55. > :05:57.Yesterday, this CCTV camera recorded another incoming missile,
:05:58. > :06:03.just outside the front door of one hospital.
:06:04. > :06:06.The situation on the ground is very dire, not just from the medical
:06:07. > :06:10.facility perspective, but in terms of food,
:06:11. > :06:13.in terms of the fact babies can't get formula, for example.
:06:14. > :06:17.People are being starved and bombed to death.
:06:18. > :06:21.Adding to the emergency, the shortages of medicines and food
:06:22. > :06:27.You have to understand that electricity supplies
:06:28. > :06:34.to the east of Aleppo were cut, so most of the hospitals and most
:06:35. > :06:36.of the bakeries and so on and so forth, they use smaller,
:06:37. > :06:45.So after three days it will mean that all the machinery
:06:46. > :06:48.we have in our hospital, which has already been hits,
:06:49. > :06:50.we have in our hospital, which has already been hit,
:06:51. > :06:53.will also be out of service because we won't have any
:06:54. > :06:58.So they are suffering really, really badly right now and things
:06:59. > :07:07.While all this happens, an international peace plan
:07:08. > :07:12.The Russians have announced the setting up of corridors
:07:13. > :07:20.But the resistance says they will just be used to empty
:07:21. > :07:24.The Russians have created this humanitarian disaster
:07:25. > :07:27.and then they claim to want to have humanitarian corridors.
:07:28. > :07:30.A lot of the international NGOs have come out and condemned the Russian
:07:31. > :07:38.This isn't an attempt to alleviate the situation,
:07:39. > :07:41.it's an attempt to justify annihilating the rest of Aleppo.
:07:42. > :07:45.They'll say we removed people and whoever is left are terrorists.
:07:46. > :07:49.It's pretty transparent and it needs to be condemned out right.
:07:50. > :07:52.Of course, as an active belligerent in this conflict,
:07:53. > :08:01.Russia has its own version of events in the city.
:08:02. > :08:03.Portraying it as decisive battle against the militant Nusra
:08:04. > :08:05.movement, the Russians have also accused them
:08:06. > :08:19.TRANSLATION: A toxic substance was launched at a residential area
:08:20. > :08:22.As a result of this terror attack, seven people have been killed and 23
:08:23. > :08:24.with symptoms of asphyxiation and inhalation burns have been
:08:25. > :08:29.Overlooked by Putin and Assad, the general at least knows
:08:30. > :08:36.there is a deep commitment on his side of the conflict.
:08:37. > :08:38.While Washington has allowed its Syrian opposition allies to be
:08:39. > :08:44.targeted and failed to act to protect the civilian population.
:08:45. > :08:47.Certainly the US and the coalition could make threats to the regime,
:08:48. > :08:49.that if you continue bombing civilians, as you were doing,
:08:50. > :08:52.we will take out some of your planes.
:08:53. > :08:54.That is escalating the war in a way that President Obama doesn't
:08:55. > :08:58.want to do, but I feel it's the only thing that can stop
:08:59. > :09:03.Might it be something Hillary Clinton might do if elected?
:09:04. > :09:06.I think she would she would take a more aggressive stance.
:09:07. > :09:09.The question is, where will the country be by the time she takes
:09:10. > :09:18.The longer this conflict drags out, the worse the situation gets
:09:19. > :09:23.Spearheading the latest Aleppo offensive, the Nusra Front renamed
:09:24. > :09:27.and trying to distance itself from Al-Qaeda.
:09:28. > :09:33.But still an enemy of the US, as well as in Russia
:09:34. > :09:36.But still an enemy of the US, as well as Russia
:09:37. > :09:41.The Americans hardly want to take action that benefits this group
:09:42. > :09:50.and that's just one aspect of Syria's awful complexity.
:09:51. > :09:55.Joining us live from Aleppo via Skype is Ismail Alabdullah,
:09:56. > :10:00.who works for the White Helmet civil defence organisation in the city.
:10:01. > :10:15.What is happening all around you tonight? We have bombing on
:10:16. > :10:19.civilians in Aleppo every night. All kinds of bombs, the mortars,
:10:20. > :10:25.missiles and rockets. This is happening every day. Every day we
:10:26. > :10:36.have civilians killed by air strikes. Just yesterday we had 20
:10:37. > :10:40.people killed by air strikes. Is there a feeling this weekend, as the
:10:41. > :10:43.rebel groups are acting together, the opposition groups are acting
:10:44. > :10:51.together, is there a feeling something is changing this weekend?
:10:52. > :10:57.The people in Aleppo city are hoping in a few days the siege will be
:10:58. > :11:07.broken and this is what the people are hoping. We don't care about who
:11:08. > :11:17.is trying to break the siege, most of the people now living in Aleppo
:11:18. > :11:26.city, they need help. They are scared of what is going on and in a
:11:27. > :11:37.few days... If they don't receive any food, they fear about their
:11:38. > :11:48.lives, and what will happen in other parts of Syria. People have died of
:11:49. > :11:55.starvation. They just care about breaking the siege and getting out
:11:56. > :12:02.of Aleppo city. One final question, what do you want the West to do
:12:03. > :12:07.right now? What we want, as civilians, as people, just help us
:12:08. > :12:17.in this situation. We have bombing on the city every day. We just want
:12:18. > :12:18.the siege to be broken and receive something for these people. Thank
:12:19. > :12:21.you very much for joining us. Joining me now from Paris
:12:22. > :12:24.is Bassma Kodmani, Spokesperson for the Syrian Opposition High
:12:25. > :12:35.Negotiations Committee. It represents moderate opposition to
:12:36. > :12:43.the Assad regime. Is it a feeling this is a critical moment for the
:12:44. > :12:49.whole of Syria? It is critical certainly for peace process, for a
:12:50. > :12:55.negotiation process. Because we were expecting a of hostilities to be
:12:56. > :12:59.restored and enforced by the United States and Russia and forcing the
:13:00. > :13:05.regime to comply with it, in order for us to go back to Geneva. Instead
:13:06. > :13:11.we had a massive air campaign, both from the regime and from Russia.
:13:12. > :13:15.Indiscriminate bombing which amounts to war crimes for Russia. Russia is
:13:16. > :13:21.currently committing war crimes in Syria. We don't hear it enough. If
:13:22. > :13:26.we are looking at cooperation between the United States and
:13:27. > :13:30.Russia, we would like to have a justification from the
:13:31. > :13:39.Administration, how it explains co-operation with war crimes being
:13:40. > :13:43.committed without responding to that and without offering any alternative
:13:44. > :13:48.to what is going on. What is at stake is the city of Aleppo, the
:13:49. > :13:55.life of civilians. Before anything else, what we are seeing, for the
:13:56. > :14:02.sixth year, failure to protect any civilians in Syria. Can I ask you,
:14:03. > :14:06.you are very critical of America's, President Obama's decision to
:14:07. > :14:12.explore further military cooperation with Russia instead. What would you
:14:13. > :14:18.like to see from President Obama? The least we can say is his policy
:14:19. > :14:25.hasn't worked. Remaining with the same line is definitely not the
:14:26. > :14:29.right attitude and unfortunately, everyone is telling us there is
:14:30. > :14:34.nothing to expect from this Administration, you will have to
:14:35. > :14:38.wait for the next administration. Hillary Clinton may be more
:14:39. > :14:44.determined in her policy, but in the meantime, we will have thousands and
:14:45. > :14:50.thousands of people killed in Syria without any reaction. What we expect
:14:51. > :14:57.from this administration is one strike, very limited military
:14:58. > :15:02.action, but simply explains, it means to the regime that a
:15:03. > :15:08.ceasefire, a cessation of hostilities has to be installed, has
:15:09. > :15:14.to be respected and bombing from the air has to stop. That is exactly
:15:15. > :15:18.what we need. Some deterrents, some leveraged from this Administration
:15:19. > :15:24.for air bombing to stop from Russia, as well as from this regime. It is
:15:25. > :15:29.not very complicated, it doesn't require a lot of military action.
:15:30. > :15:37.You're a spokespersons for the moderate opposition groups. In
:15:38. > :15:44.Aleppo, a number of groups have got together in order to try and take on
:15:45. > :15:49.president Assad and break the siege. How difficult is that going to be be
:15:50. > :15:55.if you do succeed in the aftermath when you have made common cause with
:15:56. > :15:59.groups whose tactics you do not agree with? Definitely the groups on
:16:00. > :16:05.the ground do not have the same agenda. What we have tried to do
:16:06. > :16:08.over weeks and weeks is to get a cessation of hostile is the back in
:16:09. > :16:13.place. Because at the moment there are attacks on the opposition, it is
:16:14. > :16:24.obvious that groups are going to lead a counter offensive and we have
:16:25. > :16:29.the radicals who are empowered. The radicals then will be marginalised.
:16:30. > :16:34.None of that has happened. We have not that that commitment from the
:16:35. > :16:38.international community. Instead the leverage that people are hoping to
:16:39. > :16:44.get from the ground is now from radical groups. We do not welcome
:16:45. > :16:46.that, but that is what we see today. Thank you for joining us from Paris
:16:47. > :17:08.tonight. Shortly before coming on air,
:17:09. > :17:11.I spoke to Philip Gordon, who was Special Assistant
:17:12. > :17:13.on the Middle East to the President between 2013 and 2015 and has worked
:17:14. > :17:30.on Syria more many years. George Bush faced dreadful vitriol
:17:31. > :17:34.over the Iraq intervention and it goes on and on. Do you think
:17:35. > :17:40.President Obama will face the same vitriol. It is true we are still
:17:41. > :17:44.living with the Iraq intervention and it weighs heavily on President
:17:45. > :17:49.Obama and many would argue that we overlearned the lessons of Iraq. But
:17:50. > :17:56.the president would say and I think it rights to not forget them either.
:17:57. > :17:59.Even the severe critics of president's alleged inaction aren't
:18:00. > :18:04.really willing to say they would go and do something to Iraq again using
:18:05. > :18:12.major military force. In fact the legacy of Iraq will hang over every
:18:13. > :18:17.aspect of American foreign policy and did, because when the Arab
:18:18. > :18:22.spring happened and it is OK if it happens quickly and the regime falls
:18:23. > :18:27.and you don't have to do much, but when you underestimate what happens
:18:28. > :18:32.with somebody like Assad backed by the Russians, then American is found
:18:33. > :18:37.to be wanting. As tempting as it is now to say Barack Obama has been
:18:38. > :18:40.enactive and we should have a more decisive policy and intervene. But
:18:41. > :18:47.then you have to say how you're going to follow up. What you expect
:18:48. > :18:52.to happen if he does. Do you think with hind sight that had America
:18:53. > :18:58.done more to arm the opposition earlier, we know there was some CIA
:18:59. > :19:01.involvement in weapons and training, had more happened earlier, the
:19:02. > :19:07.outcome might have been different so far? It is easy in retrospect to say
:19:08. > :19:13.as many have, if only the administration had done this or
:19:14. > :19:19.that, provided arms, again we will never know. If you think it through,
:19:20. > :19:24.it is not clear and everyone who has been involved in this has asked the
:19:25. > :19:28.question, I think it's implausible to imagine that a modest amount of
:19:29. > :19:32.support for the opposition would have changed that trajectory. If you
:19:33. > :19:36.were going to do it, you would have to decide essentially to go to war
:19:37. > :19:40.and do whatever it took and we get back to something more like Iraq,
:19:41. > :19:45.where you violently overthrow the government and had to deal with the
:19:46. > :19:49.consequences. If the head of that next administration is Hillary
:19:50. > :19:56.Clinton, that is a woman you have worked with and how does her policy
:19:57. > :20:03.on Syria differ from Barack Obama's? We won't know for sure until January
:20:04. > :20:08.2017. I think, having been in office, having been Secretary of
:20:09. > :20:13.State in the situation room for all of these decisions, she will know
:20:14. > :20:17.that she needs to have a serious and hard-nosed and rigorous assessment
:20:18. > :20:25.of the situation. What do you think would be the best outcome for
:20:26. > :20:30.America in Syria? You know, I think at this point, we are well beyond
:20:31. > :20:39.ideal outcomes, the best outcome would be a transition to a new
:20:40. > :20:42.government of moderate Syrians that would govern democratically and work
:20:43. > :20:46.with the west. That would be an ideal outcome. I think there is very
:20:47. > :20:50.little chance of achieving that goal. We need to understand that.
:20:51. > :20:55.Syria is not going to be put together any time soon. If you could
:20:56. > :21:00.just wind down the conflict, which is what the problem is, more than
:21:01. > :21:08.any particular regime, it is the conflict that is radicalising
:21:09. > :21:12.Muslims and killing people. If could get a ceasefire and prisoners are
:21:13. > :21:16.released and there is local governance, that is far from an
:21:17. > :21:18.ideal outcome, but it would be a heck of a lot better of what we see
:21:19. > :21:23.right now. Thank you. It's estimated that a quarter
:21:24. > :21:26.of a million people are living under siege in opposition held areas
:21:27. > :21:29.of Aleppo, where since the weekend rebel fighters have been trying
:21:30. > :21:34.to loosen Assad's grip. There are almost daily
:21:35. > :21:36.reports of air attacks, either by barrel bombs from Regime
:21:37. > :21:38.helicopters, or strikes Today ten people are reported to
:21:39. > :21:43.have been killed by an air attack. The pressure on hospitals,
:21:44. > :21:48.under fire themselves is enormous. According to the organisation
:21:49. > :21:50.Physicians for Human Rights last week was the deadliest for hospitals
:21:51. > :21:58.in the Eastern part of the city, five were bombed
:21:59. > :22:00.in twenty four hours. This is the story of a young Syrian
:22:01. > :22:03.physician, Dr Hamza al Khaltib. Joining me here is Dr David Knott,
:22:04. > :25:25.who has worked as a surgeon in Aleppo over the course
:25:26. > :25:38.of the civil war. Good evening. You have been trying
:25:39. > :25:44.to get in touch with people you know in hospital in Aleppo. When did you
:25:45. > :25:50.last speak to people? About three weeks ago, I have been contacting
:25:51. > :25:56.them since I came out 12 months ago. Every week we have contacts
:25:57. > :26:02.discussing patients and their wounds and trauma. I'm on what's app
:26:03. > :26:07.telling them what to do. You know now in the last week five hospitals
:26:08. > :26:12.have been attacked and there is more attacks today. What is it like in
:26:13. > :26:17.these hospitals? It is really dreadful. I was there in 2014 when
:26:18. > :26:22.the barrel bombs were starting. We had a hospital that was bombed three
:26:23. > :26:25.times when I was there and the whole place was being barrel bombed by
:26:26. > :26:29.Syrian helicopters. And the situation is such that it is very
:26:30. > :26:37.difficult to operate, because you're operating on patients that come in
:26:38. > :26:41.with dragmentation -- fragmentation wounds and they're covered in dust.
:26:42. > :26:48.It is a terrible situation. Since you have been there and now with
:26:49. > :26:53.this latest siege, what are the worst shortages in medical supplies.
:26:54. > :27:00.In 2013 we had a lot. 2014 it was worse. Now they can't get anything
:27:01. > :27:09.in at all. The humanitarian cordons don't exist -- corridors don't
:27:10. > :27:16.exist. They can't get in any drugs or pain-relieving drugs. I heard
:27:17. > :27:21.somebody did an amputation using paracetamol. There is dedication, we
:27:22. > :27:27.saw that doctor walking back into Aleppo. The doctors will not leave.
:27:28. > :27:32.They're there and dedicated and they're not going to leave Aleppo at
:27:33. > :27:36.all. Just looking at this from your perspective, what do you think the
:27:37. > :27:41.UK, what do you think the west should be doing now? I feel that
:27:42. > :27:46.the, what's happening is the western Governments should be putting
:27:47. > :27:50.pressure on Russia, they should be putting extreme pressure and we
:27:51. > :27:54.should have a group such as the foreign minister and Europe should
:27:55. > :27:58.be doing something. America has lost it to be honest with you. It is
:27:59. > :28:03.Europe should take control. The ministers from all the governments
:28:04. > :28:07.from France, England, should have, should go to Russia and say we have
:28:08. > :28:13.to stop this now, because you're making the situation much, much
:28:14. > :28:21.worse. What do you fear the consequences could be if it is not
:28:22. > :28:25.reed. -- resolved. Well, it is a world problem now and now is the
:28:26. > :28:31.time to do something. If we don't do something now, a lot of fighter we
:28:32. > :28:34.have seen have gone to the other Jihadist type movements, they will
:28:35. > :28:38.be disgruntled, because the west has not helped them. The people will
:28:39. > :28:46.feel unhappy, because nobody helped them and we can't sit on a situation
:28:47. > :28:52.where we watch 300,000 people slowly annihilated - killed and starved to
:28:53. > :28:55.death. So you feel that people, we know people are starving, if this
:28:56. > :28:59.isn't alleviated, the things you have seen, the people you have seen
:29:00. > :29:04.and talked to, they will starve to death. I had a group of about ten
:29:05. > :29:07.doctors that I was talking to, it went down to three and now I can't
:29:08. > :29:14.get in contact with any of them. I don't know if they're alive or dead.
:29:15. > :29:19.Do you have any concerns about going back to the Turkish border? I don't
:29:20. > :29:23.have any concerns. Because the most important thing is to train the
:29:24. > :29:24.doctors there, to give them the best medical input to help their
:29:25. > :29:30.patients. Thank you very much. Rio 2016 - half-finished, riddled
:29:31. > :29:33.with drugs and a little bit squalid. As the BBC decamps en masse
:29:34. > :29:39.to Brazil, Newsnight is offering its own unique take
:29:40. > :29:42.on the Games, from a I just hope someone's told
:29:43. > :29:48.Stephen Smith he won't be needing Yes, it's true -
:29:49. > :29:57.the Olympic Games are just about to I'm going to be covering them for
:29:58. > :30:02.this programme. But even Thought For The Day
:30:03. > :30:24.are sending ten people. Steven Smith, Throne of Games coming
:30:25. > :30:37.soon to this network. Next on Artsnight, writer Meg Rosoff
:30:38. > :30:40.attempts to unlock the secrets of the creative brain,
:30:41. > :30:42.exploring the relationship between art and the unconscious,
:30:43. > :30:47.with actors Anne-Marie Duff and Denise Gough, award-winning
:30:48. > :30:49.novelist Eimear McBride, The programme contains
:30:50. > :30:57.strong language. Where does a unique
:30:58. > :31:01.artistic voice come from? Why do some books, performances and
:31:02. > :31:07.paintings move us when others don't?