Sebastian Junger Returns With New Documentary On Syria | Morning Joe

TILLERSON'S CRITICISM COMES AFTER RUSSIA ON FRIDAY CONDEMNED
THE U.S. STRIKE, CALLING IT AN ATTACK ON ITS ALLY.
AND IT APPEARS THAT ASSAD'S FORCES RESUMED THEIR CAMPAIGN OF
AIR STRIKES AGAINST REB REBEL FS OVER THE WEEKEND, ACCORDING TO
THE SYRIAN OBSERVATORY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, A SERIES OF STRIKES ON
SATURDAY KILLED AT LEAST 18 PEOPLE, INCLUDING FIVE CHILDREN
IN THE REBEL-CONTROLLED IDLIB PROVINCE.
THE NONSTOP ONSLAUGHT BY THE SYRIAN REGIME AS PART OF A FOCUS
OF A POWERFUL NEW DOCUMENTARY BY FILMMAKER SEBASTIAN YOUNG.
>> ANY REASONABLE PERSON WOULD FLEE THE KIND OF FIGHTING WE'VE
SEEN IN SYRIA. THEY HAPPILY RISK THEIR LIVES TO
BE SMUGGLED ACROSS THE BORDER, EVENTUALLY MAKING THEIR WAY TO
THE WEST TO MAKE A BETTER LIFE FOR THEIR CHILDREN.
PEOPLE SAY, LOOK, IT'S NOT OUR PROBLEM.
OKAY. THAT'S NOT YOUR PROBLEM BUT THAT
DOESN'T MEAN YOU WON'T BE AFFECTED BY IT.
YOU CAN SAY THAT YOU DON'T ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT HUMAN
SUFFERING. THE TRUTH IS THAT ALL VIOLENCE
AND MISERY EVENTUALLY AFFECT THE ENTIRE WORLD.
IN THAT SENSE THERE IS NO ESCAPING THE FACT THAT WE ARE
ALL PART OF THE HUMAN RACE. THERE IS NO ESCAPING THE FACT
THAT BORDERS BECOME IRRELEVANT ONCE PEOPLE START DYING AND
SOCIETIES BEGIN TO COLLAPSE. >> THE DOCUMENTARY, "HELL ON
EARTH: THE FALL OF SYRIA AND THE RISE OF ISIS" PREMIERES AT THE
TRIBECCA FILM FESTIVAL LATER THIS MONG MONTH AND HEIRS THIS
SPRING ON NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. SEBASTIAN YOUNGER JOINS US NOW.
THIS LOOKS REALLY GOOD. >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
WE'RE REALLY PROUD OF IT. >> WHAT WERE YOU HOPING TO
ACCOMPLISH WHEN YOU SET OUT TO DO THIS?
SO MANY CONFLICTING ISSUES ABOUT SYRIA, CONFUSION ABOUT IT, ABOUT
WHY OBAMA DIDN'T ACT, CONFUSION ABOUT WHERE WE GO, MOVING
FORWARD AND SOME PEOPLE COMPLETELY DISCONNECTED FROM IT.
IT SEEMS YOU'RE TRYING TO APPROACH THAT SORT OF GAP THERE.
>> YEAH. I THINK THE PROPER ROLE FOR
JOURNALESTS ISN'T TO SUGGEST POLICY BUT TO INFORM.
MY FIRST WAR WAS BOSNIA, KOSOVO. AND IN MANY OF THOSE WARS I AND
MY COLLEAGUES WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR TO THE PUBLIC WHAT'S
HAPPENING ON THE GROUND, WHY THIS CAME TO PASS AND IN
EXPLAINING THAT SOMETIMES SOLUTIONS EMERGE.
IN BOSNIA, THAT WAR WAS ENDED BY A TEN-DAY NATO AIR BOMBARDMENT
THAT STOPPED THE GENOCIDE AND STARTED THE PROCESS OF PEACE.
JOURNALISTS WOULD SAY WE SHOULD DO THAT.
WHEN YOU EXPLAIN THE THINGS ON THE GROUND THINGS LIKE THAT
START TO EMERGE AS A SOLUTION. >> WE DID ACT IN BOSNIA.
WE DID ACT DURING THAT TIME. BILL CLINTON AND AIR STRIKES.
BUT WHAT ARE THE SYRIAN PEOPLE SAYING ABOUT THE UNITED STATES,
ABOUT THE WEST? DO THEY FEEL ABANDONED?
DO THEY FEEL BETRAYED? DO THEY FEEL BEGOTTEN?
>> JUST AMAZED THAT THIS AMOUNT OF SUFFERING CAN HAPPEN.
>> 500,000 DEATHS. >> THE WORLD DOESN'T DO
ANYTHING. I REMEMBER HEARING THE SAME
THING IN SAREJEVO. THEY COULDN'T BELIEVE IT.
THEY'RE LIKE, LOOK WHAT'S HAPPENING.
THE WORLD ISN'T DOING ANYTHING. THAT'S WHAT THE SYRIANS FEEL.
>> IN THIS DOCUMENTARY YOU HAVE AN UNAIRED INTERVIEW WITH
GENERAL MIKE FLYNN YOU DID IN 2016.
>> YEAH. >> WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT
THAT INTERVIEW JUST BECAUSE I THINK IT'S INTERESTING TO KNOW
HOW ONE OF TRUMP'S MOST INFLUENTIAL ADVISERS VIEWS THE
REFUGEE CRISIS. >> BACK WHEN HE DID THE
INTERVIEW HE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT WAS IN STORE FOR HIM
POLITICALLY. AND WE DIDN'T KNOW, OF COURSE.
HE REALLY SPOKE HIS MIND AND SAID, LOOK, IF YOU WANT TO STOP
THE REFUGEE CRISIS, YOU HAVE TO BRING ENOUGH PEACE TO THAT
COUNTRY THAT PEOPLE WILL STAY, THAT THEY'LL GO HOME.
IN OTHER WORDS HE WAS MAKING AN ARGUMENT FOR NATION BUILDING,
POLITICAL HERESY. >> GOT ANY HEROES IN THIS MOVIE?
>> SO MANY HEROES, ORDINARY SYRIANS TRYING TO SURVIVE.
>> TALK ABOUT ONE OF THEM. >> THEY'RE DIGGING PEOPLE OUT OF
RUBBLE, CIVILIAN ORGANIZATION, RISKING THEIR LOOVS.
IT'S ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIC. THEY WOULD NOT SAY THEY'RE
HEROES. THEY WOULD SAY WE'RE SYRIANS,
WE'RE DOING WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE.
THERE'S A BAKER IN ALEPPO WHO IS LIKE, I'M NOT LEAVING.
MY PEOPLE NEED BREAD. I'M GOING TO KEEP MAKING BREAD.
HEROISM EXISTS AT THAT LEVEL. >> IT'S UPSET ME THAT THE WHITE
HELMETS HAVE BEEN TARGETED BY CONSPIRACY THEORISTS WHO HAVE
SAID THAT, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE FUNDED BY, YOU KNOW, THIS
OUTSIDE INTEREST, ET CETERA, ET CETERA.
WHAT'S YOUR RESPONSE TO THE CONSPIRACIES ABOUT THE WHITE
HELMETS NOT BEING WHAT THEY ARE. >> LISTEN, IT BOTHERS ME THAT
CONSPIRACY THEORISTS TARGETED 9/11, OBAMA.
THIS IS THE SAME. THEY'RE INCREDIBLY BRAVE PEOPLE
WHO HAVE AT THEIR MISSION AND ITS HEART IS TO SAVE PEOPLE'S
LIVES. >> COMPARE THE LEVEL OF
SUFFERING IN SYRIA WITH WHAT YOU SAW IN AFGHANISTAN, IN IRAQ.
>> THE DEATH TOLL IS MUCH, MUCH HIGHER.
THEY WEREN'T USING NERVE GAS IN BOSNIA.
WE GOT CAMERAS IN TO PEOPLE IN SYRIA.
IT'S INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS, AS YOU KNOW.
THE LEVEL OF SUFFERING IS ASTRONOMICALLY HIGHER THAN ANY
OF THE WARS I'VE COVERED. >> THE FALL OF SYRIA AND THE
RISE OF ISIS PREMIERES AT THE TRIBECCA FILM FESTIVAL AND AIR
THIS I

Sebastian Junger Returns With New Documentary On Syria | Morning Joe | MSNBC

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