By Aaron Miller-
President Donald Trump answered a question posed by Russia yesterday for America to state its position on the alleged chemical attack launched by Syria’s dictator, Assad.
The Pentagon confirmed that it launched 50 Tomehawk crane missiles from warships U.S.S Ross and Punter , aimed at destabilising air bases from which Assad’s regime is believed to be launching his deadly arsenal of chemical weapons.
Syrian rebels immediately welcomed the attack, but called for more air strikes as they pointed out that there were 26 other air bases from which cronies of Assad launch their evil attacks.
The Russian minister called it an act of aggression under a completely invented pretext , whilst a spokesperson for Russian president Putin said the strikes would have consequences for American and Russian relations which were already in a “sorry state”
Assad’s government described the strikes as ” shortsightedness and political and military blindness to reality “, but the reality is that the Syrian president has been acting excessively wicked to his people for too long.
If the chemical attacks claws to be ordered by Assad were indeed launched by someone else, the Syrian government has done very little to identify who the perpetrators of that crime was.
PARTISAN
The response from Russia has been purely reflective of their partisan support for Syria, instead of the almost universal sentiment of disgust expressed by decent human beings. Russia is understood to have called a security meeting.
The unilateral attack by the United States was supported by the U.K government , who said that Downing Street was informed of he attack before hand.
VIOLATION
There have been claims that the attack was in violation of international law; something that will surely be examined in great detail in the coming days and weeks. It may be concluded by sober analysts that Trump acted too hastily , in a wide departure from his initial stance not to interfere in the Syrian war and all its complexities.
The majority view from most fair thinking minds will be that too little has been done too late. Assad, who has long been supported by Russia needs to be put in check. The world cannot continue to turn a blind eye on the despicable acts of mass murder inflicted by the leader of a country, just because he has the power to do so.
An interesting twist in this devoping saga is the fact that Russia is believed to have assisted Trump to win the Erica 2016 elections, a matter still a subject of investigation .
No conclusive evidence has been provided to support the allegation, but it is interesting that Trump has taken a radical action that may well damage any hopes Trump and Putin had of a fresh relationship , making many adversaries of the Russian leader happy. How events develop from here is something nobody knows for sure.