News Analysis |
Putting his words into action, President Donald Trump, via a video message, addressed American people, authorizing and explaining missile strike against Assad regime for his use of chemical weapons in Syria. The effort is coordinated with the United Kingdom and France as a firm response to barbaric actions of President Assad, which they firmly believe to have been committed in a chemical attack last week.
President Trump said that it is incumbent upon civilized world to deter the transgressorswho opt to go the denounced way of using chemicals against humans. The strikes came in the aftermath of a Sarin gas attack in Damascus suburbs of Douma which USA and its allies believe to have been conducted by Assad regime, whereas Russia has maintained that no such attack ever happened.
The United States has involved itself further into the complex, asymmetrical war in Syria which simply means that around 2000 active troops in Syria will not be coming home anytime soon.
He also questioned Iran and Syria over their stance of supporting Mr. Assad for his, what he calls, and ruthless actions against his own people. Russia assured international community in 2013 that all reserves of chemical weapons held by Syrian government will be neutralized but eventually it ended up siding with bloody regime, he added.
Canada and Germany have condemned the use of poisonous gas on Syrian citizens but refrained to join the United States in retaliatory strikes. German military involvement in particular, after World War 2, has been subjected to parliamentary approval. Even during the campaign against ISIS, German role has mostly remained confined to reconnaissance.
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Though Russia had pledged to destroy every missile being fired at Syria and go after its source but reports from US and western media claim that missiles have hit their intended targets. The Syrian Observatory said the Syrian Army’s 4th Division and Republican Guard were among the targets. Though the United States took extreme care that none of the Russian soldiers stationed in the suburbs of Damascus came in the trajectory of flying missile, still Russian response to the strikes has been stern. “We warned that such actions will not be left without consequences,” Anatoly Antonov, the ambassador to the United States, said in a statement. “All responsibility for them rests with Washington, London,and Paris.”
The effort is coordinated with the United Kingdom and France as a firm response to barbaric actions of President Assad, which they firmly believe to have been committed in a chemical attack last week.
In a statement issued by Kremlin, President Vladimir Putin termed the missile strikes “an act of aggression”. The confirmation about the safety of Russian troops came from Moscow as well but the country is determined to take the matter to UN Security Council. Global anticipation with respect to missile strikes in Syria, after Russia categorically stated to not only intercept but go in a hot pursuit to the source of launch, weighed a confrontation with high probability. But since no Russian life was on the line, or even if it was, none was reported by either side, the response from Russians so far shows a remarkable degree of restraint.
The missile strikes, like the one happened in 2017 where USA targeted a Syrian Airforce facility, were declared as a “one time job” instead of a continuous and long-term military operation against Syrian forces.In his address, President Trump clearly stated that United States doesn’t aim to keep US boots on ground in Syria for a long time. The motive was reinforced by Theresa May’s stance in a recent interview that allies do not want a regime change in Syria, which they did, not long ago, neither they want to destabilize but just doing what needs to be done to stop Assad from its atrocious crimes.
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The United States believes that the strikes have rendered a huge blow to the stockpile of chemical weapons in Syrian government’s armory, but at the same time, US ambassador to United States Nikki Haley has clearly said that it is not a one time job and strikes could be carried out again if the government in Syria keeps getting involved in the heinous crime. Active military objectives and alliance with its European partners to achieve them using their logistics present a paradox with Donald Trump’s boot on the ground policy.
The United States has involved itself further into the complex, asymmetrical war in Syria which simply means that around 2000 active troops in Syria will not be coming home anytime soon. At the same time, the restraint on Russian side is not going to hold if the missiles kept on flying toward Syria from US aircraft carriers and destroyers stationed in the Mediterranean.