Attack on chemical plants
The US, UK and France launch a missile attack on Syria in reprisal for last week’s nerve gas attack on the civilian population in the city of Douma
A show of force from the United States and its Western allies in Syria. After three days of threats and dialectical when it seemed he could be backing down, the US president, Donald Trump, moved yesterday morning from words and set his armed forces into action.
In a military operation coordinated with the United Kingdom and France, the US attacked the regime of the “dictator” Bashar al-Assad for using chemical weapons against the civilian population of Douma (Syria) last week
Unlike previous incursions in Iraq, yesterday’s offensive was very limited, as the Pentagon and its Western allies did not want to provoke a confrontation with Russia and be bogged down in a war on the ground. The aim was to punish al-Assad for the chemical attack but without challenging the status quo where al-Assad’s allies, Russia and Iran, and to some extent Turkey, have helped the regime to put down the civil war.
Both sides claimed success with the US boasting that it was “mission accomplished” with all objectives destroyed while a Russian military spokesman said the attack had been a failure and that the Russian-trained Syrian air defence had brought down 70 of the incoming missiles, the “majority of the 110 missiles launched by the attackers.”
Apart from its European allies the UK and France, most EU countries supported the raid but to varying degrees. The UN called for an easing of the tensions and efforts to find a negotiated solution. The opposition in the UK was furious with Theresa May’s failure to bring the intervention before Parliament as required by law.