As the situation in Syria continues to escalate, it looks like leaders of “the free world” are more interested in instigating a further escalation rather than to study the Douma “chemical attack” issue in a cool head manner.
On April 10, US President Donald Trump promised a “forceful” response to the alleged chemical attack Douma, located in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta.
“We’re making a decision as to what we do with respect to the horrible attack that was made near Damascus,” Trump told reporters.
“We have a lot of options militarily,” he said adding that a response would be decided “shortly”.
On April 9, Trump promised “major decisions” after the US figures out who was responsible for the alleged attack in Douma — Russia, or Syria, or Iran, or “all of them together.”
So, is the US trying to figure out who is responsible? Indeed it would appear that Washington has already decided who is to blame and the only problem is to justify the upcoming aggression against Syria.
During the recent UN Security Council meeting, US envoy Nikki Haley claimed that the US will act against the Assad government with or without a UN blessing.
“I could hold up pictures of all of this killing and suffering for the Council to see, but what would be the point? The monster who was responsible for these attacks has no conscience, not even to even be shocked by pictures of dead children.
The Russian regime, whose hands are all covered in the blood of Syrian children, cannot be ashamed by pictures of its victims. We’ve tried that before. We must not overlook Russia and Iran’s roles in enabling the Assad regime’s murderous destruction. Russia and Iran have military advisers at Assad’s airfields and operations centers. Russian officials are on the ground helping direct the regime’s “starve and surrender” campaign, and Iranian allied forces do much of the dirty work. When the Syrian military pummels civilians, they rely on the military hardware given by Russia.
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We are beyond showing pictures of dead babies. We are beyond appeals to conscience. We have reached the moment when the world must see justice done. History will record this as the moment when the Security Council either discharged its duty or demonstrated its utter and complete failure to protect the people of Syria,” Haley said.
For Haley there is no doubt what “monster” is responsible for the alleged chemical attack in Douma. No proofs or investigation needed to confirm this.
Weapon of mass destruction (WMD) accusations have proven to be a useful propaganda tool. This tool is actively used in Syria.
According to circulating reports, the Pentagon has already provided Trump with military options, which could be implemented to punish Syria.
Reuters says one of the options is the so-called multinational response, i.e. full-scale invasion, which may involve France, the UK and some other US allies.
Israel is another power that actively fuels the conflict with public statements and even actions, like the April 9 strike on the T4 airbase. Tel Aviv, which has for a long time been supporting anti-Assad forces in Syria, has only contributed to the increasing Iranian influence in the country. It needs extraordinary measures to contain the Iranian expansion. No doubt, the Israeli leadership sees Trump’s promise of “forceful” response as a good chance to gain an upper hand in the battle for Syria.
The question is how will Russia respond?
On April 9, experts of the Russian Defense Ministry visited the parts of Douma where the alleged chemical attack took place. According to the defense ministry’s statement, no traces of chemical weapons use were found. The Russian military also described photos of the chemical attack victims posted by the so-called White Helmets as fake.
Responding to Haley’s statement during the UNSC meeting, Russian representative Vassily Nebenzia called the accusations against Damascus “fake news”. Nebenzia once again warned the US and its allies of the possible “grave consequences” of a military action against Syria.
“Do you now understand what you have done?” Nebenzia repeated Putin’s question about the US-led reckless games in the Middle East. “No, you do not.”
“Everywhere you go, everything you touch, you leave behind only chaos. You try to fish in those murky waters, but the only thing you catch is mutants.”
“What [the] military misadventures of the West bring about is well known, as shown by the examples of Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya. Nobody has vested you with the power to act like the world’s policeman, or to act like the prosecutor, judge, and executioner either,” he said.
Meanwhile, reports appeared that US Navy guided missile destroyer USS Donald Cook, armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, was “harassed” by low-flying Russian warplanes in a clear signal of the growing tensions in the region.
Earlier the Russian Defense Ministry warned that it is ready to take actions against any “missiles” or “launchers” that will endanger its troops deployed across Syria.
Considering that any large-scale US military action against the Assad government will for sure put Russian troops in danger, Moscow will have to respond…
Last time the world powers were close to a military confrontation over Syria in April 2017. However, the US cruise missile strike on the Shayrat airbase appeared to be more a PR move than a real military action.
But what now?
The video below was originally released in November, 2016. It depicts the worst-case escalation scenario of the conflict in Syria. The recent events show that this analysis remains relevant to this day:
