Today, 7th April 2017, President Trump has responded to the gas attack in Idlip by degrading an airfield used by the Syrian airforce. He attacked the site with 59 'Tomahawk' cruise missiles. His rapid response was due to a change of heart over the Assad regime following a chemical attack on civilians in the town contrary to International law. However, it is far from clear who was responsible for the chemical attack. Peter Ford, former UK Ambassador to Syria, has questioned why Assad would risk such International outrage when he was winning the war anyway. Assad has long maintained that his forces have no such weapons and cites previous investigations that found such weapon making facilities in ISIS held buildings and land. Could it have been the case that what actually happened was a conventional bomb hit an ISIS or rebel ammunition dump containing chemical weapons?
Despite the possibility of Trump making the same mistake as Bush (and Blair) over Sadam's weapons of mass destruction, he has unilaterally bombed the airport, thereby ensuring that the war will be prolonged. The outcome will be the same but the suffering of the people will go on as the opposition take heart and resist even more resolutely.
Trump and sadly Theresa May seem to want to continue this policy of Middle East regime change despite some evidence which suggests that strong dictarorial leadership is the best means of controlling disparate tribal influences in the region. If they finally depose Assad will they be prepared to take on the next big dictator and leader of an Islamic State, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan?
Friday 7 April 2017
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