Get ready, miss iles are coming
Trump’s stark Twitter warning to the Russians brings war a step closer
US president Donald Trump has dramatically escalated international tensions over Syria, telling Russia to ‘get ready’ because ‘nice and new and smart’ cruise missiles would be coming.
He also warned Vladimir Putin not to stand by Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, whom he described as a ‘gas killing animal’.
British prime minister Theresa May was poised last night to defy calls for a parliament vote on the UK joining an American-led attack on the Assad regime as she summoned ministers to London to seek support for military action.
Clearing the way for action, she declared the use of chemical weapons could not go unchallenged and said ‘all the indications’ suggested that Assad’s forces were responsible for Saturday’s atrocity in Douma.
UK military chiefs are said to have ordered British submarines armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles to move within range of Syria. Despite fears of a military confrontation with Russia, British MPs have not been summoned. It is understood No 10 Downing Street believes it can launch a one-off, punitive strike without consulting the British House of Commons.
Russia’s ambassador to Lebanon had said his country was ready to target US planes and ships if they fired at Syrian regime forces. That would effectively lead to a state of war, according to Richard Barrons, a senior former British military commander.
And Tory MP Julian Lewis, who chairs the UK parliamentary defence committee, was among MPs to warn of the risks of intervention. ‘Embroiling ourselves in a military clash with Russia in the context of a civil war between an inhumane government and opposition controlled by jihadi fanatics is not a sensible one, to put it mildly,’ he said. In other developments: British troops stationed at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus were waiting for the order to fire cruise missiles;
A US naval strike force including an aircraft carrier headed to the Gulf;
The Syrian military started repositioning air units and Russian troops moved toward Douma, the location near Damascus where at least 40 people are thought to have died in the gas attack;
Aviation officials warned airlines of the risk of flying near Syria;
British MPs warned US and British involvement could ‘escalate very quickly into a shooting war’.
Officials in Britain were said to be in talks with their counterparts in France and the US about which military assets should be deployed for military action.
‘We are committed to deter and prevent the use of chemical weapons,’ said a UK government source.
‘We now have to establish the best way of getting there, and those conversations are carrying on, officials are speaking to their counterparts in France and America right now. In terms of precisely what happens next, that is still to be confirmed.’
Mrs May will hold a cabinet meeting this afternoon. Her ministers were understood to be privately urging her to act, although it is not clear whether the British public would support an expansion of military action in Syria.
UK Brexit secretary David Davis voted against military action against the Assad regime in 2013.
Mrs May said yesterday: ‘The continued use of chemical weapons cannot go unchallenged.’
Asked whether she was concerned by Mr Trump’s tweet, she replied: ‘We are working with our allies, we have been working to get an understanding of what happened on the ground. We are rapidly reaching that understanding. All the indications are that the Syrian regime was responsible.
‘We will be working with our closest allies on how we can ensure that those who are responsible are held to account and how we can prevent and deter the humanitarian catastrophe that comes from the use of chemical weapons in the future.’
Tory MP Bob Seely said: ‘Trump is declaring war on Twitter. Both Trump and Putin need to remember what the stakes are.
‘This crisis could escalate very quickly into a shooting war in Syria. If Russians are injured, the Kremlin will hit back. The most important thing
‘He kills his people and enjoys it’
our generation can achieve is to avoid actual conflict with Russia.
‘If we are reckless or thoughtless in our actions, it will make conflict now or in future more likely to happen.’
Russia’s ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkin, told Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV: ‘If there is a strike by the Americans then... the missiles will be downed and even the sources from which the missiles were fired.’
Mr Trump responded on Twitter, saying: ‘Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and smart! You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it.’
In a further tweet 40 minutes later, he said: ‘Our relationship with Russia is worse now that it has ever been, and that includes the Cold War.
‘There is no reason for this. Russia needs us to help with their economy.’
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesman responded by saying ‘smart missiles should fly towards terrorists, not lawful government’.
General Barrons said of the Russian ambassador’s warning: ‘He is saying not only are they going to shoot down the missiles in flight, but by saying launch sites, he is saying they are going to try and sink ships, sink submarines and shoot aircraft out of the sky. That’s war.’