Trump to review Syria strike options as May weighs action
MATTIS FEARS CONFLICT COULD ESCALATE OUT OF CONTROL IN WAKE OF MILITARY ASSAULT
President Donald Trump said he would meet with national security advisers later yesterday to discuss the US response to the alleged chemical weapons attack on civilians by the regime in Syria, and that a decision on retaliation will come “fairly soon.”
“We’re looking very very seriously, very closely at that whole situation, and we’ll see what happens folks, we’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters at a meeting with Republican lawmakers from farm states. “It’s too bad that the world puts us in a position like that.”
Trump said on Twitter earlier in the day that a US attack on Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s forces could come “very soon, or not so soon at all.” That tweet followed by about 24 hours a Twitter post by the president in which he warned Russia to “get ready” for a missile attack on its ally to punish Al Assad for the presumed chemical weapons attack near Damascus.
Defence Secretary Jim Mattis told the House Armed Services Committee yesterday that his greatest fear from a potential strike on Syria is that the conflict would “escalate out of control, if you get my drift.” Russian, Turkish and Iranian forces are operating in Syria along with US forces combating Daesh terrorists, risking a conflagration if a US strike goes awry.
Mattis said that the US aim in Syria is to defeat Daesh, not “to engage in the civil war itself.” But referring to the use of chemical weapons, Mattis said that “some things are simply inexcusable, beyond the pale” and require a response. Mattis said the Pentagon will present options for retaliation to Trump.
Britain’s government weighed the possibility of military action against Syria yesterday but faced growing scepticism from opposition leaders and deeper divisions in a country still haunted by its role in the US-led invasion of Iraq.
Prime Minister Theresa May held an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss joining strikes by the US and allies, as rival politicians and some Conservative colleagues called for a parliamentary vote before any British involvement.
President Donald Trump was evasive yesterday over when the United States might fire missiles at Syria in retaliation for an alleged chemical weapons attack, saying they could come at any time.
Tension was mounting among top world powers over the alleged chemical attack against civilians in the Syrian town of Douma.
One day after warning regime-backer Russia that “missiles will be coming” to Syria, Trump in another early morning tweet storm wrote: “Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!”
Meanwhile opponents of unilateral US action called an emergency closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council yesterday.
The White House has said that Trump holds Bashar Al Assad’s regime and its military backers Russia responsible for an alleged attack on Douma on Saturday, which rescue workers said killed more than 40 people.
Trump on Wednesday slammed Russia for its military alliance with Al Assad, saying it should not “be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it.”
US officials have refused to rule out direct military engagement with Russia, with the White House saying that “all options are on the table.”
Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said on Wednesday the Pentagon was ready to provide options for a Syria strike but that the US and its allies were still “assessing the intelligence” on the suspected chemical attack.
A special hotline for the US and Russian militaries to communicate about operations in Syria is active and being used by both sides, Moscow said yesterday.
Destructive influence
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that it was “crucial to avoid any steps that could lead to heightened tensions” in Syria, saying this would have an “extremely destructive influence” on attempts to resolve the conflict.
Al Assad warned yesterday that threats of Western military action “will only contribute to further destabilisation in the region.”
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday said he had met with ambassadors from the five permanent members including Russia and the United States, and “stressed the need to avoid the situation spiralling out of control.”
At the UN Security Council, Moscow and Washington have so far vetoed each other’s motions to set up an international investigation into chemical weapons use.
Erdogan’s warning
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has vowed those behind the killings of civilians would pay a “heavy price”, after the foreign ministry said there was a “strong suspicion” Al Assad’s regime was responsible.
Erdogan said yesterday Turkey was worried by the “arm wrestling” of world powers over Syria.
Syria said it had invited the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which has blamed the regime for previous attacks, to visit Douma.
The OPCW, which works to rid the world of chemical arms stockpiles, said it would “shortly” deploy a fact-finding team there for an investigation.
Rebels in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta surrendered their heavy weapons and their leader left the enclave, a monitor said yesterday, signalling the end of one of the bloodiest battles of Syria’s seven-year war.
The Syrian flag was raised above the central mosque in Douma, the site of an alleged chemical attack that sparked outrage and threats of Western military action.
US President Donald Trump was mulling his options and British Prime Minister Theresa May called an emergency cabinet meeting yesterday, as the Syrian army braced for Western strikes, hiding assets and deserting key buildings.
Syrian regime forces had yet to take over Douma but the rebels it battled there since the launch of a blistering offensive in mid-February no longer appeared in a position to fight back.
Jaish Al Islam, which has controlled Eastern Ghouta’s main town for years, had balked at a Russian-brokered deal like those that saw other factions bussed to northern Syria.
Heavy weapons
But the Islamist group seemed to have caved in on Wednesday, when its fighters handed over their heavy weapons and their leader, Issam Buwaydani, boarded a convoy out of Ghouta with thousands of other fighters and their relatives.
Douma residents told AFP that Syria’s national red, white and black flag with two green stars was raised on Wednesday above the main mosque, which was also used as the office of the town’s opposition-run council.
But a dispute subsequently erupted, shots were fired and the flag was taken down, the residents said. Russian military police, who had started deploying in the town as part of a deal that would allow some rebels to disarm and stay in Douma, also left after the incident, the residents said.
Simultaneously carrying out air strikes, brokering talks and supervising humanitarian operations, Russia was the key player in an assault that left at least 1,600 civilians dead.
Significant event
“Today a significant event in the history of Syria took place,” Major General Yury Yevtushenko, head of the Russian military’s centre for reconciliation in Syria, was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
“The raising of a regime flag over a building in the town of Douma signified control over this town and consequently over Eastern Ghouta as a whole,” he said.
It was not clear whether he was referring to the flag that was taken down or to another.
Moscow also said Russian military police had returned to the town yesterday and were in full control.
Mass evacuation
“From today, units of the Russian armed forces’ military police are working in the town of Douma. They are a guarantee of the observance of law and order in the town,” the defence ministry said in a statement.
According to the Russian military, more than 160,000 people have been evacuated from Eastern Ghouta, which only two months ago was a sprawling rebel enclave within mortar range of central Damascus.
The government of President Bashar Al Assad, which since Russia’s military intervention in 2015 has gradually reasserted what was once a very tenuous grip on the country, was keen to secure an area that directly threatened the capital.
“Victory in Ghouta is a critical point,” Bouthaina Shaaban, a top Al Assad adviser, said on the Lebanese channel Al Mayadeen. “It has sent a message to the whole world that Syria’s army and its allies can liberate every inch of Syrian territory,” she said.
The Syrian lira has risen significantly as the operation to flush rebels out of Ghouta wrapped up.