Tension builds after strikes
RUSSIA and America dramatically faced off yesterday, trading insults and threats hours after a coalition of US, French and British forces launched 105 missiles at Moscow-backed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons infrastructure.
President Donald Trump declared “mission accomplished” for the airstrikes as the US warned it was “locked and loaded” to launch another attack if Bashar al-Assad again uses poison gas.
“Last night we successfully hit the heart of Syria’s chemical weapon enterprise. And because of these actions we are confident we have crippled Syria’s chemical weapon program,” the US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said.
“We are prepared to sustain this pressure if the Syrian regime is foolish enough to test our will.”
The strikes, at 4am Saturday local time in Syria, hit three sites — two storage areas and one research and development facility for chemical weapons, according to the Pentagon.
A Pentagon spokesperson said the airstrikes, which were in response to a chemical weapons massacre on April 7 in n a rebel held town outside Damascus that killed at least 43, “hit every target”.
British Prime Minister Theresa May said yesterday: “I believe that this action was necessary. I believe it was the right thing for us to do”.
But Russia condemned the strikes and attempted again to claim the initial gas attack was staged, describing “diplomacy of mythmaking, hypocrisy and falsehoods” from the allies.
Ms Haley said: “We can all see that a Russian disinformamation campaign is in full force rce this morning.”
“But Russia’s desperate attempts at deflection cannot not change the facts – a large body dy of information indicates that hat the Syrian regime used chemimical weapons on Douma.”
Russia’s US Ambassador dor Vassily Nebenzia accused the he US of warmongering and nd “hooliganism”.
“Why are you seeking to plunge the Middle East into t such difficulties, provoking one conflict after another, pitting one state against another?” he said.
“I hope that hot heads will cool down and we can rebuild what has been destroyed.”
The UN Security Council rejected a Russian resolution calling for condemnation of the th “aggression” “i ” by b the th US and d its allies against Syria.
Meanwhile, Mr Trump labelled the allied efforts a victory.
“A perfectly executed strike last night,” he tweeted.
“Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a bett better result. Mission Accomplished!” li h
NATO yesterday unanimously backed the strike, with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg declaring it was the only practical response to the use of chemical weapons.
“We have to uphold and support the ban on chemical weapons, and not erode it,” Mr Stoltenberg said.
In total, the coalition deployed 105 missiles against the three targets and were met by little resistance from Syria, which launched about 40 surface-to-air intercept missiles, but not until the strike was nearly over.
Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie said there were no indications of civilian casualties from the allied strike, al- though the mainly ballistic, Syrian counter-attack missiles had “landed somewhere”, and the damage was being assessed.
“None of our aircraft or missiles involved in this operation were successfully engaged by Syrian air defences, and we have no indication that Russian air defence systems were employed,” Gen McKenzie said.