Are we on the eve of Syria’s destruction?

DONALD Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin are flexing their military muscles over Syria as they seem poised to engage in a dangerous confrontation.

The Twitter language the US president is using in condemning Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, his supposed (not totally verified yet) use of chemical weapons against civilians, and the determined, staunch position of his friend Putin could not be more toxic.

What is happening in Syria is like a merry-go-round of claims, counterclaims and lies in a lethal struggle for power.

Russia has firmly installed itself in Syria to defend and sustain Assad’s regime, which has been classified as genocidal, their enemies being mostly jihadist rebel forces, while the country gets bombed on all sides to the point of total destruction.

Chemical weapons have been used before, which Assad and Putin have either denied or blamed on the rebel forces.

The UN has issued condemnations and resolutions which have been systematically broken or vetoed by the major powers in the conflict, thus allowing these powers to take their own initiatives for intervention.

This has been the game so far. This time, though, Russia and the US are at loggerheads and are embarking on something that they – and we all – may regret.

Just as well that in the attempt by the US president to get France and the UK on his side, Theresa May seems reluctant to lend her support before the use of chemical weapons is proved to be Assad’s doing.

But will the British prime minister’s stance in this instance – more cautionary in comparison with Tony Blair and his unflinching alliance with George W Bush in the invasion of Iraq – be enough to deter a major conflict? The next few days or hours perhaps will tell. CONCETTO LA MALFA, Dublin 4. ...EVEN with the unfolding tragedies in Syria, Donald Trump just can’t help himself with brash remarks on Twitter. Why stoop to the level of teasing the Russians regarding incoming missiles?

And this coming from the same man who chastised his predecessor for publicly talking about an attack on Syria in 2013.

America, France and Britain should just go in and take out Assad and his cronies for the sake of the Syrian people.

Then the Syrian nation can move on from this living nightmare.

KEVIN ROONEY, Belfast.