TRUMP: U.S. STILL LOCKED, LOADED
Damascus warned that any repetition will see renewed attacks
UNITED States President Donald Trump and his British and French allies on Saturday hailed their joint strikes in Syria in response to its alleged use of chemical weapons, warning Damascus that any repetition would be met with renewed firepower.
Hours later, the allies signalled their resolve to return to diplomacy, launching a new bid at the United Nations to investigate the chemical weapons attacks.
They circulated a joint draft resolution at the Security Council that also calls for unimpeded deliveries of humanitarian aid and enforcement of a ceasefire and demands that Syria engage in UN-led peace talks.
The narrowly targeted predawn military operation, which took aim at three alleged chemical weapons facilities, earned quick scorn from Russia, but a push by Moscow for condemnation of the strikes at the Security Council fell far short.
Trump and his allies ordered the mission in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack a week ago on the rebel-held town of Douma that left more than 40 people dead.
Washington believes both sarin and chlorine were used in the April 7 attack, a senior US administration official said.
Both the regime of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad and its ally Russia have denied all responsibility.
Moscow slammed the “aggressive actions” of the Western coalition but has not yet responded militarily.
US ambassador Nikki Haley warned her UN counterparts that although the mission was designed as a one-off, that did not preclude further action against Assad.
“I spoke to the president this morning and he said: ‘If the Syrian regime uses this poisonous gas again, the US is locked and loaded,’” Haley said at emergency Security Council talks.
Negotiations on the draft resolution put forward by the US, France and Britain are set to begin today.
Among the contentious proposals, it would establish an independent investigation into allegations of toxic gas attacks in Syria with the aim of identifying the perpetrators.
On the humanitarian side, the measure demands medical evacuations and safe passage for aid convoys to be allowed to all areas.
Diplomats said it remained unclear when the council would vote on the proposal, and they were ready to allow time for negotiations to bring Russia aboard.
Just before dawn on Saturday, the sounds of massive explosions and the roar of warplanes rang out across Damascus for about 45 minutes.
“A perfectly executed strike last night,” Trump tweeted early Saturday.
“Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!”
The targets included a scientific research facility near Damascus, and two chemical weapons facilities outside the city of Homs, the US military said, though reports said the buildings had been evacuated in recent days.
Syrian state media reported only three people injured, while Russia’s defence ministry said there were “no victims” among Syrian civilians and military personnel. According to US officials, the operation involved three US destroyers, a French frigate and a US submarine.
The vessels were located in the Red Sea, the Gulf and the eastern Mediterranean.
British Tornado and Typhoon warplanes, American B-1 bombers and French Rafale jets also took part in the strikes.
The strikes were the biggest foreign military action so far against Syria’s regime.
Despite the strikes, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said it was still pursuing its investigation into the Douma attack.
Deputy Foreign Minister Ayman Soussan reiterated a pledge by the Syrian government that the chemical experts would be allow to investigate unimpeded.
“We will ensure they can work professionally, objectively, impartially and free of any pressure,” he said yesterday.
Hours after the US-led strikes, the Syrian army declared that all anti-regime forces have left Eastern Ghouta, after a blistering two month offensive on the rebel enclave on the outskirts of the capital.
Syrian internal security forces entered Douma on Saturday and later said the town had been fully retaken.
“All terrorists have left Douma, the last of their holdouts in Eastern Ghouta,” state news agency SANA said on Saturday, using the regime’s usual term for rebels.
“Areas of Eastern Ghouta in rural Damascus have been fully cleansed of terrorism,” an army spokesman also said in a statement delivered on state television.
In Paris, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian warned yesterday that a new humanitarian disaster was looming in Syria, in the rebel-held region of Idlib, seen as the next possible target of the regime’s fightback.
Le Drian said: “There are two million people in Idlib now, including hundreds of thousands of Syrians evacuated from rebel towns recaptured by the regime. There is a risk of a new humanitarian disaster.”
Held by an array of jihadists and rebels, Idlib province is the last in Syria largely beyond government control.
Speaking in Damascus this week, a senior Iranian official said he hoped Idlib would be the next area to be “liberated” by al-Assad.