WAR FEAR AFTER TRUMP’S BLITZ ON SYRIA
US warned by Putin over missile strikes
DONALD Trump’s missile attack on Syria has raised fears it is the opening salvo in a war between the world’s two biggest military powers.
Concerns over the escalation were heightened further last night when Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a warship in “full combat readiness” to sail to Syria to help protect it against “US aggression”.
The surprise attack on an airbase was in retaliation to claims that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was behind
a lethal sarin gas attack on civilians in a rebel-held area which has claimed at least 72 lives including 20 children.
With the military build-up by Russia and the US in the Middle East underway President Trump received full backing from Prime Minister Theresa May, rapidly followed by Australia, Israel, France, Germany and European Council President Donald Tusk.
But the International Committee of the Red Cross last night issued a stark warning over the action by the US against the Russian-backed Assad regime.
ICRC spokeswoman Iolanda Jaquemet said: “Any military operation by a state on the territory of another without the consent of the other amounts to an international armed conflict.”
Tensions were ratcheted up even further last night as the US envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley said the attacks were “fully justified” and that the US was “prepared to do more”.
The US President was responding to a chemical weapons attack on innocent Syrian civilians, including children, in a rebel-held area earlier this week.
targeted
The base – which was targeted by 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles – was the one alleged to be where the sarin gas attack was launched and is the first time the US has directly targeted the Assad regime.
With Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson heading to Moscow this weekend for crunch talks, President Putin’s regime accused the US of violating international law despite being contacted by US officials in advance of the raid.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the strikes were illegal and had been “one step away from military clashes with Russia”.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the US had used a “far-fetched pretext” to justify the attack while the defence ministry in Moscow said it would be helping its Syrian ally strengthen its air defences.
Mr Lavrov said: “I want to emphasise that this is, of course, an act of aggression under a far-fetched pretext. Russia will draw conclusions from the actions of the United States in Syria.”
Russia has constantly denied that Syrian forces used chemical weapons, claiming the incident at Khan Sheikhoun was caused by a hit on a rebel chemical weapons plant – a claim dismissed by the West.
But Mr Trump made it clear that he had been outraged by the attack and signalled an end to the careful diplomacy of his predecessor Barack Obama to persuade Russia to end its support for the Assad regime.
In a televised address, Mr Trump said: “Using a deadly nerve agent, Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women and children. It was a slow and brutal death for so many. Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack. No child of God should ever suffer such horror.”
The action marked a dramatic U-turn by Mr Trump who had previously condemned US military interventions in the Middle East.
In recent days he has also indicated that he is willing to authorise strikes on North Korea if its despotic regime continues to develop nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, Mrs May appeared to have been caught off guard after her spokesman insisted on Wednesday that “nobody was talking about” military action.
But Downing Street said Mr Trump had informed the Prime Minister ahead of the attack.
A No 10 spokeswoman said: “The UK Government fully supports the US action which we believe was an appropriate response to the barbaric chemical weapons attack launched by the Syrian regime, and is intended to deter further attacks.”
President Assad has been “put on notice” by the US strike, Britain’s UN Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said – describing it as a “proportionate response to unspeakable acts”.
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said the Government had been in close contact with the US administration in the run-up to the strike.
The Syrian military said at least seven people were killed and several others injured in the strike which caused extensive damage to the base at Shayrat, in central Syria.
The White House said last night the strikes would send a strong message to the world.
Press secretary Sean Spicer said: “I think that the President’s actions were very decisive last night and were clear about what he thinks needs to get done.
“First and foremost, the President believes the Syrian government, the Assad regime, should at the minimum agree to abide by the agreements they’ve made not to use chemical weapons. I think that should be a minimum standard set around the world.”