Depressing display of sabre-rattling
THE Russian Embassy raises the chilling prospect of a ‘real war’ over Syria. Donald Trump – in a policy U-turn of dizzying speed – threatens a campaign of surprise attacks on Syrian government targets. The US ambassador to the UN says deposing President Assad is ‘a priority’.
Meanwhile, Russia and Iran – Assad’s staunchest allies – accuse the US of crossing a ‘red line’ and pledge to ‘respond with force’. And British ministers overplay their hand by threatening retribution against Vladimir Putin for war crimes.
Two days ago, the Mail expressed disquiet over Mr Trump’s decision to pulverise the al-Shayrat military airfield with cruise missiles in retaliation for a gas attack said to have been launched from there by the Assad regime on a rebel-held town.
But even we couldn’t have predicted how rapidly our fears would be realised.
Throughout the weekend, bellicose rhetoric has been rising from both camps and the world can only hold its breath in the hope that calmer counsel will prevail. The signs aren’t good.
When the US talks about ‘regime change’, we are gripped by a deeply disconcerting sense of deja vu. In the Middle East, recent Western military interventions have ended in calamity. Anyone who doubts that need only ask the beleaguered citizens of Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan.
To their shame, ministers here have fuelled the atmosphere of poisonous belligerence. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon’s tirade against Mr Putin over alleged war crimes was as ludicrous as it was irresponsible.
We are not yet even certain it was Assad who launched the attack or that he used deadly sarin gas, let alone whether Russia was actually involved. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also chipped in, demanding a timetable for Assad’s departure.
Inexperienced as they are, these men hold two of Britain’s great offices of state and should realise that the soul of diplomacy is patient dialogue, not empty bombast. The idea that Britain can dictate to the Kremlin must have them positively hooting with derision in Red Square.
The Mail has no hesitation in branding Assad a ruthless tyrant, or stating that his main supporters, Iran and Russia, have their own strategic interests at heart. But his enemies – Al Qaeda and the Islamic State group – are surely worse. Deposing Assad could let them in, unleashing even greater terrors on that tormented region.
Mr Trump has proved himself to be an impulsive and emotional man – dangerous qualities in the leader of the world’s most powerful nation. His allies in Britain should be counselling caution and restraint, not spurring him on to further aggression.
The Foreign Office was once the apogee of cool diplomacy and the exercise of ‘soft’ power. How depressing that such a proud tradition is being tarnished by this tawdry display of sabre-rattling.