Syrian airbase strike was to punish Assad and ‘will not lead to war’
Senior Republicans say Trump’s action was not the first step in attempt to oust the Russian-backed dictator
DONALD Trump’s decision to blitz a Syrian airbase with cruise missiles was only to punish Bashar al-Assad for using chemical weapons and does not herald a major military escalation against the Syrian dictator, senior Republicans have said.
The Republicans’ senate leader said the barrage of 59 missiles “was related to the use of chemical weapons only”, while the US secretary of state said America’s military plans in Syria were unchanged.
As the blasted hangars and bunkers at Shayrat air base in Homs last night began to cool, analysts said the missile strikes would have little immediate military impact on fighting in the sixyear-long Syrian civil war.
At the same time, senior Republicans downplayed any suggestion of a new military surge to oust the Russianbacked Syrian dictator.
Mitch McConnell, senate leader, said: “I don’t interpret this as a first step toward anything else in particular other than trying to eliminate or at least make sure [Syria] knows what the consequences are for doing this.”
Rex Tillerson, US secretary of state, said the salvos of Tomahawk missiles from two US navy destroyers in the eastern Mediterranean demonstrated Mr Trump was “willing to take decisive action when called for”.
But he went on to say he would “not in any way attempt to extrapolate that to a change in our policy or our posture relative to our military activities in Syria today. There has been no change in that status.”
The strikes will have little immediate effect on the military balance of Syrian battlefields, where Russian forces have helped Assad’s forces to a string of victories against rebels, analysts said.
The destruction of bunkers, jets and hangars at Shayrat will also “not significantly diminish” Assad’s ability to carry out more chemical weapons attacks, Reed Foster, military capabilities analyst at Jane’s, said.
The Syrian military have “varied airborne delivery mechanisms” for delivering chemical weapons.
Mohammed Alloush, a senior rebel official, said: “One airbase is not enough. There are 26 airbases that target civilians.”
George Sabra, a prominent opposition politician, told al-Hadath TV: “The truth is that militarily, if it is limited to this strike, then it has no meaning.”
Syrian officials and their allies also said they did not expect the attack to lead to an expansion of the conflict.
“No doubt this will leave great tension on the political level, but I do not expect a military escalation,” a senior, non-Syrian official in the alliance fighting in support of Assad who declined to be identified told Reuters.
“I do not believe that we are going towards a big war in the region.”
The barrage was against a relatively small target and the damage to Assad was “psychological more than physical”, said retired general John Allen, the US envoy to the anti-Isil coalition under Barack Obama.
But it may deter Assad and force him to “think carefully every time” he wants to launch attacks on his civilian population, Gen Allen said.
He predicted the show of force would help the US regain power on the world stage. “We have this old saying that sometimes it’s not a bad thing to just play the crazy American,” Gen Allen said.
“Not only does America have great power, but it typically demonstrates great restraint. But every now and then, using that power gets everybody’s attention. With this, Trump put the Assad regime on notice, and sent warning to the Putin, Jinping and Kim Jong-un regimes, too.”