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The United States military took decisiv
This site was believed to be used by Bashar Assad to carry out a
horrific chemical weapons attack last Tuesday, leaving more than 500 killed and
injured in Idlib Province of northwest Syria. Entire families were devastated,
such as Abdulhamid al-Yussof,
who lost 25 members of his family, including his wife and 9-month twin babies,
Ahmed and Aya.
US President Donald Trump ordered the
military strike, carried out by two US warships, the USS Porter and USS Ross,
prior to his meeting with the visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida,
possibly also sending a message also to North Korea about its nuclear
ambitions.
More importantly, however, this strike, signaling a major shift
in US policy, will be viewed as a strong message to Iran, being the main
supporter of Assad regime throughout span of this atrocious six-year carnage
against innocent civilians. And this turn of events couldn’t have arrived at a
more critical timing, only weeks prior to Iran’s presidential
election. Tehran will need to carefully evaluate the road ahead.
The strike
The very nature of the US attack, taking place at 3:40 am local
time when minimum activity at the Shayrat airbase was expected, the fact that
Washington had at least to some extent informed Moscow of its intentions prior
to the strike, and the effort put in at the United Nations Security Council to
obtain international consensus shows the objective was to deliver a political message
to Assad, Iran and all other parties involved in Syria.
Reports indicate many hardened
hangers and fueling stations at the airbase were destroyed. A more important
statistic was also reported indicating Assad lost 9 to 14 Sukhoi warplanes, an
asset fortunately very difficult for this regime to replace. Additionally,
General Khalil Ebrahim, one of Assad’s senior commanders, was killed in the
strike along with a number of other Syrian regime troops involved in the
horrific Khan Sheikhoun chemical attack.
International consensus
Following eight years of devastating inaction by the Obama
administration, partly due to its seeking to seal a highly flawed deal
supposedly intended to curb Iran’s nuclear program,
the global community has made its position loud and clear by voicing support
for this measure against Assad.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and
French President Francoise Hollande issued a joint statement supporting the US
missile strike. Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said his country
understands the reasoning behind this military move by the US, and British
Defense Minister Michael Fallon described the action quite necessary.
The Saudi Foreign Ministry also fully
approved the strike against Assad’s military targets. US Ambassador to the UN
Nikki Haley voiced strong words in the Security Council on Friday, saying Iran
also bears heavy responsibility in Assad’s chemical attack after supporting the
ruthless Syrian dictator for years.
“Getting Assad out is not the only
priority,” Haley said in a Sunday interview with CNN. “What we are trying to do
is obvious defeat ISIS. Secondly, we don’t see a peaceful Syria with Assad in
there. Thirdly, get the Iranian influence out. And then finally, move towards a
political solution.”
Representing a rare bipartisan
measure, a significant number of Democrat and Republic senators in the US on
Friday presented a bill to punish the Syrian regime for its war crimes.
Senators Bob Corker, Ben Cardin, Marco Rubio, Jeanne Shaheen,
Robert Menendez and Todd Young introduced the “Syrian War Crimes
Accountability Act”, instructing the US Secretary of State to
“report on war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Syria, and
authorize assistance for investigations and other credible transitional justice
efforts, including a potential hybrid tribunal, to hold Assad and his regime
accountable for their heinous acts.”
Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen,
Chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa backed
the attack on Assad’s airbase, adding Thursday’s attack was a clear warning to
Iran and all states supporting Assad in massacring innocent people.
Iran left terrified
Being caught completely off guard
after enjoying 8 years of Obama’s unrestrained appeasement, Iran has found
itself cornered after the recent US precision air strike against its Syrian
puppet.
The road ahead for Tehran is now
quite complex, to say the least. One so-called expert best depicted Iran’s
utter fear in an interview with Iranian state TV saying, “I hope the US brings
this to a halt and resolves this issue through diplomatic agreements.”
The semi-official Fars news agency, voicing the position of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), shed light on another aspect
of Iran’s concerns. “The Syrian coalition… welcomed the strike and called for
the continuation of such attacks,” the wire reads.
Ever since US President Donald Trump
came to the White House, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud and Turkish
President Recep Tayyib Erdogan have called for the elimination of Assad and
increasing sanctions against Iran, according to the Iran Online website. Turkey
welcomed the military action against Assad and once again placed forward its
plans to immediately impose a no-fly zone over Syria.
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