The other day, US President Donald Trump must have been really jealous of the bloody “glory” that his predecessors enjoyed after unleashing wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Vietnam and a number of other states. This must be the only logical explanation why he decided to prove himself as a global sheriff by ordering missile strikes against an air base that was being routinely used by the Syrian Air Force in the province of Homs.
The sitting US President was eager to show his utter lack of interests towards any sort of international investigations that could allow establish those responsible for the incident with poisonous gas substances that occurred in the vicinity of the Syrian city of Idlib. Instead he would prefer to jump the gun, while totally neglecting the International law, just like his predecessor, thus crossing the so-called red line that Washington advises other states to never cross.
But Trump’s act are hardly a surprise for international analysts, which he has been demonstrating his political impotence at home ever since his inauguration. But, as it’s been noted, back in August 2013 Donald Trump exhorted his predecessor not to intervene in Syria after a chemical attack near Damascus that American intelligence services rushed to blame on to the Syrian military. Back then Trump would plea:
President Obama, do not attack Syria. There is no upside and tremendous downside. Save your “powder” for another (and more important) day!)
Additionally, Trump would argue that for such actions the then US President was bound to obtain the approval from the Congress. At the same time, just the other day, he felt reluctant to answer the journalists that were answering question about the legal grounds for his recent attack on Syria, while Senator Rand Paul has already accused Donald Trump of direct violation of the US Constitution.
Additionally, there’s been a lot of publications lately that would report Washington’s plan to use yet another chemical provocation to start bombing Syria. For instance, an article titled U.S. ‘backed plan to launch chemical weapon attack on Syria and blame it on Assad’s regime’ was published by the British newspaper Daily Mail as early as January 29, 2013. According to this publication, Qatar was supposed to sponsor any false flag attacks that the so-called rebel forces could and would blame on Assad.
In this regard, it is noteworthy that the recent events follow the script described by the Daily Mail, but the article itself has disappeared from the site of the British newspaper for mysterious reasons and now it can now be found at the alternative sites that republished the article in question.
It is felt that the bloody “merits” of Trump’s predecessors – George Bush Jr. and Barack Obama leave the sitting US President restless. Indeed, in the 21st century every US president had his own war in the Middle East, or even a couple of those. The recent missile attack, Trump figures, will secure for Mr. President his place history, putting him in line with those people who occupied the White House before him.
But the pre-planned nature of chemical provocation in Syria is now the only curious detail in Trump’s plans. It is noteworthy that the very moment that America’s Tomahawk missiles were unleashed against Syria China’s leader Xi Jinping was visiting the United State with an official visit. This fact has put the Chinese leader in the shoes of an immediate witness of the US armed aggression against an independent UN member state, which was done in hopes that his reaction to the unraveling events will be “carefully weighed”.
Additional attention should also be drawn to the fact that, simultaneously with the US missile strike, ISIS militants launched an attack against the positions of the Syrian army troops on the Homs-Furqlus-Palmyra route. Both the Pentagon and ISIS militants are well aware that the Syrian air base that was attacked on Friday night by cruise missiles plays a pivotal role in supporting the government forces in the fight radical militants. This fact, along with a string of publications about the special relations that Washington has been enjoying with Al-Qaeda and ISIS, shows that the US remains determined to use terrorists to pursue its goals in the region. It is for this reason that the American side has repeatedly refused to provide Russia with information about the location of certain terrorist groups in Syria, since Russian Air Force would spare no time in destroying them. It is also a well known fact that American military instructors have been deployed in Syria for a long while now, which was confirmed those were leaving Aleppo along with radical militants along the humanitarian corridors identified that the Syrian army created.
As for Washington’s accusations about the use of chemical weapons by Damascus, one should recall that Damascus took Moscow’s advice when on September 10, 2013, Syria agreed to place its chemical weapons stockpiles under international control. On June 23, 2014, it was announced that the last stash of chemical weapons was removed from the Syrian soil for its subsequent destruction. Then the head of the OPCW, Ahmet Üzümcü stated last year the process of destruction of Syria’s chemical stockpiles was completed.
However, around that time ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra militants began the development of their own chemical stockpiles. This was confirmed by the Syrian and Russian military forces that found warehouses stored with with chlorine and white phosphorus in the liberated Aleppo, while reporting additional evidence about the possible presence of sarin and mustard gas stockpiles that were evacuated just before the fall of the city.
So, if someone’s actions are to be investigated, the international community should carefully examine the steps recently taken by Washington, which has once again shown its warmongering nature in defiance of the International law.
Jean Périer is an independent researcher and analyst and a renowned expert on the Near and Middle East, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.”
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