OPINION_ Confronting Syria’s war crimes

THE AUSTRALIAN

EDITORIALS

Confronting Syria’s war crimes

The Australian
12:00AM June 29, 2017

Donald Trump’s stern warning to Syria that it will pay “a very heavy price” if it again uses chemical weapons shows a welcome return to strong US leadership in the Middle East. It has been absent from the region’s crises for too long. In April, President Trump acted swiftly when he ordered a lethal cruise missile strike on the Syrian air base of Shayrat after pictures emerged of scores of men, women and children killed or writhing in agony after a sarin gas attack by the Assad regime.

Mr Trump now has gone further and injected the US into the heart of the Syrian crisis after receiving surveillance reports showing the regime is preparing a chemical weapons attack from the same Syrian base. Mr Trump’s proactive public warning to President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies to back off or face serious repercussions is unusual. Normally such warnings are delivered through diplomatic channels.

Mr Trump is right, however, to make it crystal clear that the US is firmly back in the game in Syria after the woeful neglect of the Obama years, and to leave Damascus, Moscow and Tehran in no doubt he is prepared to act to forestall or mete out punishment if there is another gas attack.

After the US’s speedy reaction in April, Mr Assad and his allies would be unwise to underrate the US leader’s determination. France’s new President, Emmanuel Macron, following a telephone call from Mr Trump, is strongly supporting the US leader. He has promised to be part of any response if Mr Assad again uses chemical weapons. Britain, too, is supporting the US strongly.

Using chemical weapons against defenceless men, women and children is a heinous war crime. Moscow and Tehran do themselves no good by being complicit in the Damascus regime’s atrocities. It speaks volumes that as Mr Trump’s warning was being issued, Mr Assad was ostentatiously seated in the cockpit of a warplane similar to those used to launch gas attacks. He also met the chief of the Russian general staff, General Valery Gerasimov.

Barack Obama’s abysmal failure to do anything much about Syria, especially after Mr Assad defied his “red lines” on the use of chemical weapons, has cost the Syrian people dearly. Given the complexities of the conflict, including the fight to destroy Islamic State, Mr Trump’s options are difficult. His determination to reassert US leadership, however, is one of the few hopeful signs in the humanitarian disaster. He deserves solid backing.

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Using chemical weapons against defenceless men, women and children is a heinous war crime. Moscow and Tehran do themselves no good by being complicit in the Damascus regime’s atrocities. It speaks volumes that as Mr Trump’s warning was being issued, Mr Assad was ostentatiously seated in the cockpit of a warplane similar to those used to launch gas attacks. He also met the chief of the Russian general staff, General Valery Gerasimov.

Barack Obama’s abysmal failure to do anything much about Syria, especially after Mr Assad defied his “red lines” on the use of chemical weapons, has cost the Syrian people dearly. Given the complexities of the conflict, including the fight to destroy Islamic State, Mr Trump’s options are difficult. His determination to reassert US leadership, however, is one of the few hopeful signs in the humanitarian disaster. He deserves solid backing.

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THANK YOU.

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