U.S. Weighs Military Options Against Syria After Chemical Attack On Douma

With global outrage mounting over an alleged chemical attack on a rebel-held town in Syria, the U.S. is weighing its options for a retaliatory strike. Military action against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad seemed likely, after President Donald Trump warned of a "big price to pay" and spoke of imminent "major decisions" within the next 48 hours.

The promise of action has come from various arms of the U.S. government, with Pentagon, the White House and UN Ambassador all talking about it in one single day.

Pentagon:

Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said he won't rule anything out militarily. But thanks to the Trump administration's whipsawing messaging over whether America will even stay in Syria, and the dangerous complexities of the multi-national conflict, the Pentagon's options appeared limited. The attack on the rebel-held Syrian town of Douma killed at least 48 people Saturday after a "poisonous chlorine gas attack" in Eastern Ghouta, rescuers and medics said. By Monday, the United States and France had promised a "strong, joint response" and Britain, too, joined a growing chorus demanding action.

Syria and its ally Russia have dismissed allegations that the attack was carried out by Syrian forces as "fabrications" and have warned against using them to justify military action. Russian experts on the ground have found no evidence of sarin or chlorine use, said Russia’s  ambassador to the UN, who offered Syrian and Russian assistance to allow investigators from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to travel to the site.

Perhaps the biggest risk for Pentagon planners is Russia, and its large presence which since late 2015 has been deeply enmeshed with Assad's military. "The U.S. has to be very careful not to accidentally strike Russian targets or kill Russian advisors," Ben Connable, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, told AFP. "That significantly limits the number of options available to the United States, because the Russians are embedded in many cases with the Syrians."

Connable warned if the U.S accidentally or purposefully kills uniformed Russian soldiers, there would potentially be a dangerous escalation between the two nuclear powers. Trump made a rare personal criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin following Saturday's attack, a break from his reluctance to single out the strongman by name as he has sought better coordination with Moscow in the Syria crisis. "President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad," Trump wrote in a tweet.

After a deadly sarin gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun that killed scores of people in April last year, Trump quickly ordered a retaliatory strike. The U.S. military blasted 59 Tomahawk missiles at Syria's Shayrat air base, which the Pentagon said Assad's jets had used to launch the deadly chemical attack.

The action won Trump bipartisan praise because it was seen as limited in scope and designed to respond to a specific incident, rather than pulling America deeper into Syria's civil war.

"The president responded decisively when Assad used chemical weapons last year," Republican Senator John McCain, a frequent Trump critic said. "He should do so again, and demonstrate that Assad will pay a price for his war crimes."

White House:

The White House pointed the finger of blame for an alleged chemical attack on Syrian civilians at Tehran and Moscow today, suggesting the Damascus regime could not have carried out such a strike alone. "Russia and Iran also bear responsibility for these acts since they would not be possible without their material support," said press secretary Sarah Sanders.

U.S. at the UN

This was followed by the U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley urging the United Nations Security Council to act following the latest alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria, warning the United States was ready to respond. Russia said a U.S. military strike against Syria would have "grave repercussions" and stressed that the use of chlorine or sarin had not been confirmed in the attack Saturday in Douma.

"We have reached the moment when the world must see justice done," Haley told an emergency meeting at UN headquarters in New York.

Britain, France, the United States and six other countries requested the urgent meeting after toxic gas was allegedly used in the rebel-held town of Douma, killing at least 40 people.

"History will record this as the moment when the Security Council either discharged its duty or demonstrated its utter and complete failure to protect the people of Syria," she said. "Either way, the United States will respond."

Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow had told the United States that it would not allow its forces on the ground in Syria to be put at risk. "Armed force under mendacious pretext against Syria, where, at the request of the legitimate government of a country, Russian troops have been deployed, could lead to grave repercussions," Nebenzia said.

Nebenzia accused Western powers of pursuing a "confrontational policy" using "slander, insults, hawkish rhetoric, blackmail, sanctions and threats to use force."

The United States is determined to "see that the monster who dropped chemical weapons on the Syrian people is held to account," Haley said. Washington earlier presented a draft resolution that would establish a new independent inquiry of chemical attacks in Syria, but diplomats said the measure was unlikely to win Moscow's support.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 10, 2018 06:48 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).