by Tom O’Connor
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Russian
military police members stand guard at the Al-Wafideen checkpoint on the
outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus neighbouring the rebel-held eastern
Ghouta enclave on March 13, 2018, awaiting any civilians evacuating from the
area. A U.S> strike on Syrian troops and their allies could endanger Russian
personnel, prompting what Moscow officials said would be a retaliation. LOUAI BESHARA/AFP/Getty Images
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U.S. ambassador
to the United Nations Nikki Haley has railed against the Syrian government's
recently intensified campaign to retake the insurgent-held district of eastern
Ghouta outside Damascus, accusing Syria and its Russian and Iranian allies
of mounting civilian casualties. As a fellow permanent U.N.
Security Council member, Russia has vetoed a number of resolutions targeting
Assad's government and has accused the insurgents of shelling nearby Damascus
city. Haley also blamed Russia for breaking a 30-day ceasefire agreement
reached earlier this month.
"When the
international community consistently fails to act, there are times when states
are compelled to take their own action," Haley told the U.N. Security
Council on Monday, citing the current situation in eastern Ghouta as an example
of this, as The Hill reported.
"We warn
any nation determined to impose its will through chemical attacks and inhuman
suffering, but most especially the outlaw Syrian regime, the United States
remains prepared to act if we must," she added. "It is not a path we
prefer. But it is a path we have demonstrated we will take, and we are prepared
to take again."
Russia has taken
this as a sign that the U.S. was planning to attack Syrian military forces as
it did in April, following charges that the Syrian airforce used sarin gas in
the northwestern rebel-held district of Idlib, something Russia and Syria have
denied. Less than 72 hours after the U.S. accused Syria of being behind
the attack, Trump ordered a cruise missile strike from Navy warships in
the Mediterranean.
In a
disagreement that has become characteristic of U.S. and Russian involvement in
Syria, Washington claimed that it had used a previously established
de-confliction line to warn Russia of the attack. But Moscow denied this,
saying Russian personnel at the targeted Al-Shayrat air base were put at risk.
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Navy
guided-missile destroyer USS Porter launches Tomahawk cruise missiles against
the Al-Shayrat air base in Syria, April 7, 2017. The attack came less than
three days after a chemical attack that Russia and Syria denied conducting in
the rebel-held province of Idlib. Ford Williams/U.S. Navy/REUTERS
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In response to
Haley's warning at the U.N., the Russian Foreign Ministry also pledged a
forceful response to any U.S. attack that threatened Russian troops who were
stationed throughout Syrian military frontlines near Damascus. Accusing a
"belligerent" Haley of promoting "criminal actions" in
Syria, the ministry said "in this case, required retaliatory measures
will be taken," Tass reported.
"If a new strike
of this kind takes place, the consequences will be very serious," Russia
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in a separate statement also carried
by Tass.
"Mrs. Haley
should understand that it is one thing to irresponsibly exploit the microphone
in the U.N. Security Council and it is another thing when both the Russian and
American militaries have communication channels and it is clearly stated via
these channels what can be done and what must not be done," he added.
Russia
intervened in Syria in 2015 at Assad's request, helping him overcome a 2011 uprising sponsored by the West,
Turkey and Gulf Arab states. As lines blurred between the mainstream Syrian
opposition and jihadis groups such as Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State militant
group (ISIS), the U.S. switched its focus from regime change to defeating ISIS
via support for a mostly Kurdish coalition known as the Syrian Democratic Forces.
But Turkey, a
U.S. ally and fellow NATO Western military alliance member, has objected to
Washington's support for Kurdish militias, which Ankara accused of harbouring ties to the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). A joint Turkish and Syrian
rebel attack on the Kurdish enclave of Afrin has drawn Kurdish fighters away from the
U.S.-led coalition fight against ISIS and into an alliance with Assad against Turkey.
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Two maps show
areas of control in Syria as of January 8, 2018 and March 8, 2018. Turkey and
its rebel allies have made gains against the Kurd-controlled enclave of Afrin,
causing an exodus of Kurdish fighters from the U.S.-led coalition battle
against ISIS in the east. Institute for the Study of
War/Reuters
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Responding to
Russia's vow to strike back against potential U.S. military action in Syria,
the U.S.-led coalition said its main focus was to fight ISIS, but that it
shared Haley's opinion on the use of chemical weapons in Syria.
"Coalition
officials regularly engage their Russian counterparts via established ground
and air deconfliction lines, with the goal of ensuring mutual understanding and
preventing escalations in tension. Our interactions with Russian officials have
been professional and effective, proving the value of the deconfliction
effort," coalition spokesman Colonel Thomas Veale said in a statement sent
to Newsweek. "Although
the Coalition does not speak for the United States, we acknowledge the U.S.
government's stance, echoed by our Coalition and NATO partners, that the use of
chemical weapons use is unacceptable," he added.
Veale said the
coalition would to continue backing the remaining, mostly Arab fighters of the
Syrian Democratic Forces still battling ISIS in eastern Syria. These forces
faced an "operational pause" due to the departure of Kurdish
fighters, as well as recent tensions between pro-Syrian government forces
that erupted into deadly violence, including the deaths of Russian citizens from U.S. airstrikes last
month.
News source: yahoo.com
