Syria Conflict: Trump Succumbs to Russia’s Threat
It is believed that Trump cannot afford to displease Russia because President Vladimir Putin had allegedly helped Trump win 2016 presidential election fraudulently.
By Rakesh Raman
President Donald Trump has succumbed under Russia’s threat that has warned the U.S. administration against any attack on Syria.
Earlier Trump had threatened to hit Syria with missiles to revenge Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s alleged use of poisonous gas against rebel forces.
A Russian official had warned Wednesday that any U.S. missiles attack on Syria would be counteracted and Russia will also hit the U.S. missile launch sites. The Russian resolve forced Trump to retract his earlier statement of hitting Syria with missiles.
[ Syria Crisis: Trump Says President Obama Saved “Animal” Assad ]
Trump – who usually makes loose remarks on every issue – said today that he never specified the timing of such an attack. “Could be very soon or not so soon at all!,” Trump tweeted in a vague statement that has no meaning at all.
Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all! In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our “Thank you America?”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 12, 2018
He also patted on his own back by claiming that the U.S. under his administration has done a great job of ridding the region of the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Trump and Russia
It is believed that Trump cannot afford to displease Russia because President Vladimir Putin had allegedly helped Trump win 2016 presidential election fraudulently.
Currently, special counsel Robert Mueller is leading an investigation to know the extent of Trump-Russia ties that may have helped Trump win.
But others in the Trump administration believe that Russia is a rogue nation. Nikki Haley, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, stated Tuesday that the record will not be kind to one permanent member of the UN Security Council. Unfortunately, she said, Russia has chosen the Assad regime again over the unity of this Council.
The cause of the face-off between Russia and the U.S. is an alleged chemical attack in Syria. Reports suggest that another deadly chemical attack was carried out in Syria on Saturday in the town of Douma.
[ Russia Rejects Allegations of Nerve-Agent Attack in Salisbury ]
Chemical weapons are believed to have been employed by diverse parties to the conflict in Syria on at least 35 separate occasions since the beginning of 2013. Weapons of mass destruction, such as those utilized in Syria, have a devastating impact on the right to life, and cause grotesque pain and suffering.
More than 70 people sheltering in basements have reportedly died, including 43 with symptoms consistent with exposure to highly toxic chemicals. Two health facilities were also reportedly affected by these attacks.
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council tried and failed on Tuesday to adopt two competing resolutions that would have established a mechanism to investigate the use of chemical weapons in Syria, as well as another resolution concerning a fact-finding mission in the war-torn country.
Despite the deadlock in the Security Council, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) – the body which investigates allegations of such attacks – said Tuesday that it would shortly send a team to Syria to “establish the facts” surrounding the incident.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.
