America, the UK, and France have launched missiles against targets in Syria. The attack occurred Saturday morning, local time, against three targets in Syria supposedly involved in the manufacture and storage of chemical weapons. The attacks of the three countries were triggered by Syria’s use of chemical weapons in Douma. Various reports arose regarding the number of deaths, some as high as 70, but it seems confirmed that chlorine and sarin gas were used, where women and children were among the dead.
The use of chemical weapons has been discussed, debated, and banned several times at the United Nations, but there are still countries that do not abide by this. Some countries still manufacture and store, and even use chemical weapons, seeing it as an effective terror weapon against civilians. According to the United States, Bashar al-Assad’s regime has crossed the line by using these weapons.
Syria, as well as Russia, claim that many missiles were intercepted or shot down. It’s probably true, with the large number of missiles launched against the targets although there is no official number as to how many missiles were actually launched. CNN has obtained satellite images of the intended targets in Syria, showing before and after shots of buildings that were apparently destroyed. I don’t know the destructive power of a missile, but I would guess you only need one to hit and destroy the target. US President Trump has even stated: “Mission accomplished.”
While the US, UK, and France are all allied in helping forces, with the exception of ISIL and other small groups, oppose the leadership of Assad, Assad is allied with Russia and Iran. The civil war in Syria is complicated, to say the least. There are many groups opposed to Assad, but are also opposed to each other. Assad has labeled all his enemies as terrorists. We are still waiting for Vladimir Putin’s response to the attacks, if any. On the diplomatic front, the two superpowers are accusing one another of escalating the situation. Russia is even doubting that chemical weapons were used, and if they were, are saying it was staged by the allies against Syria. This is pretty much the same reasoning Russia used regarding the attempted assassination of a double agent in the UK. All this is happening at a time when relations between the two countries are already strained because of Russia’s supposed involvement in the 2016 elections. We can only hope that an escalation, particularly a military response from Russia, does not occur. A miscalculation may end up starting a much bigger conflict. The seven-year-old civil war in Syria seems to be endless, where civilians end up as collateral damage or helpless targets. One wonders if we have evolved at all, or are just bent on death and destruction.