Russian Response to Syrian Strikes

An act of aggression against a sovereign state that is on the frontline in the fight against terrorism was committed without a mandate from the UN Security Council and in violation of the UN Charter and norms and principles of international law.

On the morning of April 14, 2018, Syrian time, which was late Friday evening in Washington, D.C., the United States, in conjunction with the United Kingdom and France, launched airstrikes against the Arab Republic of Syria. According to the leaders of the three attacking countries, the strikes were in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Syrian city of Douma on April 7th by the sitting Syrian government. During the week between the two events, Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin publicly warned the United States about taking any action in Syria based on the alleged chemical attack.

Statement by President of Russia Vladimir Putin

On Saturday morning, Vladimir Putin issued a statement condemning the airstrikes by the US, UK and France, “in the strongest possible terms”,  calling the airstrikes “[a]n act of aggression against a sovereign state that is on the frontline in the fight against terrorism” that “was committed without a mandate from the UN Security Council and in violation of the UN Charter and norms and principles of international law.”  In his statement, Putin argued that not only the alleged chemical attack on Douma last week was staged, but so was the alleged chemical attack one year ago in Khan Shaykun that U.S. President Donald Trump used as a justification to also launch strikes against Syria’s Shayrat Airbase.

Putin further accused the United States as using the alleged chemical attacks as pretext to launch strikes against Syria. Since becoming President of the United States, Donald Trump has echoed the calls of his predecessors, Barack Obama and George W. Bush, to remove Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, despite having openly criticized Barack Obama for taking similar action during his presidency. Putin also alleged in his statement that Russia military experts visited Douma and neither found evidence of chlorine or any other toxic agent nor any witnesses to confirm that a chemical attack had actually taken place.

Airstrikes Preceded OPCW Investigation

Most notable in Putin’s statement was the fact that the airstrikes were carried out without a mandate from the UN Security Council and, more importantly, that they were carried out before the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was able to carry out its investigation in Douma. Something this author would like to point out is that, just as in Afghanistan and Iraq, the United States launched its latest attack on Syria based on allegations of wrongdoing, but no proof. This, of course, preempts any discussion of whether such attacks would be justified if the alleged wrongdoing were even proven to be true.

The fact that the United States, the United Kingdom, and France launched airstrikes against Syria before the OPCW could conduct an investigation lends credence to Russian claims that the attack was staged. The destabilizing role these three countries have played in the Middle East over the last century should further call into question their assertions and their motives. These are facts that the U.S. mainstream press seems to conveniently ignore, thus depriving the American people of important, relevant history and context to these matters.

UN Security Council Rejects Russian Call to Condemn Strikes

Russia followed the statement by convening an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the situation in Syria. At the emergency meeting, Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, called the airstrikes “hooliganism in international relations” and called on the Security Council to adopt a resolution condemning the airstrikes. However, the Security Council rejected the measure.

U.S., U.K. and French ambassadors to the UN each reiterated as undisputed fact the unsubstantiated claims that Syria had violated the chemical weapons ban, echoing a similar tactic the U.S. and U.K. used in the run-up to the second Iraq war in 2003. It is now undisputed that the allegations leveled against Saddam Hussein regarding development of weapons of mass destruction were not only unfounded but manufactured to provide a pretext for the invasion. The allegations precluded any discussion as to whether the U.S. and its “coalition of the willing”, as President Bush called it, were justified in attacking and destroying the sovereign Iraqi republic.

Syrian Crisis Draws Moscow, Ankara and Tehran Closer

Turkey, Iran and Russia have been moving to strengthen ties in recent months on the political and economic fronts. The three countries have cooperated successfully in recent months facilitate a resolution to the Syrian crisis while excluding the United States. After Russia’s failed attempt on Saturday to get the UN Security Council to condemn the unprovoked attacks on Syria by the U.S. and its allies, Vladimir Putin conducted telephone conversations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. In statements released by the Russian government, the discussions centered on the airstrikes and the need to “ramp up”  their efforts to bring a political solution to the Syrian crisis.

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Resource Links:

• Official Statement by President of Russia Vladimir Putin, April 14, 2018
• Security Council rejects Russian request to condemn airstrikes in Syria, April 14, 2018
• Rouhani, Erdogan, Putin image credit Russian Federation Official, April 4, 2018